About Yoga Therapy
Yoga Therapy Is Individualized Self Care
Do you want a practice to do on your own time and in your own space that is personalized to your needs? Yoga Therapy is an excellent goal oriented option that treats the whole person. We co-create a practice that is beneficial and joyful for you. Yoga Therapy is a viable option if you are not interested in or able to attend group classes, or if you would like to supplement classes with a home practice. Sadhana is the yogic term referring to the spirited self-discipline of a daily practice. Sadhana may include yoga postures or somatic movement and breath awareness to enhance your physical well being; it also may incorporate traditional facets of yoga such as meditation, pranayama, mudras, mantra, mindful eating and Ayurvedic guidelines for daily self-care.
You are given a unique range of tools that you continue to develop with your teacher and on your own. Each of these traditional facets of yoga work in conjunction to reconnect you at all levels – from the physical body to the breath, the energetic body, mind and emotions and the spirit. This approach sees the human being as an integrated body-mind-spirit system that is at its best when all parts are in a state of dynamic balance. Yoga Therapy helps you to understand and appreciate your unique body and mind dynamics so you can live more fully.
Please fill out and submit the Yoga Therapy Intake Form prior to your appointment: Yoga Therapy Intake Form.
Some of the ways Yoga Therapy differs from yoga are:
• Yoga therapy is completely adaptable and works with your goals. Megan tailors each session to her client’s needs; whether you want to gain relief from chronic pain, facilitate injury recovery, improve flexibility, reduce stress and sleep better, improve body awareness, get help with anxiety or depression, or simply retain your youthful appearance and energy.
• Yoga therapy targets the practice to specific conditions. Most health challenges benefit from some yoga asanas or yoga breathing techniques and not others. A yoga therapy program for sciatic pain for example, would be very different from a yoga therapy practice targeting anxiety.
• Yoga therapy adjusts the poses to your body’s needs. Megan loves props! She shows her clients how to modify poses to their body using props and gentle alignment assists. This ensures that you get full benefits from each pose and feel safe and confident doing a personalized home practice.
• Yoga therapy uses adjunct techniques to speed your progress. When called for, the session may include additional modalities withing Megan’s scope of practice such as energy therapy, sound healing, writing or Thai Yoga bodywork to facilitate a deeper release.
• Yoga Therapy is offered in individual sessions enabling Megan to guide you from the outside in to the fine subtleties of muscle relaxation, stretching, and strengthening.
You are a multi-dimensional being
Megan applies the Kosha Model when designing a Yoga Therapy plan. Yoga Therapy considers the whole person as a complex system of five interconnected sheaths, or koshas, that veil our true self. From the grossest to the subtlest, the koshas include:
Annamaya Kosha – Physical Body
Pranamaya Kosha – Energetic Body
Manomaya Kosha – Emotional Mind
Vijnanamaya Kosha – Discerning Mind
Anandamaya Kosha – Body of Peace & Bliss
The Yoga Therapy process begins with an assessment of the individual through the lens of the koshas, The treatment plan addresses health challenges through one or more koshas. The koshas are interconnected and dependent on one another; thus, yogic tools used in one kosha can positively influence the other koshas and benefit all of the layers of your being.
Self Care Is Health Care
Yoga Therapy compliments the healing process on all levels. It is self-empowering; you are your own healer. Some of the benefits of yoga therapy include: being more mindful, a balanced nervous system and stronger immune system, increased energy, more flexibility and strength in both body and mind. Whatever cycle you are in in your life, Yoga Therapy makes it better – better may only mean bearable or better may mean overpowering joy.
The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), founded in 1989, has developed thorough competency-based educational standards and a rigorous accreditation process for Yoga Therapy training programs. Certification in Yoga Therapy requires 1,000 hours of training.
Yoga Therapy Health is a website that provides the public as well as healthcare providers and other aligned professionals with sound information about yoga therapy.
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