What is Yoga Therapy?
What is Yoga Therapy?
A new client recently told me that he was putting off starting yoga therapy because he just tweaked his back and didn’t think he could do those complicated yoga poses until this healed.
I loved this since it gave me a chance to clarify just what yoga therapy is (and isn’t). Here are some of my thoughts:
A “tweak” in your back is the PERFECT time to come in!
At Turning Light Yoga, private sessions are designed to improve your well-being from the inside out as you regain and build upon functional movement.
Yoga therapy is NOT about twisting yourself into knots called yoga poses. All sessions and movements are customized for you, based on how you walk in the door and what you are looking to gain. So if there is back pain, I help you move and breath in ways that reduce (or eliminate) that pain, and then optimize your function in the context of your life, both to avoid future strain and pain, and to enjoy life more.
How do these “tweaks” or strains happen? Is occasional pain and strain just a fact of life or of aging?
No! We move through life, sustaining injuries, stress, and excess load, and our amazing bodies adapt, or compensate, to get us through the situation. The problems begin when we don’t help the body go back to balance, and the compensations become our new habit. So when we tear something in a knee, have surgery, use crutches, then we brace with or otherwise overuse the other leg, our shoulders, our breath, etc. and then those patterns continue as the new normal. Neck strain or hip pain may develop.
Each of our bodies bears witness to, and carries, our life story in our own unique way.
Instead of living with all this, we can begin to unwind, to improve function, and therefore reduce strain. With Yoga Therapy, you will begin to understand how your body moves, what is functional, and what is compensatory. You will experience and learn what it is to move simultaneously with ease and with strength, all while being pain-free.
If pain, injury, or stress is getting in the way of achieving your goals, yoga therapy can help you live the life you want to live.