What is Therapy? By Claudia Cardin-Kleffner, OTR/RYT

The current definition developed by the International Association of Yoga Therapists is:

“Yoga Therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved and wellbeing through the application of the teachings and practices of Yoga.”

The practice of Yoga Therapy is aimed at developing self-knowledge and self-realization through utilization of the tools of yoga. These may include: (physical postures), (breathing practices), , mantra (sound, word or phrase), chanting, mudra (posture or movement of the hands), ritual and a disciplined lifestyle.

The tradition of yoga views human beings as a multidimensional system that includes all aspects of body, breath, mind, intellect, and emotion and their mutual interaction. Yoga therapy focuses on healing at all levels of the person: physical, energetic, psycho-emotional, and spiritual. Yoga therapy is non-sectarian and non-hierarchical.

Yoga therapy recognizes that relief of symptoms is just one facet of the healing process and that not all illness and disease can be cured. It does, however, provide a methodology to heal lives, reduce pain and , and relieve physical symptoms and psychological suffering. Yoga therapy recognizes that the healing process is unique to each individual and modifies practices appropriately depending upon the individual characteristics.

The goals of yoga therapy include eliminating, reducing, or managing symptoms that cause suffering; improving function and helping to prevent the occurrence or re-occurrence of underlying causes of illness; and moving toward improved health and wellbeing. Yoga therapy also seeks to help clients change their relationship to and identification with their condition.

Although yoga therapy has been practiced in India for centuries, yoga therapy in the West is an emerging field. In the West, many studies have been conducted to prove the benefits of this ancient science. In the late 1980’s Dr. Dean Ornish published his study on the effects of lifestyle intervention on heart disease. He was able to show that heart disease could be reversed through a healthy lifestyle program that included therapeutic yoga, meditation and dietary changes. There have been many studies showing the benefits of yoga for numerous ailments including , insomnia, respiratory conditions, back pain, cancer and many more. A new book by a long time yoga practitioner and scientific journalist William Broad, The Science of Yoga, presents an impartial evaluation of yoga as a practice and the science behind it. Mr. Broad submits a timeline as reference for the emergence of yoga and states that in 1998 The National Institutes of Health began spending public funds on yoga research. It continues to do so. There is a scientific publication: The International Journal of Yoga Therapy which supports and publishes research and education in yoga and serves as a professional organization for Yoga teachers and Yoga therapists worldwide.

How are Yoga and Yoga Therapy Different?

All yoga is considered therapeutic, but yoga therapy has a focus on health and healing. In a yoga class, the class structure and content is not generally specific for each individual as everyone in the class has different needs. Instead, focus is usually global and attempts to meet the many needs of all those present in a given class. In yoga therapy, the process allows the yoga therapist to be the facilitator with the emphasis on student centered empowerment and connection to his or her own true source so that wellness and healing can occur.

Claudia Cardin-Kleffner, OTR/RYT will finish her second year of yoga therapist training in October, 2012. She has been training with Robin Rothenberg through the Essential Yoga Therapy Training Program in Fall City, Washington. The program that will certify her to use the credentials of Yoga Therapist is also based on the Educational Standards and Competencies outlined by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. For more information, please contact Claudia directly at 913-341-2128 or [email protected].