I have completed my training to be a certified yoga therapist, and am constantly in a process of learning how to be a better therapist as well as teacher. My students have taught me probably as much as I’ve taught them.More and more articles about the benefits of yoga are appearing in the popular press. And yoga is helpful to many people in many ways. But most yoga classes are offered to people whose general health is good. It doesn’t have to be perfect – most yoga teachers are conscious of physical conditions that would contraindicate certain asanas (poses). However, people who have a serious medical condition would do well to err on the side of safety and seek out a yoga therapist instead of a yoga class.

Yoga therapy is usually taught one-on-one or in small groups. It tends to be gentle and nurturing, although it can be challenging. There is a strong focus on bodily awareness and postural alignment. Yoga therapists are trained in Pranayama, or breath awareness, and also are able to teach basic meditation techniques so your mind and spirit can assist your body in returning to wholeness.

Yoga as Medicine by Timothy McCall, M.D., lists conditions that are improved by yoga, including anxiety, arthritis, back disorders, and also reviews scientific studies that have been carried out on the effectiveness of yoga as a therapy.

Yoga is never offered as a substitute for medical care. Usually yoga therapy is offered as part of a treatment regime, with the support of a physician, chiropractor, physical therapist and/or other medical personnel.

If you'd like to learn more, please feel free to contact me.

Your Heart's Desire

What is your heart’s desire? Why are you here? What is your purpose in life?

We get so busy doing that sometimes we forget why we’re doing what we do. Do our busy activities make our lives healthier or happier? Are they creating more happiness or blessings for others?

The new year is a good time to look at our activities and ask ourselves these and other questions. It’s a time to go off “automatic pilot” and maybe do some re-setting.

Here’s a lovely poem by David Whyte, sent by my teacher Mary Paffard, that has helped me think about what needs to be re-set – and stopped, and started – in my life.

START CLOSE IN

Start close in,

don't take the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step you don't want to take.

Start with

the ground

you know,

the pale ground

beneath your feet,

your own

way of starting

the conversation.

Start with your own

question,

give up on other

people's questions,

don't let them

smother something

simple.

To find

another's voice

follow

your own voice,

wait until

that voice

becomes a

private ear

listening

to another.

Start right now

take a small step

you can call your own

don't follow

someone else's

heroics, be humble

and focused,

start close in,

don't mistake

that other

for your own.

Start close in,

don't take the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step you don't want to take.

David Whyte