Blog: What’s Happening in Yoga Therapy
Finding your true self
By Anne Platt I noticed “Mark” the moment he walked into my class. Heavy beard, baseball cap pulled down over his eyes, silent, wary, and very much disconnected from his fellow soldiers. He didn’t want to be there, and we both knew it. He set his yoga mat in the...
YOGA SAFETY FIRST
Ann Swanson, MS, LMT, C-IAYT, adapted these recommendations from “Yoga as a holistic treatment for chronic illnesses: Minimizing adverse events and safety concerns,” by yoga researcher Shirley Telles and colleagues. For yoga practitioners... ...without health...
Yoga therapy + neurobiology = Less pain?
By Ganesh Mohan A combined neurobiology and yoga perspective offers an innovative way of addressing chronic pain, which affects an estimated 50 million U.S. adults. Because many people experience debilitating consequences from their pain and medication alone doesn’t...
Support for a yoga journey
Yoga therapists are a prolific bunch, partly because we often have been so changed by the practices ourselves that we want to find ways to share them with as many people as possible. These recent texts offer guidance for those wishing to incorporate yogic wisdom into...
Helping kids with cancer stay active: Yoga in pediatric oncology
By Tyla Arnason Imagine hearing, “It’s cancer,” come across a desk at you. Now imagine that the doctor is speaking about your child. Although it may be impossible to wrap your head, much less your heart, around these words, they’re a reality for many parents each...
But what can I DO? Service through yoga
It can be difficult to give ourselves permission to undertake the work of self-care, especially in the face of tremendous global suffering. But taking time to look inside and practice mindfully provides a strong platform from which to take meaningful action. You may...
Knee pain: A beautiful message to get back on my yoga mat
By Nya Patrinos I began experiencing chronic knee pain in the late 90s, but it wasn’t until after I had knee surgery in 2000 that my pain became unbearable. My orthopedic surgeon told me that recovery would be difficult because of the amount of scraping that was done...
A mind-body therapy for mind-body illness
One aspect of an illness usually takes center stage in our awareness, so it can be easy to forget that physical conditions have mental/emotional components and vice versa. (Here's a great explanation of how yoga therapists work with the panchamaya model, the yogic...
BOOK REVIEW: Mindfulness & Grief, by Heather Stang
Review by Karla Helbert The second edition of Heather Stang’s Mindfulness & Grief is a beautiful companion for those who may wish to test the capacity for the practices of mindfulness to cultivate solace. The introduction tells us what mindfulness is and what it...
Body awareness as pain management
By Neil Pearson We don’t know why, but sometimes when pain persists—becomes chronic—helping people feel the sensations of their bodies and spending time each day doing so can help to decrease that pain. The experience of persisting pain is often paired with...
