Exploring The Therapeutic Effects of Yoga
In recent years, yoga has become a common practice and approach to holistic health among people in the Western world. Historically, yoga has been a spiritual practice with the primary goal being spiritual advancement. Today, yoga is more widely considered a key component of a healthy, holistic lifestyle. It is also increasingly viewed as a “therapeutic” outlet for the stresses we encounter in our everyday lives, within our relationships, work, friendships, and family. Similar to talk therapy, yoga provides a space to clear the mind and rid the body of unhealthy toxins created by stress and unhappiness.
The Cohesive Relationship Between Yoga And Psychotherapy
Yoga focuses on using our inner tools of strength, flexibility, and breathing to connect and boost our physical and mental beings. In particular, the most popular form of yoga used in the Western world today, called Hatha yoga, involves stretching and rhythmical breathing patterns as a means to mental and physical harmony throughout our bodies. When taught by a professional and qualified instructor, one can learn how to use yoga to ease physical and emotional tension. Yoga can be very powerful in helping people recognize the sources of their stresses as they place intentions on their practice and decide how and where they want to focus their energy throughout.
The Healing Duo
When practiced together, yoga and therapy can be a very powerful healing duo. Similar to therapy, yoga awakens a part of ourselves that we usually leave dormant on a day-to-day basis and maybe have not yet been taught how to use. It reminds us to breathe and use the breath to work through tough moments in life.
At the end of every yoga class, we bow forward and with our hands pressed together at heart center we say “Namaste” meaning, “The light in me honors the light in you.” Although a different approach is used, therapy sessions also provide a space for recognition and understanding. Just as the yoga teacher gently guides his/her students through the different and often difficult positions of yoga, the therapist similarly provides supportive guidance through challenging emotional areas that we are often fearful of navigating on our own. You must trust your yoga teacher to teach you how to listen to the information your body communicates to you through sensory feelings, like pain and tension. This enables you to locate your stresses, bring them to the surface, and work through them in a healthy manner. In therapy, I work with teens, adults, and couples in a similar manner. By gradually and step-by-step guiding clients to be able to tolerate increasingly difficult bodily sensations tied to suppressed emotions, we are able to address the root cause of their symptoms. As they are able to trust the innate wisdom of their bodies, my clients are able to use the techniques we work on in session together to more effectively cope with and overcome the stresses and challenges in their daily lives.
Finding Professional Help Alongside Your Yoga Practice
It can be difficult to deal with chronic stress and anxiety on your own without the help of a healing professional. As a South Bay therapist, I provide therapy to teens, young adults, adults, and couples in Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, and Hermosa Beach, CA. The work that I do with my clients focuses on helping them develop the tools to overcome whatever struggles they are facing. For many of my clients, incorporating yoga into their lifestyle has proven to be an extremely beneficial tool in their journey to a happier, healthier life. If you are interested in therapy for yourself, a family member, a loved one, or a friend, please feel free to contact me at (310) 892-2572 or email me.
If you would like to learn more about the power of yoga, please visit Yogi DR™ (http://www.theyogidr.com), a Los Angeles, CA based company developed and founded by CEO and President David Romero (DR). David is a certified, registered yoga instructor whose goal is to help others transform their lives and lifestyles through the practice of yoga.