Detox Flow

Each January, we offer a detox flow workshop, crafted to help release those things that may be holding us back or getting in our way, as well as to create space for new opportunities and possibilities in the coming year.

It’s a singularly rewarding class to teach — with plenty of twists and binds, some joyful vinyasa, and of course a hot room that helps to move the sweat as the body releases those things that have been held for months or years. There are tears, there is anger, there is joy.

As humans, we spend an awful lot of time and energy insulating ourselves from discomfort – through distractions, through purchases, through behaviors, through relationships, through food. A detox flow practice gives us the opportunity to experience discomfort, to observe the mind’s reaction to what is difficult or unpleasant, to notice our responses and reaction as we move into anger, fear, flight, or withdrawal.

There’s a saying you will hear around West Hartford Yoga “leave it on the mat”. A yogi will emerge from a challenging practice with tear-streaked face, having spent half the practice in child’s pose, but with an inner peace for having come upon some demon or difficulty, stayed present, and felt the feelings that were perhaps set aside years ago. Allow your yoga practice, your yoga mat, to be the crucible in which you work out the challenges of your present or past, and prepare yourself for the challenges you will face in the future.

~Barbara