What is Yoga Therapy
Introducing Yoga Therapy. This practice and study Yoga Therapy uses all of his knowledge and understanding of Yoga to give groups and individuals the tools they need to enhance and enliven their lives, reduce suffering, increase patience and understanding, and live a life where YOU feel in charge of your life. Yoga Therapy is a Practice that is given to individuals to help them with their life. We must define the word YOGA here as this word carries many connotations and definitions that may not accurately describe the word as it applies to Yoga Therapy.
When talking about the word “Yoga”, in Yoga Therapy, we use the word to describe practices and procedures that are time-tested over hundreds of years. Think of Acupuncture and its history in the East. This is similar to YOGA and its history in the east. The YOGA component is simply using movements of the body, breath patterns, and contemplations that have been shown to be effective for hundreds of years. Now in the west we are studying the efficacy of Yoga Therapy. It is now being used in hospitals! In fact, America is behind the Yoga Therapy curve. Places such as Korea, Europe, and of course East Asia are utilizing these practices as clinics and hospitals.
The Therapy part of Yoga Therapy is us working together to create a practice that will support and enhance your situation. That may mean talking about things, or evaluating our habits, patterns, and conditioning. We definitely learn to assess ourselves so as to bring better understanding to us. When we put the two words together changes our whole concept of Yoga and Therapy.
In yoga we typically are in a group class and working on things the instructor is offering. In therapy we are typically sitting on a couch and diving into our life. In Yoga Therapy we are ACTIVELY working on the things that traditional therapy brings up. We are no longer passive participants but are actively involved in the healing process.
Assessing ourselves is one of the key aspects of Yoga Therapy. Determining where we are out of balance in Body, Breath, and Mind helps us both to create a physical practice to address these things. Knowing thyself is key. And with Yoga Therapy we strive to continue to understand our life, our habits and patterns.
A Yoga Therapy practice will give you the opportunity to take charge of your life. What do I mean about that? With other modalities and practices others are doing things for us. Massage, Acupuncture, and Chiropractic, to name a few, a provider or therapist is doing something TO you. All of these are wonderful ways we can heal and feel enlivened. But with Yoga Therapy, YOU get to work on YOU with a series of practices prescribed solely for YOU and your specific needs.
Who can do Yoga Therapy? Anyone! You do not need:
To be flexible
To have special yoga clothes
Spend more than 20 minutes regularly to affect deep changes
Give up or be concerned that your faith system will be challenged. The Yoga Part is just movements, breaths, and contemplations that have been effectively used for hundreds of years.
Yoga Therapy helps people of all ages and abilities.
Together, in Yoga Therapy, we grow and understand ourselves better. We continually set goals and create practices that help us meet these goals. Yoga Therapy is not a one and done type of practice. It is a relationship between you and I to help you better enjoy life and address its changing nature.
