Yoga therapy

Yoga therapy is a healing process. It’s more specific and involved than attending a yoga class, where advice and care may be very helpful but is general or universal in nature and more of a journey than a one-off private lesson.

As such ‘yoga as therapy’ is ancient but in the West we’ve only started to really understand how beneficial if can be. The father of modern yoga, the great Krishnamacharya was a proponent of teaching yoga as therapy. He was passionate about yoga being individualised and he taught in this way.

Krishnamacharya’s student’s include some of the most prominent teachers in recent history. Teachers who have come to share yoga to the rest of the world: K Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S Iyengar and T.K.V Desikachar.

Meditation, asana, pranayama, mantra, chanting, observation of ethics (the Yamas and Niyamas) will all be used in yoga therapy. As will the offerings of Ayurveda (lifestyle and dietary recommendations).

A private lesson may simply be about having the opportunity to run through a set sequence of yoga, be it energising or relaxing, on your own with a teacher at a time and a place that works for you.

With yoga therapy, a journey or an exploration is taking place and the connection of the therapist and the care seeker is key. At times the advise given may be very minimal, but it’s a process.

There is a pledge made by the care seeker to take away something from a session be it advice or a home yoga practice and to apply it into daily life.

Often the chance to be heard and held, to have your unique set of circumstances considered, is enough to set you on a path of healing.

For any reason where you’d like help managing imbalances in your body and life, be it physiological or psychological. Issues such as back pain, digestive issues, chronic headache, overwhelm, insomnia, anxiety, depression could all be addressed with yoga therapy.

Yoga may help you understand root causes of pain, manage symptoms and even simply sleep better.

This journey of acceptance and self discovering may bring the clarity and self-empowerment you need for positive change.

It starts with a 90 minute consult which involves a thorough conversation or interview. I will get you to do a small yoga practice where I would observe how your body responds. 

Then a yoga practice is drawn up for you to take away and also some Ayurveda elements to consider. This becomes your home practice. You can still come to other classes if you want to, but your home practice is designed for you to do on your own. 

1. After the initial session (see above), every week you check in with me (via phone call, zoom, or in person). It might be just a few words, some questions, something you’ve noticed. Around 15 mins each time. 
3. Once a month for the following 2 months, we meet in the studio and I observe your practice, we talk and maybe we amend the practice or the other suggestions. Each time around 60 mins.
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5. So, it’s a 3 month journey we embark on. It’s a commitment and a journey. When I say ‘we’ I mean there’ll be your own wisdom and realisation that comes up and it will guide me in what tools from yoga are used. 

Three months may be enough, it also may be the start of a longer journey.

2. The cost for the sessions outlined above over 3 months is $490. It can be paid slowly or in one lump sum. 

Your yoga therapy session will be with Katie Deare.

Katie has been teaching yoga since 1995 and studying Yoga Therapy and Vedic Chanting with the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation since 2020.

If you are interested, contact her for a no-cost 15 minute phone call or in-person initial chat to see if it’s something you’d like to pursue.