Yoga therapy is the disciplined and consistent application of yoga and can be applied to any ailment. Encourage your students to challenge themselves appropriately, get to know themselves through yoga and to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. Whether students are using yoga to manage back pain, insomnia, obesity, anxiety/depression, or pregnancy; whether they are athletes rehabilitating an injury or ameliorating their game; whether they are experienced yoga students seeking energetic homeostasis through advanced asana; yoga as therapy is the process to guide the way. Teach yoga therapy not as a prescriptive cure but as a strategy for students to observe and manage their own health. Yoga is a complement to medical attention and provides an autonomous platform for patients to take ownership of their own therapy.
Assignment
Consider a demographic you are familiar with. Using any yoga texts, videos or your own creativity, describe a meditation, several poses and a mantra for your chosen demographic. Examples from previous YTT groups are: Desk-bound workers (desk jockeys), seniors, musicians, insomniacs, pregnant women, obese students, people living at a homeless shelter
As you invent your sequence, consider:
- what type of yoga are they looking for?
- what is their level of experience/fitness?
- will you be teaching at a studio or going to them? What props are available?
- what type of language will you use to teach?
- how many demonstrations will you do?
