flowing waves yoga

Breathe and Flow

Lorel began her yoga journey during her college years to help ease her chronic pain and inflammation, and help gain more flexibility for her arthritic joints. The positive impact it made on her quality of life led her to pursue a Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in 2012. She has a lot of experience with modifications of poses, and working with the less flexible.
Over the years, yoga has helped Lorel transform her physical and mental health. She is now offering gentle, beginner, restorative, and basic flow classes to help serve the Huntsville area.

upcoming events: 

Flowing Waves Yoga presents a RESTORATIVE YOGA WORKSHOP for the New Year! All bodies are welcome! This 90-minute workshop will help teach you the skills needed to help unwind after the stressful holiday rush, help relax the body with more passive postures, and some pranayama breathing techniques to help clear the mind and soothe your muscles. 

To reserve your spot, please call (256) 202-4987.

Cost: $30
Date: Sunday, 01/14/2024
Time: 2:00- 3:30pm
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Where: Lotus Health Collective
               1310 2nd Ave. N.W. Suite C. Cullman, AL 35055

Benefits of Yoga


​Strength & Balance.  One can really achieve a great overall workout from practicing a few times a week. Flexibility, strength, and a cardiovascular workout are some of the benefits that might be achieved from a regular practice. Not only can you increase physical strength, but yoga may also help with mental strength.  When moving in and out of the postures during your practice you can gain more body awareness, more confidence, and stability as you build the strength needed to hold the postures. 

Stress-Relief. Another great reason to try out yoga is to help decrease stress by lowering cortisol levels. Yoga focuses on the breath (pranayama) as another important element of your asana practice.  It may help lower stress levels by elongating your breath to help oxygenate the blood, relax the diaphragm and other organs while breathing, and bring the body into a calmer state. Practicing movement with deep breathing helps the muscles to let go of tension. Using different pranayama techniques during meditation can also help reduce stress by relaxing the body more and quieting the mind. 

Focus & Clarity. You may wonder why I think this is such a great benefit, but my mind goes a million miles an hour sometimes. During my yoga practice I can finally achieve stillness and calmness in my mind! By focusing on the breath and bringing my awareness to my body and the present moment, the rest of my thoughts tend to slip away... creating a sense of well-being and peace. Learning to let the mind go and learning to embrace the stillness and movement of your practice can be a very beautiful thing, it just might take practice for some of us.

Spiritual Growth. Yoga is more than just some cool looking poses. One of the facets of a yoga practice is connecting the mind, body & spirit, and connecting with your inner self. With that inward reflection, one can start to observe themselves in a different light and connect with God. It is a common misconception that you can't practice yoga if you are a Christian, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. The postures and sequences were established thousands of years ago to help prepare the body for meditation for divine intervention with your creator, or higher power. Practicing yoga helps tie together your own personal spiritual or religious beliefs with your mind, emotions, and your physical body. It provides the opportunity for that growth. Yoga is whatever you need it to be for your individual practice. Mantras, meditations, prayers, and the like are tools to help transform your inner-self to your highest potential and build a closer relationship with God. 

Meditation.  Guided meditation is a great way to start quieting the mind. In this fast paced world we live in, it is easy to be constantly distracted with racing thoughts. In my 12 years of practicing yoga, I realized that I needed to do a lot of work with the inner voice in my head for mental health reasons. My inner voice used to be a lot more negative, filled with doubt, very critical, and always wondering "what if".  Now I work daily on guiding my thoughts and emotions towards a more positive and loving light thanks to yoga. I  have also dedicated a lot of time and effort towards eating cleaner and being more kind to my body.  All this has opened up the space for me to tap into my higher self and gain a closer relationship with God with meditation. Whether it's getting past mental road blocks, emotional blockages, being hard on yourself, accepting our own physical limitations, or whatever it is you are struggling with... yoga is a tool to help get you more in-tune with your higher vibration and help find purpose and inner peace. 

How can I learn more about Yoga?

There are so many different routes to consider when diving into the world of yoga. If you enjoy doing your research before starting something new, I recommend checking out the YOGA JOURNAL website. They have lots of helpful information on that site for all levels and beginners.  If you enjoy reading there are many books on Yoga, but here are some of my recommended texts:

●Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Swami Satchidananda
●Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing 
●Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life
●Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life