Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing

Yoga Therapy for Individuals • Yoga Therapy Training • Sharing Yoga's Wisdom

Author: Barbara

  • Rethinking Health: From Illness to Wholeness

    Exploring Approaches to Understanding and Maintaining Health

    Walk in nature with friends

    Health is often viewed in a linear way  – something we possess until it falters, prompting us to seek a remedy for our ailment. However, our understanding of health can be, and arguably should be, far more nuanced.

    Is health simply the absence of illness, or should it be seen as a dynamic, wholistic state of well-being? How do these differing perspectives on health shape our health? The traditional approach centred on illness and treatment, and a broader, wholistic view that emphasises prevention, balance, and the optimisation of health for a healthy life.

    Health as the Absence of Disease

    For many, health becomes a concern only when something goes wrong. This reactive perspective dominates clinical medicine and much of Western healthcare, where the focus is on diagnosing, treating, and managing specific ailments. When we experience symptoms, we seek professional help, undergo tests, and often receive medication or perhaps another intervention, such as physiotherapy. Here, health is defined in negative terms – as the absence of pain, dysfunction, or disease.

    This approach is primarily our current model for managing our health. Modern medicine has an impressive ability to identify and treat acute illnesses, offer a level of control over some chronic conditions, and address emergencies, which has dramatically increased life expectancy and reduced suffering. However, it can also lead to a narrow view, where individuals neglect their health until a problem arises. By seeing health primarily in the context of illness, there’s a risk of overlooking the many factors that contribute to ongoing well-being.

    Wholistic Approaches to Health

    An alternative perspective views health as a positive, dynamic state that encompasses physical, mental, and social well-being. Influenced by traditions such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and more modern wellness thought, this wholistic approach recognises the interconnectedness of mind, body, and environment. Instead of waiting for problems to emerge, the emphasis is on maintaining balance and preventing illness through lifestyle choices, self-awareness, and fostering supportive relationships.

    Wholistic health involves a proactive stance: eating nutritious foods, staying physically active, managing stress, nurturing emotional health, and social engagement. Mental health, in particular, is given equal prominence, recognising that anxiety, depression, or chronic stress can impact physical health just as much as a virus or injury. In this sense, health is not a static state but a continual process of adaptation and adjustments in self-care.

    Prevention and Personal Responsibility

    The holistic approach encourages individuals to feel more empowered in their own health, making informed choices about diet, exercise, sleep, and social connections. Public health campaigns and workplace wellness programmes increasingly reflect this shift, aiming to empower people to adopt healthier habits and reduce risk factors for chronic disease.

    However, it’s important to acknowledge that personal responsibility is only part of the equation. Social factors such as income, cost of healthy food, education, housing, and access to healthcare play a significant role in an individual’s ability to maintain good health. A truly wholistic perspective considers not only the individual’s choices but also the broader social and environmental contexts that shape those choices.

    Bridging the Divide: Integrative Health

    Recently, there has been a growing movement towards integrative health, which seeks to blend the strengths of conventional medicine with wholistic practices. Integrative health professionals might use medical treatments for acute illnesses while also recommending lifestyle changes, mindfulness practices, and complementary therapies to support long-term well-being.

    This approach recognises the value of medical interventions but also recognises that health is complex and multifaceted. It acknowledges that well-being extends beyond the doctor’s surgery, encompassing daily habits, psychological resilience, social connection, and the environments in which we live.

    Influencing our Health

    How we think about health profoundly influences our actions, priorities, and quality of life. While it is essential to address illness when it arises, adopting a wholistic approach encourages us to cultivate well-being in a proactive and sustainable way. By embracing both approaches – treating illness when necessary and nurturing overall health every day – we can move towards a more balanced and fulfilling understanding of what it means to be truly healthy in our life.

    Reflections

    • Consider how your daily routines—diet, sleep, movement, and social interactions—support your physical and mental health. Are there small changes you could make to offer greater balance?
    • Reflect on your coping strategies for stress and emotional challenges. Do you feel equipped to manage life’s ups and downs, or might you benefit from new approaches such as mindfulness or talking therapies?
    • Think about the role of your environment, including your relationships, workplace, and community. How do these factors affect your overall well-being, and what can you do to strengthen your support networks?
    • Assess the influence of societal factors, such as access to healthy food and healthcare, on your health choices. Are there barriers you face, and how might you seek support to overcome them?
    • Finally, ask yourself what health means to you personally, beyond the absence of illness. What steps can you take to nurture a sense of fulfilment and resilience in your everyday life?

  • Hello world!

    Brain or body? Ways to support your nervous system

    • Writer: barbaradancer

    What is the most complex known matter in the entire universe?

    Your brain!

    This highly complex organ provides all of the essential functioning that keeps you alive and thinking, every second of every day. It’s a fundamental part of our structure and our nervous system.

    How well are you looking after your brain? Is it helping you to live well or is it more often, making you feel anxious and stressed?

    Anxiety is something that we’re all affected by at various times, and whilst we could sit it out and wait for stressors to change, we can also be proactive in what we do to deal with times of anxiety and ways of looking after our brain and nervous system.

    Researchers have uncovered that yoga has an enormous capacity to affect the nervous system by improving the abilities we all have to self-regulate ourselves, in a structured and manageable way.

    Yoga practice uses methods that work via both the mind and the body, known in research as top-down and bottom-up regulation. Put simply, top-down regulation uses cognitive tools affecting the brain, like meditation and self-reflection which then affect the state of the body. Whereas bottom-up regulation uses the body itself, through movement and breathing techniques, to change the state of the nervous system, which in turn affect thoughts and emotions.

    It’s possible or even advisable to use both. This is a great approach for dealing with anxiety, although if choosing one or the other, bottom-up regulation can be easier and more quickly effective for most people.

    Dealing with anxiety

    Lets look at some ways of using top-down and bottom-up regulation for the brain and nervous system that focus on changing an anxious internal state. Starting with bottom-up approaches:

    Yoga asana (postures): Using asana and movement reduces tension, stiffness and hormonal levels such as adrenalin in the body. If you love energetic exercise, use a more energetic practice and then slow it down into steady yoga asana with steady breathing. If you don’t enjoy energetic exercise, then opt for steady yoga with breath-centred movement and a restful practice to finish. Whenever possible, asana should emphasise the breathing aspects of yoga as it’s integral to it’s benefits.

    Pranayama (conscious breathing): A focus on just breathing with a suitable breathing pattern will take the nervous system to a more relaxed state. It’s quick and easy to use breathing to alter how we feel – and best of all, it is always effective.

    Enough good quality sleep or rest: Prioritise sleep for good health. Use non-caffeine drinks in the afternoon and evening and if you’re struggling with sleep, looking at sleep hygiene measures, seek advise on supplements, use massage and/or essential oils to aid sleep preparation.

    Eat for a healthy mind: Avoid processed food, sugary snacks or alcohol. It’s important not to turn to unhealthy foods or drinks as a way to cope with anxiety. They don’t provide a good solution as they will do more damage in the longer term.

    Top-down regulation uses the mind to affect the body and includes:

    Meditation or mindfulness: In yoga, this is the classic and time-honoured way of taking time and space away from our thoughts and allowing for observation of our own patterns of thought and behaviour. There is the possibility of making adjustments if we understand our usual unconscious patterns.

    Research confirms what yoga asserts, that regular practice of meditation over time, leads to long term changes. In yoga, this is how we see and react to situations; changing our unhelpful patterms to helpful ones. In research science, meditation slowly changes brain chemistry and structure.

    To make long term changes in how to deal with anxiety, meditation is the fundamental technique.

    Pranayama: This is similar but not the same as meditation. Working with the breath is also a tool for the mind and a way of creating space away from anxious thoughts. Using breath awareness is a meditative practice so there is a cross over although in yoga there is more of a distinction between the two.

    Don’t worry alone: Talking about feelings can help to reduce anxiety. Saying what’s worrying you out loud can make worries feel less dominating to thoughts. This could be with a trusted, supportive friend or using a professional support like a counsellor or a therapist.

    Journalling: In a similar way to talking, writing things down can help. It provides a way to see what’s causing anxieties and a way of reducing anxious thoughts. When anxieties are identified, then a process of looking at whether these worries are justified and what can be done about them, helps to alleviate fears in a more rational way.

    Whichever approach you use – top-down or bottom-up – the practice of yoga and other supportive actions offer ways to develop regulation and resilience in the mind-body system. These are powerful and effective ways of dealing with anxieties.

    For an individual approach, yoga therapy is the specific use of these tools by a trained practitioner. Yoga therapy clients report experiencing improved mood, decreased stress and chronic pain, and more.

    Don’t sit with your worries. There are always possibilities to change them.