What is yoga therapy?
Yoga therapy is an individualized practice that is co-created between you and the yoga therapist. It uses breath, movement, meditation, and nervous system education to support physical and emotional wellbeing. Unlike a general yoga class, sessions are tailored to your specific needs and circumstances and delivered one-to-one or in small group classes. Sessions are available online across North America and in person in London, Ontario.
Most people who find their way to yoga therapy aren't looking for yoga.
They're looking for relief — from the kind of exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix, from anxiety that has become the background hum of daily life, from a nervous system that stays switched on long after the stressful moment has passed.
Yoga therapy meets you there. Not with a fixed sequence of poses, but with a practice built around you — your body, your history, your life.
What makes yoga therapy different from a yoga class?
Yoga therapy is individualised. Where a yoga class offers a general practice to a group, yoga therapy works with one person at a time — assessing what you need, identifying what helps, and adapting as things change.
Sessions draw on the full range of yoga's tools: breath practices, movement, yoga nidra, meditation, and somatic awareness. What we use depends on what you're working with. There are no hands-on adjustments and no expectation that you'll look a certain way in a pose. Every session is trauma-informed — which means safety, pacing, and your own sense of agency come first.
Who comes to yoga therapy?
Most of the people I work with are navigating some version of the same experience: their nervous system is stuck in a pattern that isn't serving them anymore. That can look like chronic stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, burnout, emotional overwhelm, or a persistent sense of disconnection from their own body.
Some have been in therapy for years and want something that works with the body, not just the mind. Some have been recommended by a psychotherapist or doctor. Some have tried general yoga and found it wasn't gentle or specific enough.
If you work in mental health or healthcare and want to integrate somatic tools into your practice, there is also a dedicated pathway for that — you can find it on the Professional Training page.
How can yoga therapy help?
Yoga therapy has a growing evidence base as a complementary approach for a wide range of conditions. The work I do is focused particularly on:
Anxiety and nervous system dysregulation
Chronic stress and burnout
Sleep difficulties
Trauma history and complex PTSD
Emotional overwhelm and low mood
Body-based symptoms of stress (tension, fatigue, shallow breathing)
Yoga therapy works well alongside other medical and psychological care. If you are working with a therapist, doctor, or other practitioner, we can design a practice that fits within your broader support rather than replacing it.
The outcomes of yoga therapy
There are four things I hold as goals across all the work we do together.
The first is to regulate the nervous system — to help your whole system shift out of a chronic stress state and into one where healing, rest, and recovery are actually possible.
The second is to ease physical symptoms: held tension, shallow breath, the body's accumulated response to long-term stress.
The third is to lessen emotional distress — anxiety, self-criticism, emotional patterns that feel larger than you'd like them to.
The fourth, and perhaps the quietest, is reconnection — to your body, your sense of wholeness, your capacity to feel at home in yourself.
All of this is approached with a human-centred lens. We go at your pace. Nothing is forced.
What to expect in a session
Sessions are collaborative. We work together to explore practices, discover what resonates, and build something you can take into your everyday life — not just something that happens on a mat for an hour.
I am a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and have been practising and teaching for over 20 years. My work is trauma-informed and draws on current nervous system science — including polyvagal theory and somatic approaches — alongside the deeper traditions of yoga.
Online sessions take place by video call. No special equipment is required — just a quiet space and enough room to lie down and move gently. You can read more about what to expect on the What to Expect page.
Ready to find out if yoga therapy is right for you?
I offer a free 20-minute consultation — a chance to talk about what you're working with and whether this feels like a good fit. No pressure, no commitment.
FAQs What is Yoga Therapy
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No experience is necessary. Yoga therapy begins where you are. Sessions are adapted to your current body and ability — there are no poses you need to be able to do, and no prior practice required.
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A yoga class offers a practice designed for a group. Yoga therapy is one-to-one and built specifically for you — your needs, your history, your goals. It draws on a wider range of yoga's tools than a typical class, and adapts as your needs change.
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Yes — yoga therapy is a complementary practice, not a replacement for clinical care. Many people find it works well alongside psychotherapy, medical treatment, or other wellness support. If you are working with other practitioners, we can design a practice that fits within your broader care.
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Online sessions take place by video call. You will need a quiet space and enough room to lie down and move gently — no specialist equipment is required. Most people find online sessions just as effective as in-person, and many prefer the convenience of practising from home.
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The best way to find out is to have a conversation. I offer a free 20-minute consultation where we can talk about what you're navigating and whether yoga therapy feels like a useful fit. There's no obligation to continue.