Questions & Answers
Yoga therapy is the appropriate application of the teachings and practices of yoga in a therapeutic context. The yoga therapy toolkit encompasses all 8 limbs of yoga such as the movement, postures, breathing, focus, self-study, and meditation. Yoga therapy can be complementary to any other healing and wellness practices.
Yoga therapy is a salutogenic model for well-being. Salutogenesis focuses on the origins of health and well-being rather than on pathogenesis, the origins of disease. Yoga therapists help clients to co-create lifestyle habits which support well-being. Yoga therapy provides a fully customized, holistic, bioregulatory and salutogenic toolkit to restore coherence, alignment, and harmony to each unique human experience.
Links to more info:
- So You Want to Try Yoga Therapy? Here’s Where to Start
- Yoga for Health: What the Science Says | NCCIH
- Revolutionising healthcare: The untapped potential of yoga – AAYM
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All is vibration according to physics and all the world’s major religions and esoteric wisdom. We are vibrational beings living in a vibrational universe. Sound waves have the capacity to both create and shift molecules. In short, sound healing is utilizing the energy of sound which is vibration to shift vibration.
Sound healing therapy as vibrational medicine is becoming recognized as a powerful complimentary form of treatment capable of creating resonance with coherence in the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of human beings. Like yoga therapy, sound healing therapy is a salutogenic model for health and well-being. Through various techniques and technologies, sound healing therapy is the educated and conscious application of sound energy towards assessed therapeutic goals.
In sound healing therapy, a therapist uses assessment to intentionally create a vibrational environment which facilitates healing in the physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual layers of the client or group of clients. This process generally begins with utilization of various instruments and techniques to elicit a balance in the central nervous system or relaxation response. As a client moves from a state of stress to a state of safety and calm, a state of healing becomes available.
Links to more information:
- How to Use Sound to Heal Yourself
- Is “Sound” the way to Sound Health? | HuffPost Contributor
- Music as medicine
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Some benefits of yoga therapy and sound healing therapy:
- Improve muscular skeletal function
- Increase flexibility, mobility, balance and strength
- Improve respiratory function
- Improve circulatory function
- Improve organ function
- Relieve chronic pain
- Regulation of the nervous system and increase vagal tone
- Regulation of the electromagnetic systems of the body
- Regulation of biorhythms
- Balance metabolism
- Improve mood with decreased stress, anxiety, and depression
- Improve sleep quality
- Increase energy
- Improve mental clarity and neurogenesis
A few research links to demonstrate the data demonstrating benefits of yoga and sound for health:
- How Can Yoga Therapy Help? | YogaTherapy.Health
- Medical Yoga Therapy – PMC
- Possible Mechanisms for the Effects of Sound Vibration on Human Health – PMC
- Biological markers for the effects of yoga as a complementary and alternative medicine
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Harmony is your birthright. You are innately designed to be in harmony, in coherence, with the same energy that creates worlds. You are part of the natural harmony of the Universe. You were born as a self-tuning, self-healing instrument. However, you may be experiencing distortion, discomfort or disease across the layers of your being which make it difficult to perceive the Harmony of your innate design – much less to experience your intrinsic well-being in mind, body, and spirit. All you need to restore your physical, mental, and emotional being is alignment with the harmony that you are.
Yoga therapy and sound healing therapy provide tools to unblock alignment to your natural tuning while freeing the truest expression of your mind, body, and spirit. My extensive education and training, along with both personal and professional experience in bio-psycho-social-spiritual well-being practices, have synthesized to equip me to both perceive the expression of you as it is in this moment through a variety of assessment tools and then to facilitate experiences through which you may restore your natural harmony. Then we co-create personal “tuning” practices of self-regulation which empower you to restore harmony moment-to-moment in your life. Imagine how you will feel when you know exactly what is needed day-to-day to access your True Harmony.
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Yoga therapy and sound therapy have been shown to improve outcomes of over 100 medical and psychological conditions. Here are some examples of a few conditions with researched potential benefits through yoga therapy and sound healing therapy.
Physical conditions:
- Chronic pain (e.g., back pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia)
- Cardiovascular health (e.g., hypertension, heart disease)
- Respiratory conditions (e.g., asthma, COPD)
- Musculoskeletal conditions (e.g., osteoporosis, joint pain)
- Metabolic disorders (e.g., diabetes)
- Cancer-related symptoms (e.g., fatigue, sleep disturbances)
- Neurological conditions (e.g., multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease)
- Women’s health issues (e.g., menstrual disorders, menopausal symptoms)
- Gastrointestinal conditions (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease)
Psychological conditions:
- Anxiety disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder)
- Depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Insomnia and sleep disorders
- Eating disorders
- Substance use disorders and other addictions
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Stress management and general well-being
Related Links:
- Research | YogaTherapy.Health
- Yoga: What You Need To Know | NCCIH
- The Healing Power of Sound as Meditation | Psychology Today
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Yoga therapists have in-depth training and experience far beyond that of regular yoga teacher training to assess and address each client’s specific and unique wellness goals while considering any presenting physical, mental or emotional limitations or concerns to keep the clients safe.
A yoga teacher is often certified through Yoga Alliance, though not every yoga teacher participates in the certification process. Yoga Alliance yoga teacher certification requires a minimum of 200 hours of training. Yoga therapists who are certified with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) complete a minimum of 1000 hours of training.
Many yoga therapists have also completed requirements for yoga teacher training compounding their knowledge and experience in the field. In addition to deep study in the principles of yoga, training in yoga therapy includes a level of biomedical and psychological foundational knowledge. A yoga therapist works with a client to develop an individualized therapeutic plan based on the client’s needs such as medical diagnosis, physical and emotional state, and other lifestyle factors.
Related Links:
- Yoga Alliance, YA, Scope of Practice for yoga teachers: Scope of Practice | Yoga Alliance
- International Association of Yoga Therapists, IAYT, Scope of Practice: Scope of Practice for Yoga Therapy
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While all yoga is potentially therapeutic, in a typical public yoga class in the modern west practitioners are led through a series of postures selected to enhance general well being in the general population (or the population of the attendees of a particular class). It’s a general class taught to the non-specific needs of the median student based on the yoga teacher’s intended focus or purpose for the class.
On the other hand, in both individual and group yoga therapy, the focus of the session is inspired by the client’s expressed goals and informed by the yoga therapist’s assessment of specific needs within a therapeutic relationship. Assessment comes in a variety of forms based on extensive training and experience of the yoga therapist. Per the client’s goals and therapist’s assessment, a therapeutic treatment plan is co-created which addresses bio-psycho-social and even spiritual wellness utilizing a full spectrum of yogic tools for cultivating wellness.
Related Links:
- The Distinction Between a Yoga Therapy Session and a Yoga Class
- YogaMedics Therapy Vs. Yoga Therapy Vs. Yoga Class: Know the Difference!
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Each client is entirely unique as is each yoga therapist; therefore, each treatment plan and each session is unique. With True Harmony Yoga Therapy, the initial appointment is heavily assessment-based so that an informed and personalized treatment plan can be created which serves the client’s goals.
For example, a session may be focused primarily on creating more ease in the physical body through yoga asana (postures). Often I will include vibracoustic sound vibration applied directly to the physical body. Sometimes the client’s goals and assessed needs include the alleviation of mental or emotional stress addressed with practices such as breathwork and meditation, and often also utilizing some physical postures and particular use of sound designed to elicit the relaxation response in the nervous system.
Some clients prefer to focus more on the tools of sound therapy without any yoga postures to shift the experience of dis-ease or disharmony in the mind, body and/or emotions to one of greater ease. Often those sessions are more like a customized sound “bath,” or sonic massage with the client fully supported in a restorative position for a deep relaxation sound healing meditation.
Some types of recommendations for clients may include:
- Yoga postures and movement, ranging from gentle to vigorous per the client’s needs and goals
- Breathwork techniques
- Meditation or mindfulness practices, including sound healing meditation
- Deep relaxation techniques
- Lifestyle shifts to facilitate greater well-being through improved sleep, digestion and more
- Self-study and reflection
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A medical doctor or other healthcare provider may recommend avoiding yoga for some specific conditions. However, that recommendation is generally aimed at typical yoga classes where the yoga teacher may not have the level of training to appropriately support your condition. A yoga therapist has extensive clinical training and understands contraindications for many conditions and will not include contraindicated practices in your personalized therapeutic plan.
Sound healing therapy is rarely (or never) contraindicated by other healthcare providers. However, there are specific sound practices which are known to be contraindicated for specific conditions among many sound healing therapists such as trauma. As a trainer in the application of sound healing therapy in clinical yoga therapy, I have the advanced awareness of these contraindications and provide appropriate sound therapy for your specific needs.
Yoga therapy and sound healing therapy are complementary to treatment recommendations of other healthcare providers and can be customized to integrate with that care. With your consent, True Harmony Yoga Therapy can coordinate your specialized plan with any other members of your care team as harmonized support of your well-being.
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Yoga therapy and sound therapy sessions are available as personalized one-on-one sessions or tailored to meet the needs of a small group of people with similar conditions and goals. Sessions are offered both in-person in my private studio clinic in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and online. I do make house calls when appropriate and mutually agreed upon. Sessions may also be offered at local yoga studios and in other clinical therapeutic settings such as in conjunction with corporate wellness programs and for wellness programs in schools.
The number of sessions as well as the duration and frequency of sessions needed varies depending on each client’s goals and condition. Some conditions have clearer published guidelines such as two 60 minute sessions providing substantial benefit for managing side effects of treatment for cancer, and people recovering from heart bypass surgery are recommended to work with a yoga therapist five days a week for 60 minutes for at least 12 weeks in addition to other interventions. Your yoga therapist will recommend the appropriate amount of support for you.
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Like other complementary and alternative therapies, yoga therapy may be covered by health insurance depending upon your coverage as well as any medical diagnosis.
Speak to your health insurance company directly to determine if your treatment will be covered. Your yoga therapist can provide an invoice or receipt. Additionally, a Flex Health Spending Account or Health Spending Account accounts may also be used for yoga therapy services. The International Association of Yoga Therapists is working with health insurance companies and policymakers to expand broader coverage for yoga therapy.
Related Link:
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Yes, I offer services as a yoga therapist and sound healing therapist for other organizations such as corporate wellness programs, recovery groups, clinics, healing centers, yoga studios, and more. Each of these services is tailored to the needs of the group. For information on group yoga therapy and sound healing therapy at your location, please use the Contact form to send a message, or book a free Discovery call with True Harmony Yoga Therapy.
I also offer workshops and other trainings in sound for healing on location at yoga studios, retreat centers, and healing centers. For information on bringing group sound healing therapy trainings to your location, please select “True Harmony Academy” on the Contact form, or book a free Discovery call.
