Yoga Therapy (“Yoga Chikitsa”)

 
 

What is Yoga Therapy?

Yoga Therapy (“Yoga Chikitsa”) is a holistic healing art that focuses on the treatment and healing of the whole person to achieve optimal health, healing, and well-being. As an evidence-based practice that is supported through both modern clinical research and thousands of years of historical application, Yoga Therapy comes alongside conventional medical therapies and treatments to carefully, safely, and effectively address the suffering, disease, and dis-ease that may arise within any and all domains of the individual experience. 

What Does Yoga Therapy Entail?

Supported by a growing body of modern medical research for its safety, efficacy, and accessibility, Yoga Therapy involves the professional adaptation and application of Yogic and Ayurvedic principles, practices, and techniques (including movement, beathwork, meditation, relaxation, and lifestyle intervention) to address and ameliorate individual challenges to physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual health. Yoga Therapy helps individuals better manage their condition, reduce symptoms, restore balance, increase vitality, and improve overall outcomes and well-being. Through its holistic, whole-person approach, Yoga Therapy gently invites presence, awareness, and intuition into the healing journey, helping patients establish a more compassionate, loving, and non-judgmental relationship to their individual health, well-being, and healing process.

Within the therapeutic relationship between a professional Yoga Therapist and their patient, treatment is personalized, collaborative, and regularly re-assessed so as to best support the specific needs, goals, and progress of the patient and their condition(s). Yoga Therapy treatment includes personalized assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management, and individualized practices that progressively and intuitively aid the patient in achieving their particular physical, psychological, spiritual, or physiological goal(s). Yoga therapy is inclusive and accessible, respecting individual differences in age, culture, religion, philosophy, occupation, and mental and physical health, and is continually applied with great care and intention to best meet the patient where they are, as they are.

What Are the Benefits?

While acute diseases and conditions fall outside the scope of practice of the Yoga Therapist (such as recent injuries and illnesses), Yoga Therapy is hugely beneficial for the treatment and management of chronic conditions, rehabilitation after the acute phase of injury or illness, and long-term prevention and mitigation of health challenges. Yoga Therapists do not diagnose, but rather, work integratively and collaboratively with the entire clinical care team to best support the patient on their healing journey.

Yoga Therapy can be beneficial for a wide array of health challenges and conditions, including but not limited to:

  • Lower Back Pain

  • Sciatica

  • Heart Disease

  • Hypertension

  • Migraine and Headaches

  • Insomnia

  • Diabetes

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Chronic Pain

  • POTS

  • Pregnancy

  • Postpartum

  • Fertility

  • PCOS

  • Cancer

  • Gastrointestinal Disorders (Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac, IBS, etc)

  • Autoimmune Disorders (Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Psoriasis, etc)

  • Respiratory Conditions (Asthma, COPD, Long COVID)

  • Multiple Sclerosis

  • Musculoskeletal Conditions

  • Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders, EDS

  • Osteopenia and Osteoporosis

  • Arthritis

  • Depression

  • Anxiety and Panic Disorders 

  • Addiction and Chemical Recovery

  • PTSD and Trauma Recovery

  • Neurodiverse Conditions (Autism, ADHD, OCD, SPD, etc) 

  • Stroke Recovery

  • Post-Surgical Recovery

  • Aging

Because Yoga Therapy is customized and personalized to meet the specific needs, goals, and desired outcomes of the individual, treatment duration may vary from short-term support (over the course of several weeks) to providing more long-term management (lasting months or years). The course and duration of treatment depends entirely on the individual patient, their condition(s), and their desired goals and outcomes. 

Please reach out to us using our Contact Page if you’re interested in learning more about Yoga Therapy services!