Light Inside Yoga - Niki Saccareccia

Her back pain was gone after class.

…We never worked on her back. 😅

Anatomy is wild.

The adductors (inner thigh muscles) connect directly into the pelvis, which is fused to your lumbar spine (lower back).

What happens in the inner thigh doesn’t stay there, though.

Adductor and hip mobility work is especially useful for:
- Low back tightness
- Running, hiking, long walks
- Pickleball and dynamic sport
- Deep squat range
…among so much more.

Try these and tell me if you feel more length and space through your lower body.

DM me NECK for a free neck tension reset, too.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He woke up exhausted, again…convinced he’d slept a couple of hours.

So I asked him to wear a sleep tracker, and it said otherwise: 6 hours, consistently, night after night.

Can you see the gap between what the body is doing and what the mind believes?

Hello, anticipatory anxiety 👋🏻 This isn’t the only way it shows up, but in this case, it was.

Anticipatory anxiety is the nervous system’s attempt to prepare for something it’s learned to fear fin this case, a bad night’s sleep) even though that threat isn’t present anymore.

The problem is, that bracing response actually disrupts the quality of rest. The worry about sleep becomes part of what makes sleep harder, also.

And, it can hijack how we interpret our experience and create exaggerations and intensity where it isn’t warranted.

In yoga therapy, we work with this pattern directly - not just with relaxation techniques, but by addressing the underlying nervous system state driving the anticipation.

We slow the threat response.

We rebuild trust between mind and body.

And we create routines that feel genuinely regulating, not like another thing to fail at.

That’s when his sleep hygiene practices shifted and they started to genuinely soothe him enough to unwind and sleep.

Same habits…Different felt sense!

Because he wasn’t white-knuckling through them anymore like it was a test to either pass or fail.

If you recognize this 👀 the bracing, the dreading, the exhaustion that doesn’t match reality, this is exactly the kind of work we do together in private sessions.

I work with new clients on a rolling basis. No waitlist. Reach out via DM or the link in my bio to connect and book a time to see if we’re a fit.

anticipatoryanxiety

Where I come from, eating is a love language and a hobby and a great bonding experience, so I’m quite familiar with eating wit my eyes and not my stomach 😆Things to keep in mind while you try these:

Slow is fast. Gentle is strong.
Relaxation allows for digestion so take your time and do everything in a gentle, soothing way.

Exhale when there’s pressure on your abdomen, inhale when there isn’t.

Right side first, then left side.
This follows the path of digestion - from ascending colon to descending and towards the “exit” door 💩

When you’re in Belly Breathing mode, don’t “try” to stretch the abdominal wall by pushing yours stomach out or distending your belly.

Happy digesting and message me PREMIUM to trial my membership platform with dozens of programs 😎



Pic from National Cancer Institute

Do you have gym logic in yoga?

The harder you try in yoga, the less you’re actually doing.
Gym logic says more effort = more results. No pain, no gain. Push your limits. Reach failure.

But if you’re showing up on the mat because you’re tired of being tense all the time - bracing and forcing through poses is often the problem, not the solution.

When you grip and push past your edge, your nervous system reads it as threat. It activates.

It tightens.

It works against everything you came for.

Healing, growth and even the strength training you’re hoping to get from yoga asana…only sticks when your nervous system stops bracing.

👉🏼 The signals worth tracking: when does your breath falter?

When do you start bracing? That’s your functional edge.

Gentleness isn’t the easier option.
It’s the advanced one. 😇

Want a practice that actually works with your nervous system?

Message me PREMIUM and I’ll send you a free 5-day trial my membership. You’ll get coaching on HOW to know when to test your limits, once your nervous system can use it to make you stronger, more flexible and more capable.

Client went to a beginners class.
Felt like he was in a hazing ritual.

Here’s what happened:

…Instructor rushed through poses
…Gave judgy looks when he moved slower
…Offered exactly zero adaptations
…Taught advanced postures (in a beginner class!)

This is why I love working one-on-one.
Yoga is NOT about cramming yourself into a mold to “do it right.”

👉🏼 Big difference: Instructor vs. Teacher

An instructor calls out poses and generic cues, often lacks skills to teach to the individual or those with different abilities.

A teacher sees the individual in the room, adapts, includes, and creates teachable moments that actually matter to YOUR practice and YOUR life.

So here’s the rule of thumb:
If you thought you were paying for a teacher and got an instructor → you can leave quietly.

If you’re enjoying instruction and not suffering → stay, enjoy.

But don’t sit through a miserable class “just to be nice.”
There’s no medal for enduring a yoga class that doesn’t serve you.

Also…Trust your gut.

Find someone you trust and who can see YOU and meet you there to take you further.

That’s where real growth happens.

I take new clients with a 4-session intro package. Message me if you’d like details.

The longer you Practice, the less you “practice.”

At some point the yoga mat, the meditation cushion, the timer, the classroom…they’re all just the training ground…dedicated, focused time to hone skills, discover and realize truths, unmask ourselves…

None of us here have devoted ourselves as monks or nuns, renouncing society and the world, or even social media for the matter, in order to praise enlightenment full time in a devoted place for that to happen - a temple, a convent, a cave in the Himalayas…

Our battlefield is the mindspace, our sacred temple is our life. It’s called Grihasta Ashram - and it’s a particular phase of spiritual development.

So the real practice is the pause you take on purpose before you react, so that you don’t react out of habit or exaggerated emotion.

It’s the breath you take before you choose to behave differently.

The moment you stay with heartbreak instead of running into distraction to get away from it.

That’s not NOT yoga or meditation. That’s where it was always pointing…into our real lives.

So for me the question isn’t “when should i meditate today?” or “did i do my yoga practice today?”

It’s become “When did I not meditate? When did I not do my Practice? an which moments did I go unconscious again?” and then those moments become kindling for the next practice.

Has your practice started showing up off the mat? I want to hear how!