This is purely out of curiosity but what does it mean when someone says they are a Yoga Therapist?
And what type of training do they have?
The International Association of Yoga Therapists is probably the best place to start to learn about Yoga therapy on a whole: IAYT You can see their definition and many (maybe all publicized?) Yoga therapy programs under their resources page.
What does it mean when someone says that they are a Yoga therapist?
It seems it can mean all sort of things, since I’ve seen gyms offering weekend yoga therapy programs. Because Yoga therapy is not licensed by state boards in the USA–though Purna College is a Washington State-licensed Vocational School for yoga teachers–you really need to ask that individual and then do your research about their training and their personal practice. (IA, this is your school, is this correct?)
I have been studying Yoga therapy and Ayurveda, to be offered one-on-one and not necessarily for the classroom, for a little over 10 years now. In the last 5 years, Mukunda Stiles has been my primary teacher and mentor. He certified me in Structural Yoga Therapy after a specific 2-year program with him in 2005. But for Mukunda, doing the studies (which was substantial) and presenting a multi-month, documented case study is still not enough to [I]practice[/I] Yoga therapy. We do not have his blessing, as our teacher and certifier, to practice Yoga therapy without a committed, long-standing, daily and multi-dimensional sadhana of our own. We also need to stay connected to a teacher of our own to develop our sadhana, for me it is Mukunda, though others in my program have other teachers too. He asks us to ethically and respectfully, to stop offering Yoga therapy if we are not sustaining this daily sadhana, though we are still allowed to teach classroom because he does not certify Yoga teachers and because he requires substantial Yoga teacher training and/or experience before you may enter his program. For me, the essential difference between a Yoga teacher and Yoga therapist, after the necessary advanced trainings, is the commitment to a daily personal practice and a relationship to a teacher.
Here is a link to Mukunda’s site: Yogatherapycenter.org. You can also see our graduate papers on his site too if you are interested. His Structural Yoga Therapy program is unique in that he trains us in diagnostic testings as well: range of motion, strength, postural evaluation, et cetera.
Cheers,
It means different things to/from different people.
For me it means a certain level of training with a master teacher such that I know how to safely work with students who bring a variety of “situations” (HBP, Diabetes, vertigo, DeQuervain’s, arthritis, et al). And, in that working, actually provide them a broad enough, accurate enough, yoga construct to support their healing process, rather than just move their bodies and make them feel “good”.
It is the ability to draw upon the vast body of wisdom known as yoga and customize it appropriately to fit the student with a therapeutic issue.
[quote=Nichole;11397]The International Association of Yoga Therapists is probably the best place to start to learn about Yoga therapy on a whole: IAYT You can see their definition and many (maybe all publicized?) Yoga therapy programs under their resources page.
It seems it can mean all sort of things, since I’ve seen gyms offering weekend yoga therapy programs. Because Yoga therapy is not licensed by state boards in the USA–though Purna College is a Washington State-licensed Vocational School for yoga teachers–you really need to ask that individual and then do your research about their training and their personal practice. (IA, this is your school, is this correct?)
I have been studying Yoga therapy and Ayurveda, to be offered one-on-one and not necessarily for the classroom, for a little over 10 years now. In the last 5 years, Mukunda Stiles has been my primary teacher and mentor. He certified me in Structural Yoga Therapy after a specific 2-year program with him in 2005. But for Mukunda, doing the studies (which was substantial) and presenting a multi-month, documented case study is still not enough to [I]practice[/I] Yoga therapy. We do not have his blessing, as our teacher and certifier, to practice Yoga therapy without a committed, long-standing, daily and multi-dimensional sadhana of our own. We also need to stay connected to a teacher of our own to develop our sadhana, for me it is Mukunda, though others in my program have other teachers too. He asks us to ethically and respectfully, to stop offering Yoga therapy if we are not sustaining this daily sadhana, though we are still allowed to teach classroom because he does not certify Yoga teachers and because he requires substantial Yoga teacher training and/or experience before you may enter his program. For me, the essential difference between a Yoga teacher and Yoga therapist, after the necessary advanced trainings, is the commitment to a daily personal practice and a relationship to a teacher.
Here is a link to Mukunda’s site: Yogatherapycenter.org. You can also see our graduate papers on his site too if you are interested. His Structural Yoga Therapy program is unique in that he trains us in diagnostic testings as well: range of motion, strength, postural evaluation, et cetera.
Cheers,[/quote]
Thank You
How does one diagnose a problem or is the problem pre-diagnosed before they get to a Yoga Therapist? The reason I ask is I have some knowledge of Chinese Medicine and for a Traditional Chinese Medical Doctor a western diagnosis is nice but of little use when it comes to treatment.
I think I know what Ayurveda is, is that Indian Medicine or am I wrong?
And where could I learn more about it?
[quote=InnerAthlete;11398]It means different things to/from different people.
For me it means a certain level of training with a master teacher such that I know how to safely work with students who bring a variety of “situations” (HBP, Diabetes, vertigo, DeQuervain’s, arthritis, et al). And, in that working, actually provide them a broad enough, accurate enough, yoga construct to support their healing process, rather than just move their bodies and make them feel “good”.
That makes sense to me, thank you.
So, if I understand, it should be many years of training Yoga and an understanding of human anatomy and physiology as well. Similar to say a physical therapist that is using Yoga instead of western modalities
I believe that to be fully therapeutically trained in yoga takes a decade or more of study with a senior teacher. So there are obviously varying degrees of “therapeutically trained” yoga teachers. I do not, however, compare it to physical therapists for a variety of reasons.
Diagnosis also varies. It’s nice to have an MRI or an Xray, or some blood work. And they are far from useless. However I believe progressive yoga will and does work with progressive allopathic and homeopathic medicine. When western medicine grows out of its infancy it may be very good.
So for me I take the diagnosis and incorporate it. Sometimes that means going with it. Other times that means fixing it. When you tell a person they’ll never walk again that is a very powerful message. Some have the mind to fight it. Many do not. Diagnosis-good. Prognosis - questionable. Bedside manner - mindless.
Ayurveda is the art of living. Yoga is the art of dying.
It is far too simplstic to compare a yoga therapist with a physical therapist. If you work one one one with a skilled yoga therapist. It is very likely that the practice you are given will be multi faceted and may or may not include asana. There are many tools - my personal favorites are pranayama and sound. But a yoga therapist will work with you as an individual using the tools best suited to you and your situation.
It is likely too that a yoga therapist will want to get to the cause of the problem rather than just addressing symptoms.
Gary Kraftsow has a blurb here:
American Viniyoga Institute
I have a teacher that says that the term “yoga therapist” is redundant. This is particularly true if the teacher is a very good one.
Best wishes.
Vic
Victw :
I have a teacher that says that the term “yoga therapist” is redundant. This is particularly true if the teacher is a very good one.
In theory it is redundant. In application it clearly is not 
Thank you, and I meant no offense in comparing Yoga Therapy to Physical Therapy, I was just trying to figure it out.
It sounds much like Traditional Chinese Medicine in the fact that it is looking to treat the cause of the problem not the problem itself which is only the result of the cause. However in TCM the treatments can be Qigong, Acupuncture, acupressure, diet or herbal.
Are the treatments in Yoga Therapy then based on proper applications of Yoga postures or is there more to it than that?
Thank You.
The treatment is based on the requirements of the individual client.
In Structural Yoga Therapy (SYT), as taught by Mukunda Stiles, problems of the musculoskeletal type will indeed benefit most by yoga postures. The joint freeing series is used for limbering up the joints and making energy flow. To address tightness or weakness of muscles a selection is made from 24 basic yoga postures (asana). These recommendations are made on the basis of an examination including body reading, range of motion testing (ROM) and muscle strength testing.
However, it is best to take a more general perspective on any client. So often a selection is made from the vast array of yoga techniques. This includes dietary advice, breathing exercises (pranayama), yoga poses, chanting, visualisation, meditation, or yoga nidra. It is most important to adapt these to the individual and to address all of the kosha’s (body, mind and soul). It is even more important to really care about the well-being of the client.
[quote=WalterJ;11401]Thank You
How does one diagnose a problem or is the problem pre-diagnosed before they get to a Yoga Therapist? The reason I ask is I have some knowledge of Chinese Medicine and for a Traditional Chinese Medical Doctor a western diagnosis is nice but of little use when it comes to treatment.
I think I know what Ayurveda is, is that Indian Medicine or am I wrong?
And where could I learn more about it?[/quote]
Hello Walter,
Thank you for the catch around the word “diagnostic.” I was using it simply as an adjective for the assessment skills that we are trained to utilize within the Structural Yoga Therapy (SYT) program, and not as means to offer a medical diagnosis. It would have more clearly stated, and properly inline within SYT and Mukunda’s own languaging to have said instead, “that he [Mukunda] trains us in whole body [B]assessment[/B] through the testing of an individual’s range of motion and strength, postural evaluation, et cetera.”
In my class, there were students who were trained in TCM and not in Ayurveda, Mukunda told them that they could work within the context TCM for themselves. He did not lecture the group as a whole on it though as he was training us within the scope Yoga and Ayurveda. Because the SYT training is an advanced and substantial training, many of us came to the program with variety of skills already. Therefore, we were encouraged to integrate it all for ourselves: body workers came with their trainings and utilized it, MDs came with their training, psychotherapists came with theirs…
For myself, I find it best not to compare TCM and Ayurveda because instead of dropping into the wisdom and depth of one school, one can get stuck at the surface with the constant comparing and contrasting.
If a client comes to me–I use the term client, not student or patient–with a diagnosis from an anyone who is licensed to offer a diagnosis, I use my own tools of assessment to confirm it. I then begin to look at how this condition or injury can be addressed through the doshas, gunas and the koshas: some of the points of application for Yoga and Ayurveda that I work with. I also work with the client’s treatment plan as a whole, what they are already doing under their doctor’s (MD or other) treatment plan. Sometime I cannot offer more, because they are being managed very completely, and sometimes I can offer support to their current treatments, and sometimes, it may be best to get through a certain level of other treatments before what I can offer within Ayurvedic Yoga therapy will be beneficial. I always follow Shri T. Krishnamacharya’s advice to, “adapt to the individual.”
You are correct about Ayurveda being the sister science of Yoga, though I am not sure if calling it [I]Indian Medicine[/I] is correct usage or not. I have always seen it referred to as Ayurvedic medicine only. If your interested, here is a great resource for Ayurveda: National Ayurvedic Medical Association
Kind regards,
Thank You Nichole, Willem, victw and InnerAthlete
I think I have a much better idea of what Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda are.
It appears to take a lot of time study and dedication.
As the Sanskrit term “purna” mean whole or complete, the approach of it’s teachers should also be whole or complete. There are four basic elements to Purna Yoga - asana/pranayama, meditation, lifestyle/nutrition, and applied philosophy.
It is with these tools that we approach the student on three realms to support their body’s innate healing process.
[quote=InnerAthlete;11435]As the Sanskrit term “purna” mean whole or complete, the approach of it’s teachers should also be whole or complete. There are four basic elements to Purna Yoga - asana/pranayama, meditation, lifestyle/nutrition, and applied philosophy.
It is with these tools that we approach the student on three realms to support their body’s innate healing process.[/quote]
I like this, that type of view of health/life has been part of my decision to make a major career and life style change.
Thank You
Above is explained who is Yoga Therapist. My question is what should be the qualities and knowledge of Hatha Yoga Teacher? Is there a difference between Yoga Therapist and what Hatha Yoga Teacher should be? Did Yoga Therapy developed to continue the original purpose of Yoga practice?
This is a broad question. Several organisations have set standards for yoga teachers. An example is the definition by the European Yoga Union at http://internationalyogafederation.net/standards.htm.
In 2007, the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) has defined yoga therapy as: “Yoga therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the philosophy and practice of Yoga.” However, there are no set standards for yoga therapists yet. Some of the discussion on this topic can be found on the IAYT site (professional resources – standards). One of the reasons for this is that there are many approaches to yoga therapy, ranging from Phoenix Rising (works on emotions) to Biomedical Trust (strongly based on western medecine).
In my mind, there are two differences between hatha yoga teachers and yoga therapists.
- Yoga therapists work with individuals (at the most with small groups of individuals with a similar ailment after private consultation)
- Yoga therapists work with people with health conditions and strive to improve these with yoga practices.
Of course, there is a grey area between the two. Some yoga teachers offer private lessons. Most yoga teachers encounter health conditions in some of their students. For a yoga therapist to be effective, he/she needs a more profound education than a yoga teacher (e.g. more anatomy), experience as a yoga teacher, and a strong personal practice (sadhana).
Historically, there is not such a large difference between the two. In India, yoga was usually taught on a one-to-one basis. And hatha yoga has always been recognised as a therapeutic practice. The Hatha Pradipika II-78 dated around 14th century AD, mentions that the yoga practicioner will develop “slimness of body, lustre on the face, clarity of voice, brightness of eyes, freedom from disease ….” Physical health is a prerequisite for the more demanding pranayama and medition practices.
Thank you Willem! In June I will finish my teachers program. I want to continue my study. Could you suggest any good studies in Holland? I’m thinking to start another teachers program - that would be a time for me to deepen my practice and what I learnt so far. Or maybe a study that would combine good with teachers program.
I would appreciate your suggestion very much!