Therapeutic Yoga and Yoga Therapy

The practice of yoga has innumerable therapeutic qualities for body, mind, and spirit. A popular belief in modern western society, is that yoga is just another form of exercise for the body. This belief holds only because of how yoga was first popularized in the West. The point is, that yoga is so much more than that.

Yoga is not just exercise that can get our bodies stretched out, strengthened, and aerobically stimulated. Yoga is very much a therapeutic journey of self-discovery. This self-discovery is quite meditative. As you do the movement of yoga poses (asana), you may begin to explore emotions or understand your own way of being. Things that you’ve never recognized in yourself before surface with this deep inquiry.

If you practice the breathing piece of yoga (which most asana classes incorporate), you begin to discover what you can do with that breath as you go about your daily life. You learn to be aware of your breath as you meditate and control your breathing. If you go into deeper seated or supine meditation, you can explore the inner workings of your feelings and spirit. You may begin to learn something about your own body-mind connection. While it may start with your movement practice, this practice advances to your breathing and takes you through to all the calmer and deeper meditations (example: yoga nidra).

So how are yoga therapy and therapeutic yoga two different things? Yoga therapy is more prescriptive and targeted toward healing the physical body although it may include some breath work. Therapeutic yoga takes a more holistic approach through your journey of self-discovery. It incorporates body, mind, and spirit.

Yoga therapy is akin to physical therapy in that it is the Yoga Therapist who helps you to improve your physical function using yogic principles. The Yoga Teacher takes a more holistic approach where you are guided through the practice of yoga on your journey of self-discovery.

Resources

Kraftsow, G. (2014). The distinction between a yoga therapy session and a yoga class. Yoga International. Retrieved from: https://yogainternational.com/article/view/The-Distinction-Between-a-Yoga-Class-and-a-Yoga-Therapy-Session