The Therapeutic Yoga Partnership
This blog will explore a little more deeply into the potential for a therapeutic Yoga practice.
When my world unravelled, and I was lost in the miasma of overwhelm, burnout, stress, anxiety, despair, it was to Yoga that I turned to find my way home. My practice helped me to reconnect with the me that is uniquely me, to gain perspective and – one day at a time, one practice at a time – to rediscover what it is that brings me joy and makes my heart sing.
There are many students (and potential students) who will benefit from a more personalised practice, and some experienced yoga teachers will offer one to one classes. If you have a sense that you want to do some Yoga, and don’t know where to start, this is a great way to find out more, and specifically what is going to work well for you as a student. This type of practice is ideal for people who are starting or returning to yoga, and perhaps don’t have the confidence to join a general class. It’s also a beneficial practice for students who are recuperating or recovering, anyone who feels they would benefit from a personalised practice. And it’s a great way to invest in a bit of quality ‘me time’.
To be clear though, and in my opinion, one to one Yoga is not Yoga Therapy, which is a specific and very different practice, requiring a deeper knowledge and understanding and specialised training.
The International Association of Yoga Therapists defines Yoga Therapy as: “The professional application of the principles and practices of yoga to promote health and well-being within a therapeutic relationship that includes personalised assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management and yoga practices for individuals or small groups”.
The influential Yoga master, T V K Desikachar, described Yoga Therapy like this: “… a self-empowering process, where the care seeker, with the help of the Yoga Therapist, implements a personalised and evolving yoga practice that not only addresses the illness in a multi-dimensional manner, but also aims to alleviate (their) suffering in a progressive, non-invasive and complementary manner”.
Personally, I like to describe Yoga Therapy as the crucible where the ancient practices and philosophies of Yoga combine with contemporary medical and scientific thinking, to produce unique and sustainable pathways to personal health and wellbeing. And, for me, Yoga Therapy is not about being ‘fixed’ by an expert; it is always about the Therapist and Client working together in partnership.
Yoga Therapists are often (but not always), Yoga Teachers, who will have completed an additional and specific programme of learning to qualify as an accredited Yoga Therapist. This is an intense training, usually lasting for several years and consisting of over 500 hours of teaching. Qualification entails successfully completing the taught course; also passing exams and clinical assessments, writing a dissertation, and completing supervised client sessions.
Yoga therapy starts from an understanding that the client intrinsically knows what is best for them; and that the role of the Yoga Therapist is to act as a guide on the journey, drawing on their knowledge and experience to create a programme of techniques and practices which have a specific curative effect for each client.
Yoga Therapy is a multi-tiered approach, and sessions will usually include breathing practices, postures, dialogue, meditation, relaxation techniques, lifestyle advice and the promotion of behavioural change; all designed to meet the unique and particular health needs of each individual. Sessions are always client focussed, moving at a pace and intensity which is right for each client. A programme of Yoga Therapy typically consists of six sessions in the first instance; the client will bring a commitment to complete all six sessions, as well as the home practices in between times. The Yoga Therapist commits to providing a safe space to hold the client on their journey, both during the sessions themselves, and by providing the opportunity to follow up and check in in between sessions.
Yoga Therapy can be successfully used to treat a range of mental and physical conditions including (and most certainly not restricted to), stress, anxiety, depression, addictions and maladaptive behaviours; auto-immune diseases, chronic pain, arthritis and osteoporosis; Long Covid (with additional specific training); burn out, overwhelm, exhaustion. There is never a sense that any condition is too small or insignificant to warrant a therapeutic intervention. Often a Yoga Therapist will work from their own experience and specialise in working with conditions which have personal significance for them.
I am a fully qualified Minded Yoga Therapist; I graduated from my training with the Minded Institute in January 2020. I am registered with both the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council.
I work with a range of conditions, and I specialise in working with people who are, like I was, overwhelmed, burnt out, exhausted – in all the manifestations of these conditions. This includes working with clients who are struggling with addictive and maladaptive behaviours, with stress, anxiety, depression, with Chronic Fatigue/ME, with chronic pain. And yes, this surely does come from my personal experience of, and recovery from, the fall out of burn out and exhaustion, overwhelm and chronic stress.
Simply put, I work with people who have had enough, and having had enough, know it’s not nearly enough.
My approach is systemic and holistic, and my focus is always on what is possible, what can be changed, how to let go of what is no longer needed, and what will increase feelings of personal wellbeing. I feel that it’s important to flex against the parameters of what holds us back so that we can discover the possibilities of what can be, changing the perspective to a sense of what the self, the body, can do, rather than being defined by what we can’t do, what’s ‘wrong’ with us.
And yes, increasingly the scientific evidence shows that the way we breath, the way we budget our body’s resources, the way we move our bodies, the mindset we bring to our sense of wellbeing – all of these things absolutely and positively change the way we are.
If any of what I’ve written resonates with you, or if you would like to know more about any of my practices, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me here: gail@dancingwarriors.com