Yoga as healing

Yoga should be a healing experience. As a practitioner and as a teacher you need to know how to help yourself, and how to help others, when difficulties arise. In this study we look at how to approach those moments. Therapeutic work, somatic movement, self massage, Thai massage, and the customizing of asana practice are all taught here.

Here we begin to look at patterns in the human body, and at what can be done to change them. This is a vast area of study, and in this training we only touch the tip of the iceberg. Each of us meets difficulty in the body at one time or another. There are some basic tools a yoga teacher should carry to help navigate the common situations that come up. Like the philosophy of asana, this is an endless area of study.

A natural place to begin is the back, since almost everyone meets trouble there sooner or later. The video below looks at the nature of back pain and other common problems of the body, the ground we work from when something is out of balance.

What follows is a set of lower back exercises, given twice. The first goes into more detail and explanation. The second is strictly for practice, a quiet way to enjoy the benefits of the exercises without a lot of talking.

Reading the body

Sharpen your sense of observation. A human being is a walking encyclopedia of information. Tune in, and notice what is going on. The body tells you a great deal once you learn to look, the way someone stands, where they hold and where they collapse, what moves freely and what does not. Here are some basic ideas to help you begin to read it.

The two paths

There are two categories of practice in this part of the training. The first is everything a practitioner can do for themselves. The second is what another person can do for us. Healing work falls naturally into these two, and the rest of this study follows them in turn.

Thai massage

Thai massage is one of the great healing arts. Not every yoga teacher needs to become a bodyworker or a massage therapist. But to know nothing of this kind of work is a drawback. People will come to you with issues, and you should have some tools to help them with.

There is no end of technique in bodywork. I am inspired by many disciplines. Myofascial work, chiropractic, muscle activation, and Rolfing, to name only a few. What I have found is that Thai is the best basket to gather all the other tricks into. There is enough here to give you a real foundation, enough to let you truly help people, and with any luck it will spark a love of healing that grows into many years of satisfying work.

Here is an introduction to the work, and then the four classical positions, taught one at a time.

Below are the four classical positions of Thai massage. Try them on a friend, preferably a friend who also wants to learn and is willing to exchange work.

A fuller introduction to this work, for the curious, lives on the studio's Thai Bodywork page

Strength and the body

Bryce Delbridge is my longtime friend and student. I first met him when he was a baby, our parents were old friends. When Bryce was fifteen he was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, and he took up a rigorous practice of yoga to avoid having metal rods fused to his spine. He is now a master teacher and practitioner, which is why his work belongs here, at the place where strength meets care.

In the two videos below Bryce works with strength and balance. He gives methods for building the strength and ability that arm balances ask for, and, just as important on this page, he looks at the common injuries that come with them and teaches therapeutic techniques to address them. There is step by step instruction for becoming light and strong, precautions for avoiding the common pitfalls of arm balances, and a robust toolkit of self massage, somatic work, and self care so that you gain ability safely. Many of us are still a long way from a handstand. The tools here work for everyone, whether you are at the very beginning or already deep in this part of practice.