50 Shades of Grey Matter: Manage Stress with Neurosculpting Yoga

Stress. It can motivate our finest moments–adrenaline-fueled superhuman strength has allegedly saved individuals pinned by 3,000 pound vehicles–or give us gray hair prematurely (see every President ever). Most people react to environmental stressors in a kind of involuntary, knee-jerk manner. There is a better way, though. Think of your brain as an animal that can be trained. Just as intentionally smiling or laughing can actually positively enhance your mood, curating your thoughts and your thought patterns can radically and dramatically transform your daily reality.

Thunderbolt. It’s an alternate name for utkatasana or chair pose. I’m curious how Lisa Wimberger feels about it. On one hand, Wimberger was struck by lightning at 15—a trauma that gave her seizures for nearly 15 years. On the other, she eventually developed a healing and stress management modality called Neurosculpting and regained control of her life. Wimberger co-created Neurosculpting Yoga with Denver yoga psychotherapist Michelle Weldon. And Weldon is facilitating a Neurosculpting Yoga workshop this Saturday, April 4 at the Hilltop location of Kindness Yoga.

303 Magazine sat down–in Lotus pose, of course–with Weldon to discuss matters of the heart opener and grey matter.

How did you first discover Neurosculpting?

I had heard incredible things about Lisa Wimberger’s work for years and decided that I wanted to give it a try. As a Yoga Psychotherapist and Coach, I spend a lot of time facilitating others and I wanted to give myself something that was just for me, a practice where I could feel supported. The pragmatic neuroscience behind Lisa’s work really appealed to the scientist in me. I experienced such a profound impact on my own life that I couldn’t help bringing Neurosculpting® into my work with clients and began to study with Lisa on a professional level.

How did Neurosculpting Yoga come about?

I have been implementing the practice of using yoga and meditation to help clients re-wire old patterns and heal trauma in my yoga~psychotherapy practice for years. After personally experiencing the profound effect of Neurosculpting®, I knew the two were born to merge. Pooling our decades of combined experience in yoga, psychology, meditation and neuroscience, we crafted Neurosculpting® Yoga.

How would you describe Neurosculpting Yoga in layman’s terms?

Neurosculpting® Yoga is any regular, mindfully taught therapeutic yoga, plus some. If you think of yoga as a seed, a source full of healing in and of itself, you might think of Neurosculpting® Yoga as a nutrient-rich blanket gently layered on top of the yoga seed to nourish, expand and even exponentiate the potential. Using Neurosculpting® language, specific sequencing and guided visualization, Neurosculpting® Yoga enhances the whole brain process involved in both regular yoga and meditation to create an even deeper integration between right and left hemispheres of the brain to prime your mind, body and spirit for a more complete healing experience, with suggestions given as to how to integrate some of the practices into your everyday life.

What is the most dramatic transformation you’ve personally experienced or witnessed?

In terms of my professional work, I’ve seen clients with anxiety issues who have been in therapy all their lives successfully complete treatment in 3 months. I’ve also seen clients working on personal empowerment reach levels of confidence they had never previously experienced and be promoted at work and have more successful relationships. On a more personal note, using my Neurosculpting® Yoga practice regularly, I feel fully and authentically able to handle all of life’s intensity with almost total grace and ease. Almost… because I am human after all.

Neurosculpting Yoga transpires this Saturday, April 4 at the Hilltop location of Kindness Yoga. For the down dog lowdown, visit Kindness.