YOGA + MOVEMENT
WHAT IS A
YOGA THERAPIST?
It’s one of the most common questions we hear.
BY ANN BLACKBURN (SHE/HER) + DAN BLACKBURN (HE/HIM)
T
he International Association of Yoga Therapists defines yoga therapy as “the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings and practices of yoga. Yoga therapy respects individual differences in age, culture, religion, philosophy, occupation, and mental and physical health.” All yoga is potentially therapeutic and healing. Yoga therapy includes the specific application of yogic tools: postures/exercises, breathwork, meditation techniques, and more. The lens of Ayurveda uses these to address an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional needs. The goal of Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga, is to move toward balance, using yoga practices and philosophy to support balance.
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“Yoga therapy includes the specific application of yogic tools: postures/exercises, breathwork, meditation techniques, and more. The lens of Ayurveda uses these to address an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional needs.”
A yoga therapy session, whether one-to-one or in a small group, is tailored to each individual. Yoga therapists use in-depth training to help assess and keep their clients safe in their practices designed specifically for them, create connection and belonging, and to address specific goals while also considering any concerns a person might be experiencing. Yoga therapists consider and work with the five koshas, or “sheaths,’’ of an individual. From denser to more subtle, the five koshas include physical body (annamayya), energy body (pranamaya), mind/emotions (manomaya), discernment/ wisdom (vijnanamaya), and bliss/spiritual (anandamaya). The kosha’s are interdependent, and when the first three sheaths work well together, it becomes easier to access the deeper and most subtle aspects of our being. Yoga therapists look for and identify
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