Yoga therapy is an individualised and person-centred mind-body therapy tailored to help individuals move towards improved health and well-being.
It brings together ancient yogic philosophy, breath and movement practices, mindfullness and modern psychotherapeutic techniques.
As an evidence based discipline, it is also strongly rooted in physiology and neuroscience.
Depending on what you are seeking to address, practice may include movement, breath work, mindfulness, relaxation, reflection, rest, journaling or self enquiry.
Our work toegether will support you to develop a practice that can buid physical, emotional, mental and soul health and aims to enable you to meet life's challenges with more ease.
The yoga therapy I practice is based on the Kosha model, which considers an individual in terms of 5 interacting layers (koshas) of the self.
Your first session would include an assessment and exploration of your experience based on these 5 layers:
- Physical layer
- Breath/energy layer
- Mental layer
- Wisdom layer
- Bliss layer
This exploration enables us identify initial areas to address through the therapeutic work which aims to support balance at each layer through the application of yoga, enquiry and mindfulness practices.
There is good evidence that a yoga therapy approach can be very helpful for people experiencing “dis-ease” caused by a wide range of short or longer term issues including:
In some cases people find their symptoms resolve altogether, others find that they find ways to live with more ease alongside their existing conditions.
Yoga therapy can be helpful as a stand-alone therapy or alongside conventional medical treatment or psychological therapies. (if you are currently working with any other kind of therapist or medical specialist I will seek your consent to discuss the way we plan to work with them).
The Process
The process starts with a free 15-minute phone call to discuss your interest and how you hope to benefit from yoga therapy. It also provides an opportunity for you to ask any initial questions.
If we agree that it is appropriate for us to proceed, you next complete an intake form and we book an initial yoga therapy session.
The initial session is 90 minutes and here we discuss your intake form and your hopes and aims for our time together. We will work through the Kosha Assessment described above and begin explore some practices.
If after the first session we agree to take the work forward I ask you to commit to 6 further sessions.
Yoga therapy is most effective when engaged with consistently and committing to this first series of 6 sessions offers the best chance for you to develop a regular practice. Further sessions are then booked in sets of three or six, with regular reviews of direction and efficacy.
The frequency of sessions depends on what is being worked on, weekly is usually recommend to begin with to build momentum, however this could be fortnightly or monthly depending on your requirements.
The total number of sessions will depend on the nature of the work we are doing together and/or your personal preference or circumstances. But a course of 6 sessions is a minimum.