How can yoga teachers, holistic health practitioners, massage therapists and other health care professionals facilitate health and wellness? How comfortable are you exploring feelings and emotions, the full spectrum of your being?
1. Yoga Therapy
Yoga techniques can be applied to enhance health and wellness. Postures, yoga breathing, deep relaxation, mantras, meditation and other yoga techniques can be used as you create a safer place for the student to explore the deeper dimensions of his/her being. You'll have to take into account each student's age, culture, religion, and specific health challenge when selecting techniques. Then take it one step further by modifying those techniques according to needs.
As a yoga teacher and or holistic health practitioner, you can select both gross techniques like postures and breathing, as well as subtle ones like deep relaxation and meditation. These would all be included in your Yoga Therapy treatment plan.
2. Body Mind Spirit
Yoga psychology and philosophy are clear that the cause of illness and disease is the lack of knowledge of the true Self. We can explore body mind spirit using the specific 8-fold path (Ashtanga Yoga). This path is given in Patanjali's yoga sutra, and has what is called Outer Limbs and Inner Limbs for a full exploration that leads to the experience of the true Self.
As a massage therapist, or therapist of another discipline, you can create a safer place for the client to examine physical challenges as as explore feelings and emotions. In Yoga Therapy, this is done within the framework of yoga psychology that amongst other beliefs identifies attachment and aversion as 2 of the forces to be investigated.
3. The Yoga Therapist
The most important key to facilitating health and wellness is the therapist herself or himself. The massage therapist, health care professional, holistic health practitioner, or yoga teacher wanting to share yoga as a healing path will bring Presence, Understanding and Compassion, having practiced both outer and inner limbs of Ashtanga Yoga during the formal training required. You, the practitioner would have explored your own feelings and emotions during the training, and your ability to be Present would have increased, as would Understanding and Compassion.
Yoga teachers, holistic health practitioners and individuals with a basic understanding of yoga can become wellness educators and offer a creative student-centered approach to sharing the techniques of yoga through Yoga Therapy. They can create a non-judgemental space for students to discover their true Self as they facilitate health and wellness.
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