Yoga Therapy

What is Therapeutic Yoga?

Talking about our challenges is powerful—but sometimes, it’s not enough to truly move forward, heal, and thrive. If you’re feeling stuck in the same emotional loops, experiencing stress-related physical symptoms, or not making the progress you hoped for in traditional talk therapy, therapeutic yoga may offer the support you’re looking for.

Therapeutic yoga is an integrative, body-based approach to mental health. Rooted in the understanding that emotions are not only mental but also physical, it helps clients use the body as a tool for regulation, stress relief, emotional processing, and change.

What Does “Bottom-Up” Mean?

Most traditional talk therapies use a “top-down” approach—working with thoughts and emotions to influence the body and nervous system. In contrast, therapeutic yoga works from the bottom up, using the body to shift what’s happening in the nervous system and bring about change in emotional and cognitive states.

Through movement, breath, and mindful awareness, we help the body communicate safety to the brain—allowing space for healing, resilience, and emotional regulation.

Why Is It Integrative?

Therapeutic yoga at True Mind + Body blends two powerful, evidence-based frameworks: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) This approach incorporates breathwork, meditation, mindful movement (yoga), visualization, and awareness practices. Though not delivered as a formal 8-week MBSR course, therapeutic yoga uses many of the same tools to support mental health, especially for anxiety and depression. The Chakra System A traditional yogic model, the chakra system identifies seven energy centers in the body, each associated with specific emotional and psychological themes. For example:

Chakra One (base of spine): safety, security, and attachment
Chakra Two (pelvis): emotions, creativity, and sexuality
Chakra Three (solar plexus): self-worth, agency, and boundaries

Modern physiology shows these energy centers align with major nerve ganglia along the spine. When certain chakras are out of balance, targeted breathing practices and yoga poses can support emotional and nervous system regulation.

What Can Therapeutic Yoga Help With?

Therapeutic yoga may be used alongside talk therapy to support the treatment of:

Anxiety and depression
Obsessive thoughts and behaviors/li>
Body image and self-concept challenges
Self-harm
Trauma and PTSD
Grief and loss
Adjustment and life transitions

It is not a fit for everyone, and not all clients will be candidates for yoga-based interventions. After an assessment period, the therapist and client will work together to develop a treatment plan that may incorporate therapeutic yoga if appropriate.

What to Expect in a Session

Each session is customized based on your needs and mental health goals. Your therapist may guide you through:

Gentle movement and yoga postures
Breathing techniques
Visualization or meditation practices
Mindfulness-based tools to focus the mind and regulate emotions

You are always in control of your body and your experience. You’ll be invited to share how your body feels and how your emotions shift throughout the session. Over time, you’ll develop a toolkit of practices to use between sessions and support long-term change.

Yoga Therapy

What is Therapeutic Yoga?

What Does “Bottom-Up” Mean?

Why Is It Integrative?

What Can Therapeutic Yoga Help With?

What to Expect in a Session

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