About yoga therapy
What is yoga therapy?
Yoga therapy is the application of yogic tools and principles to address emotional, mental, and physical needs. This type of therapy involves yoga postures (asanas), breath work, meditation, guided imagery or visualization, and relaxation exercises.
Like traditional therapy, yoga therapy includes a treatment plan and techniques based on the specific age, ability, goals, and diagnosis of the client. A yoga therapist explains the purpose of each yoga pose, technique, or skill implemented and how it can help reach client goals.
For example, an individual experiencing anxiety might be taught relaxation, deep breathing techniques, and an asana practice that includes postures like child’s pose, tree pose, and legs up the wall, which relieve anxiety. Yoga therapy might also include things like prayer, study of the yoga sutras, imagery, chanting, and spiritual counseling. Providing homework assignments is an important component of therapeutic yoga so that a client can build practices and use techniques in daily life.
While yoga focuses on personal improvement for a “normal” and healthy individual, yoga therapy is a holistic treatment to address somatic or psychological dysfunction. Yoga therapy is also different from traditional yoga because it is usually conducted on a one-on-one basis. The individual session is designed with individual goals and objectives in mind to address the specific needs of the client.
With an integrated mind–body focus, clients can develop mental and physical awareness that aids in a multitude of problematic issues. Source: (Taylor, 2007)
Benefits of yoga therapy
Yoga therapy has many physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits for a wide range of issues.
Yoga therapy for physical health
Yoga therapy has shown effective relief for musculoskeletal pain, back pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, immune function, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis (Pearson et al., 2020).
The physical postures of yoga combined with the mindfulness, empowering spiritual principles, mental connection with the body, and holistic approach of yoga therapy may make it more effective at treating certain physical ailments and pain than traditional medicine and physical exercises alone.
Back pain: A variety of randomized controlled trials have shown that yoga therapy can reduce pain and disability for both back and neck pain (Crow et al., 2015). In these studies, yoga therapy was a safe, effective way to improve mobility and function and reduce pain without side effects.
Fibromyalgia: Fibromyalgia is a condition with no definitive cure. Treatment generally focuses on managing symptoms and improving quality of life rather than “curing” the disease. One particular study showed that fibromyalgia symptoms, ability to cope with pain, and functional deficits significantly improved after a yoga therapy treatment program (Carson et al., 2016). Yoga therapy is an integral part of lifestyle modification and other complementary approaches.
Migraines: There is some evidence that yoga therapy practices decrease the number and severity of migraines in those who suffer from them. Most of this research supports the benefit of yoga therapy on levels of pain and pain management (Sutar et al., 2016).
Immune function: Individuals who engaged in a regular, routine yoga therapy practice could reduce inflammatory markers, downregulate proinflammatory markers, and favorably alter cytokine levels, which are related to numerous diseases and health concerns (Vijayaraghava et al., 2015). These physiological changes affect various aspects of immune function and can help individuals ward off illness and recover more quickly from injury.
Rheumatic diseases: For individuals with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, yoga therapy improved outcomes of muscular strength, flexibility, and mobility compared to a control group with no intervention (Deepshwar et al., 2018). Rheumatic issues can be painful, debilitating, and frustrating for those who experience them. Therapeutic yoga may offer many people hope for a better quality of life.
Benefits of yoga therapy for mental wellness
Numerous mental health benefits can be gained from a yoga therapy practice. It has been shown to improve mood associated with mental illness, improve self-regulation, reduce stress, and increase resilience (Bussing et al., 2012).
There are further benefits for those at risk of social isolation, including improving behavioral function and self-esteem, and changes in anxious and negative thought patterns (Bussing et al., 2012).
Specific research and conventional wisdom has shown that yoga-based therapy can improve body image, reduce levels of stress, and improve quality of sleep (Bussing et al., 2012). Yoga is often included in addiction and recovery treatment centers because of its therapeutic benefits for mental health.
Besides the myriad benefits of yoga, yoga therapy is particularly beneficial because it can be accessible in a wide range of formats (online, individually, in classes, and inpatient and outpatient treatment programs) and to a diverse population regardless of disability, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
The validity of yoga therapy as a form of treatment
Extensive scientific evidence consistently shows that yoga therapy is a safe, effective form of treatment for mental and physical conditions. A review of the literature suggests that yoga therapy is an increasingly socially acceptable approach to pain care and social and behavioral treatment plans (Pearson et al., 2020).
The authors of this review further argue that yoga therapy addresses the complexity and psychosocial comorbidities associated with pain and suffering due to mental or physical health issues (Pearson et al., 2020).
In addition to treating specific health ailments, yoga therapy can enhance self-efficacy, self-regulation and self-confidence and empower clients to take control of their mental and physical health (Pearson et al., 2020). A yoga therapy practice offers an alternative to other treatment options and provides clients freedom and autonomy.
The Yoga Therapy for Specific Conditions As mentioned, yoga therapy has demonstrated positive effects for several mental, emotional, and physical conditions. We will highlight a few of the more common conditions here.
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder are widespread conditions that can have a severe impact on individuals, families, and communities. One in 6 adults have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences, and at least five of the top 10 leading causes of death can be associated with these, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines trauma as a physical or emotional response to harmful or life-threatening events, which leads to lasting effects on physical and emotional wellbeing.
Trauma-informed yoga therapy allows clients to address the dysregulation of the nervous system, feelings of dissociation, and the disconnection that often occurs for traumatized individuals. By promoting a feeling of safety, clients can increase body awareness and learn ways to “release” trauma that is held in the mind and body (Bussing et al., 2012).
Mental health
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines trauma as a physical or emotional response to harmful or life-threatening events, which leads to lasting effects on physical and emotional wellbeing. Trauma-informed yoga therapy allows clients to address the dysregulation of the nervous system, feelings of dissociation, and the disconnection that often occurs for traumatized individuals. By promoting a feeling of safety, clients can increase body awareness and learn ways to “release” trauma that is held in the mind and body (Bussing et al., 2012). Yoga therapy may alter these processes to create more functional, healthy, and positive patterns, leading to improvement in wellbeing and mental health.
Research has demonstrated that yoga therapy targeted for depressive disorders may be comparable to the benefits of medication and that a combination of medication and yoga therapy is superior to medication alone (Bussing et al., 2012). Since depression causes a significant burden to both individuals and society at large, an accessible treatment option to this mental health issue could be extremely worthwhile.
Anxiety
Yoga therapy provides an appealing option for individuals struggling with anxiety. It offers a non pharmaceutical intervention and a lifestyle adjunct to conventional treatment. It can be changed for people with specific concerns, such as those who are pregnant or who experience negative side effects of medication.
A six-week yoga intervention was conducted on a sample of 101 people with symptoms of anxiety and depression. The randomized control trial compared yoga with a control group who received traditional treatment for anxiety and depression. The yoga group had decreased measures of anxiety and psychological distress and results were maintained at a six-week follow-up (Manincor et al., 2016).
This research suggests that yoga and yoga therapy can provide effective treatment options for individuals with both anxiety and depression. Yoga therapy focuses on breath, body, mind, and spirit, helping to bring individuals with anxiety into the present moment rather than focusing on catastrophic, ruminating, or negative thoughts of the future.
The physical aspects of yoga therapy can include specific postures and breathing techniques that enable clients to move from fight or flight to rest and digest.
Back pain and chronic pain treatment
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is associated with pain, disability, psychological problems, and a decreased quality of life (Crow et al., 2015). Yoga therapy is an effective treatment for chronic low back pain and chronic pain on a variety of measures. This further explains the benefits of yoga for CLBP and chronic pain.
Several research studies have demonstrated that yoga therapy is effective at improving mobility, function, quality of life, and levels of pain among those with CLBP (Crow et al., 2015). Functional improvements were measured in terms of balance and gait.
The physical postures of yoga therapy are potentially the reason for increases in function, mobility, balance, and gait. Other mechanisms, such as decreased levels of pain may be attributed to the changes that occur in the brain and hormones released in response to therapeutic yoga.
The focus on mind–body relaxation, breathwork, radical acceptance, and mindful non judgment encouraged in yoga therapy teaches clients how to experience pain without reacting.
Research has found that the gray and white matter in the brain changes among regular yoga practitioners (Villemure et al., 2015). A regular yoga practice is associated with increases in brain matter in areas involved in bodily representation, attention, self-relevant processing, autonomic integration, and stress hormones (Villemure et al., 2015). This ultimately leads to improved emotional regulation and improved pain tolerance.
Mindfulness-Based Yoga Therapy
While yoga includes aspects of mindfulness, mindfulness-based yoga takes traditional Buddhist mindfulness techniques and applies them to the physical aspects of a yoga practice.
Yoga is a comprehensive practice and even a way of life, and mindfulness is paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment without judgment (Schussler et al., 2020).
Mindfulness-based yoga incorporates the practice of yoga with mindfulness to enhance somatic awareness, accept distressing emotions, and cope with chronic mental and physical ailments (Schussler et al., 2020).
Integrative Yoga Therapy
Integrative yoga therapy combines Western medical practices with the ancient art of yoga.
It is a holistic approach to healing that addresses specific mental or physical ailments, including improving cardiovascular health; reducing mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, or insomnia; and providing palliative care for people with cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease (Pearson et al., 2020).
It uses the same techniques as traditional yoga therapy but also uses a collaborative approach to include medical doctors, health practitioners, and other providers of alternative medicine, similar to integrative therapy.
Yoga Therapy Training and Certification
The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) has created an extensive international accreditation process to ensure that yoga therapy practitioners have a solid foundation of knowledge, skills, and abilities that allow them to help clients safely and effectively.
It is based on a widely held consensus to include all aspects of the definition of yoga therapy (Stewart, 2013).
The standards of any accredited yoga training or certification include the philosophical foundations of yoga therapy, the biomedical and psychological foundations of yoga therapy, teaching of therapeutic skills, tools for their application, and ethical issues surrounding professional practice (Stewart, 2013).
While yoga teaching certifications range from 200 to 500 hours, a yoga therapist certification includes a deeper foundation of mental and physical education and practical experience.
Yoga therapy providers are encouraged to be clear about the difference between yoga therapy and yoga as a form of exercise or pastime. Along with traditional foundations of yoga, high-quality accredited training and certification programs teach providers about pain, pain management, mental and physical health ailments, and how to integrate appropriate techniques and skills to address these ailments (Pearson et al., 2020).