Yoga Therapy Clinic at Islington
"Yoga as medicine represents the next great yoga wave. In the next few years, we will be seeing a lot more yoga in health care settings and more yoga recommended by the medical community as new research shows that yoga is a valuable therapeutic tool for many health conditions."- Kaitlin Quistgaard, editor in chief of Yoga Journal.
Our new Yoga Therapy Clinic is a low-cost clinic offering individual yoga therapy sessions, operating every Thursday afternoon at The Life Centre Islington. It is one of the only specific Yoga Therapy Clinics in the UK, and aims to make affordable individualised yoga therapy available to those who may not otherwise be able to access its benefits, while at the same time providing supervised clinical experience to trainee yoga therapists.
What is Yoga Therapy?
Yoga therapy is the personalised application of yoga techniques to fit the current needs and interests of the individual. It is an integrated mind-body approach for restoring balance and adaptive functioning to the physical (musculoskeletal), physiological (digestion, respiration, cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune), and mental/emotional systems. Yoga therapy may be used to:
- reduce symptoms of illness or injury
- establish more functional breath and movement patterns
- reduce physical and mental suffering
- improve quality of life
- enhance positive coping strategies.
No previous experience of yoga is necessary.
Who can Yoga Therapy Help?
Yoga therapy is a self-care approach to wellness, guided and supported by a yoga therapist. Whilst yoga therapy is not a substitute for western medical science, a growing body of research suggests that yoga may be effective either in reducing symptoms, improving functioning, coping, or improving quality of life in the following conditions:
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Cancer – in terms of quality of life
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Epilepsy
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Immune response
- Insomnia
- Pain – low back
- Respiration
- Stress
There are some contraindications for the practice of certain yoga postures and breathing practices, so it is important to tell your yoga therapist about all your health conditions, including pregnancy.
What if my doctor has told me to avoid strenuous activity?
If you are currently seeing a healthcare professional, we advise you to discuss what you are and are not recommended to do with them. Please share this information with your yoga therapist in the Health Information Questionnaire and discuss during your first visit. Physical practice is just one part of what yoga therapists do. Yoga therapists can work with any combination of physical practice, breath, meditation, chanting, a disciplined lifestyle and more.
Training in the Clinic
The clinic is staffed by experienced yoga teachers who are now undertaking additional specialist training to become yoga therapists.
- Our therapists are all enrolled in the Yogacampus Yoga Therapy Diploma course. They come from all over Europe to participate in this highly regarded programme. The Yogacampus curriculum exceeds the National Occupation Standards for Yoga Therapy, established by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).
- The yoga therapy trainees are supervised by senior yoga therapists, Dr. Lisa Kaley-Isley and Felice Rhiannon.