Equipose Yoga Studio

09/01/2026

Dear Yogis:

I realized how little I knew about the importance of the lymphatic system while I was watching a podcast about its functions. So, this post is a brief discussion about that system and why movement is not optional if you want to maintain order, defense and balance in your body.

First, this system has no pump to make it work. It depends on your movement (muscle contractions) and breathing to work. It runs alongside blood vessels threading through tissues and organs to collect what circulation leaves behind: excess fluid, proteins, and cellular waste. This fluid becomes lymph. This lymph passes through lymph nodes which are small checkpoints packed with immune cells. These nodes identify threats to the body and then filter and neutralize them before they can spread. This system also transports fats absorbed from digestion and sends them through a separate system to be processed.

If this lymph system is impaired, swelling, a weakened system and slow recovery occurs. The lymphatic system has been called "The Silent Defender," keeping internal spaces clear and tissues healthy.

my.clevelandclinic.org

Ball Therapy Class will meet on Sat., Sept. 5th at 10am. Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.


Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10AM Yon Yoga
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only}
6PM All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

08/24/2026

Dear Yogis:

There is a misconception about the subconscious brain: that it runs in the background mysteriously without your control. It is actually an accumulation of everything you have ever experienced, been told, believed and repeatedly thought. It is a pattern library that runs 95% of your thoughts, decisions, and behaviors without your conscious awareness. Most of these patterns were formed before you were seven years old. The version of you that shows up in your relationships, careers, finances, and health are patterns that you did not choose.

However, the subconscious is not a locked room; it is a pattern system that responds to new input. Every time you have a new experience that contradicts an old belief, your subconscious updates. Repeating a new thought or feeling a genuine conviction writes new code in the subconscious. If the environment you
create reflects who you want to be rather than who you have been, you give your subconscious new evidence to work from. We can be programmers of our lives, but we were never taught how to use the interface.

The power of this information echoes the yogic teachings of practicing positive affirmation in our lives!

"When the old ache arrives, I remind it that we live differently now. We eat, we rest, we ask for help. We do not build altars to what hurt us. We build mornings around sunlight and the sound of our own name said kindly. The ache learns its place and I learn mine." Anonymous

Thanks to Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Ball Therapy Class will meet on Sat., Sept. 5th at 10am.
Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.


Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1hr
6-7:30PM All levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only]
6-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

08/19/2026

Dear Yogis:

Do you need a way to shift your brain from stress? According to research, splashing cold water on your forehead, cheeks, and around the eyes is the quickest way to bring the brain out of stress response.

The reason this works is because of something called the diving reflex or mammalian dive reflex. It is a survival mechanism that all mammals have inherited from aquatic animals millions of years ago. The trigeminal nerve in the face is stimulated and sends a signal to the brain which activates the vagus nerve to bring you into parasympathetic (rest and digest) from a fight or flight response. This happens to preserve oxygen and is especially developed in seals, whales, and dolphins.

When the body triggers this physiological response, the heart rate slows (bradycardia), the blood vessels in the limbs constrict reducing blood flow to muscles and peripheral tissues, and a general deregulation occurs involuntarily throughout the whole body within 30 seconds. The blood flow is then preserved for the brain and heart,

The body does not ask permission; the diving reflex gives you a neurological override to deal with anxiety, anger, and feeling overwhelmed. It works faster than breathing or meditation.

We all need coping tools! Try this one the next time you need that shift.

Panneton, W.M. (2013). "The Mammalian Diving Response: An Enigmatic Reflex to Preserve Life?"

Ball Therapy Class will meet on Sat., Sept. 5th at 10am.
Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.


Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM only]
6-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

08/17/2026

Dear Yogis:

Although the gut is usually thought of only as a digestive system, it is also an independently operating neural network. There are approximately 500 neurons in the gut, more than the entire spinal cord! It is often referred to as The Second Brain (Micheal Gershon's groundbreaking research presented in 1998) or the enteric nervous system. The Second Brain reference is not a metaphor; it is neurological description of what the gut actually is and what it actually does.

The gut does not just receive instructions from the brain; it sends approximately 90% of all the signals that travel along the vagus nerve to the brain! The gut actually is constantly informing your emotional state, your stress response, your cognitive function, and your mood. That's why you often feel anxiety in the gut before the conscious mind has fully registered the threat. Bad gut day equals a bad brain day.

The research on the microbiome is some of the most exciting neuroscience going on today. The bacteria living in your digestive system are producing neurotransmitters that influence inflammation, and they are communicating in ways that we are only beginning to understand.

What are you feeding your mental health today? The sources that this very general information came from are listed below if you wish to pursue the subject in more depth.

Gershon, Micheal D., M.D The Second Brain (Harper, NY), 1998.
Mayer, Emeran, MD. The Mind-Gut Connection
Sonnenburg, Justin and Erica, PhDs. The Good Gut ( Penquin Books, NY), 2015.

Ball Therapy Class will meet on Sat., Sept. 5th at 10am.
Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.


Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6:00-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only}
6-7:30pm All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

08/05/2026

Dear Yogis:

Pain is NOT created in the body! It always comes, without exception, from the brain. If you injure your back, your body does not send pain to the brain; it sends danger signals and electrical impulses that travel up through the nervous system and arrive as raw data in the brain. The brain then makes the decision, "Is this person in danger?" "Does this situation require pain to make the person stop and pay attention?" If the brain decides "yes," it generates pain, if "no" it does not. This is not a theory, but well documented research in neuroscience.

Soldiers in combat have reported not feeling their wounds until they are in safety. Athletes have played whole games and matches with broken bones. People who have lost limbs feel chronic pain in these limbs. Brain pain is a protective response. a signal, a best guess as to what the body needs. The brain cannot feel pain; it only interprets the signals.

This is profound because if pain is indeed an output from the brain and not an input from the body, it means that pain is influenced by everything that influences the brain: sleep, stress, fear, general emotional states, environmental factors and on and on. We know the brain can unlearn things. Maybe your brain is protecting you in a way that no longer serves you. This understanding has been helpful in treating those who do experience chronic pain.

Thanks again to neurosciencewithnora.

Ball Therapy Class will meet on Sat., Sept. 5th at 10am.

Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.

Wes will be teaching the 4:30 Monday flow on August 3rd; the remainder of Lee's classes are cancelled through Thursday, August 6th. Friday's classes will meet as scheduled.

Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10:00AM Yin Yoga
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6:00-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only}
6-7:30pm All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes here.
https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

07/28/2026

Dear Yogis:

Tonight is about the bones! They don't just hold us up; they are metabolic organs that secret hormones and communicate from our toes to the top of our heads. They are indeed structural, but they also are endocrine organs, a storehouse for any chemicals that the body needs, and they are incubators. Warning: technical terms ahead!

First, let's go to the bones' brain building function. The bones secret osteocalcin which then travels to the brain to stimulate a neurotropic hormone which produces new neurons.

Second, the bones collaborate with the muscles and pancreas to regulate glucosides and insulin to assist metabolism.

If you are a guy, that osteocalcin goes to the testicles to help make testosterone.

The bones also make LCN2 which is critical in telling you when you are not hungry anymore! Who knew????

All the minerals and chemicals and reactions the body needs are stored in the bones. Need some calcium? Borrow it from the bones. Need some phosphorus, borrow from the bones. They really are the metabolic storehouse of the body.

Did you know that the large bones of the pelvis and the long bones of the femurs make all our baby blood cells?

The bones are always talking to the muscles which secret myokines which talk then to the bones; they chat back and forth constantly. The bones and muscles even talk to the fat which is an endocrine organ that releases a hormone called leptin.

And guess what! Our bones are constantly breaking down and rebuilding (called remodeling). There are two main cells that do this work: osteoclast cells which break down and release all the chemicals the body needs and osteoblasts which rebuild bone. They sing in harmony UNTIL we women lose our estrogen. Then the breaking down phase increases. Alas, though, there is biochemical signaling or IMPACT to save the day and bones. There is a reason athletes who participate in sports that include a lot of jumping and gymnasts have the greatest bone density. They JUMP! Impact work, jumping and stomping, stimulate those osteoblasts to build better bones.

The recommendation Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon and founder of Skeletal Longevity, makes is to jump 20 times a day! Not hard, free and fun. My information for this posting came from her research.

Ball Therapy Class will meet on Sat., August 1st at 10am.
Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.

Wes will be teaching the 4:30 Monday flow on August 3rd; the remainder of Lee's classes are cancelled through Thursday, August 6th. Friday's classes will meet as scheduled.

Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10:00AM
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6:00-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only}
6-7:30pm All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

07/27/2026

Dear Yogis:

There are three easy things you can do to build your neuroplasticity before you start the day. They are free and easy to do.

The first is to brush your teeth with your nondominate hand. This forces the brain to perform an automatic task in a new way, activating the prefrontal cortex (attention, emotions, self-control, and decision-making). This builds new neural pathways and pulls you out of autopilot.

The second is to look at yourself in a mirror and say, "I love you" 10 times This is not because it's an affirmation but because this activates the same neural circuitry as eye contact with another person. The human brain does not fully distinguish between the two. You are giving yourself a direct signal of safety and self-acceptance before any outside threats or interference.

The third is to take 25 exaggerated, not normal, breaths. BIG INHALES, BIG EXHALES. Best done through the nose to flood the brain with oxygen and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This will also drop cortisol levels before they have a chance to spike. Cortisol is referred to as "the stress hormone."

So, you can chemically reset your brain state before you begin your day.

neurosciencewithnora is an AI-generated educational persona so this is for general education, not medical advice.

Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.

On July 26, Master Sensei Van Tran offered a free class in Shodo Tai Chi. He has been studying, researching, teaching acupuncture, Aikido, and Tai Chi for 50 years to create his own practice called Shodo Tai Chi. We bounced on a big stability ball to stimulate the acupuncture meridians for overall health. More info to come about the times for his classes.

Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10:00AM
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6:00-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only}
6-7:30pm All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

07/27/2026

Dear Yogis:

A couple of weeks ago the newsletter was about the color green and how it is connected to an ancient survival code meaning safety, food, growing, water, and a safe environment. You learned that phytonicides (essential oils in wood) chemically reduce stress hormones in our bodies. This week I want to go a step further into the research of Dr. Qing Lu, a Chinese Nationalist based in Japan. He has spent 20 years as a clinical professor at Nippon Medical School of Japan studying other chemicals trees release into the air. He has learned that these chemicals enter our bloodstream and hunt down stress hormones to fortify our immune system. His data sat in Japanese medical journals for 20 years waiting to be translated. Dr. Lu is also the President of Japanese Forest Medicine.

The Japanese government has been funding this research since 2004 and officially prescribes it as clinical therapy in Japan and Korea. The work actually goes back to 1982 when The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries coined the term shinrin-yoku or forest bathing. Because Japan was becoming more and more urbanized with stress levels elevated, it became practical to utilize the 1000's of available forest acres in Japan.

Dr. Lu's first experiment was in 2005 and included 12 healthy men who went to the woods for 3 days and 2 nights, walking at a normal pace for a few hours a day and breathing normally. Their blood had been drawn before the trip, on the second day, the third day, the seventh day and day thirty after the trip. The results were astounding: the natural killer cells which are immune cells that hunt cancer and viruses jumped 50%. There are actually 3 different anti-cancer proteins that these cells produce: perforin, granzymes, and granulysin. All of these rose sharply, and the immune boost was still measurable on day 7 and partially on day 30.

Lu did the same study with women a year later and got the same results! Then he took a control group on a 3-day trip through an urban area, doing the same amount of walking, same hotel quality, same diet, etc. There was no change in the control group's killer cells. So, the forest was doing the work, not the vacation.

Trees produce airborne molecules called phytonicides, as mentioned earlier, which defend them from insects, bacteria, and fungi. Pine, cedar, oak and cypress produce the greatest amounts. These appear to be the link to the killer cells.

Mary Carol Hunter at University of Michigan recruited a number of city people 3 times a week for 8 weeks to go to the forest and walk. They sent saliva samples back to her before and after each walk. Their cortisol levels dropped 21.9% per hours spent in nature; the greatest drop was within 20-30 minutes at the beginning of the walk.

On average, most people spend 90% of their time indoors. THE FOREST IS WAITING!!!!!!!

Please note that the costs of classes increased the 1st of July: Unlimited Pass $100, 10 Class Pass $150, 5 Class Pass $75, Drop-in is still $25. Private 90-minute sessions are $100.

Regular Class Schedule

SUNDAY:
10AM Yin Yoga
MONDAY:
10:00AM
4:30PM Vinyasa Flow Yoga
TUESDAY:
12PM Lunch Break Yoga, All Levels, 1 hr
6:00-7:30PM All Levels Flow with Wes
WEDNESDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow
5:30PM Yin Yoga [ZOOM + IN-STUDIO]
THURSDAY:
5:30 Yin [ZOOM only]
6-7:30pm All Levels Flow with Wes
FRIDAY:
10AM Vinyasa Flow Yoga

No need to register for classes—just come! Drop-ins are $25, and you can purchase class passes.

https://equiposeyoga.com/classes-props

07/21/2026