Yoga therapy and COVID-19 coping
The Harvard Health Blog has listed yoga, meditation, and controlled breathing (which we might call pranayama) as helpful strategies for coping with anxiety related to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic.
Even during the most stressful times, yoga therapists help people (re)connect with their own natural inner peace—it’s in there, we promise!—sometimes by guiding them to engage in the activities that bring them joy.
A yoga therapist might also offer specific breathing practices or physical exercises (asana) that calm the nervous system. You might practice meditative techniques to consciously redirect your focus from anxious thoughts, too, but one thing you won’t find in a yoga therapy session is denial: Yoga therapy helps us to work mindfully with what’s already here, even when that reality is uncertain and uncomfortable.
Because yoga therapy is customized for every client and includes the full range of yogic practices (not just physical poses), it can be safely delivered via virtual platforms. Find an IAYT-certified yoga therapist for yourself here.
Apps are one way to get a taste of what yogic practices can do, as the Harvard Health post notes, but they’re no substitute for the expertise of an IAYT-certified yoga therapist working with you individually or in a small group, whether that’s live online or live in-person.
Thank you for this post.
It’s very incredible all the work that a client can do when guided by a yoga therapist. I’m still amazed at how the online sessions work, is not the same as an in-person session, but they can offer so much benefit in guiding the client, especially in times like the COVID-19. =)
Are there guidelines that yoga therapists need to abide by during the pandemic? I know that yoga therapist and other body workers are still not seeing private clients. William ayt announce when yoga therapists can once again see clients in person? Please advise. Thank you. Lots of love, light, and peace.
Hi Laura,
Glad you’re here! This is IAYT’s site for the public rather than for yoga therapists themselves. (As a professional association, though, it is not for IAYT to decide when individual yoga therapists and businesses can see clients in person—that will depend on the jurisdiction in which the yoga therapist practices and on whether each individual can at that time safely meet whatever requirements have been put in place.)