As we move our way into a new year time spent on self reflection is helpful and important for personal growth and development. I’m not talking about journaling or putting together a vision board. Self reflection is a process of being honest with ourselves and what actions or changes we need to implement or maintain for optimal healthy living.
Here at the Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy Clinic in Buderim, self-reflection is vital so we may keep delivering a high level of service and care to our clientele on the Sunshine Coast (and further afield) and keep evolving as practitioners.
Which leads me to write this blog. As the year gets off to a start why not have a look at what a Yoga Therapy session entails and how it differs from a yoga studio or Youtube Channel. There is much noise around yoga in general so touching on a snippet of yoga history can be helpful to see how it has expanded (or exploded) to where it is today.
Yoga is taught within an unregulated market surrounded by many misconceptions of what it is and what it is for. Much like Ayurveda, there is a great need for standards to be set by which the public knows it is safe and how that is defined.
Yoga has gained global popularity, and it seems that every second person we meet is a yoga teacher or has done yoga training of some sort. While there are many Yoga Teachers with good intentions, their training often has limitations and poor education on what the foundations of yoga are built on with many trainings a way to make money and boost attendance. This leaves it open for yoga to be watered down, misinterpreted, and misrepresented.
Today we typically find yoga in a studio environment paired with Pilates, barre, or other fitness classes along with various styles of yoga from yin, slow flow to power yoga wrapped up in a membership bundle. This adapting of different styles and postures is nothing new in yoga but something that started some 100 years ago when the first yoga class was delivered in 1918 to a group of middle-class Indian men outside of Mumbai. The first taste of delivering yoga to the general public.
Yoga was originally delivered one on one as a self discipline to be undertaken as a daily routine rather than dropping in for a class every few days or so, designed for the individual. Quite a change from the display you currently see where much of what is offered is catering to the consumer.
Why am I mentioning all this?
I often see people dismiss or misunderstand not only yoga therapy but yoga itself.
So how is yoga therapy different?
- Training experience– I have had many years of training in classical yoga both in a group environment and one on one, and therapeutic yoga throughout 3 +yrs. To become a certified registered Yoga Therapist, you need thorough training plus years of teaching time in a therapeutic context ie yoga for back pain, stress anxiety etc. I also have a long-standing consistent self-practice that is a key component of what I offer in the sessions.
- Comprehensive – through a individualised assessment, time is taken to understand your current health, lifestyle and specific concerns, a personal practice plan is develped for your specific needs and requirements, a theraputic approach is taken that can be adapted and modified as your needs change so continued growth, relief and balance is attended to.
- Yoga is an inward practice- not an external show, when you personalise your yoga practice it allows you to develop at a pace that suits you and your unique requirements cultivate something sacred to you.
- Learn independence- self-motivation/discipline are skills developed through a self practice and have far reaching benefits into your day to day life.
- Complimentary – Yoga Therapy works extremely well alongside Ayurveda, physio therapists, chiropractic and osteopathic work.
Yoga has been blended and changed for centuries and is nothing new. What you choose to do in the field of yoga is entirely up to you but let us be clear on what we are doing and why. Choose what is appropriate and what serves you well as an individual rather than following the group. Let us not dismiss or disregard yoga as a whole practice beyond what we see on the superficial level.
As many are aware, here at the Buderim Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy Clinic, we are passionate about respecting the teachings as they have been passed down and honouring the teachings to the best of our abilities. Appreciating the depth that is presented in the texts takes time, perseverance and patience. Let us not dilute what is on offer here but aim high and elevate ourselves towards what the yogis and great sages passed on.
