HIA ALUMNI – what is an alumni?
June 4, 2024
Transformative Education
July 9, 2024Explaining Yoga
and Yoga Therapy
While yoga is a healthy pursuit that can benefit its practitioners in its general form, yoga therapy is an evolving field which focuses on using evidence-based yogic practices for the treatment of specific health conditions.
A yoga teacher or instructor can lead students to practice yoga in a yoga class, while a yoga therapist works one-on-one with a client, or in small groups, applying yoga techniques for specific health conditions.
Traditional Yoga is primarily concerned with personal transcendence on the part of a ‘normal’ or healthy individual. There are eight limbs which constitute classical Yoga.
YAMA
YAMA, Restraint which clarifies one’s relationship to the human and nonhuman world.
NIYAMA
NIYAMA, Observations and personal principles governing the cultivation of insight, including purification, saucha; contentment, santosha; discipline, patience, tapas; self-study contemplation, svadhyaya; and devotion, aspiration and dedication to the ideal of pure awareness, ishvara-pranidhana.
ASANA
ASANA, The practice of yoga postures which cultivate profound physical and psychological steadiness and ease of mind, breath and body
PRANAYAMA
PRANAYAMA, breath and energy regulation towards sustained observation and relaxation of all aspects of breathing, bringing about a natural refinement of the mind-body process through the stilling of the respiratory process.
PRATYAHARA
PRATYAHARA, withdrawing the mind from the senses, proceeding from a naturally occurring process of uncoupling the sense organs from sense objects, to interiorise awareness.
DHARANA
DHARANA, concentrative meditation, by locking awareness on a single object, such as sound, breath, sensations in the body, etc. until the field of awareness becomes singular and focused.
DHYANA
DHYANA, absorption - concentration deepens to the point where subject and object dissolve and the sense of “me’ is temporarily absent.
SAMADHI
SAMADHI, integration, the sustained experience of concentration where there is a complete integration of subject and object, revealing pure awareness and interconnectedness.
Yoga therapy, on the other hand, aims at the holistic treatment of various kinds of psychological or somatic dysfunctions ranging from back problems to emotional distress.
Yoga is being successfully considered as a complementary therapy with conventional medicine, or an alternative method for medical therapy to help treat a wide range of diseases and health problems.
Studies show that yoga has been shown to create a greater sense of well-being, increase feelings of relaxation, improve self-confidence and body image, improve overall health, and help in the treatment of several conditions, such as anxiety and stress, depression and other mood disorders, neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), fibromyalgia, epilepsy and stroke; arthritis, both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, reducing physical discomfort and improving the management of pain, respiratory and digestive wellbeing.
Yoga Therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress towards improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings and practices of Yoga.
While Yoga can be considered as an alternative method of medical therapy, or complementary therapy used with conventional medicine, medication or psychotherapy, to help treat a wide range of health problems, bear in mind that Yoga Therapy is not a cure-all, and it doesn’t cure any diseases. You must be your own guru, your own healer. To heal is to be whole.
Through my decades of practice and teaching, it has become overwhelmingly clear to me that there are very few people who can make significant progress without committing to a sustained structured program of holistic (spiritual) guidance and practice.
Most of us know that it is much easier to stay on an exercise routine or achieve our fitness goals when we have either a physical trainer or a committed regimen of exercise classes to attend. We also know that the difference between physical therapy and Yoga lies in the breath. But the need for ongoing, structured training and support is even greater when it comes to healing.
Although you may be able to learn or even master an exercise routine by reading a book or taking a course, the subtleties involved in meditation and spiritual awakening are greater than most of us can navigate on our own.
The simple truth is that without ongoing guidance and support, most of us find it difficult if not impossible to consistently sustain access to the ineffable and sacred mystery of our True Nature.
Health is the new wealth. It encompasses envisioning a future where you have healed from your past. Let this vision become the cornerstone of your mission: to pursue self-healing, and eventually, to enable others to discover their inner strength.
