Ask yourself, how would my movement and meditation practice be enhanced if I were to learn from an expert whose life experience includes being a prima ballerina and a teacher in pilates, yoga and mindful meditation, and being the mother of two young adults?
Kyra’s experience is wide, deep and varied. Her Therapeutic Yoga practice draws upon the Kosha Model, which is based on the five layers of the self: physical (annamaya kosha), energetic (pranamaya kosha), emotional/mental (manomaya kosha), intellectual/intuitive (vijnanamaya kosha), and bliss (anandamaya kosha).
Some people misperceive that yoga is some kind of religion. It’s not. It’s really a kind of psychology that uses the body to get out of the head which can then give you a better perspective on everything.
-Kyra Strasberg
Many people come to Kyra’s private practice, Willow Oak Wellness with particular physical issues, stress or because of chronic pain. During her initial assessment, Kyra considers how the physical relates to and interacts with the whole person.
Our injuries...things that occur...are messages and the body our messenger. If something takes place in your body, and you aren’t tuned in to really listen, you are not going to hear the message. Inevitably something will happen and keep happening until it turns into a far greater situation which could potentially require much more attention than it would have if we were listening in the first place.
-Kyra Strasberg
Kyra regards the physical body as an entry point to deeper emotional, mental and spiritual discoveries. She begins sessions with centering and breath work to help clients land in the moment. As they start to manage stress and move out of their analytical minds they begin little by little to feel embodied ... more connected to being in their bodies and as a wonderful consequence in their lives.
When we don’t feel good in our own skin, we have a hard time connecting, truly connecting in life.
-Kyra Strasberg
The challenges of burnout, both professional and personal, hold particular interest for Kyra. She has developed Compassion Fatigue Classes specifically designed for caregivers, healthcare workers, and mental health professionals. The class incorporates checking - in to take the pulse of the room, breath work, gentle yoga to lengthen the fascia, some form of physical letting go, and yoga nidra (yogic sleep) to allow participants to release tension and disconnect from the stressors of their vocations.
Yoga gave me a sense of expansion beyond all the other physicality that I had experienced. The more yoga I did, the more my mind settled down, the more I appreciated the silence and pauses in life.
-Kyra Strasberg
Kyra especially loves collaborating with other professionals who have an integrative whole health approach to wellness and healing. She sees benefits to both in-person sessions and online sessions. She notes that virtual ones offer accessible and comfortable ways to learn new skills and manage stress from the comfort of one’s own home, without the time commitment, not to mention the potential stress involved with getting to a session.
When people connect with Kyra, they immediately feel supported by her lived experience of healing. She draws on that embodied wisdom and guides them as they move through health challenges, stress, and pain. But most of all, she helps them learn to trust their body and their own inner voice.
I have clients that have such innate wisdom that just haven’t learned how to listen to it.
-Kyra Strasberg