Blog: What’s Happening in Yoga Therapy
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 can...
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...
Yogic practice for combat veterans: Snapshot of a VA program
By Anne Platt I teach yoga therapy, the therapeutic application of yoga developed specifically to help heal damaged bodies, minds, and spirits. My “students” at the Los Angeles Veterans Administration (VA) include a wide range of veterans, from the Vietnam era all the...
Yoga therapy: A sweet spot in diabetes control
By Robyn Tiger Did you ever stop to wonder how the cells in your body get their energy? Just like you, your cells need food—for them, that comes in the form of a sugar called glucose. Insulin, a hormone released by the pancreas, acts like a key that lets glucose into...
Accessible yoga, yoga therapy, & building a universal practice
Certified yoga therapist Steffany Moonaz, PhD, C-IAYT, discusses the distinctions between yoga therapy and accessible yoga, both of which can help a range of people experience yoga's therapeutic potential: "It is sometimes said that all yoga is therapeutic—and I would...
Yoga therapy comes to the clinic
This beautifully written account explains how the pranayama of "bee breath" is used in one hospital. "Despite feeling dizzy, you listen to [the] teacher’s instructions and you bring your fingers to touch your sense organs. Thumbs gently press on your ears on both...
When your new hip won’t talk to you
Yoga therapy encourages listening deeply to the body—its complaints, requests, wisdom...Fine-tuning the ability to receive these messages, and to integrate their inseparable effects on our mental processes and our experiences, is a skill yoga therapists both teach and...
Top 5 benefits of yoga therapy for cancer care
By Laura Kupperman Ample scientific literature supports the benefits of yoga for cancer care, pointing toward improvements in quality of life, well-being, sleep, strength, and energy. Studies also show diminished anxiety, depression, stress, PTSD symptoms, heart rate,...
The safety of yoga
A friendly reminder: Yoga isn't a workout, and it's definitely not about achieving ever more "advanced" physical postures. If we remember the wide-ranging philosophical basis of the practice, yoga serves us quite well as a therapeutic modality. On the other hand,...
Is it just spit? Yogic breathing may affect salivary proteins
By Sundar Balasubramanian Saliva is a basic fluid found in organisms ranging from insects to humans, and it contains several molecules needed for normal physiological functioning. Environmental factors activate salivation, so saliva is a critical bridge in translating...
