YOGA VS YOGA THERAPY:
For the past 18 months I have traveled thousands of kilometers from my remote township in South Australia to the super big smoke in Sydney to complete my Yoga Therapy Graduates Certification. It has been a grueling slog I will be honest and at times I was ready to throw the towel in, but I am now very proud to be able to offer yoga therapy as a major part of my business and to my community and followers. Yoga Therapy empowers individuals with the ability to manage and take back some control of their own health and wellbeing through techniques and tools that are customised for them, their time, health, wellbeing, lifestyle and needs.
So, you may be asking what is the difference between yoga and yoga therapy? Some of you may never have heard of yoga therapy and only understand yoga to be the pretzel like poses you see in the magazines, Instagram and through the media. Well I am here to introduce you to a whole new world…..(Que Aladdin right now 😊)
Let’s keep this simple and crack open the differences between yoga and yoga therapy. You may discover that one suits you better than the other or perhaps a combo works. Yoga classes come in all shapes and forms – you can do hot yoga, yoga that entwines with a specific lineage, restorative yoga, yin yoga – heck you can even do goat yoga!!!!! Yoga classes themselves are therapeutic in their own right - they provide a variety of movement through the body, potentially include breathing techniques and usually sign off with a relaxation. For many people this is a perfect session to include into their week and creates what I like to think of as a weekly sponge squeeze - get rid of a bit of tension, stretch out the body, rest the mind and hit the reset button.
Yoga Therapy however is the co-creation (between the student and the therapist) of individualised practices and techniques that empowers the individual with the ability to find relief, manage, assist and find balance within their own health and wellbeing. I like to think of this as the daily super sponge squeeze. Yoga therapy can be in therapeutic group settings or as 1:1 private session. Group settings consist of small groups run by a yoga therapist and target specific medical or wellbeing conditions for example breast cancer or depression. 1:1 private session is exclusively about the individual and their needs and is supported by a yoga therapist.
So in summary the differences between yoga and yoga therapy:
Yoga – general yoga that comes in all shapes and forms run by qualified yoga teachers. Classes are not individualised but run by an intention (to create space in the body), focus (on back strength) or speciality (hot yoga, yin yoga, prenatal yoga)
Yoga Therapy – individualised practices and techniques applied to empower an individual in finding relief, management and assistance in their health wellbeing. These can be in therapeutic group setting or 1:1 private session with the support of a qualified yoga therapist.
I think TKV Desikachar (awesome guy who is recognised as the father of modern yoga) explains yoga therapy perfectly with this simple quote “Yoga must be made to suit each individual, not the individual to suit the yoga”.
Sending magic from the mat,
Cheers,
Kim xx