Yoga As Therapy

Yoga Therapy represents a melding of the ancient discipline of Yoga with modern medicine and therapeutic techniques. Yoga therapy takes traditional Yoga practices and tailors them to meet the needs of each individual client to help bring about the desired results to treat specific medical conditions.

The process of yoga therapy can be used to treat many conditions that are either physical or mental including low back pain, diabetes, multiple sclerosis arthritis and even anxiety.

How successful is yoga therapy? Yoga therapy is a relatively new practice, but medical studies that have been conducted have shown that yoga therapy is effective.

The book, Structural Yoga Therapy, by Mukunda Stiles, was written to help yoga therapy practitioners who use yoga to bring the body into balance. It reveals how to do "body reading", it also teaches a series of exercises that can build muscles strength.

Yoga therapy is a growing practice that is showing great promise. The role of yoga therapy in anxiety is being studied and observed as more therapists use yoga therapy to help people get over their anxiety.

Yoga as physical therapy for stroke has also shown great promise in restoring the use of limbs that have lost muscle tone. Massachusetts General Hospital did a study on yoga based exercise program for people with chronic post stroke hemi paresis, which showed that yoga may help people who are suffering from the effects of a stroke.

Yoga therapy for children is also effective in some cases in helping children to heal from emotional disturbances through movement and meditation.

In Ayurveda yoga therapy, practitioners first determine a client's Ayurvedic body type, and then develops specific techniques to help them to heal themselves through a combination of diet, yoga, and meditation. Ayurveda provides a blending of science and philosophy that works to bring the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects into balance in order to promote holistic health. The basics of Ayurveda posit that life is a coordination of the Atma(soul), Mana (mind),, Indriya (senses) and Sharira (Body). There are then vital elements that make up each person's body. Three are physical, Vata, Pitta, Kapha, and three mental energies, Satwa Rajas and Tamas.

If you are interested in learning more about Yoga Therapy, there is a wealth of information about yoga therapy training online. Another option is to attand a Yoga therapy and training center or studio where they offer certification in yoga therapy.