What’s the Difference Between Yoga and Yoga Therapy?

Yoga is extremely popular, with half a million people in the UK and over eighty million worldwide practising regularly. Many seek exercise, improvement of strength and flexibility, or relaxation, with some also looking for spiritual development. At its roots, yoga was originally intended as a technology for personal transcendence. Whilst yoga therapy draws on the principles and practices of yoga, its intention is more particularly the holistic treatment of a wide range of health conditions. 

You attend a yoga class to learn yoga, but if you visit a yoga therapist you will work together to develop and adapt specific practices designed to help relieve a particular condition and promote overall wellbeing.

“If you can breathe you can do yoga.” 

T. Krishnamacharya.

What is Yoga Therapy?

Yoga Therapy was pioneered in the 1920’s by Swami Kuvalyanda who began to apply modern scientific methods to study the physiological effects and therapeutic application of yoga for specific ailments, believing that we could potentially offer people a ‘yoga prescription’. 

Adapting movement, breath practices, meditation, visualisation and relaxation techniques to enhance mental and physical wellbeing, yoga therapy can target a variety of health conditions. It uses therapeutic techniques drawn from yoga and mindfulness traditions alongside the principles of physiotherapy and psychotherapy to help improve the function of our musculoskeletal system, build resilience in our nervous system (Geetha et al., 2022), reduce inflammation and improve brain function (Gotnik et al., 2016). Overall, it facilitates a biopsychosocial or whole person systems approach to improved health and wellbeing.

Yoga therapy guides people towards present moment awareness, allowing for the exploration of mind, body and mood in the here and now. It offers practices to help facilitate positive change whilst allowing clients to release unhelpful patterns and create space for new ways of being.

There is a growing body of research that suggests yoga therapy can help reduce the effects of stress (Streeter, 2012), known to be a significant aggravating factor in many chronic health conditions. Yoga therapists will work with their clients to help mitigate these effects.

In the field of mental health, research highlights yoga therapy’s considerable potential, particularly for the treatment of PTSD (van der Kolk, 2014), depression (Brinsley, 2020), sleep disorders (Khalsa, 2004) and anxiety (Streeter, 2010). In 2016 The Minded Institute’s 8-week Course For The Mind group intervention for people experiencing anxiety and depression showed very promising results, with participants reporting significant psychological benefits (Kahla, 2016).

There are clear signs that the global medical establishment is also beginning to embrace yoga therapy. In the USA, Dr. Dean Ornish’s yoga-based programme for reversing heart disease is now reimbursed by Medicare, Blue Shield of California, and Aetna. Whilst in the UK the Yoga For Healthy Lower Backs programme was included in the 2016 NICE guidelines for treating back pain with sciatica. 

Who Can Benefit?

The yoga and mindfulness practices used in yoga therapy settings can be helpful for many conditions, including: 

• Back Pain

• Musculoskeletal problems

• Diabetes

• High Blood Pressure

• Parkinson’s

• Asthma

• COPD

• Cancer

• HIV

• Alzheimer’s

• Brain Injury

• Multiple Sclerosis

• Autoimmune Diseases

• IBS

• Obesity

• Stress

• Depression

• Anxiety

• PTSD

• Schizophrenia

• ADHD

• Eating Disorders

• Addiction

• Post-Natal Depression

• Heart Disease

• Insomnia

• Arthritis

• Peri/Menopausal symptoms

• CFS/ME/Long Covid

• Osteoporosis

The Yoga Therapist

A qualified yoga therapist will be accredited by the British Council for Yoga Therapy or the International Association of Yoga Therapists. They will have undertaken several years of study including all aspects of yoga, mindfulness, foundational neuroscience, physiology, anatomy and psychotherapeutic principles, will have conducted several case studies with a supervisor and be receiving ongoing supervision.

The Intake Process

The therapist will assess the client through an intake process that includes listening, questioning and observing to help understand the client’s needs. This is followed by ascertaining the client’s goals and a discussion about how yoga therapy might help in the reduction or management of symptoms as well as exploring possible practices to help them navigate their mindset. 

The yoga therapy session

Having assessed the client’s requirements, the client and yoga therapist will then co-create a session specifically for the client’s situation. Part of the yoga therapist’s role is to empower the client through self-awareness towards better self-care, so it is important that the process is collaborative. 

A yoga therapy session will look very different to a regular yoga class. It might include focussing on your feet and other grounding practices for someone with PTSD or bringing together breathing practices and compassion to encourage prosocial behaviour and connection in someone struggling with loneliness. When working with a client experiencing hypertension, the yoga therapist may suggest isometric exercises (Edwards et al., 2023) and breathing practices as part of a therapeutic yoga intervention to lower blood pressure (Dhungana et al., 2021).

In some circumstances, particularly when a health condition is unlikely to improve, this journey might also include the cultivation of self-compassion and acceptance to help increase quality of life. 

Outcomes

My clients have reported many positive outcomes, including a better connection with their body, improved self-regulation, mood, sleep, strength, balance, range of movement, better pain management and changes in their perspective that reduce stress.  

A few examples from my work include a client with COPD who self-reported his breath capacity had improved and another struggling with menopausal hot flashes found the Sitali ‘cooling breath’ helpful.  Several clients with chronic pain have found relief, including some who have been in pain for years. A client with CFS/ME found a breathing practice that was ‘enlivening’, was able to move away from her perfectionist tendencies and at the end of our six sessions had found more joy in life.

Yoga has few contraindications and side effects, making it a safe (Cramer, 2015) and valuable tool in the treatment of many mental and physical health conditions, especially those where conventional treatments have little to offer or where stress can make symptoms worse. It can also be effective as a tool for clients to use alongside other treatments, for example clients with  cancer and depression, who are undergoing toxic treatments, report that yoga therapy can improve quality of life and/or reduce dependency on expensive, toxic, pharmacological treatments. 

As well as improving clients’ health and wellbeing whilst receiving treatment, people who receive their own yoga therapy prescription effectively have tools for life, allowing them to more easily maintain an ongoing optimal state of health.

bex.yoga@gmail.com   ‌

References:

Brinsley, J., Schuch, F., Lederman, O., Girard, D., Smout, M., Immink, M.A., Stubbs, B., Firth, J., Davison, K. and Rosenbaum, S. (2020). Effects of yoga on depressive symptoms in people with mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 55(17), p.bjsports-2019-101242. doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101242.

Cramer, H., Ward, L., Saper, R., Fishbein, D., Dobos, G. and Lauche, R. (2015). The Safety of Yoga: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. American Journal of Epidemiology, [online] 182(4), pp.281–293. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwv071.

Dhungana, R.R., Khatiwoda, S.R., Gurung, Y., Pedišić, Ž. and de Courten, M. (2021). Yoga for hypertensive patients: a study on barriers and facilitators of its implementation in primary care. Global Health Action, 14(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2021.1952753.

Edwards, J.J., Deenmamode, A.H.P., Griffiths, M., Arnold, O., Cooper, N.J., Wiles, J.D. and O’Driscoll, J.M. (2023). Exercise training and resting blood pressure: a large-scale pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Journal of Sports Medicine, [online] 57(20). doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106503.

Geetha, Mb., Shobana, R., Maheshkumar, K., Venkateswaran, S. and Padmavathi, R. (2022). Effect of long-term yoga training on autonomic function among the healthy adults. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 11(7), p.3471. doi:https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_199_21.

Gotink, R.A., Meijboom, R., Vernooij, M.W., Smits, M. and Hunink, M.G.M. (2016). 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction induces brain changes similar to traditional long-term meditation practice – A systematic review. Brain and Cognition, [online] 108, pp.32–41. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2016.07.001.

Kahya, H.H. and Raspin, C.G. (2017). Yoga Therapy for the Mind Eight-Week Course: Participants׳ Experiences. EXPLORE, 13(2), pp.116–123. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2016.12.006.

Khalsa, S.B.S. (2004). Treatment of Chronic Insomnia with Yoga: A Preliminary Study with Sleep?Wake Diaries. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 29(4), pp.269–278. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-004-0387-0.

Streeter, C.C., Whitfield, T.H., Owen, L., Rein, T., Karri, S.K., Yakhkind, A., Perlmutter, R., Prescot, A., Renshaw, P.F., Ciraulo, D.A. and Jensen, J.E. (2010). Effects of Yoga Versus Walking on Mood, Anxiety, and Brain GABA Levels: A Randomized Controlled MRS Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, [online] 16(11), pp.1145–1152. doi:https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2010.0007.

Streeter, C.C., Gerbarg, P.L., Saper, R.B., Ciraulo, D.A. and Brown, R.P. (2012). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), pp.571–579. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2012.01.021.

van der Kolk, B.A., Stone, L., West, J., Rhodes, A., Emerson, D., Suvak, M. and Spinazzola, J. (2014). Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, [online] 75(06), pp.e559–e565. doi:https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.13m08561.

Finding Balance: Yoga Therapy for Menopause

Menopause, is a transformative journey that brings with it a myriad of physical, mental and emotional changes. From hot flashes to mood swings, navigating this transition can sometimes feel overwhelming. However, amidst these challenges, yoga therapy emerges as a gentle and powerful tool offering support to all women. In this blog post, I'll explore how yoga therapy can support balance and well-being during menopause.

Understanding Menopause:

Menopause is characterised by a decline in oestrogen and progesterone levels, leading to a range of symptoms such as headaches, changes in bone health, night sweats, dryness, sleep disturbances, mood swings, aching joints, brain fog and changes in libido. These physiological changes can also be accompanied by psychological and emotional shifts, including feelings of anxiety, depression and loss. 

Oestrogen has a role to play in many parts of the body, there are receptors in the reproductive tract and breast, but they are also found in tissues as diverse as bone, brain, liver, colon, skin, and salivary gland (Eyster, 2016). So when oestrogen levels change, menopausal symptoms can be diverse and wide ranging. There is even research going on at the moment into oestrogen receptors in the inner ear that may be linked to tinnitus in menopausal women (Chen, 2018).

Women have very different experiences of menopause, some will sail through without even noticing it, others may have a myriad of symptoms, there really is such variety that a one size fits all approach is not that useful. For some HRT will be a life saver, for others it won’t and for some they may want a more natural approach or something to use alongside HRT. One of the benefits of yoga therapy is that it can be adapted to suit the individual in that moment and can also be used alongside other treatments and therapies. 

Yoga Therapy: A Holistic Approach:

Yoga therapy offers a holistic approach to alleviating the symptoms of menopause as it acknowledges and works with the interconnectedness of the body, mind, emotion and spirit. Unlike group yoga classes, which may focus primarily on physical postures (asanas), yoga therapy incorporates a wide range of techniques tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual.

Breathwork (Pranayama):

• Pranayama, or breathwork, lies at the heart of yoga therapy. Specific breathing techniques can help calm the nervous system, alleviate stress, and help regulate hormonal fluctuations commonly experienced during menopause. Practices such as Sheetali and Sitkari often provide immediate relief from hot flashes and coherent breathing or alternate nostril breathing can promote a sense of balance.

Gentle Asanas:

• Breath-centred yoga asanas that focus on gentle moving and stretching, can help release tension from muscles and enhance overall well-being. Restorative poses, supported by props such as bolsters and blankets, can facilitate deep relaxation, encourage deep rest and may reduce the effects of stress (Cohen, 2007). Strong standing poses can help support bone health (Lu et al., 2015) and promote strength to help support functional movement and a balanced metabolism as we age.

Meditation and Mindfulness:

• The practice of meditation and mindfulness can be particularly beneficial for managing the emotional ups and downs associated with menopause. By cultivating present-moment awareness and observing thoughts without judgement, we can develop greater resilience to stress and cultivate a sense of inner peace. Guided imagery, self-reflection, and loving-kindness meditation are powerful practices that can foster emotional balance and self-compassion at this time when life can seem so turbulent.

Self-Reflection:

• Not everyone, but many women will go through the menopause during midlife and many existential questions can arise: What am I doing?  Where am I going in life? What do I want out of my life? Who am I? Yoga therapy can help provide a kind, non-judgemental space within which you can explore these themes. It also offers self-reflection practices such as journaling that can be really wonderful jumping off points for beginning to explore these deep and profound questions. 

Ayurvedic Lifestyle Practices:

• Incorporating principles of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine, can further enhance the efficacy of yoga therapy for menopause. Simple lifestyle adjustments, such as following a balanced diet, staying hydrated, getting adequate rest, and establishing a regular routine, can help alleviate symptoms. Ayurvedic  supplements, such as Ashwagandha, may also offer additional support.

Menopause and yoga both invite us to embrace change. Change can be difficult and messy sometimes even if it is leading us towards a new way of being.  Yoga therapy offers a safe and gentle approach to navigating the challenges of this life transition with kindness. It can help women find balance, resilience, and even a renewed sense of vitality as they embrace this new chapter in their life.

For information on menopause retreats email 

Retreats

"Yoga for Weight Loss: Nurturing Mind and Body for a Healthier Lifestyle"

In our fast-paced world, where stress and sedentary lifestyles often take a toll on our health, finding an effective and sustainable way to manage weight is something many of us struggle with. There are several ways that yoga can help. Yoga offers a unique blend of mindfulness, breathing techniques and movement that can aid weight loss by addressing stress, improving muscle tone and cultivating self-awareness.

Yoga and mindfulness also both help to nurture self-acceptance and compassion creating a more nourishing environment where we might begin to experience an increase in positive self-image. Having a gentler and kinder relationship with ourselves can also help to promote healthier food choices. I have experienced this as a shift from a self-critical or victim narrative to something more compassionate. For example, I am sometimes able to shift from, “You are a failure” “I’ve had a hard day” to “You are an amazing human being, isn’t it awesome that you exist and that that simple fact of existence is enough…YES! Let me nurture myself and eat something healthy.” This last mindset also gets me to shop healthily and make time to prepare nourishing meals for myself. 

The Stress-Fat Connection:

When the body experiences stress, whether physical or emotional, it triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone associated with the body's fight-or-flight response. There is some evidence that if we are under chronic stress cortisol may disrupt the body's hormonal balance and promote the storage of visceral fat. This is the fat which surrounds internal organs and is linked to various health issues e.g. high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol and insulin resistance.

To add to this the enzyme responsible for activating cortisol is more widespread in adipose (fat) tissues, especially in those with obesity. This means we may be producing more cortisol if we have more adipose tissue. In which case a vicious cycle of stress - cortisol - adipose tissue - cortisol - stress is set up.

Furthermore, cortisol may influence appetite by binding to receptors in the brain, stimulating cravings for sugary and fatty foods as these foods more easily satisfy the body’s demands for quick and easily accessible energy when we are in fight/flight mode. Stress can also influence neurotransmitters like serotonin, leading to mood fluctuations that make sugary and fatty foods more appealing. Many of us will have experienced the desire to reach for something sweet as an attempt to temporarily alleviate feelings of anxiety or tension.  

Using controlled breathing, meditation, and gentle movements, yoga has the potential to be a potent stress-reducing tool. By activating the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the "rest and digest" system, yoga counteracts stress-induced cortisol release, fostering a sense of calm and balance and consequently makes it a promising avenue to help us when trying to lose weight.

The Role of Muscle Tone:

Additionally, some forms of yoga may contribute to weight loss by enhancing muscle tone. Muscles burn more calories than fat, acting as efficient "burners" in the body's furnace. As muscle tone increases through yoga practice, the body may become more adept at burning fat, facilitating weight loss.

Mindfulness and Weight Loss:

Central to how I teach yoga is mindfulness, the practice of complete presence in the moment and improved self-awareness. Improved presence and self-awareness can help us become more conscious of how we take care of ourselves e.g. what triggers us to eat more or to choose something sweet over something savoury. It can also help us distinguish between genuine hunger and emotional triggers. Practising the specific meditation of ‘mindful eating’ also encourages attentiveness to taste, texture, and sensations during meals, fostering a healthier relationship with food and discouraging stress-induced or emotional eating.

Embarking on a weight loss journey is undoubtedly a challenging yet transformative experience. Yoga provides an holistic approach that addresses both the physical, mental and emotional aspects of weight loss. By embracing yoga's stress-reducing, compassion-based and mindfulness-enhancing benefits, you can carve out a sustainable and balanced path towards achieving your weight loss goals. So, unroll your yoga mat, send yourself some well wishes, and embark on a mindful journey to a healthier, more vibrant you

What is Yoga and what can it do for me...

WHAT IS YOGA?

For me, Yoga is balancing…

In my everyday life, I constantly get pushed and pulled in and out of balance. I get angry, I feel overwhelmed, I am happy, I feel sad, I am busy... my life is constantly changing. Yoga has taught me to notice how I am feeling in the moment and then use some of the tools from my yoga practice to re-balance myself. 

When we practice yoga we learn lots of different techniques that we can take off our yoga mats and use in our everyday lives. For example, we can slow down the exhalation to calm ourselves down when we are annoyed, we learn how to rest in a restorative way when we are tired so that we get a little boost of energy, we experience how the breath and slow gentle movements can foster resilience in our nervous system so we feel overwhelmed less often. Yoga also provides practices to cool you down when you are hot and warm you up when you are cold. It can be used to ground yourself when you feel anxious and can help you feel lighter and more joyful when you feel burdened and bogged down by life. This is how I use my yoga practices to keep myself centred and balanced. 

Yoga also helps us find balance in this ever-changing world by encouraging awareness of both the changing part of ourselves, which interacts with the environment and also the part of ourselves that is unchanging, from where we can witness all of these changes going on. This is often described as our witness consciousness. It is constant and gives us a platform from which we can watch all the ups and downs of life. 

Yoga can be translated as to ‘yoke’ or to ‘bring together’

Yoga brings together our individual self - the part of me that says, I am a yoga teacher, I am 5ft 6”, I am happy, with the part of me that is Universal, the part of me that does not change over time and space, the part of me that is eternal. Yoga offers me the opportunity to fully experience these two aspects of myself and integrate them in the moment, leading to more joy and happiness.

Yoga teaches us to be present...

In a yoga class, you are encouraged to cultivate awareness of the moment. You learn to view life as it unfolds through observing your experience of movement, breath, and maybe over time thoughts, feelings and sensations. This is different from much of our life which is lived unconsciously. Most of the time we go about our day-to-day lives without being fully aware of what we are doing, why we are doing it and how we are feeling. In this way, we operate out of habits and conditioning. 

When we are present we can be aware of our thoughts and feelings so that they become conscious. It is this ability to observe our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations as they are happening that gives us the opportunity to watch life unfolding, rather than be caught up in the drama of it and in doing so we get to know ourselves better. 

When you are being a witness to your life it is a bit like watching a movie. You can see your thoughts and feelings as they come and go just as you might watch a film on the screen. Being aware of your thoughts and sensations allows you to observe how you are reacting to life. This moment of awareness also offers us a pause, from which we can choose how to respond to whatever is happening around us. In this way, we are able to accept fully what is going on in the moment and then decide how we would like to respond. If we are unable to observe our thoughts and feelings we see them as reality, as fixed, rather than our perception of the world and we believe what they are telling us to be the absolute truth when it is really our own unique experience of the moment and each one of us might experience the same situation quite differently. 

Jenny is angry that a car has cut in front of her, she can witness the anger, pause and then respond or she can get lost in the anger and shout. She can watch the anger or act it out, believing that she is right, that there is only her point of view. If she is able to experience the anger without reacting to it she can stay more balanced. This isn’t the same as not feeling, it’s just that rather than getting caught up in the emotion we have the space to observe it and release it. Then we can respond compassionately to the situation from a more balanced place.  

Yoga is self-discovery…

Through the process of observing ourselves, yoga illuminates what it means to be human. We all feel many different things and think lots of different thoughts, that’s part of being human. Yoga uncovers our hidden depths. We begin to sense that there is this ‘me’ that is experiencing life and there is more than just this individual ‘me’. ‘I’ am not an island but a complex, inter-related expression of life. In this way, I can explore my connection to something bigger which we might call the universal or spirit. 

Yoga is a system that allows us to get to know ourselves deeply on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and to see the connections. As we begin to experience the interconnection, we realise that body, mind, soul and the world are actually one thing expressing itself in many forms.

Yoga brings us to a place of fulfilment...

Through opening ourselves up, feeling more, observing more and allowing the complexity of life to unfold, we allow creativity to express itself through us. In this way, we can all sing our own tune and be part of the choir. We’re free to connect deeply with the universal and be a part of the creative unfolding of life that is expressing itself uniquely in each one of us every day.

Yoga as connection and self-care…

Yoga is an ancient wisdom that takes us on a journey of self-discovery where we can learn about our own unique individual experience of being in the world. It also guides us to the realisation that at the same time, we are all the same at the deepest level and in this way we are all connected. It teaches us that we are both individual and universal at one and the same time. This embodied wisdom helps me stay balanced as it allows me to keep coming back to this sense of connection to others and the world as a whole when I feel myself getting overwhelmed by emotions, circumstances or life experiences and through this greater Self-awareness I can respond to the world from a more centred, open and connected place making my life joyful and wondrous. 

How can yoga help us live a long and healthy life?

How can yoga help us stay well and live for longer?

If you’re reading this you’re probably expecting me to now tell you 3 yoga poses you can do to live a long and healthy life, right? And if you follow yoga on social media you’d be forgiven for thinking there is a magic sequence of poses that will bring about specific health benefits, or that certain poses produce certain results. This is great marketing but is it really how yoga works? I think this idea emerged from B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light On Yoga and then got mixed up with capitalist marketing strategies until we ended up with confusing messages like the one above. At the end of Light On Yoga, there is a section entitled “Curative Asana for Various Diseases” in which Iyengar lists various asana that will help to cure specific diseases. This sounds wonderful and we all want the world to work in this way - easy to understand, clear and simple to grasp with certain outcomes. 

This way of thinking suggests that if I have epilepsy - I can practise 5 specific yoga poses and be cured. However, as I started doing more work with yoga students one to one and began exploring the health benefits of yoga, I began to question this view. Why is Uttanasana good for anaemia or Janu Sirsanana for Diabetes and the answer I came up with was that there is little evidence to show yoga works in this way. There is not really a direct correlation between the pose and the effect. It is more nuanced and complex than that and the real power of yoga, in my opinion, is its ability to help us become more Self-aware. To get to know ourselves better and in this way to make more informed, conscious choices about how we want to live. And when we are thinking about yoga in this way it is not just asana or poses that are important, we need to include all of yoga the ethics, philosophy, breathing, meditation and the movement. 

As we become more Self-aware we can individualise our life and see connections everywhere. We can make adjustments to the type of food we eat and how much sleep we need. Activities that are not easily reduced to generalisations. For example, chocolate cake is not always bad. It may be that one day after a long, cold walk a piece of chocolate cake made by a dear friend eaten in front of a cosy log fire makes us feel great but if we eat a piece of chocolate cake every day for a week in August when we are stressed out at work it might make us feel heavy and depressed. Likewise, there may be people in your life who are the perfect company when you want to go out dancing but are not so perfect when it comes to helping you through emotional trauma. In the same way, a vigorous fast-paced asana practise may be what you need one day but on another day some yoga nidra or restorative poses might be much more beneficial. The magic of yoga is that it helps us to see more clearly what makes us happy and healthy and what makes us feel worse. It doesn’t do this through grouping together poses in specific sequences but through the subtle interconnection of noticing how moving makes us feel in the moment and how our breath mirrors and affects our nervous system or what the stories are we are telling ourselves day in and day out about how our life is going. This is how Self-awareness leads to better self-care and a happier, healthier life. 

This way of seeing yoga makes it hard to quantify and doesn’t lend itself to marketing strategies or western scientific investigation. One of the problems with yoga and scientific research is that scientific research is inherently reductive. It wants us to simplify and keep everything as constant as possible in order to test what works and what doesn’t. But what if the magic of yoga, the thing that makes yoga work, is its very ability to allow us to see the complexity and interconnectivity of everything. What if taking a more open, nuanced perspective which allows for complexity and subtlety, then helps us to individualise our life and fully express our uniqueness in each and every moment.

I hear many doctors and researchers saying that the way forward for medicine is for it to become less general and reductive and more nuanced and individualised. I think that is yoga’s strength it allows, and more than that, it encourages us to take a holistic view.

So when you go to a yoga class or do some yoga poses from a book or video bear in mind that the muscle you are stretching is not your hamstring or your biceps but your ‘awareness muscle’ and it is this ability for us to be aware of what we are doing and how it affects us that can guide us to a healthier, happier, more sustainable life.