Bodywork, Massage and Yoga with Robert Cuozzi, LMT RYT

(413) 570-079

Pictured above is Judith Lasater's seminal book on the practice of restorative yoga postures.

What To Expect Before, During and After a Session

My goal is to deliver you the most highly satisfying experience, from the moment you arrive, till the moment you leave my studio.

If it is your first appointment, I will gladly meet you in the safe, conveniently located parking lot, only a short distance from my door. If our appointment ends after sunset, I will also walk you to your car if you so request.

I always allow ten or so minutes before and after each appointment for session-related discussion, or friendly conversation. However, your time constraints and personal preferences are always respected. Intake discussions can be as brief as a few minutes and your choice to maintain silence after a session is also respected.

During a session, I will do everything to ensure complete safety and will respect your physical and emotional boundaries. I will never over-stretch or force your body into difficult or uncomfortable postures.

Meditative music, chosen specifically to enhance your energy, and experience by activating your innate capacity to find balance.

Uncompromising professional and ethical behavior.

Masterful Yoga Instruction & Training

(Private Sessions Available by Appointment)

The proper practice of yoga postures is an excellent form of physical exercise, but it is so much more. A well-sequenced, compassionately-instructed yoga session can also be a healing, integrative practice of self-directed kindness, mental focus, emotional “grounding,” aligned posture, physical challenge, body awareness, self-inquiry, energetic rebalancing, spiritual-awakening.

Strength-building Vinyasa Yoga

Informed by the energetic sequencing techniques of Yogarupa Rod Stryker and the playful, precise, mindfulness-based method of Cyndi Lee's OM yoga, I create vinyasa yoga sessions that facilitate a profound rebalancing of each student’s vital energy. This revitalization includes the student's subtle energetic body as well as their cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, digestive, nervous and immune systems (gross body). By working with both the subtle and gross anatomical systems, one might say that these classes are operating on the level of the "Quantum mechanical body;"* the meeting place of consciousness, energy, the physical body, and spirit. When appropriate, however, classes are designed with specific physical or emotional intentions, such as strengthening particular muscle groups, easing areas of tension, or simply creating a quiet space to achieve a peaceful, relaxed mind. Since 2001, my group vinyasa classes and workshops were largely attended by experienced practitioners and yoga teachers, and have been described as elegant, soulful, deep, safe and intelligent.

Stress-busting Restorative Yoga

A Certified Relax and Renew Trainer™ since 2004, my Restorative yoga instruction couples stress-reducing mindfulness techniques with Judith Lasater's synthesis of BKS Iyengar's seminal work on the therapeutic use of passive yoga postures to restore, rebalance and renew the body and mind. Restorative Yoga has been described as “active relaxation” and is a method par excellence for eliciting the now-famous “relaxation response,” described by Harvard Medical School’s Herbert Benson, MD. According to Massachusett’s General Hospital’s Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine, “The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress (e.g., decreases in heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing, and muscle tension).

When eliciting the relaxation response:

Your metabolism decreases
Your heart beats slower and your muscles relax
Your breathing becomes slower
Your blood pressure decreases
Your levels of nitric oxide are increased

If practiced regularly, these benefits can be lasting, and thus life-changing.
http://www.massgeneral.org/bhi/basics/eliciting_rr.aspx

How It Works

Using blankets, bolsters, pillows and other “props” to support the body, practitioners generally experience profound shifts in their nervous system, thus allowing a physiological shift to deep restfulness, calm abiding and well being. As the body relaxes, so do the signs and symptoms of stress. The postures actually create the environment to de-activate the "stress response" in the central nervous system. Gentle, calming guidance assists the practitioner in re-focusing the mind through relaxing breathing techniques and mental visualization. Gentle touch deepens the posture, encouraging the body to let go.

Possible Benefits & Reasons to Practice Yoga Postures

The following text is derived from Yoga Alliance®, the national education and support organization for yoga in the United States. Please visit their website for detailed information.

Stress Relief: The practice of yoga is well-demonstrated to reduce the physical effects of stress on the body. The body responds to stress through a fight-or-flight response, which is a combination of the sympathetic nervous system and hormonal pathways activating, releasing cortisol – the stress hormone – from the adrenal glands. Cortisol is often used to measure the stress response. Yoga practice has been demonstrated to reduce the levels of cortisol. Most yoga classes end with savasana, a relaxation pose, which further reduces the experience of stress.
Pain Relief: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have shown that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions.
Better Breathing: Yoga includes breathing practices known as pranayama, which can be effective for reducing our stress response, improving lung function and encouraging relaxation. Many pranayamas emphasize slowing down and deepening the breath, which activates the body’s parasympathetic system, or relaxation response. By changing our pattern of breathing, we can significantly affect our body’s experience of and response to stress. This may be one of the most profound lessons we can learn from our yoga practice.
Flexibility: Yoga can improve flexibility and mobility and increase range of motion. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity.
Increased Strength: Yoga asanas use every muscle in the body, increasing strength literally from head to toe. A regular yoga practice can also relieve muscular tension throughout the whole body.
Weight management: While most of the evidence for the effects of yoga on weight loss is anecdotal or experiential, yoga teachers, students and practitioners across the country find that yoga helps to support weight loss. Many teachers specialize in yoga programs to promote weight management and find that even gentle yoga practices help support weight loss. People do not have to practice the most vigorous forms of yoga to lose weight. Yoga encourages development of a positive self-image, as more attention is paid to nutrition and the body as a whole. A study from the Journal of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine found that regular yoga practice was associated with less age-related weight gain. The lifestyle study of 15,500 adults in their 50’s covered 10 years of participants’ weight history, physical activity, medical history and diet.
Improved circulation: Yoga helps to improve circulation by efficiently moving oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.
Cardiovascular Conditioning: Even a gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.
Presence: Yoga connects us with the present moment. The more we practice, the more aware we become of our surroundings and the world around us. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.
Inner peace: The meditative effects of a consistent yoga practice help many cultivate inner peace and calm.