Yoga
YOGA is an ancient discipline that offers a broad range of tools used to promote health and wellbeing, facilitating spiritual transformation. Each student’s unique needs are addressed at Santosha Yoga Center, where appropriate guidance of a skilled teacher is provided. Yoga is for everyone and includes physical poses, various types of practices, special breathing techniques, powerful meditative moments, and use of symbolic gestures and vocal sounds, as works in each situation.
“MINDFUL YOGA is a lifetime engagement–not to get somewhere else, but to be where and as we actually are in this very moment, with this very breath, whether the experience is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Our body will change a lot as we practice, and so will our minds and our hearts and our views. Hopefully, whether a beginner or an old-timer, we are always reminding ourselves in our practice of the value of keeping this beginner’s mind”
(Excerpt from Jon Kabat-Zinn “Mindful Yoga Movement & Meditation”
©2003, Yoga International, Feb/March 2003).
Definition of Yoga Therapy
(updated June 2, 2020 by the International Association of Yoga Therapists)
“Yoga therapy is the professional application of the principles and practices of yoga to promote health and well-being within a therapeutic relationship that includes personalized assessment, goal setting, lifestyle management, and yoga practices for individuals or small groups.”
THERAPEUTIC YOGA practices are designed to lead one to grow in mind, body and spirit. Such therapeutic sessions take place in a safe, relaxed environment at Santosha Yoga Center, where our clients can open more fully to life experiences, increasing mind-body-energy connection and perception, thus enhancing self-care. Yoga therapy sessions are typically conducted one-on-one or in small groups, resembling working with a rehabilitation specialist, focusing on linking movement to rhythmic breathing and emphasizing release through relaxation.
A certified yoga therapist trains for years with mentors who are experts in their field; continuing education is required to stay up-to-date with ongoing research and understanding of best practices for client needs, while always staying respectful of and working complementary to Western medical advice. As a certified and knowledgeable yoga therapist, Teddy designs a personalized program that motivates each client to practice at home. Follow-up sessions are essential to make changes as needed in the “plan of action”. Structural issues, chronic diseases, emotional trauma and diminished immune function are a few examples of situations when she may be able to help individual clients.