Yoga Therapy
Do you feel like traditional talk therapy is not for you? Or maybe you feel like it helps but you want to add more or something different to further improve your health. Are you someone who wants to understand the mind-body connection more deeply? Yoga Therapy may be a good fit for you.
What is Yoga Therapy?
Yoga therapists help people with a wide variety of mental and physical health challenges. Yoga Therapy is rapidly emerging as a complementary yet distinctly different model to facilitate healing through the mind-body connection. Yoga therapists are partnering with mental health professionals and institutions to offer integrative health options that empower people to take a leading role in their own healing process.
What types of conditions can Yoga Therapy help?
Yoga Therapy is most effective for treating chronic conditions and managing advanced disease states. Yoga therapists are trained to work with anxiety, PTSD, trauma, depression, addiction, eating disorders, obesity, autoimmune disease, heart disease, neurological disorders, cancer support, and more.
Should I expect Yoga Therapy to cure me?
The goal for any client is always to relieve or reduce the suffering as articulated by the client. The yoga therapist facilitates the self-healing process by providing appropriate and effective practices. There is clinical evidence for curative approaches to some conditions. With others, managing or slowing disease progression is indicated. At the time of intake, your yoga therapist will give you the information you need to decide what strategy is most appropriate for your condition and your circumstances.
What should I expect at a typical Yoga Therapy session?
A typical 50-minute working Yoga Therapy session includes a check-in to discuss how your home practices are going, and any changes in your health status. The bulk of the session is spent experiencing, learning, and refining your home practices. Take-home materials may include printed sequences, video and/or audio aids for your exclusive use.
How do you work with people who are not very flexible or athletic?
Physical yoga is just one type of practice yoga therapists use when working with clients. Yoga therapists also use meditation, breathwork, chanting, affirmations, mindfulness, dietary and lifestyle support. Yoga therapists work with you to find practices that are accessible and appropriate for your particular needs. Most Yoga Therapy clients have never done yoga before. Yoga therapists are trained in specific techniques to create a safe space for people to explore the practices at their own pace and comfort level.
How much can I expect to invest in Yoga Therapy for my condition?
You can expect to have a transparent discussion during intake regarding your anticipated investment to address your condition. Receive an honest assessment of whether Yoga Therapy is likely to help, including an estimated number, frequency and duration of appointments, and the time you might expect to spend on home practices. Some conditions require only a few sessions; for others, you may meet biweekly, every three weeks or monthly over a longer time span. Yoga therapists do not typically meet with clients on a weekly basis. This is to give the home practices time to work.
How is Yoga Therapy different from going to yoga class?
Yoga classes are generalized, with many studios in our area focusing primarily on physical fitness. Most yoga teachers do not receive training in how to treat medical conditions, and have only 200 hours of basic training in teaching general group yoga classes. Many common class styles can be destabilizing for clients experiencing mental health conditions. If your doctor has advised you to do yoga, consider skipping yoga class and working briefly with a yoga therapist instead. Yoga therapists have extensive training and are the only practitioners fully qualified to work with individuals to treat health conditions using clinically effective holistic practices from a variety of traditional lineages informed by the latest Western medical research.
How is Yoga Therapy different from psychotherapy?
Simply put, expect more practice and less talking. Yoga Therapy is largely experiential, and therefore you can expect a combination of educational information and practice in your sessions. Yoga therapists do not meet with clients weekly and prescribe home practice between sessions. Often, a yoga therapist will refer a client to a psychotherapist to process anything that surfaces as a result of the client’s experiences in practice.
Do you take insurance?
Yoga Therapy is not covered by insurance in the state of Connecticut at this time. However, if you have a health savings account or a flexible spending account, you can apply these funds towards Yoga Therapy with a doctor’s letter of medical necessity. If you are a victim of domestic abuse, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 towards Yoga Therapy through the CT Office of Victim Services’ Victim Compensation Program.
