Yoga is a 3,000 year old tradition, and is regarded as a holistic approach to health and is classified as a form of Complementary and Alternative medicine.
In this article we will address the following. Why choose Therapeutic Yoga over a regular mixed level Yoga class? What makes it different? Doesn't all Yoga lead to optimal health and well being?
Yes, in some way all Yoga is therapeutic and aims at increasing your overall wellbeing. Yoga at its core is for everybody, regardless of age, gender or physical ability. The difference between your regular weekday mixed level Yoga class and a therapeutic one is the individual focus the therapist gives to each individual participant to address their needs. A certain awareness of each participant's special conditions means that the therapist is required to be able to adjust and change the class plan depending on who is in attendance.
Clinical/Therapeutic Yoga is an eight limbed path that provides the practitioner with tools to help their clients reach their optimal health and wellbeing. These tools compliment current exercise and treatment programs. Therapeutic Yoga is defined as “the application of Yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions and involves instruction in yogic practices and teaching to prevent and reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional pain, and limitations”. Several recent studies have shown Yoga to enhance muscular strength, body flexibility, improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, reduce stress, anxiety, depression and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.
However the mainstream perception and visualisation of Yoga is that postures are almost impossible, difficult and require one to be young, strong and flexible to practice, rather than time and dedication leads to the possibility of achieving such postures. Like all exercise based activities, there can be risks associated with Yoga postures if performed improperly by the novice. This risk can be minimised by practising Yoga under the guidance of Health Professionals. They are ideally trained to understand not only anatomy, biomechanics and pathophysiology but also assessing each individual's needs. This allows for Health Professional led Therapeutic Yoga classes to integrate tailored interventions to suit each attendee, focusing on safety and outcomes.
While there are no limitations regarding frequency of practice; the more you practice the more you benefit. Yoga should be a personalised practice and as such, frequency and duration are personal questions with individual answers. Practice should happen within a safe and knowledgeable environment and should be tailored to meet each individual's needs and goals. Novices should practice as often as possible; setting a routine of guided therapeutic Yoga and home self-practice to help achieve overall health and wellbeing. The length of one's introductory phase will vary depending on each individuals starting level of fitness and health status; the more difficult Yoga is for someone at the start the more their body needs it.
The Therapeutic Yoga has a strong focus on breath, with movement linked to the breath. This helps the individual become aware of your body and what’s happening within it. This awareness can then lead to knowing and understanding what your body needs. Practicing Yoga in this way also helps calm the nervous system. It helps mitigate the body’s “flight or fight” response and allows you to move into a state of rest and digest. Many conditions are worsened by stress. Helping to keep the mind and nervous system calm aids in feeling better no matter the circumstances.
If this sounds like something you need or would like to try, come down to Back In Motion - Bribie Island for a free 20minute initial assessment to discuss your individual needs and get you started on your Yoga journey. Call us on 3408 6608 to make an appointment, ask to see our Exercise Physiologists Jonie Darrington or Samara Emett alternatively Physiotherapist, Joseph Vos.
We are currently running the following classes with the possibility of adding more with increasing demand:
Monday - 2pm
Wednesday - 7am
Friday - 3pm
Each class is limited to a maximum of 6-8 participants so booking is essential. As the classes are run by Allied Health Professionals there is the potential to claim benefits from your private health insurance extras (depending on your level of cover).
Get moving and book in for your free initial assessments, classes are booking up fast!
This article was written by Samara Emett, Acredited Exercise Physioloigst.