What Is Yoga Therapy?
“Yoga therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the integration of mind and body to enhance mental health.”
Yoga Therapy draws on yogic principles and practices, such as physical yoga postures, meditation, breathing techniques, and relaxation exercises, to improve mental and physical well-being.
Yoga therapy does not look like a typical yoga class. Instead, yoga therapy is usually conducted on a one-on-one basis with a therapist!
The treatment plan and techniques used in yoga therapy can vary based on your age, physical ability, and unique needs, the exercises and postures employed in yoga therapy are designed to maximize the synchronicity of mind and body functioning.
For example, the therapist will explain the importance and value that each exercise and yoga pose could have in alleviating your concern, thereby creating a bridge between the practice and its cognitive framework. So, for a person experiencing anxiety for instance, the therapist will guide them through specific poses that help relieve anxiety!
In addition, yoga therapy can be particularly effective for treating body-focused conditions, caused due to chronic pain, stress, or trauma that has been stored in the body and manifests through anxiety or depression-related symptoms.
- Integrated mind-body focus: The exercises and postures of yoga therapy focus on the mind and body simultaneously, developing both mental and physical awareness. This helps with mind-body integration and improves mindfulness.
- Physical health benefits: In addition to helping with mental health conditions, yoga therapy can also improve physical fitness and increase strength, balance, and flexibility. It can also help with physical health conditions such as pain, blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and arthritis.