WHAT IS YOGA THERAPY
Yoga Therapy offers personalized and compassionate care, promoting embodiment and the interconnectedness of body, mind and spirit in order to promote healing.
Yoga Therapy is a complimentary therapy based on ancient Yoga philosophy and modern scientific research. It compassionately supports people with a large variety of chronic or temporary conditions who are best served with an individualized yoga practice or in small groups. Practices are tailored to suit your individual needs and, depending on what resonates with you, may incorporate many traditional yoga practices including: asana (postures and movement), pranayama (breathwork), yoga nidra and other forms of meditation, mudras (hand gestures), sankalpa (intention setting / affirmation), mantra & chanting.
There are four goals of Yoga Therapy:
The first is to regulate the nervous system so your entire system is tuned for healing
The second is to lessen acute physical symptoms by opening and releasing holding in the body and increasing circulation
The third goal is to lessen emotional distress, such as anxiety, depression, and self-criticism
The forth is to reconnect with your true essence - that sense of feeling whole and connected.
All of these goals of approached from a human-centered lense of care. The spiritual practices I share are predominantly influenced by ancient Yoga philosophy and Earth-based spirituality. They are secular and can work within your own spiritual beliefs. I have supported people across many faiths including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and atheism.
Yoga is most effective when practices can be translated into everyday life “off the mat”. What does this mean? If you’re practicing a sun or moon salutation you’re learning:
to connect movement to breath,
what it feels like to nourish yourself,
how to release the constriction of a “control” mindset,
to feel empowered, and
to act mindfully with agency of your actions.
How can Yoga Therapy help?
An increasing numbers of studies have shown the benefits of Yoga as a complimentary therapy for an extremely wide variety of health concerns – from infertility, to cancer, to heart disease, to sports injuries, to trauma, grief, anxiety or depression. Increasingly doctors and psychotherapists are recommending their patients include Yoga as part of their healing RX.
As a complimentary practice Yoga Therapy often works well in collaboration with other medical and psychological care. If you have a medical condition or are working with other wellness practitioners we can design a Yoga practice that compliments other care.
In turn, you learn to take better care of your Self, to listen to your body for queues of wellbeing or distress, to release tension before it becomes chronic, and you become more mindful of maladaptive emotional patterns so you can shift to a healthy state more easily.
What happens in a one-on-one yoga therapy session ?
I work with you to co-create a practice that is comfortable and beneficial to your unique body and life circumstance. Together we will explore a variety of yoga practices and discover those that are most helpful to YOU. We also identify and adapt practices that may be contraindicated. We will develop a set of practices that you can do at home or in a group class. You can read more about what to expect in a Yoga Therapy session HERE.
If you would like to learn more about how Yoga Therapy could help, then I invite you to book complimentary 20-minute consultation to find out if Yoga Therapy is right for you.