This course is specifically for yoga teachers where Ginny will share the basics of Yoga Therapy, so that when a student comes to class with a particular issue, you are well equipped to handle it in class. This information will help you teach more effectively and safely for a vast array of bodies in your class too. This course will not qualify you as a Yoga Therapist, but it will give you a good grounding in how to handle some of the more common issues. We will review therapy for:
What is Yoga Therapy?
Although all yoga is potentially therapeutic and healing, yoga therapy is the specific application of yogic tools—asana, pranayama, meditation, philosophy, and more—to address an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional needs.
This training will review general anatomy, the common issues you might encounter with students and ways to keep an injured student safe during class and potentially, even help them to manage their issue. Some of the techniques for yoga therapy can be merged into a normal yoga class, helping ALL students maintain healthy functional movement and strength and knowledge about their body and mind and how to help themselves.
As yoga teachers, we are not doctors, physios or psychologists, so it is not up to us to diagnose or label the student’s issue. Instead we can work with the general function of the body. Our goal is to restore the overall function of that body part, e.g. reduce pain, unlock a knee, improve shoulder mobility, strengthen the back, etc. We can also teach students how to feel into their body again. Ganesh Mohan said, “The more you can
feel, the more you can change”. Therefore, encouraging students to notice what they are experiencing, is a huge step towards healing. Knowing what causes pain, knowing what provides relief, knowing what a well aligned body feels like, noticing when there is tension, observing the sensation of relaxation – these are all skills which can be cultivated in any yoga class by a good yoga teacher.