Brecon Beacons Spring Retreat - day 1: the First step to release tension & restore Vitality

​My Brecon Beacons retreat is designed to give your mind and body a spring boost. Each of our yoga for well-being sessions will focus on ways to shift those sluggish systems into gear, rid yourself of the stresses and strains our frantic pace of life can bring, boost energy and restore balance. 
On day one the spotlight of focus will be on the core. The first practices will include abdominal breathing and self massage using a soft squidgy ball to release tension held in the abdomen/gut. The abdomen is one of the main areas where we hold stress and tight abdominal tissue can cause many problems such as bloating, digestive and elimination difficulties, inflammation, back pain and it can affect mood. 
The gut is home to our enteric nervous system - also referred to as the belly brain. This special nervous system housed in sheaths of tissue in the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon consists of 100 million neurons - more neurons than in the spinal cord! The gut area is also the most abundant site in your body for lymph and is loaded with immune rich cells. Massaging this are encourages lymph flow, boosts the immune system, stimulates the rest and digest parasympathetic nervous system and helps release that tension to   ease some of those symptoms stress in this area can cause. 
The additional abdominal breathing practice will also a stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, help the respiratory system work more efficiently and tone the deep core muscles prior to our  sessions where we will dive into core stability and strength.  

If you have been living with tension in your core this work has to be approached tenderly. That's the beauty of retreats there is plenty of time to explore this way of practicing and listen to your body.

These set of practices really will be our first step  on our road to recovering  vitality and putting a spring in your step!