When it comes to relaxation and muscle strengthening, the benefits of yoga are always put forward for their virtues on the body and the mind. Indeed, the regular practice of this discipline allows you to let go by practicing postures and breathing exercises. Its therapeutic dimension is called yogatherapy .
Therapeutic yoga classes have developed in France since the 1980s and today there are many yoga teachers specializing in this discipline. Thus, these yoga therapists can allow you to heal yourself using the concepts of yoga as well as adopting a serene mentality.
Superprof invites you to discover how it is possible to take yogatherapy classes and participate in a session to heal or maintain your body. Between muscle flexibility, breathing relaxation techniques and potentiation of vital energy, yogatherapy is waiting for you if you need it!
Where does yoga therapy come from?
Yogatherapy uses the postures and precepts of yoga to heal body and mind. It is used both in the prevention of physical and psychological disorders but also to help heal chronic or transient problems (in addition or not to traditional medical treatment).
Sessions can be group or individual. The term was created in 1970 by Doctor Bernard Auriol, psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He also campaigned with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 1972 so that yoga could be taught in France.
He implemented yoga therapy in mental institutions in which he worked and saw improvements in his patients. Since then, yogatherapy has become more democratic.
Yogatherapy uses simple postures, movements easy to perform by everyone, slow and thoughtful. A session follows a specific order and is adapted to the particular needs of the patient.
The benefits of yoga therapy for body and mind
Just like yoga, yoga therapy, in its regular practice, brings many benefits to the anatomy as well as to the nervous system. Find out what are the benefits of yogatherapy during a long-term treatment for the sick as well as for the healthy!
The physical benefits of yoga therapy
Yogatherapy is a discipline that is accessible to everyone , regardless of age or physical and psychological condition. It is very useful for maintaining your body, but also for getting rid of physical ailments, allowing muscle building and therefore feeling good about your body!
The goal here is not to build muscle like you might at the gym, but to get stronger little by little, as you practice. Your muscles will develop harmoniously, gently, with special effort on your part.
Yogatherapy is excellent for strengthening your abdominals and deep muscles in order to limit the risk of organ descent and to protect your abdominal belt.
Some of the health issues that yoga therapy can treat independently of modern medicine include back pain, chronic pain, and problems with the body’s internal organs. If it is associated with medical treatment , it can help cure sciatica, heart disease or even relieve hypertension.
In short, what benefits for your physical health!
Healing your mental state through therapeutic yoga
One of the big advantages of therapeutic yoga is to act on the mind: it allows you to learn how to better manage stress and relieve psychological ailments in order to live better on a daily basis.
Breathing is a key element of yogatherapy and meditating in full consciousness, paying attention to the rhythm of your breathing allows you to relax, to release tensions in the body but also in the mind. After a stressful day at work, practicing yoga therapy feels good.
Yogatherapy allows you to get rid of several difficult psychological states :
- Stress management,
- Insomnia,
- Sleep Apnea,
- Chronic or punctual migraine,
- Anxiety attack,
- Hyperactivity.
Practicing therapeutic yoga in addition to the effects of traditional medicine therefore helps to soothe many mental problems and can be useful to counter the effects of more serious illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease for example.
Adopt a healthy lifestyle
Yogatherapy is part of a whole. You will learn to sleep better and eat better by adopting a healthier lifestyle that helps prevent problems rather than trying to cure them once they start.
Who is yoga therapy for?
Yogatherapy is for everyone, for people suffering from mental and/or physical disorders but also for people in good health who wish to maintain and prevent health problems.
You can practice yogatherapy with a yoga center near you or with a private teacher online or who will come to your home (you can find them on our Superprof platform).
5 teachers are specialized in yogatherapy and offer online courses from our Superprof platform all over France.
It is suitable for you if you suffer from:
- Sleeping troubles
- Anxiety attacks
- back pain
- Sciatica
- Cardiac disorders
- Chronic pain
- Daily stress
- Hypertension
- Respiratory disorders like asthma
For more serious illnesses, yogatherapy will not replace medical treatment but it can help to better live the side effects of treatments and the effects of the disease: Parkinson’s disease, cancer…
Yogatherapy is also indicated for pregnant women to prepare for childbirth and calm the anxieties of the future mother.
Group yoga therapy sessions
Yoga sessions are often practiced collectively when it comes to practicing this sport. Thus, part of the yoga therapy sessions can be practiced in a group. The interest of a group session is to become familiar with the yoga exercises by being part of a whole and therefore not to feel alone.
Group yogatherapy courses are set up by major yogatherapy institutes but also by individuals, teachers who have undergone training in a yoga center. Everyone can work there and enjoy it without competition and in a relaxing atmosphere.
The objectives of these yogatherapy sessions are numerous:
- Work on breathing to better meditate,
- Practicing yoga postures (asanas) to train the body,
- Stretching to relax the body
- Improve the vitality of the patient through exercises,
- Relieve body and nervous system ailments.
The most effective way to find a group yoga therapy class in your city is to find information on the Internet. You will find all the information you need to register for this type of session: telephone number, email address and address of the yogatherapy rooms.
In general, yogatherapy sessions are organized within the framework of groups already defined as individuals forming groups, companies, hospitals and communities. However, it is possible to integrate a yogatherapy group already constituted by registration.
Practice yoga therapy individually or in private lessons
Most yoga therapy classes are practiced between the patient and the yoga therapist on an individual basis . Indeed, to treat the specific pathology from which the patient suffers, it is necessary to adapt the discipline to his singularity and his life experience. The Toulouse yoga teacher is therefore generally focused on one student at a time.
An individual therapeutic yoga session can be practiced very simply by contacting a yoga center. Unlike group lessons, the patient can have a better follow-up in his treatment. Between yoga and meditation, the teacher chooses which exercises are adapted to the pathology to be treated.
The long-term goal of the yogatherapist is to make the patient autonomous in his practice of yogatherapy. By working regularly on himself, he can thus take charge of himself and thus use his own resources to heal himself deeply. Of course, the patient is always followed by the therapist from start to finish.
It is possible to take individual yoga therapy classes easily by browsing the Internet. Indeed, there are many yogatherapy teachers trained by one of the two major French yogatherapy institutes. They usually have sites or can be contacted by phone by inquiring with yoga centers.
It is also possible to take private yogatherapy lessons through the Superprof website. The platform has more than 2000 competent yoga teachers, many of whom have been trained in the art of yoga therapy. The option of private lessons is interesting because it allows you to practice from home and at your own pace.
You will have understood it: between asanas, pranayama and postures of Hatha yoga, yogatherapy is a discipline that is practiced more regularly on an individual basis, between the patient and the teacher. If it is based on traditional Paris yoga , its philosophy and its particular exercises are much more effective in a personalized treatment!
Thematic yoga therapy workshops
It is possible to practice yogatherapy in the context of thematic workshops or courses focused on a type of patient or a specific objective to be achieved at the end of the course. It is therefore a collective yoga practice and these yoga workshops are reserved for people who are not looking to treat a particular pathology.
These thematic workshops may, for example, concern:
- back pain treatment,
- The work on the chakras,
- Intense meditation exercises,
- hormone yoga,
- The complete harmonization of the body,
- Vinyasa yoga on stretching,
- Focus on the energy centers of the body,
- Work on the abdominals and the perineum,
- Daily stress management.
These workshops are organized regularly but on an ad hoc basis by yoga studios all over France. All you have to do is register and pay the fee to be able to participate. Be careful, however, because the number of participants is often limited. The price also depends on the duration of the session which can sometimes go up to 3 hours .
Sometimes, these workshops can be organized according to a certain type of person: yoga for children, session for the elderly, specialized course for people with disabilities or even prenatal yoga for pregnant women. They can also be organized according to the time of year.
Train as a yoga therapist
Instead of becoming a traditional yoga teacher, why not try to become a yoga therapy coach to better help others?
In France, it is quite possible to certify one’s ability to provide yoga therapy lessons in order to build customer loyalty and attract new subscribers, often reassured by the diplomas of yoga teachers. If you decide to provide yoga therapy classes with Superprof , for example, you can add your official diploma to your profile, allowing you to attract a greater number of students interested in this practice.
To become a yoga therapy teacher, there are several solutions.
First of all, one of the most common certifications is the Green Yoga training focusing on therapeutic yoga. This training allows you not only to take yogatherapy classes, but above all to learn how to teach it to your future students.
The latter consists of 3 different modules of 100 hours each, forming 300 hours of courses to follow to validate your certification. Each of the 3 modules allows you to move towards a specialty of yogatherapy.
At the end of your 300-hour sessions, the Green Yoga Institute issues you the diploma of yoga teacher specializing in Yoga Therapy. You will thus obtain the Green Yoga label bearing the number of the professional training center. If you have doubts about the validity of your diploma, don’t worry: Green Yoga is officially recognized by the Ministry of Labor as a professional training center.
Green Yoga is not the only center to offer such courses for professional purposes. If you prefer e-learning, you can for example turn to the IDYT (Institut De Yoga Thérapie).
Through this, you can follow the professional yoga therapist training from your home, which is a definite advantage for reconciling your studies with your professional life. Note however that the training takes place over 2 years : chronotherapy, micro-nutrition, yoga or therapeutic techniques will be among others on the program.
Before starting your yoga therapy training, we advise you to check the training center number of your institute with DATADOK . You can thus be sure that your training center is indeed registered with the Ministry of Labour, guaranteeing you a diploma recognized by the State.
You now know how to take yoga therapy classes and can now register in a yoga center to start your therapy. You can learn more about yoga and yogatherapy by checking out our other articles and can even take private
