What is Yoga Therapy?

Yoga for Health

Back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, allergies and stomach issues are very common in our times. Many people have to take different medications and therapies. For some, the issues are decades old. Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy have helped many people manage these issues. Yoga is practiced the world over in different forms to live a healthy life. Yoga studios and online yoga classes help to have a regular routine. People follow a particular school of yoga or visit a specific yoga studio and regain their health. In some cases, though, general yoga classes may not be useful for specific health issues. It has also been seen that certain health conditions become worse after joining a general asana regime.

Yoga as Therapy

For specific health issues, specific yoga practices are needed. One can visit a yoga therapy center or employ an experienced yoga therapist. Although, yoga was not intended as therapy, it does have therapeutic benefits. When you hire a yoga teacher for chronic health issues, it is important to work in partnership with the teacher and use two-way communication to arrive at a specific health program. One should begin with a gentle program based on the initial conversation. Patience on both sides is the key. Remember, practicing yoga through television, books and videos can be counterproductive. When suffering from chronic health issues, caution and medical supervision is necessary. Yoga should begin after proper health checkup and doctor’s advice.

The Role of Yoga Teacher in Therapy

In therapy, the yoga aspect should be in the periphery and the yoga practitioner should be in the center. This can happen when both the parties have a shared goal, for example, getting rid of the back pain. Milestones and breaking the goal into smaller, achievable goals are an important part of the journey. Changing the goal midway will also yield benefits but the back pain will remain. The yoga teacher should observe carefully, ask for feedback on the effectiveness of the chosen practices, should be open to modify the practices accordingly and should refrain from having a personal goal. This approach works wonders in the case of difficult diseases like chronic fatigue syndrome, auto-immune disorders and hormonal issues.

The Role of Yoga Practitioner in Therapy

Recently, a senior doctor with a reputed hospital in Bangalore told me that 10% of his patients show wonderful progress by following everything he advises. The other 90% fail to understand their own role in getting better and become his permanent patients. Research is underway to prove the impact of emotional upset, for example, on allergy and asthma. When one suffers from a chronic health condition, all-round effort is required to come out of it, when it is evident that only medicine is not helping. One should specially make an effort to move from fear to trust. Again, taking care of diet and lifestyle, being physically active, having a hobby and managing emotions have an important role to play. Medicine as well as yoga cannot play this role. So, the yoga practitioner has to take charge of her or his life and gradually implement effective changes.

My Experience as a Yoga Teacher

In my 10 years of practice, I have found that my students were already capable people, who had achieved much in their life prior to starting yoga. What they needed is just a little support and guidance. Of course, specific yoga practices did help, which is my job. I have seen wonders happening in their lives on all fronts, apart from physical health. What mattered to me is they becoming aware of self-limiting beliefs and thoughts and making smart changes in their lives accordingly.