Yoga Therapy London: Yoga Therapy Training and Courses

Yoga Therapy as a Path for Yoga Therapists

I’ve come to realize over the years that yoga therapy is more than just a career. It is a path of practice and a way of living that steadily discloses the inner life of the therapist. One cannot help but come face to face with the deeper parts of oneself when providing assistance to others. I went on a yoga retreat in August for a long time without my phone, email, or interruptions from my daily life. As The Minded Institute continues to expand, this kind of letting go is rare and precious. For a time, I was able to be a student of life again, rather than one who runs her own life.
The Koshas in Daily Life and Practice On this retreat, it became clear that my practice and experience of self have become inseparable from the framework of yoga therapy that I have lived and taught for so many years. I could feel the koshas, the five layers of being described in yoga philosophy and drawn upon in yoga therapy, shaping and interacting with one another as part of creating me, with their interplay illuminated by the scientific foundations of the field.

These five interdependent layers, body, breath, mind, discernment and joy, were experienced not as parts within me but as my own becoming.
In Warrior II, ujjayi breath was drawn inward, lifting my ribs, opening my chest and allowing me to deepen into the pose as a breathing being. My body expanded further, strengthening as tension was released. In observing, my mind became absorbed in the process, transforming sensation into a lived physiological experience.

How Yoga Therapy Shapes the Therapist

In tracing these inner dynamics, my mind grew calm, merging with the psychophysical reality of breath. Distinction observed the interaction of mind, body, and breath, while joy fluctuated with the posture’s intensity. I was deeply moved by this transformed weaving together of such moments. I realised that yoga therapy has made me. In this instance, I saw how the field was bringing the Heather I knew into a different version of self, more expansive than before, more able to look through a myriad of dimensions to understand myself, and more capable of gently influencing them in service of my wellbeing. Other people have said that I help to bring the field forward in my way. Yoga Therapy: A More Intimate Calling I share this experience with all of you for a few reasons. To begin, I would like to express my gratitude to all of my teachers, both those who provided formal training for me in this field and those who naturally became my teachers—students and coworkers alike. I have been so busy working within the field that I did not see how it was also working within me, and how fortunate I am for that.

Secondly, to affirm that yoga therapy ultimately becomes more than a profession. It shapes the person who offers it. It metamorphoses you. For those currently starting or training as yoga therapists, know that this can and does happen as you continue along your journey.
And finally, for those wondering about becoming yoga therapists, ask yourself: are you ready for yoga therapy to become you? It is a deep and profound undertaking. I bow my head to the convergence of factors that brought me to it—it is a calling and a path. Take a look at Yoga Therapist Training. Heather’s reflection serves as a reminder that yoga therapy transforms yoga therapists as well as its clients. If you feel called to this path, learn more about our Yoga Therapy Diploma Programme, designed to support the next generation of yoga therapists in bringing evidence-based practice into the world.

Through organizations like the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), yoga therapists all over the world are contributing to the growing recognition of yoga therapy as an evidence-based healthcare approach.