yoga therapy
I believe that the wisdom of a complete yoga practice guides us to our most unstruck and unshakable Self, our wisest heart and most open mind. Yoga, when honored as a way of living, offers refuge from and resistance to the demands and injustices of oppressive socio-political structures. It is a tool that, as a teacher and student, I utilize for transformation and liberation-- both individual and collective.
By engaging with and embodying the teachings and practices of yoga, we are presented with space for the awareness and self-inquiry that is called upon to cultivate lasting change and sustainable wellness-- in ourselves and our communities. We are invited to befriend and meet ourselves with courage, honesty, and kindness. We are invited to open our minds, hearts, and bodies to what is in order to access greater peace now and to foster hopefulness for what is becoming.
Yoga reveals to us what has always been and will always be within:
belonging, wholeness, and interconnection
About Yoga Therapy
Yoga therapy provides an integrated and embodied approach to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness using yoga's Pancha Kosha (five sheath) model. This model considers a person's wellness by exploring the physical body, energetic body, intellectual, wisdom, and bliss bodies. Through this exploration, the process of yoga therapy seeks to reduce suffering and empower individuals by applying specific teachings and yoga practices to bring balance to each of these bodies or sheaths.
Depending on your unique physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs, yoga therapy techniques can include yoga asana (postural practice), meditation, pranayama (breath work), chanting, and guided imagery/visualization. Self-myofascial release techniques may be included.
Styles of asana that may be utilized include vinyasa, restorative, and yin yoga.
There will always be time in a session to also verbally process the issues or stressors that have brought you to yoga therapy.
Though no western diagnosis is furnished in a yoga therapy session, complaints or conditions often treated include:
+ chronic pain
+ physical ailments
+ autoimmune disease
+ digestive concerns
+ anxiety
+ depression
+ mood lability
+ insomnia
+ grief and loss
+ PTSD
+ developmental trauma
Training and Background
I am certified to teach Yoga Nidra, Yin, Vinyasa, and Restorative Yoga. I completed my 200-hour training at Sangha Studio, a non-profit, donation-based studio in Burlington, Vermont. I received my 300-hour credential studying under Amy Ippoliti.
I received my MSW from the Smith College School for Social Work and hold the credential of LCSW in the state of Maine. I am currently studying yoga therapy at the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Training School. I have completed several psychotherapy trainings for somatic inventions for trauma and complex trauma.
I also engage in ongoing study of functional movement, the growing field of spatial medicine, and the neuromyofascial system.
I am co-founder of both/and studio.