A healing journey
Yoga Therapy
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Hi, I'm Linda...and welcome to A Healing Journey Yoga Therapy. I'm a wife, mom to two daughters, lover of animals and our planet, a WFPB advocate, and I'm passionate about learning anything health, yoga/movement, and dance-related.
I started teaching ballroom dance and fitness while attending college. However, my career choice, with its emphasis on extreme fitness and appearance, led to a cycle of preoccupation with my body weight (sometimes overweight and sometimes becoming unhealthily thin) for well over a decade. Meanwhile, I noticed the effect my extremes of dieting and exercising were having on my energy, feelings of self-worth, and happiness. I also found myself dealing with increasing levels of anxiety.
Despite practicing yoga occasionally in those years, my focus was more on weight loss, fitness, and flexibility- which came easily to me as a dancer - but I found the elements of meditation, mindfulness, and introspection a challenge. But I was hooked once I realized the life-changing benefits - the ability to be "in the moment", and especially the relief from anxiety, not to mention moderating my disposition toward perfectionism and the "disease to please". This accelerated my interest in yoga and allowed me to regain focus on myself, at the exact right moment in my stage of life. Serendipitously I was recommended to a local yoga studio to teach a Latin fitness class and the next thing I knew I was teaching there, and despite my hesitance, was eventually convinced to sub for a yoga class. Little did I know that in my efforts to research, train, and prepare for that class, that a new journey was about to reveal itself to me....
"Don't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That's where the light enters you." -Rumi
Let's talk about Yoga Therapy
Yoga Therapy is a century-old adaptation of the ancient traditional teachings and methods of yoga, combined with the more modern practices of medicine and psychology, bringing yoga to many who might not otherwise feel they could benefit from yoga practice. That's one of the things I loved about YT, it honored the traditions of yoga- which was important to me - while taking advantage of new understandings of the physical and emotional body, and made it accessible. Yoga therapy is designed to fit the student - as opposed to having the student fit the classes - integrating the body (physical benefits), mind ( benefits from accessing self-knowledge enabling us to change what we consider dysfunctional), and spirit. YT incorporates the many facets of yoga, such as asana (poses), pranayama (breath and energy work), yoga nidra (yogic sleep), mudra (gestures), affirmation, Ayurvedic practices and nutrition, and meditation, as well as other tools and modalities that might be unique to your therapist.
The ideal yoga therapy client is interested in attaining healing from pain or the symptoms of a medical condition and restoring function. The Yoga Therapist may work with students coming out of acute phases of injury or illness, pre-habbing or rehabbing from surgery, and often in partnership with their clinical practitioner to help them to heal, manage side effects or symptoms, reduce pain and physical or psychological stress, and potentially prevent any further issues or re-injury.
The Certified Yoga Therapist acts as a guide on a journey of healing and self-discovery. The Therapist focuses on the clients' needs, and they determine, often in partnership with the client, the goals they might set to support them. The Yoga Therapist is trained to assess their clients through physical assessments, intake and history, observation, and listening/questioning throughout the sessions. They receive detailed training to understand the benefits of specific practices and any possible contraindications. Therapists help develop a practice that benefits each specific client and their specific condition based on those goals, addressing any impacts their condition might have on their health due to pain, medication, sleep issues, etc., and develops take-home practices encouraging independence, as well as educating and empowering the client in taking an active role in their own self-care.
My classes best address clients with any back or joint pain or spinal misalignments, muscular conditions (including fibromyalgia and other autoimmune conditions), and those managing symptoms of heart disease and/or diabetes, as well as general anxiety. More serious or chronic health conditions, including pelvic floor issues and anxiety and depression, might require focused workshops or private classes available in our yoga therapy center.
Benefits of Yoga Therapy
Studies show that the practice of yoga—including pranayama (breathwork), asana (movement), and dhyana (meditation)—offers many physiological and psychological health benefits for people of all ages. Older yoga students may find the beneficial effects can be particularly helpful in relieving the symptoms of arthritis, hypertension/heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
These benefits of Yoga Therapy include:
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decreased blood pressure
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increased respiratory efficiency
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improved musculoskeletal flexibility and range of motion (ROM)
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improved posture
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increased strength
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improved immune function
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decreased pain
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improved somatic and kinesthetic awareness, coordination
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increased steadiness
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improved balance
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improved awareness
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improved depth perception
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reduced stress and anxiety (thereby reducing the deleterious impacts of stress, such as blood sugar dysregulation, brain function decreases, decreased bone mass, decreased fertility, tension headaches, digestive issues, irritability, anxiety, decreased metabolism (body fat/weight/increases due to excess cortisol), etc.
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improved sleep
