Yoga TherapY

Yoga therapy is the professional application of the principles and practices of yoga to promote health and well-being within a therapeutic relationship that includes personalized assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management, and yoga practices for individuals or small groups.

The goals of yoga therapy include:

  • Eliminating, reducing, or managing symptoms that cause suffering

  • Improving function

  • Helping prevent the occurrence or reoccurrence of underlying causes of illness

  • Moving toward improved health and well-being

  • Helping clients/students change their relationship to and identification with their condition

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

—Viktor Frankl

private yoga therapy

Yoga therapy as complementary care

Yoga therapy sessions are beneficial for behavioral and medical health concerns such as:

  • Auto-immune diseases

  • Trauma recovery

  • Rehabilitation & Prehabilitation

  • Disordered eating

  • Addiction

  • Chronic pain

  • Prenatal & Postnatal Care

  • Depression

  • Frozen shoulder

  • Generalized anxiety disorder

  • Pelvic floor issues

  • Insomnia

Yoga is a scientific system of self-investigation, self-transformation, and self-realization that originated in India. The teachings of yoga are rooted in the Vedas and grounded in classical texts and a rich oral tradition. This tradition recognizes that the human being’s essential nature is unchanging awareness that exists in relationship to and identification with the changing phenomena of the empirical world.

The yoga tradition views humans as a multidimensional system that includes all aspects of body; breath; and mind, intellect, and emotions and their mutual interaction. Yoga is founded on the basic principle that intelligent practice can positively influence the direction of change within these human dimensions, which are distinct from an individual’s unchanging nature or spirit.

The practices of yoga traditionally include, but are not limited to, asana, pranayama, meditation, mantra, chanting, mudra, ritual, and a disciplined lifestyle. Yoga therapy is the appropriate application of these teachings and practices in a therapeutic context in order to support a consistent yoga practice that will increase self-awareness and engage the client/student’s energy in the direction of desired goals.

The practice of yoga therapy requires specialized training and skill development to support the relationship between the client student and therapist and to effect positive change for the individual. Yoga therapy is informed by its sister science, Ayurveda. As part of a living tradition, yoga therapy continues to evolve and adapt to the cultural context in which it is practiced, and today it is also informed by contemporary health sciences. Its efficacy is supported by an increasing body of research evidence, which contributes to the growing understanding and acceptance of its value as a therapeutic discipline. (From IAYT)

Protocols

Initial intake and assessments include a holistic look at each individual through the lens of Ayurvedic principles: Dincharya, the Gunas, and the Doshas; and yoga’s philosophical models: the Koshas, Five States of Mind, and the Kleshas, as described in the ancient texts of the Upanishads and Yoga Sutras. Custom aftercare including documentation (audio, photo, video, notes), designed using both Ayurveda and yoga philosophy, is given after each session.

Private sessions and small groups

Yoga therapy is typically a 1:1 practice or for small groups of people with similar concerns.
 Individualized instruction ensures you get the information you need in a safe, non-intimidating environment.