The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), which publishes yogatherapy.health, works to support yoga as a therapeutic option for physical health, emotional well-being, mental balance, and spiritual consciousness.

IAYT-certified yoga therapists undertake specific training beyond that taken by general yoga teachers. They agree to abide by a Code of Ethics and adhere to a specific Scope of Practice. They also commit to regular professional development to keep their skills and knowledge current.

These continuing education articles, featured in IAYT’s Yoga Therapy Today magazine, cover key history of the yoga therapy profession, as well as mechanisms that help us to understand why the practices can so effectively support a range of conditions.

 

Understanding the roots of yoga—And therefore the roots of yoga therapy

“Healing through yoga is not just the absence of disease, but a journey toward finding wholeness and harmony within and without. Illness then transforms from an obstacle into an opportunity for inner growth and transformation.”

Read more in “Roots of Yoga Therapy: Tracing the Trajectory of Illness and Healing,” by Saraswathi Vasudevan, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT.

 

 

 

What yoga research says about stress coping

“Most yoga professionals know from experience—their own and that of the clients they serve—that the practices can profoundly enhance lives, improving stress management, emotional well-being, mental function, and more. As yoga researchers, we see these effects through an additional lens, one that’s worth looking through to complement experiential understanding and deepen knowledge of why the practices work the way they do. Here, we outline the science behind yoga therapy’s possibilities for increasing resilience to stress in a time when these skills are sorely needed. This article draws on a recent study [from IAYT’s other publication, the peer-reviewed International Journal of Yoga Therapy] we undertook with a small team to investigate some of these mechanisms of action.”

Read more in “Yoga Therapy’s Effects on Stress and Related Variables: Research-Based Insights,” by Sasima Pakulanon, PhD, and Christine Le Scanff, PhD.

 

Evidence-informed perspective on resilience

“This article examines how evidence-informed practice, which at its best embraces practitioner wisdom and the client’s needs and preferences while harnessing current research, can be used to cultivate resilience. …

Research has pointed to the following factors as predictors of resilience:

• a strong sense of identity and culture,
• relationships that promote social cohesion and belonging, and
• the experience of power and control as well as social justice and access to basic material resources.”

Read more in “Resilience: The Illusion of a Simple Solution,” by Lilith Bailey-Kroll, MFA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT.

 

Key aspects of yoga’s effectiveness as therapy

Mechanisms underlying the components of yoga practice include movement, breath, attention/concentration (including attention to bodily sensations/interoception), psychosocial elements, and spirituality or meaning and purpose. Mechanisms that link these aspects of practice include yoga’s ability to regulate allostatic load and polyvagal theory.

Read more in “We Know Yoga Works, but Why? Mechanisms Behind the Practices’ Effects,” by Laura Schmalzl, PhD, C-IAYT, and Marlysa Sullivan, DPT, PT, C-IAYT.

 

IAYT members have unlimited access to all Yoga Therapy Today articles. Join today to help us advance yoga therapy as a recognized health profession!