About Yoga Therapy
You may be thinking "Yoga? I'm not flexible or athletic. I can't do those poses because (insert reason).
This is because, for the most part, a small, athletic variety of yoga has been popularized in studios and gyms. And frankly, it's just not that accessible to the majority of the population.
Nor, is it therapeutic for most conditions! The fast pace and sequencing of poses can create stress in the joints, in the more vulnerable portions of the spine - and the individual who is taking the class may inevitably feel like they just aren't "good at yoga".
To anyone with such notions about what yoga is, I will quote my teacher, Gary Kraftsow:
"Yoga therapy isn't about getting to know postures. It's about getting to know yourself."
MOVEMENT
Yoga therapy movement might not look like anything you would do in a yoga class... It's more like having a conversation. The body holds tremendous wisdom and we can learn to hear its special language through gentle, inquisitive movement and breathing practices. Informed by physical therapy, somatics, polyvagal theory, trauma science, and yogic spiritual technologies, there are MANY evidence-based body paths to choose from.
PRANAYAMA
Breathing techniques are more than simple hacks for calming the mind during stressful moments. These hacks are great, but it's like taking an aspirin for a bacterial infection. "Box breathing", the aspirin, may take the edge off your suffering, but wouldn't you rather take an antibiotic to get to the root of the issue? At DYT you will experience a change in the patterns of breathing you have developed over years of living in a pressure cooker of stress.
CONVERSATION
My role as your therapist is to be a facilitating witness, observing patterns, connecting dots, and asking questions. This top-down (brain-to-body) therapy is an essential element to completing the therapeutic circuit with the bottom-up (body-to-brain) approaches of movement and breath. I leverage my 30+ years of Yoga Therapist training with years of study in the fields of Health Coaching, Compassionate Inquiry, and for children - the Neurosequential Model.
FAITH
Mindfulness, faith, and philosophy. My breadth of experience includes interfaith studies, extensive mindfulness training, Jungian psychology, and Pain Reprocessing Therapy. What's important here is you. What is meaningful to you? What is familiar to you? What makes sense in your life right now? Every element of yoga therapy is chosen to be the exact right fit for you and your goals.
