YOGA THERAPY

Yoga therapy is a type of therapy that uses yoga postures, breathing exercises, meditation and guided imagery to improve mental and physical health. The general focus of yoga therapy is to combine mind, body and spirit into one. Modern yoga therapy is a very wide range of therapeutic treatment, and there are elements from both physical therapy and psychotherapy.

The History of Yoga Therapy

Yoga therapy originated thousands of years ago in India from ancient yoga. Yoga made its way to the United States in the late 1800s, but yoga therapy became popular in the 1980s as the result of a study conducted by Dr. Dean Ornish. The study showed how a healthy lifestyle program could reverse heart disease. Ornish’s program included therapeutic yoga and was the first of its kind to highlight the benefits of using yoga in this way. Insurance companies accepted this program for treating heart disease in 1990 . It was the beginning of the medical field’s acceptance of yoga as a treatment option.

In 1983, the Biomedical Yoga Trust was founded to develop and standardize the field of yoga therapy. The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) was founded in 1989 and has since hosted yoga conferences, published the Journal of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and contributed to the creation of yoga therapy training standards. Both organizations have made research easier and possible to explore the potential of yoga therapy.