YOGA as Therapy

“Yoga Therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings  and practice of  yoga” – International Association of Yoga Therapists (definition 2011)

“It’s well known that stress can contribute to back pain and that yoga reduces stress.  Yoga, however, approaches this in a way unfamiliar to Westerners.  We believe our minds cause our bodies to move, our brains sending signals down nerve pathways to our muscles.  And, of course, that’s true.  However, in yoga, the opposite also applies.  The state induced by yoga in our bodies calms our minds.” – Loren Fishman, MD, and Carol Ardman,   Yoga for Back Pain

“The key to right teaching is in the adaptation of yoga to the individual, not the individual to yoga” – T.K.V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga

“Tension is your body’s way of getting attention” – Mukunda Stiles, Structural Yoga Therapy

The word “stress” has become so common today and is at the root of many diseases starting with anxiety, backache, cardiopulmonary disorders, diabetes, discomfort, hypertension, insomnia, pain, and essential contentedness and en-joy(mo)ment of life.  There are different things you can do about it, from conventional to alternative medicine, which is where the system of Yoga is placed as a therapeutic discipline since it is a powerful tool for healing the body and relaxing the mind.  More and more scientific research has pointed out the numerous benefits.

The 3 Causes of stress:

-Physical -whether you have undergone a trauma, an injury or from sport-specific or other movement patterns that do not reinforce good posture and alignment.

-Mental/emotional –whether you are unable to relax, sleep, understand yourself, and make nourishing and supportive choices

-Biochemical/environmental – whether your mood is affected or you are involved in circumstances that unbalance you

That being said, homoeostasis/equipoise/balance is the natural state, which Yoga -when used therapeutically, is designed to help you reconnect with.  Perhaps you have been for a massage, a chiropractic or physio therapy session where the practitioner has given you 'homework' on how to live in your body with better ease and alignment.  Well, Yoga, when used therapeutically, is a unique and proven process of treating the person as a whole, not just a series of symptoms.   If you are experiencing pain, discomfort, restricted movement, “stress” and the inability to find inner peace, we can explore the use of breath, improved posture, movement, meditation, affirmation and deep relaxation to bring you back to your unique state of symmetry.

Essentially, I work with all the tools of the Yoga system to find the practises, which will empower you to move towards healing and enhanced quality of life.   I start the first one on one Yoga session with a comprehensive and confidential assessment of your history, lifestyle and musculo-skeletal patterns and design a Yoga program to meet your needs where you are. It is not about doing the same things as 10 other people in a class.  It is personal and productive in different ways.  In a class setting though, you would be encouraged to practice appropriately for you, whether that meant skipping something or doing it differently than someone else.  

I continue to realise the tremendous potential, accessibility and transformative power of yoga, not only in working therapeutically with clients for over 17years, but also through personal investigation and introspection. I teach from a place of professional enquiry, study and intuition gleaned from my passion to make sense of modern life in the context of this wonderful system of Yoga.   I believe we need to keep the self-reflection part of the practice, and grow and develop into the highest form of this Self that we can be.  As such it is such a sustainable and wonderful therapy - I look at it as essential vitamins for body, mind, soul.

Om shanty shanty shanty
Rana

free time and the modern yogi(ni)

"viveka-khyatir-aviplava hana-upayah"
"The means of attaining cessation is the unceasing vision of discernment" - Yoga Sutra 2:26


"The first thing to do is to introspect.  Take stock of yourself and your habits, and find out what is standing in your way" - Paramahansa Yogananda, Where There Is Light


"Stillness is not the same as a void in activity, it's more like a stabilizing strength" - Daniel J. Siegel, The Mindful Brain

Time off is relative I think.  Some folks get an entire summer "off", some take a week or 2, some have long weekends.  For parents with children, is there really such a thing?  If you are self-employed, what does this mini expression actually mean?  If you "can never relax", as some people have expressed to me then is time "off" really valuable or any different than time "on"?  As well, what are we taking time "off" of?  It seems to me that the expression is dependant on one's mind-set.  And that, dear friends, is what the system of Yoga can help you with.  A relaxed mind can travel through time and space with more ease.

So far it is a working summer for me, so time off is full of things I need to do, which I try to balance with things I want to do and also not to let this short season go without being outside and just enjoying fresh air and sunshine.  One thing I have really been reflecting on therefore is how to take time off while you are still in the midst of being on-duty.  Not in the sense of spacing out, but rather, taking a little break from one thing here and there to change the routines up and hopefully experience a newness within the daily flow.  A relaxed mind can travel through time and space with more ease.

Here are a few examples:

-take a break from social media for a day or two or more
-turn cell phone OFF not to vibrate
-skip one thing in your routine, to see if you miss it
-change your routine, whether the path you walk or change an activity
-do less of something
-do more of something else
-try a new yoga posture
-try a new pranayama, or if you haven't read this here before, learn how to relax
-cut out one yoga posture from your daily flow or -try the same posture but just try it a new way
-take a break from sitting a lot by standing and shaking your legs out
-periodically close your eyes or look away from the computer and take a few easy breaths
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the blank spaces are for you to print this up and add your own to the list

Balance is organic and is created and re-created constantly in the process of taking time off from doing all the same things all the time.  What you call habits are things that may have worked last year or month but right now, are outdated.  The only way to tell is to give yourself space.  Space can be physical - which is what taking a vacation does, it changes your location.  Space is also visceral- mental/emotional/spiritual.  I just took a two week hiatus from writing.  I felt I had nothing new to say, and in stopping, waiting for inspiration, I saw what was right in front of my nose.  I just needed a little break.  This cue is now food for the blog so it obviously worked for me.
S - stop
T - take a breath
O - observe
P - practise

Now some people find it hard to give themselves space.  They have perhaps  internalised that silence is scary, and that being busy is a great thing while not being busy is a sign of laziness.  I would just say that even a computer will 'bomb' if all the programs are running full speed all the time.  I actually think short brain holidays are the key to health and wholeness.  Yoga based breathing exercises can be fantabulous for this! Stress shortens us - the muscles, the temper, the breath... I like to think of space as feeling of expanding, of freedom, and options. Try now, slow exhales slow exhales slow exhales...

Let me know how it goes!
Om shanty shanty shanty, Om peace peace peace
Rana