Yoga therapy training

PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that develops when a person undergoes a traumatic event either one time or repeatedly. PTSD affects the mind, the brain, and the body. Often individuals with PTSD suffer from flashbacks and psychological overwhelm leading to a feeling that the event is being relived. As PTSD deeply influences the brain, many clinicians believe that body-based approaches are imperative for healing, since physiological changes must occur if one is to experience relief. Recently, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, the world's leading authority on PTSD, conducted research on yoga and PTSD and found that yoga has the potential to ease the symptoms of PTSD.

Yoga helps individuals cultivate a positive relationship with the body and regain a sense of internal safety. In light of these findings, van der Kolk, has introduced a yoga therapy training program at the Boston Trauma Center that specializes in treating PTSD. For more information on the Boston Trauma Center please visit http://www.traumacenter.org.  Heather Mason is the only person in the UK to have trained with and be certified by the Boston Trauma Center on how to teach trauma-sensitive yoga.  Heather is also involved in a training called Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, which includes using the mindfulness and body work to work with PTSD.  

Heather offers private yoga therapy training sessions for individuals that suffer from PTSD and also teaches a group at the Traumatic Stress Service at the Maudsley. For more information on private sessions please contact her directly.

Richard Brown and Patricia Gebarg leading clinicans in NYC have also done various studies on the influence yoga can have on PTSD and found amazing results.    To visit their website please go to www.haveahealthymind.com.  Heather is a big fan of their work.  They have written a wonderful book entitled How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care, which is a must have for all aspiring yoga therapists that wish to work in the mental health sector.  Their description of the influence of yoga on neurophysiology is unprecedented!

Yoga for the Mind also uses yoga to work with complex trauma and developmental trauma.

DEPRESSION

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) depression is the 4th largest health problem affecting society today and is soon to become the 3rd. Symptoms of depression may include negative and repetitive thoughts about the world and the self, loss of energy possibly followed by periods of extreme anxiety, change in eating and sleeping habits, and an ever increasing experience of low self-esteem and loss of confidence. Many of us with depression suffer in silence feeling completely isolated and alone. Please know if you are suffering from depression you are not alone, depression is extremely common. The most important question to ask yourself is not why me, but rather what can I do to turn this process around. There are many different modalities from various types of psychotherapy that are helpful for healing from trauma: body work, medication, CBT, and various alternative therapies. Most of these therapies focus on either the mind or the body but not both at the same time.

Yoga for the mind offers a unique approach to depression as it looks at both the mental factors that lead to depression such as negative self-view and also at physiological factors such as imbalance in the nervous system and the brain. In this way a person is able to engage in yoga practices that help to relax the system while also begin the process of self-investigation and recovery. 

Through recent studies conducted at McLean Hospital in the United States we know that yoga can increase certain neurotransmitters in the brain known as GABA, which help to curb stress.  By just practicing for one hour scientist found an increase in GABA. This indicates to us that by merely practising a small dose of yoga changes already start to occur in the body's biochemistry. We also know that yoga practices decreases cortisol, a hormone released during stress. When cortisol levels are low it means the body is more relaxed.  So we can say that yoga in general has a positive affect on mental health. Yoga for the Mind builds on this information with a sequence that translates the latest findings in neuroscience with the ancient science of yoga to offer a particular routine for the rebalancing of the nervous system.  This can be done whether you are suffering from a feeling of chronic fatigue and low energy or plagued by endless anxiety and cannot relax.

While balancing the body, Yoga for the Mind also incorporates mindfulness practices, which help us to see how our mind operates, thereby stoking the process of letting go of negative thinking through self awareness.

Treating depression through a body-based practice such as yoga with a mindfulness practice is one of the most powerful ways to transform mental health in the long-term.

Yoga for the Mind uses yoga therapy to work with all types of depression including minor and severe depression and all forms of bipolar.  You can self-refer to any of the courses or private sessions or you can ask your doctor to contact Heather to determine if Yoga for the Mind is right for you.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a common state for all human beings. It is normal to experience anxiety during life it helps us to mobilize the energy to act in the world. Unfortunately, most of us experience anxiety too often or too intensely and it becomes painful and debilitating. We start to get lost in constant obsessive thinking about the past and the future. This leads to breathlessness, lack of ability to sleep, trouble concentrating, and limits our relationships with others. In extreme forms we experience panic attacks and lose complete ability to state present feeling completeing overwhelmed and out of control. 

Yoga is an excellent method for coping with anxiety, because it trains the body to relax and teaches the body and the mind to better manage stress. Once the stress response is activated by the body it must run its course and even if we are conscious of what is happening and mentally sound the experience of increased heart-rate and gitters will not be averted even by the most rational mind.  This is because our system is intrinscially structured to release hormones into our system that make fight or flight possible for surivial and this system can not this process, once in motion will have physiological consequences.  However, through specific breathing practices combined with movement we can learn to relax the trigger response and also balance the nervous system so that the stress response does not have an opportunity to take over and completely flood the system.  Furthermore these practices help the system to restore calm once the system is activated at a much quicker rate.  Within the Yoga for the Mind model we also teach students and clients how to watch the mind, create focus, and how to let go.  In this way yoga meets the psychological and physiological aspects of transforming anxiety.

Yoga for the Mind combines all its breath work and yoga postures with mindfulness so that students can learn to effectively calm the mind through the body. This is much easier than trying to do self-talk, which cannot meet the physiological aspects of anxiety such as heart palapations, rapid breathing, sweating, and deep limbic brain activation. Yoga for the Mind offers both private yoga therapy sessions for anxiety and also courses to meet your specific needs. 

Stress 

Stress is an unavoidable part of everyday life. Yoga is once of the best way to both cope with the stress that has built up through daily life and to learn to relax when difficult situations arise. All classes taught by Heather Mason, including general classes teach students how to use yoga practises to better manage the stress of daily life

This includes both reflection and rebalancing of the autonomic nervous system through activation of both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. Heather views yoga as a path and teaches it in a way that allows students to transform aspects of their lives through relationship to the body and the mi

General Yoga

Yoga for the Mind also offers general yoga. If you are interested in a general yoga or yoga for well-being please contact email@yogaforthemind

Other Mental Health Conditions

Yoga for the Mind also uses yoga therapy to work with OCD, M.E., and panic attacks.  If you suffer from a condition not listed here Yoga for the Mind may be able to connect you with someone who does work within that area.  Please contact us directly at email@yogaforthemind.info

Is Yoga Therapy right for you?

According to the Yoga for the Mind philosophy as long as you can breath you can practice yoga.  There is a yoga practice for everyone.  For information about the various techniques offered by the yoga tradition please view the article section of this website.

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