Comprehending Yoga Therapy

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Comprehending Yoga Therapy

With the increasing scope of yoga therapy, the challenge to communicate its relevance and the role of yoga therapists increases manifold. In order to communicate in a lucid language the meaning and application of different terms associated with yoga therapy, efforts are made by renowned yoga therapists to comprehend various aspects of yoga therapy to people outside the yoga community but are at the center of all the research and therapeutic activities of this science.

To facilitate ease in understanding a systematic approach is being followed wherein first the shared and known language is used to describe yoga then further refined terms are explained then differentiation between these terms is put forth that to a great extent elaborate upon the work of yoga therapists. The common language to describe will enable easy integration of yoga in healthcare and among the general population, encourage referrals, increase demand and pave the way for further research in yoga therapy


Broadly speaking yoga therapy focuses on 2 aspects Salutogenesis- that understands the causes of health and wellbeing in a person and works to ensure optimum health and wellbeing. The second aspect is Eudaimonia that focuses on the person’s ultimate purpose of self-actualization by working on self-exploration, virtues, and ethics and aligning the Yamas and niyamas. It is marked by both physical and mental health benefits.

Other key biomedical terms related to yoga include Yogopathy which is a segmented approach to manage symptoms of a health issue diagnosed by another health care provider. As per Neurophysiological view, yoga supports people and its conditions by working on nervous and endocrine systems that regulate moods and emotional states of a person.

Yoga therapy enables people to acquire improved health and wellbeing by applying the practices of yoga. Thus yoga therapy is a part of yoga but due to differences in terminologies of Indian and western countries yoga therapy is often considered as yoga. But yoga is more of a generalized form whereas yoga therapy is individualized and all efforts are focused on the individual’s condition and capacity to perform.The three crucial pillars of yoga therapy are clients, providers, and systems that can realize well-being. Yoga therapists work as providers and utilize their skill set, knowledge base and understanding the internal and external environment of the person or client. The system part is crucial and encompasses managing client and provider relationship, social dynamics, environmental health, vocation and spiritual health of the person. Yoga therapy is complementary to other health care practices like modern medicine and can work in integration to ensure better healthcare solutions.


Role of Therapists 

  • Are skilled and assist in identifying the state of imbalance in a person and take measures to correct it
  • Assist clients on their view and vision of life without deciding the client’s course of life on their own.
  • Create a safe space for clients to carry out their other activities inspite of the challenges they face.
  • Create a strong base and support through study and practice which might feel structureless and arduous to work
  • Foster self-actualization, its meaning, and purpose and allow individual personality to develop through study and practice.
  • Analysis and monitoring both at the client and provider’s level to ensure that both have the knowledge and proactive outlook to see if there is a need to change with a dynamic environment.

Yoga therapy extends beyond treating the physical and prominent health issues like pain and enables mental emotional and spiritual self-discovery as it works on cognitive elements, coping skills and motivation of an individual. On the other hand, Yogopathy with suffix pathy implies focusing on diseases and pathogenesis. The diagnosis of a problem is done and treating the symptoms rather than working on the root cause of the problem which is a multi-dimensional approach to healing.

The process of yogopathy is more dependent on healer rather than the person getting healed. Yogopathy might be the first step in yoga therapy in order to generate trust in the client with regards to treatment but the ultimate goal of therapists and clients is to bring lifestyle management to ensure complete wellbeing or Salutogenesis. Yoga therapists aim to correct the manifestation of psychosomatic disassociation and distorted perceptions of individual regarding reality. The clients are empowered with yogic tools so that they view lives in a new perspective and the possibilities with clarity.

The assessment in yoga therapy also follows a collaborative approach of client and therapists wherein the perceptions and an overall person is studied and accordingly unique and individualized protocols are developed to uproot the problem rather than just pacifying the symptoms of the disease. Here therapists aim to create a bigger space for clients to understand themselves and their pattern and remove the tendencies that cause suffering.

The common language is intended to clarify the role and broader understanding of yoga therapy. Yoga is practiced as yoga therapy when philosophy, principles and holistic lifestyle of yoga is well received by clients and assimilated in their lives to create health and harmony.


Note: This blog is an abstract produced from the research paper: Shared Foundations for Practice: The Language of Yoga Therapy, by Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, Marlysa Sullivan, Matthew J. Taylor, Amy Wheeler.

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