By: John D’Onofrio
In vast universe of physical fitness programs available to the consumer today, one of the most popular continues to be yoga. For centuries it has been practiced by devotees around the world, bringing individuals a sense of physical, mental and spiritual balance. At The Monkey Bar Gymnasium we continue that tradition through the technique of Eischens Yoga, a high energy variation of the traditional form. I sat down with Monkey Bar instructor Ali Dwyer to discuss the characteristics and benefits of Eischens.
John D’Onofrio: How long have you been an instructor?
Ali Dwyer: I was trained as a Certified Natural Trainer by Jon Hinds. I have sought additional training in Eischens Yoga (aka High Energy Yoga) from Kari Tomashik. At the Monkey Bar Gym, I have been teaching Eischens Yoga for 2 years, and Body Power and FIT classes for 3 ½ years.
JD: Tell us about the particular yoga you teach.
AD: In a typical Eischens Yoga class, students are led through a series of yoga poses designed to energize and balance the body. We use props to create alignment in the poses and to stimulate internal activations (wake up parts of the body that are “asleep” or underactivated). This style of yoga creates core strength and many people experience a lightness of body and spirit!
Roger Eischens is the creator and founder of High Energy Yoga, now renamed Eischens Yoga to honor his memory and his lifelong work and commitment to his students.
JD: Why would someone choose this discipline of yoga over others?
AD: This style works for people with different body types, including the too tight and too loose bodies. A person with tight muscles, without much flexibility, can come to this practice and gain freedom of movement. We work to balance the body and the body’s energy flow and this creates balance and a sense of ease (as opposed to efforting).
The other big difference is that we include partner work, the time for hands-on feedback. It goes along well with the general practice of the Monkey Bar Gym, in that we value working together and giving support to one another.
Students partner up with each other to serve as a mirror in a pose and also to give proprioceptive feedback, using the principle of “where I push, you resist.” For example, in a standing pose, I will exert light pressure on the student’s shin so that she can resist her shin into my hand, into my pressure. What this does is create an internal activation or “waking up” a part of the body (in this case the lower leg, foot and ankle) that is otherwise not fully energized and engaged.
JD: Does this kind of yoga have applications in sports endeavors?
AD: Absolutely. I am a bicyclist by nature, so when I started practicing Eischens Yoga, there were profound changes in my cycling. I have much more balance in and freedom of movement in my hips, shoulders and ankles, which support a comfortable life in general, but really improved how I sit on and pedal my bike. I sit on my bike with more comfort and ease and thus cycling is more enjoyable and less painful. Also, bicycling doesn’t build core strength, but you need core strength to do it. Eischens Yoga creates core strength that is profound and complete. Core strength and freedom of movement are essential for other sports endeavors. This style of yoga has helped improve students’ golf games, swimming strokes, Frisbee tosses and many more. The applications to sports endeavors are endless.
JD: It’s as if athletes take for granted this discomfort and don’t even know it doesn’t have to be that way.
AD: I think so. Ask the average Ironman triathlete “how much pain do you endure because you think it’s part of the package?” Muscle soreness is not a given if you are an athlete. Muscle soreness isn’t a necessary part of life. With practice of just a few simple yoga poses can create relief in the body. When I was a distance runner, I had low level chronic knee discomfort. I used to think that that was a given, that every runner has knee pain. Then I found this style of yoga, and found relief. And it is that realization that keeps me coming back.
JD: As an athlete, knowing you don’t have to experience chronic pain, would allow you to attain certain goals and I’m sure that applies to life in general, too.
AD: Just normal life can be exhausting, rigorous. How much coffee do we drink? How much sugar do we need to stimulate ourselves just to get through the day? And then, can you find that another way? Can you find that without external stimulants? A very profound part of Eischens Yoga is that it balances the energetic system. When the energetic system is balanced and allowed to flow freely, there is less strain. If muscles are tight, our energy can’t flow freely, it is blocked. Once there’s blockage there’s efforting, which makes you tired, which makes you need coffee, which makes you need sugar. I’m not saying to be super strict about it, you don’t need to go in deprivation mode. But, just try it…if you just step back from that and get the energy flowing, you may not need that stuff anymore.
JD: Do people come to your classes for the physical or mental well being or both?
AD: People are led to the classes for a variety of reasons. People come first for the physical and stay for the other benefits. Many people come for relief of muscle soreness, for which it works great! Some folks come for relief from chronic pain or to rehabilitate from an injury. As well as the purely physical benefits, most people come back for the sense of relaxation that is a result of a class. They often experience an increase in energy, as well as relaxation.
The longer I do this, the more regular students I see coming back and having them embody it as well. They’ll tell me great anecdotes like, “I feel lighter”, “I walk/run/bike with more ease” or “My kids tell me to go to yoga because I’m a kinder, gentler person”. It’s more than when you just come to yoga class. You start to take it outside with you.
