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The Yoga Therapy Boom
Yoga Therapy is becoming a recognised and scientifically proven mind/body system to improve physical, mental, and emotional health. UK Parliament, the NHS, Global Yoga Therapy day and conferences in Europe, the USA and Australia are testament that to the efficacy of yoga therapy backed up by scientific research and trials.
With over-stretched health services, high rates of absenteeism at work, prescriptions to treat symptoms, yoga therapy can work alongside other treatments to support healing and wellness.
Who is yoga therapy for?
Anyone can benefit from yoga therapy – you do not need to have experience of yoga classes, postures, meditation, mindfulness or philosophy. With your expertise in you and the therapist’s skills in guiding and educating, the yoga therapist will assess your needs and collaborate with you in selecting appropriate and engaging practices to help you to begin to move through the difficulties or disturbances you are bringing into the therapeutic space.
You are ready for change – you may arrive with some kind of physical, mental, emotional stress or pain. Having tried the ‘usual routes’ to recover good health and wellbeing, you may find that prescriptions and given exercises are not working or they do not feel right for you. Each person is an individual, each day is different, each session is a new experience, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to your ailments. The yoga therapist will be offer a different approach in response to what is needed in the moment.
What is yoga therapy?
A yoga therapy session is different from a private yoga class in emphasis. Rather than teaching or correcting your yoga postures, we come to an understanding of presenting symptoms or challenges you are facing. Appropriate yoga practices like physical postures and sequences, mindful breathing, meditation and relaxation techniques may be used to connect held tension and pain in the physical body with mental and emotional states. Dropping into the deeper layers through yoga practices gives us time and space to explore that which is held in the body. A process of talking it through and working it out is used to integrate and re-establish your body’s natural state of balance.
Yoga therapy takes in the whole person, a holistic practice that includes what’s happening in your life as well as what’s happening in your body. Stuck patterns, stressful events, environmental factors and ongoing stress affect you on many levels, starting with the nervous system and stress chemicals. If you are receiving medical treatment, yoga therapy in conjunction with traditional medicine, may be a powerful path to recovery.
The yoga therapist will never push or force you to go further. you are coached in speaking out and collaborating to find out what works for you. This is a collaborative and inclusive process that is different from a given prescription. When you are involved in decision-making, there is an enthusiasm and empowerment that comes with the realization that you are the expert in your own body and architect of your own life.
Professional Yoga Therapy Training
Your yoga therapist is professionally trained with at least 600hrs or more of study to diploma level as well as their previous professional training as a yoga teacher or other health professional. Our Yoga United Education training is quality-assured and accredited by the BCYT (British Council for Yoga Therapy). Yoga therapists have extensive experience and expertise in guiding you with knowledge, trauma sensitivity and non-judgmental compassion for your process.
What to expect in a 1-2-1 session
Following your completion of an intake form, the yoga therapist will usually start with a general discussion about your needs, what you hope to receive from working together, taking into account your history and any pain or injuries to establish appropriate practices.
The first session is a getting to know you process and may include appropriate movement and breathing practices, a guided meditation or body scan to establish an intention going forward. If the yoga therapist feels touch might be helpful in the session, they will ask permission beforehand and it is always your choice whether to accept or decline the use of touch. The yoga therapist creates a safe space in which to guide you into a process that you are ready to engage with. They will always check with you about therapeutic touch and boundaries, your window of tolerance and your preferences during your session.
This is not a personal 1-2-1 yoga class where the teacher instructs you in advancing or correcting the yoga postures on your mat. Your session may take many paths through the physical practice and into exploration of what your body is holding in deeper layers of tension or pain, to acknowledge the root of the symptoms and find ways through to repair, resolution and healing, to a settled state of mind and holistic wellbeing. This works on many levels whether addressing a physical imbalance or injury, mental conditions like anxiety or depression, emotional overwhelm and trauma, a lack of energy, or spiritual disconnect.
The yoga therapist uses a skillful integration discussion to create an action step or plan to take away. You will be invited to co-create action steps for going out into the world to support ongoing and lasting change for your body, mind and spirit.
If it’s a good fit, you can book further sessions, usually in blocks of 6 to give time to see progress, with agreements on how you will self-support in between sessions.
What can I bring to yoga therapy?
Yoga Therapy can help to restore balance and function in the physical (musculoskeletal), physiological (digestion, respiration, cardiovascular, endocrine and immune), and regulate mental/ emotional disturbances. Specifically:
Release stress, held tension and pain
Get to the root of physical issues not only treat the symptoms
Move from a dysregulated nervous system towards regulated balance and calm
Become more aware, find clarity and acknowledge truth that helps in your work and life
Cope better with anxiety, depression, anger, loss and grief
Let go of what is not yours or that which you no longer wish to carry
Repair or develop your relationship with Self and others
Find strength and clarity, moving on from a confused/stuck mind
Empowerment to change your life with confidence and step into your power
Rediscover joy in your life…connect with your wisdom, gain confidence and trust in yourself
Check out our next FREE yoga therapy taster and courses https://www.yogaunited.com/education
For 1-2-1s with Judy Hirsh Sampath and our professional graduates at Yoga United Education
Contact us us at [email protected]
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