Yoga Therapy vs Yoga
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No. Yoga teachers and yoga therapists are not having a fisticuffs fight out the back of yoga studios across town over who is better or more important.
Yes. Yoga classes are a great opportunity for people to come together to connect with each other, move, breathe, and keep the body and mind maintained in good health. Even I love going to a great class!♥
Yoga Therapy (cikitsa) however, is all about the bigger picture of the person. In yoga therapy we individualise yoga practices based on issues that someone is presenting with. It is a holistic modality that when used proactively puts healing, health and wellness back into the hands of the individual.
Yoga Therapy is part of the larger yoga and is therefore neither separate from, nor greater than yoga.
A yoga therapist will use the traditional tools of yoga such as body movement, breath work, chanting, mudras, visualisations, relaxation and combine them in a way to suit the student present to help support a person to move from suffering to health and wholeness at every level of the body, mind and spirit.
To become a fully qualified yoga therapist, a yoga teacher has to complete many hundreds of hours of specialised training, practical experience and mentoring, before being able to then uses these skills to work with students and support them on their path to healing.
Bhavanani, Ananda & Sullivan, Marlysa & Taylor, Matthew & Wheeler, Amy. (2019). Shared Foundations for Practice: The Language of Yoga Therapy.
Only in recent years western medicine doctors are conducting studies which have been showing positive effects for people using eastern traditional yoga and meditation methods. Finally we’re starting to catch on!
Yoga Therapy is able to offer you targeted techniques for a vast array of issues - not just for a good stretch. I am talking musculoskeletal, hormonal, sleep issues, anxiety and depression, digestion… and the list goes on. It is required that a student be willing to commit to a regular practice so they’re able to facilitate healing from within themselves.
The design of a yoga therapy practice for a student is a co-creative one and can be created as an adjunct to other allied health modalities and other cultural models of medicine. During a thorough assessment a therapist becomes deeply aware of your circumstances and individual needs. You won’t be given a practice that cannot fit into your schedule, is not appropriate to your beliefs, or is painful. You don’t get a cookie-cutter program, that just isn’t in your best interest as you move, change and shift towards your own best health.
“Yoga Therapy is a self empowering approach that involves the professional application of the principles and practices of yoga for the individual to address specific concerns in a multi-dimensional way. Yoga Therapy aims to alleviate suffering and enhance overall health and wellbeing, in a progressive, non-invasive and complementary manner”.
- Australasian Association of Yoga Therapists”
Yoga Therapy loves yoga and yoga loves yoga therapy. Both useful and beneficial to people, however one joins an individual on their personal journey to back to balance and wellbeing.
Credit to Bhavanani, Ananda & Sullivan, Marlysa & Taylor, Matthew & Wheeler, Amy. (2019). Shared Foundations for Practice: The Language of Yoga Therapy. From the IAYT Yoga Therapy Today Magazine 2019 edition.
