Bodywork at Gaze

When people ask me what I do for a living, they see my man bun and long beard, and are fully expecting me to say yoga teacher. When the next thing on the list is "body worker" most folks think automotive body work. So of course I end up letting go of my pretensiousness to tell them I'm a licensed massage therapist.

The reason I don't always say massage therapist, is because that causes folks to assume that they will need to get undressed. I don't do that.

I use a combination of therapies that are meant to remove obstacles from the body systems, and stimulate your body's own ability to heal itself.

Thai massage is an ancient practice of manipulating energy channels called Sen, using rhythmic compression, movement of joints, and deep stretching. When the flow of energy is free of restrictions the body can heal.  The client remains clothed for the entire session.

Craniosacral therapy is a collection of very light touch maneuvers meant to remove restrictions in the tissues and fluid that surround your brain and spinal cord.  When the craniosacral system is free of restrictions the body can resume its natural ability to heal. The client remains clothed for the entire session.

I am so glad to be offering these therapies at Gaze. They are a great compliment to a regular yoga practice, and another way for me to do my favorite thing; chit chat with people about their bodies and empower them to take charge of their health.

Appointments available online here and in person at the studio.

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Wesley Bozeman, LMT (MA58298) was Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in 2009 and is a Florida Licensed Massage Therapist.  He began his massage practice after the birth of his daughter, when substandard maternity care cast a light on the value of bodily knowledge and wellness for his whole family.  He received his preliminary massage training from D.G. Erwin Technical Center in Tampa, FL.  Wes has studied Pregnancy Massage with Kate Jordan, and is certified in Bodywork for the Childbearing Year.  He has also studied Craniosacral Therapy at the Upledger Institute, Reflexology with Dwight Byers, and Thai massage with Jongrak Intatha. He also owns  Gaze Hot Yoga in Tampa Heights where he teaches hot yoga. Wes’ only goal for his practice is to empower his clients to be aware of their bodies, and facilitate healing

Don't sweat the sweat.

Hot yoga.  Hot yoga in the summer.  Hot yoga in the summer in Florida.  Which of these phrases is most likely to make you think twice before you head to class?  Maybe all of them.  And yes, the last one in particular may seem a little counter intuitive sometimes.  It can easily feel just as hot and humid outside as it does in the studio in Florida in the summer. 

The first summer I practiced Hot 26 on a regular basis I had those same thoughts.  Do I really want to go to a hot room and sweat for an hour or so during class when it’s so hot outside that I work up a sweat just making my way to the car in the morning?  Some days I really struggled to make the decision to go to class, and some days I definitely talked myself out of going to class with the “it’s hot” excuse.

But then I looked at it a bit more closely.  Was fear of sweat my excuse?  It couldn’t be! I’m one of those people who sweats buckets.  I’ve been a long distance runner since high school and most of that time I’ve lived in Florida.  My body learned it needs to start sweating early and keep sweating – because it never knows if I’m going to stop after 20 minutes or after 4 hours.  Sweating is our natural cooling system - and I’ve been happy that my cooling system works so efficiently – if it didn’t I wouldn’t able to participate in many of the activities I love.

Puddle around the mat at the end of class?  Yeah, that’s me.  Sometimes it seems like I must be the only one in class who’s sweating so much – and indeed every once in a while I am.  Early on one of my yoga teachers challenged us to stop wiping away the sweat during class, to just ignore it, let it flow.  It’s there for a reason – to help cool your body.  If you wipe it away your body has to work to create more cooling sweat.  You won’t win this race!  And wiping sweat is a distraction, it means you either miss those precious few seconds of stillness between postures, or it means you’re missing part of the posture itself to pause and wipe sweat.  I accepted the challenge and gradually, with attention to sweat every practice for several weeks I stopped wiping sweat away.  Sometimes we look for distractions in class – anything to take our mind off the hard work and focus required.  When I stopped wiping sweat I became less distracted, found more stillness during class, which also helped still my mind.  Now I just stand there and let the sweat drip – it’s a visible sign that I am working hard, that my body is strong and powerful, that I am able to do this practice.

So no, it wasn’t fear of sweat that was stopping me from going to Hot 26 in the summer.

Does life get sort of crazy in the summer?  It definitely can.  Often summer is a time of change.  If you have kids they are usually out of school – and that is a BIG change.  Depending on their age it can mean a lot of organizing activities, juggling your own schedule with theirs, trying to make sure they have things to do to stay out of trouble, a lot of stress.  When my kids were that age I would love it when school ended in June (no more tight school schedule, no homework to supervise, no last minute projects, no packing lunch every night) and I would love it equally, maybe even more, when school started up again in August and our schedule returned to normal.

With or without kids, summer can often include a vacation, or friends and family coming to visit (especially if you live in Florida!).  At work the load is often affected by colleagues taking vacations at different times.  And of course there can also be the occasional tropical storm or hurricane that comes along to throw things into disarray (if we’re lucky that’s all it does).  We humans are creatures of habit and when our normal routine is disrupted it can be stressful.  Summer often includes disruption to our routines.

Was it “summer disruption” that was stopping me from going to class?  Sure, summer was busy, the schedule was different.  But it was still just life.  Changes to one’s schedule always happen at every time of the year.  The kids may not be out of school but they can get sick anytime and require a juggled schedule.  Friends and family come to visit – often at holidays, when things can get really crazy.  And colleagues go out of town or big projects come along to change the load at work.

So I went to class.

I discovered that maintaining my hot yoga practice in the summer was vital!  Some days it seemed I needed it more in the summer than at any other time during the year.  And my excuses?  It’s too hot, my schedule is crazy – what about those?  They were just that, excuses.  They were small items that I allowed to become big – I gave them the power to keep me from doing something amazing for my body and my mind.  Yep, it was hot – and I was going to sweat, a lot.  Was my schedule disrupted – yes, it was.  But I was in control of whether I decided to interpret that as “crazy” or just as “different.”

Did yoga help me see these things?  It did.  When I stopped finding excuses and just went to class I saw all sorts of amazing things.  Attending hot classes in the summer helped bring stability to my disrupted schedule.  That hour and a half was time just for me – time when no one could ask me questions, demand my attention, and interrupt me.  Afterwards I was able to handle the disruptions, interruptions and demands of summer more calmly.

Attending hot classes in the summer also generated a productive sweat – a sweat born of focus, determination, concentration and muscles working hard.  This was not the mindless sweat of walking out to get the mail in the summer – this was the sweat of tensions and frustrations being left behind, literally dripping out of me, if only for an hour or so – leaving calm in its wake.

Hot 26 in the summer, in Florida.  Absolutely.

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Jen took her first yoga class at a London YMCA in 1984 – and loved it.  That was over 30 years ago and she’s been practicing ever since.  A long distance runner and triathlete, Jen credits yoga with keeping her body healthy and injury free.  Yoga was the calming influence in her life when running her own business and raising 3 children.

Jen has her 200 hour teaching certification and enjoys sharing her love of hot yoga with her students.  She believes incorporating yoga into every day is key – postures, breathing or meditation – just take a little time for yoga every day to reap timeless rewards.  Jen loves the outdoors - hiking, biking, camping, traveling – always taking her yoga with her.

We're here for you.

Hot yoga sounds intimidating. Heck, yoga sounds intimidating. It isn't always well understood that hot yoga refers to a particular kind of yoga specifically designed for beginners.  While it is practiced in a heated room,  the series of positions that are used, help to systematically bring fresh blood to every cell, in every corner of the body.  YOU CAN DO IT! AND, you will never be asked to stand on your head, or put any pressure or weight on your hands and wrists. You have a spot waiting for you here. Everyone does.

What the Fascia?

Fascia is fascinating.  Fascia is all around us (literally).  But what really is fascia?  Fascia is a thin sheath of connective tissue which encompasses and connects the whole body in an endless web.  It is the interlinking system which provides not only support but also communication between systems in our bodies.  Without fascia, our bodies would be a pile of goo.

“Fascia surrounds individual muscle groups, muscle bundles within individual muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves.  It is the tissue where the musculoskeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems all converge!”  Think of it as a 3-D spider web which encompasses and innervates all parts of our body underneath the skin.  You may also think of fascia to be synonymous to a sweater.  Fascia is the yarn which interlaces and keeps the sweater together as a whole. 

Fascia is immensely complex.  It allows and facilitates transportation of signals across the body via “mechanical pushing and pulling along fascial grains and ground substance.”  (Thomas W. Myers.  Anatomy Trains).  In a normal state, our fascia is somewhat relaxed and wavy.  They are flexible, yet strong and durable.  However, when fascia is overly stressed or strained, it becomes stiffened and can form adhesions or “scar tissue.” 

As with our sweater analogy, a snag in one area of the sweater can cause pulling in another area, even causing pain contralaterally to the area of pull.  These snags or pulls in the fascia can cause imbalances in our body. Things such as poor posture, improper biomechanics, or overly repetitive movements can cause further strain to fascia and inherently the muscles/nerves/organs they encompass or innervate.  A stiffened or scarred tissue already sounds uncomfortable, and it sure is!  Limited range of motion often also accompanies this pain.

So what does this all mean?  Our body acts as one big unit!  Areas of pain must be considered through a larger frame.  It may not be just a specific muscle group.  The pain may come from a combination of stressed areas within the muscle and ambiguous fascia alike!  But how do you address the fascia?  Fascia responds well to pulling or lengthening.  Just normal static and dynamic stretching does wonders, and honestly, it just feels great.  Other techniques such as myofascial release can help with the breakdown of scar tissue in the fascia.  Both are equally important but care must be consistent and comprehensive! 

 Some self-applied techniques which provide me relief include self-myofascial release and static stretching.  I implement the use of a lacrosse ball to a trigger-point area of pain which helps break down any scar tissue in the fascia and helps release a tightened muscle.  Static stretching post self-myofascial release helps lengthen the muscle and fascia.  Fascia can be visualized as having a plastic-like structure.  Time spent lengthening or resetting it will have lasting effects if done consistently!  Symmetry and being pain-free is the goal.

Timothy Garcia is an ACSM-certified personal trainer who works under Elite Strength and Conditioning as well as Tampa Bay Holistic Wellness.  He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from the University of South Florida.  He works alongside Gaze Hot Yoga teaching a group class called Fascial Dynamics which focuses on mobility and being pain-free.  He is currently also studying corrective exercise, focusing on a holistic view of health and wellness.

Kid tested, mother approved.

When I first started practicing yoga, I was a dad that had plenty of extra time.  I say extra, but as many of you know that statement has a limiter attached. My "extra time" had an "extra tiny human attached." So you know, cooking breakfast, going grocery shopping, hanging out at the park, they were my jam.  But yoga? That was for people with extra, extra time.

Enter Shana Levine and Robin Kurian. The studio where I practiced had kid and adult yoga classes simultaneously twice a week, taught by these two. So twice a week I was guaranteed my practice because of this reliable "child care." What's more is this child care was actually forming patterns of consciousness, and body awareness in my daughter that were an absolutely necessary foundation for her continuing health even now. Her physical health as well as nonviolent communication skills, body autonomy, self love, and an ability work together with kids of all different ages, were all things she got just "while I was practicing." As parents, we need a minute sometimes, and that is totally fine.  Our kids need a minute too, and I was so glad for her minute to be spent in a conscious way.

I am so excited to offer this possibility to other parents.  For more information about Shana read her article here.  Now let's ALL practice.

Let's get awkward.

 Yoga shows us things.  Sometimes it is exactly what you want to see. Sometimes it gets a little awkward. This is a yogi from your community who has surrendered to that possibility.  Thank you Maryam!

Where were you born? 

  Brooklyn, NY

Where do you live? 

  Tampa, now but I'm from the eastern end of Long Island.

How long have you been practicing?

    Since 2001

How does yoga help you? 

  I'd probably not be able to move very much now without yoga since I've had so many injuries. I'd probably not be able to use my mind very well either.

What do you do for a living? 

  College Professor

How do you find time for yoga? 

  My schedule changes every semester so I'm never sure what time I will have for what classes beforehand. But I take he first two weeks of every term to see what times feel good and then I schedule it in agenda as if it's a class or work meeting.

Do you have a favorite yoga posture?

   Hmm. Not really. I have a rotation of postures that are my least favorite though hahaha

Is there an aspect of yoga you want to learn more about? 

  I read a lot about yoga, so I know there's a mountain of things I want to learn more about. The stuff I'm interested the most in though is more along the lines of my own research. Does yoga change the way you talk and identify yourself to others.

What's your favorite curse word?

 Asshole. It's gender neutral. Everybody has one, everybody can be one.

What other profession would you like to have?

 Life coach. Which is very close to what I already do for the most part. Working with people more closely and individually is deeply satisfying. The sorts of things I do with Gambol Fitness speaks to that side of things-- dialect coaching, communication and presentation skills, and just general improving your life stuff, especially time management. I already work with people on that, but it isn't my main hustle. I love teaching college students the most. That's a very long answer to just say that I would choose exactly what I am currently doing if I had a chance to do it over. I just wouldn't have made the way to this point quite so arduous and difficult.

What are you most fearful of in the next year?

 Last year, I made a strong decision to change my life and to be happier and move forward-- forcefully move forward, regardless of the difficulty. So far, it's been pretty okay. But it's always looming that things might not work out and I might have to go back to an older more unhappy iteration of my life. In terms of the world, I fear that this frightening trend of thinking that thinking is overrated will become an even stronger force that it is. I mean, seriously-- how did we get ourselves into this place?

What would make you happy to see happen in the next year?

 I'd like to settle in and feel like I have a long-term home in Tampa. I've been sort of a nomad for the last few years. It would be nice to have a couch and a place to call home. Like my own home.

What's your pet peeve?

Social scientists must strive not to judge more than most people, I think. I don't have too many pet peeves, but I do like it when people follow the rules. Things like texting and driving make me so mad. But if you aren't potentially endangering people, do your thing.

Wait. I thought of one. I hate how people put on air conditioning when it would be equally cool if you opened the window. Like, is fake recirculated air that much more pleasant?

What are you learning about yourself through it?
That I'm a bit of a goody two shoes? I should say that I'm getting a bit more used to living in Florida and I need to get over myself. Except that I'm so totally right about the air conditioning hahahaha. But the reason that I have fewer pet peeves these days is that I have actually gotten over myself after a long and hard life. Everyone has something going on. And one of the main things I tell my anthropology students is that Rule #1 is that we aren't mind readers. I really try to be aware of that all the time. Nobody has any clue what's going on in my head. Most people wouldn't want to hang out in my brain for very long. Too uncomfortable.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.

If you've never been in a hot yoga class, it's easy to be intimidated by the thought of jumping in the "torture chamber" for 90 minutes. Maybe because you just don't know what to expect, and there is a lot of chit chat about it on the internet, and some of it is true, and of course some of it is absurd.  So, allow me to debunk a few myths and tell you exactly what you can expect in your first hot yoga class. 

First of all, try to let go of your expectations.  Like starting any new practice in your life, you will not be an expert your first time.  If you can accept this the better off you'll be.  I like to use a swim cap as an analogy.  If you go to your local pool to start taking swim lessons, you will probably be given a swim cap.  I think we can agree, that nobody looks super cool in a swim cap. Everyone at the swim lesson has already accepted that they may look a little silly, but everyone is there looking silly together and taking the steps necessary to get better at swimming.  Your first yoga class can feel the same way.  Your only job for that class and maybe several more after that, is letting go of how silly you think you look, and doing what you need to do to keep going. 

Yoga is brimming with benefits, and the posture series we practice here works every muscle head to toe. All of the postures are meant for beginning yoga students, and are centered around strengthening the spine.  When your spine is strong and flexible, every other structure and system in your body can operate more efficiently.  Because the postures are practiced in a heated room, your body will be warmer and ready to move, so any fears you have about level of flexibility will likely be squashed right away, because your tissues will be able to move better, your circulation will be improved, and your breath will feel more natural.

When you come to your first class there are some basic logistics to consider as well to make sure you get the most out of your class.

         - Come hydrated. You will sweat a lot, and you are welcome to bring a bottle of water to class to sip on. However, if you are under hydrated and feel like you need to guzzle water throughout class then you run the risk of being uncomfortable trying to practice with a belly full of water.

          - Eat something. Plan ahead, and have a small meal an hour or so before class starts.  Having a little something to eat can help you power through class, but if there is anything in your stomach, it will remind you it's there.

           - Dress light. You will be sweating and the clothes you are wearing will get wet.  If you have on clothes with a lot of fabric and extra room in them, that fabric and room will quickly turn into a distraction.  Imagine pants legs or shirt sleeves turning into sweat soaked flags/banners proudly proclaiming "I'm your shirt! and I'm in your way again." 

          - Breathe. Your goal for your first class should be to stay on your mat.  If you need a break, take it. sit down. lie down. breathe. When you are first starting it's easy to think that this is failure, or because you took a break you are somehow not practicing yoga anymore.  You absolutely are. When you can find a connection to your breath and be still when you are on the verge of a freak out, THAT is what practicing yoga is.

When you finish your first class you will probably feel super jazzed you survived. And you should! When you struggle through class and learn to stay clam and trust your body and your breath, it's a big accomplishment! You might feel so great that you want to jump up and hit the road right away. Instead, take a few minutes to lie down and relax. There is time for this built into class, and your body has a lot of things to reorganize inside.  If you allow yourself time to lie down and be still after class you may find that you are bursting with energy when you get up. It is often said that yoga is the gas station, and as you practice your tank is filled up again and again.

Finally, in the days following your first class you will probably be sore.  Yoga has amazing healing powers and this is a sign that those powers are at work. But you just moved your body in a new way, and it takes time to take the weak parts of your body and make them strong.  Keep drinking water. Staying hydrated can help your tissues heal faster, and feel better. Keep coming to class too. Your soreness can be helped by getting back in the room feeling the heat, and trusting the postures to help you heal, get stronger, and more focused.  You are much stronger than you tell yourself. You CAN do it.