More people are seeking a holistic answer to health concerns, rather than just treating the ailment at hand.

Ana Slater-Steede spoke to The Royal Gazette about her practice at the MindBody Wellness and Ashlan Sports Centre, in the International Building.

Mrs. Slater-Steede's journey to practising yoga has been something, she says, that chose her. Not because she was in pain, but because she wanted to come into alignment.

"I don't know that I decided to do it, it chose me," she said.

"When I was a teenager I was always interested in health and I remember when I was about 18 or 19 I was doing a lot of health things and I took a year off between high school and college.

"But I always had this interest in holistic health, so I was investigating vegetarianism and all these things. I was really attracted to a lot of things and I was in an environment booming with a lot of things to explore.

"So that's how I first got into it. I was taking dance classes, not because I was a dancer, but for physical fitness and someone in that dance class told me that I needed to take this yoga class. And I enjoyed it."

It was through her process of looking for balance, that led her to teach yoga. "I have been teaching for the past eight years, although I have been doing yoga since I was a teenager," she said. "I did the training about nine years ago, and then started doing it full time."

She practices Thai Yoga Massage, Pilates, and yoga, out of the three the two latter ones explain themselves, but one would be forgiven for querying, what is Thai Yoga Massage.

"It is about complementing what the whole centre is about, it is about looking at the person holistically and to bring the person into wellness."

Within the Centre, there are a few practitioners and clients are often recommended to another, for further treatment.

"Sometimes Glenn Robinson (massage therapist) will work on a person and they sometimes have the mentality that they are going to come and get 'fixed', so the idea of what we are trying to offer here is to be more self-empowered," she explained.

"But some people come to the yoga classes not just because he sends them to me, but also because they want to de-stress, relax, they want to add to their physical fitness regime, they just like they way it feels, it's good for you – all of these things.

"But in the situations where there are particular cases that Glenn will work with, or I will work with, or people who just call, they want to try something and their doctor has told them that they need to do yoga, Pilates or to get a massage, and then it will be tailored to them.The whole idea is so that they don't just come and expect or limit themselves to have just one person work on them, and to then empower them so that they can begin to really gain skills to really help themselves with their lives."

Regarding her yoga sessions, she said: "One of the main focuses of the yoga classes is really not just to come and stretch, the whole idea is to have an environment where you can safely bring your full attention to yourself, where you are not being distracted by anything else.

"The whole idea is to heighten your awareness, to begin to listen to your body, to explore what hurts when you move it a certain way or how far can you go. And all of that heightened awareness is to complement them in their daily lives, so that they will self-correct."

With both the yoga sessions and the Pilates classes in mind, Mrs. Slater-Steede said: "The whole programme is very educational, so that when they come they are getting more of a comprehension of anatomy and physiology and learning about the biomechanics of themselves.

"And they are learning how to best utilise their bodies in a more functional way, but with the least amount of effort. For instance if the client suffers from backache, she shows them the best way to sit, stand and to rise from a seated position.

"It is just an opportunity to integrate the whole body mind aspect, and to be honest, also the spiritual aspect.

"Some people may not understand the term that way, another way is to look at the energetic aspect, the part that fuels the body and the mind.

"So looking at all those components and looking at how they interact with each other and how you have to try to bring some integration to it, because if you are just dealing with physical and not dealing with the mind or the energetic aspect, because even in the postures you have to be present, you have to breath and you begin to understand the effects that it has when you are distracted.

"So that is basically what we are offering."

Thai Yoga Massage has its basic concepts in yoga, she said.

"It is very comfortable, lots of cushions, but it is a yoga class being done on you," she said.

"So the recipient for the most part is very relaxed and on occasion I might ask them to turn to the side or turn them over myself.

"So the postures are done on you, but in addition to that is why I put them into different poses and then apply pressure.

"But the whole concept is not just the physical postures, but you are also dealing with the energy lines, the same as meridians or acupressure points.

"Thai Yoga Massage and Shiatsu are very much like cousins, and they deal with the same lines, so when you are doing the Thai Massage you are also working on the energy lines and releasing the energy blocks."

In addition, she said the main focus of Thai Yoga Massage was really to open the body.

"So a lot of things can happen, they can explore areas that are tight or need to be addressed, which areas need to be worked. But it also the educational aspect and really learning the range of motion that they have.

"So often times it gives the experience of being able to explore things they maybe on there own or in a yoga class they wouldn't be able to, so it awakens the body.

"It is like having a yoga class done on you and the benefit is that it is very relaxing for the person, but it becomes very introspective and meditative if that is what you want to do.

"But even on that level, you have the sense of sensations and in addition to just stretching them, there is also palming, so there is always that as well.

"It is very nice and enjoyable as well."

[AT]bodyfrank:For more information call 441 292 6830 or visit www.mindbodywellnessonline. com.