What is Yoga Therapy?
Yoga therapy is the professional application of the principles and practices of yoga to promote health and well-being within a therapeutic relationship that includes personalized assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management, and yoga practices for individuals or small groups. (IAYT definition)
Yoga therapists draw from the principles of yoga and the full range of yogic practices and assessment skills, as well as familiarity with biomedical and psychological foundational knowledge.
Integrating Pain Science knowledge with the Tools of Yoga
- Chronic Pain Specialty
- Pain Care Professional Mentorship (10 month/June 2020)
- Certified Pain Care Specialist with Neil Pearson, www.Lifeisnow.ca
- Chronic Pain-Management Conference for Healthcare Professionals at Kripalu, Lenox, MA
- Study including online, research-based and books of leading pain researcher, doctors and other healthcare providers
What are the teachings and practices of yoga?
- Yoga Philosophy and Ethics (Yamas & Niyamas)
- Intention and Affirmation (Sankalpa)
- Physical Postures (Asana)
- Breathing Practices (Pranayama)
- Relaxation
- Meditation
- Mindfulness Practices
- Imagery and Visualization
- Sound (Mantra, chanting)
- Hand Gestures (Mudras)
- Ayurveda (Science of Yoga)
- Lifestyle & dietary
Scope of Practice
- Practice within my education, training and experience as it pertains to yoga therapy
- Assess the individual client using appropriate assessment tools.
- Ensure safe and appropriate treatment plan is developed with the individual client’s goals, needs, learning styles, life considerations and access to resources in mind
- Teach and guide the client in implementing their treatment plan.
- Refer out to the appropriate healthcare practitioner when necessary.
Services Provided
- Treatment plan that encompasses the client’s goals, needs and abilities tailored to all aspects of that person
- Individual practice sessions
- Group Yoga Therapy
- Workshops
- Educational Seminars on Yoga Therapy for Chronic Pain for public and practitioners
- Consultations
- Public Classes
Positive results our clients have experienced include:
EASE OF MOVEMENT AND BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE through the physical practice of asana and breath
DIRECT CONNECTION THROUGH BREATH AWARENESS AND CONTROL, providing for stress release and better regulation of stress-related chemicals like cortisol
For the mind, it is the OPTIMAL ENVIRONMENT for focus, awareness, concentration, and balance
Deepening of SELF-AWARENESS and SELF-REGULATION
EMPOWERMENT of their own healing process, which extends to other areas of their life
CONNECTION TO OUR TRUE NATURE, and therefore, connections to others and the world around us
Yoga Therapy may help clients with:
PAIN MANAGEMENT, SYMPTOM ALLEVIATION, REHABILITATION, PREVENTIVE CARE, PRE- OR POST-SURGERY CARE
While a yoga therapist values each client as AN INDIVIDUAL, there are multiple opportunities for a HEALTHY COLLABORATION between yoga therapist and medical professionals, including:
- Better patient outcomes and improvements in quality of life
- Knowledge sharing
- More effective essential medical interventions
- Fewer side effects
- Greater economic savings for the patient and healthcare system
- Lower dosing of medications
- Preventive medicine
- A sustainable platform for empowering the patient in their healing
RESEARCH-BASED WORK
The scientific basis for utilizing a therapeutic yoga model in lifestyle medicine is now well supported thanks to research in the field of neuroscience. In the last few years, research has documented the efficacy of yoga for conditions such as heart disease, cancer, sleep disorders, upper respiratory disease, brain function, immune function, back pain, mood disorders and stress reduction. Some of the leading research in the United States is coming from The Osher Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and The University of Pennsylvania.
Perhaps the most well known success is Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease, which relied heavily on yoga as a therapeutic modality in the 1990s.
The asana (yoga postures) play an important role as well, since expansion of the rib cage during backbends and forward bends enhances the depth of breath — further strengthening core diaphragmatic muscles and enhancing baroreceptor sensitivity (Strongoli, Gomez, and Coast, 2010).
More generally, it has been shown that RELAXATION INTERVENTIONS integrated into community, educational, and hospital settings have far-reaching benefits, making them an easily accessible non-pharmacological approach for a variety of populations and clinical conditions (Klainin-Yobas, Susanne Yew, and Lau, 2015).
TESTIMONIALS
Diane is amazing! Super informative, fun, easy to connect to really overall amazing. I very much enjoyedour work together. She has made a great positive impact on my life.
Diane is so knowledgeable and has so much to offer to the community. I was very impressed by the plan she created for me. It has given me more energy, better sleep, and has made me more clear minded.
I have been working with Diane in both private sessions and yoga classes for more than ten years. Her professionalism and gentle nature are what enable her to maintain long term clients.
I started working with Diane in April 2022 after nursing a couple of back issues, primarily an inflamed sacroiliac joint. I’d already been in PT but the results were very slow and unsatisfying. Working with Diane and Yoga Therapy proved to be a blessed event in the realm of healing the physical body. Diane did a thorough interview at the outset and each session came with a thorough follow-up email. She also sent me home with print-outs of the various techniques that had been instructed. I make a point to mindfully check in with my lower back, and re-visit the yoga practice at least once a week. To date, the lower back seems to be at peace and has been that way for several months. I’m back to running, lifting weights and some high-intensity interval training. She is a committed yoga therapist, fully informed about pain management and other aspects of self care.