Talking about our challenges sometimes isn’t enough to help us resolve them, move forward, and thrive.
Are you feeling stuck and coming back to the same challenges mentally and emotionally?
Are you experiencing physical symptoms that are tied to stress, emotions, or traumatic experiences?
Are you not making the progress you could or need to be in therapy and looking for something more to support your healing?
This is where therapeutic yoga comes in!
Therapeutic yoga is an integrative ‘bottom up’ approach to mental health. Our emotions are physical, not just mental, so in this approach we seek to use the body as a healing tool to promote regulation, emotional processing, stress relief, change, and improved mental health.
What does ‘bottom up’ mean?
In most traditional talk therapies intervention happens by working with emotions and cognitions to alleviate mental health conditions. Thus, these approaches work from the top or mind down to create change in our body and central nervous system. With therapeutic yoga, on the other hand, we utilize the body to impact our central nervous system and shift our thinking and emotional state.
Why is it integrative?
This approach combines the evidence-based practices of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with yogic knowledge of the subtle body (Chakra System) to address mental health.
MBSR involves a variety of practices including meditation, visualization, breath work, and mindful movement (yoga) to support the client in being present in the moment with themselves and the external world with purpose, focused attention, and non-judgement. MBSR is officially an 8-week intensive program proven to be effective in treating anxiety and depression. While the therapeutic yoga approach is not an official 8-week intensive, it utilizes many of the same tools to support clients mental health.
The Chakra System is linked with the science and practice of yoga and conceptualizes healing and vibrant mental and physical health via 7 energy centers in the body. Each chakra or energetic hub connects in a unique way to our mental, emotional, and physical health. Via modern physiology evidence has been found for the chakras near the 7 major nerve ganglia that emanate from the spinal column. The chakras are associated with 7 basic elements of the human condition or experience. For example, Chakra One, located at the base of the spine, is associated with safety, security, and basic needs including attachment. Chakra Two, located in the center of the pelvis, is associated with creativity, emotions, and sexuality. Chakra Three, located at the solar plexus, is associated with sense of self, self-worth, agency, and healthy boundaries. Chakra Four is associated with self-compassion, unconditional love, and grief or loss. Specific breathing practices and yoga poses can be used to create balance in a chakra where the client is experiencing symptoms. For example, anxiety involves feelings such as fear, loss of control, low self-worth, perfectionism, excessive worry, and rumination, which are elements of the lower three chakras mentioned above.
Therapeutic yoga is used in concert with talk therapy in treatment of anxiety, depression, OCD, body image and self concept challenges, self-harm, grief and other psychological concerns. After an assessment period, client and therapist will discuss a treatment plan that includes appropriate talk therapy and yoga to address the client’s individual needs and presenting concerns. Not all clients will be a candidate for therapeutic yoga. In appropriate cases, therapeutic yoga can support accessing the clients nervous system, emotions, thoughts and physical body through movement, conscious breathing, and bodily connection. The client is always informed about the practice and guided through yoga poses, breathing or visualization exercises, and mindfulness techniques. The client is in charge of their body and practice at all times and is encouraged to actively communicate with the therapist about the physical sensations and emotions present before, during and after the session.
How does this come into practice?
Each session is tailored to your individual needs and mental health concerns. The therapist will guide you through movements, breathing practices, and tools to focus the mind, alleviate discomfort, and access your inner strength. You will walk away with specific techniques you can use on your own between sessions. Over time, we will hone and adjust the practices to support you in making progress toward the life you want and deserve.
About Sonya Taylor, MS, NCC, LPC, E-RYT 500
Sonya has a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Additionally, she has an advanced certification in yoga psychology and has been teaching and sharing therapeutic yoga for over a decade. At True Mind + Body, Sonya provides traditional talk therapy as well as yoga therapy, specializing in supporting teenage girls and women dealing with interpersonal and intrapersonal challenges, anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, grief, career and life transitions, and adjustment and family issues. Prior to joining TMB, Sonya worked in community mental health, recruiting, training, international coaching, mindfulness education, yoga, and meditation in both the corporate and private sector serving adults and adolescents.
Sonya is an integrative therapist who is passionate about using the holistic practices of meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, talk therapy and somatic movement to connect the body, mind, and emotions, recover from trauma and mental health challenges, and realize inherent internal worth. She is adept in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), therapeutic yoga, and somatic awareness. Sonya believes that change is a complex journey navigated at one’s own pace, and is passionate about creating a safe environment for insightful growth.