The mission of yoga therapy is to adapt the practices of yoga to an individual’s health needs. Yoga therapy is designed to help empower the individual to progress toward greater health and well-being.
In yoga therapy, an individual meets with a yoga therapist with experience in designing a customized yoga practice for individuals with one or more health challenges that includes such things as yoga postures, meditation and breathing techniques to suit an individual’s desired needs. Each session is designed based on the individual’s abilities, goals and needs to help progress toward improved health and well-being.
No previous yoga experience is required. The individual learns to explore the connections between the mind and body, and may realize benefits in breathing, flexibility, balance, strength, and the ability to decrease reactivity and better manage life circumstances.
Yoga therapy is done on a one to one basis or in a small group of individuals with like conditions and needs, e.g., a physical condition such as lung, heart or kidney disease, diabetes, chronic pain, depression, or anxiety. Yoga techniques are used to support the individual’s improved awareness to promote less reactivity and obtain tools to support relief of symptoms and/or to improve one’s function in the activities of daily living.
In yoga therapy, the individual client’s needs are the focus rather than teaching yoga methodology or a particular pose. The yoga therapist, through the use of their trained skills, develops a plan with the client and the yoga session or sessions unfold from there. Each yoga therapist understands why the client has come for the yoga therapy session and together with the client, a plan is developed to support the client’s needs.
