4 Ways Yoga Can Support Other Therapies

1. Yoga assists in the creation of the therapeutic bond, the safe and sacred space where therapy will take place. (Yoga offers rituals and practices including the lighting of a candle, the use mudras, breath techniques called a pranayama, imagery of sanctuary or of peace called a bhavana, soothing universal tones called a mantra, or cleansing breathing techniques called a kriya).

2. Yoga provides a slow invitation to move back into a felt sense of living in the body. (This begins with the subtle cueing the teacher or therapist offers to her client, allowing him to acknowledge sensation in his face, for example, or his hands after guiding a practice, without ever saying, “It’s safe to feel your body,” a concept your client’s mind may immediately resist).

3. Yoga begins to still and focus the mind for the work of therapy.

4. Yoga has a tradition of holding poses, sometimes until the body begins to tremble. (The ancient yogis believed vigorously shaking released tension and intrinsic memory stored in the body-mind).
Adapted from Amy Weintraub - Yoga Skills for Therapists