What is Yoga Therapy?
Sep 03, 2015 02:36PM ● By Nora Vimala Pozzi and Shannon Somogyi
Yoga is by its very essence therapeutic. How then can a distinction be made between a yoga class and a yoga therapy session, a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist? In 2007, the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), defined yoga therapy as: “the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the philosophy and practice of yoga.”
Yoga is beneficial for health in ways that modern science is just beginning to understand. Even though it has been applied with therapeutic intention for thousands of years, yoga therapy is just now emerging as a discipline. More healthcare practitioners are beginning to include yogic techniques in their approach to healing and people who have never tried yoga before are starting to consider yoga as part of their medical treatment plans.
Yoga therapy is designed to integrate traditional yogic concepts and techniques with Western medical and psychological knowledge. Whereas traditional yoga is primarily concerned with personal transcendence on the part of a “normal” or healthy individual, yoga therapy aims at the holistic treatment of clients with physical, mental and/or emotional issues. Both approaches, however, share an understanding of the human being as an integrated body-mind system, which can function optimally only when there is a state of dynamic balance.
Yoga therapy is used to treat a wide range of issues, including chronic pain, headaches, fatigue, stress, depression, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, hypertension, cancer, addiction, multiple sclerosis, respiratory problems and mobility issues. Yoga therapy can also help children with ADD, ADHD, autism, SPD, and dyslexia.
Yoga therapy sessions can be non-prescriptive, where the therapist guides clients through meditation to a source of inner wisdom/intuition to determine the next action steps. Or it can be prescriptive, where clients are given specific routines to address their physical/mental condition, which may include adapted asanas (poses), breathing techniques (pranayama), meditation techniques, mantras or chants, imagery, healing or speaking circles, journaling and the encouragement of daily practice.
Yoga therapy empowers clients by facilitating an opportunity for self-responsibility and deeper self-awareness where they can access their own healing resources, identify possible sources of physical or mental symptoms and the lifestyle habits that may contribute to them and take responsibility for healing in partnership with the yoga therapist. The role of the therapist is not to “teach” or “advise”, but to listen non-judgmentally, creating a relationship of trust with the client in order to facilitate inner exploration, transformation and healing.
Nora Vimala Pozzi, ERYT 500, PRYT, YCaT, is owner/director of Integral Yoga Center of Richmond and a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner. She offers yoga therapy sessions in Richmond. For more information, call 804-342-1061 or visit YogaHelps.com.
Shannon Somogyi, RYT 200, RCYT, is a certified yoga therapist at Spiritual Flow Yoga Studio in Midlothian. For more information, visit SpiritualFlowYogaStudio.com.
