Archive for the ‘Anatomy’ Category

Truthfully one must admit that, at its core, all yoga is therapeutic in nature, that is to say, it can relax, strengthen and lengthen the body. It can increase lung capacity, balance, mental acuity and postural alignment. So what then is the difference between the yoga that is commonly practiced and Therapeutic Yoga?

Most yoga practiced in the United States today has been widely commercialized. Classes are attended and conducted with little consideration for the transformative impact a yoga practice can have on the body, the mind and most important, the spirit of the practitioner. In fact, in contemporary settings, very little emphasis is placed on understanding the student’s current constitution or levels of health and what would be the best practices for them individually. The student’s simply show up and take a class without really understanding what it’s doing to or for them. The general responsibility in this situation falls with the instructor to know what the class or individual needs and to tailor the class accordingly. Issues commonly arise when instructors lack the necessary understanding or education in these very subjects.

The field of yoga therapy has been around for centuries and finds its roots with such visionaries as Krishnamacharya and Swami Satyananda Saraswati and filters down to us today through disciples such as B.K.S. Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikachar and Dr. Swami Shankardevananda as well as all the students who follow in their footsteps.

Though its roots run deep, mainstream yoga therapy in the United States is just starting to come into its own. This is due in large part to the fact that Therapeutic Yoga is truly a healing modality. The yoga therapy practitioner utilizes Asana, Pranayama, Mantra and various yogic cleanses as tools to bring about healing and overall balance to the mind, body and spirit, thus facilitating a more holistic level of healing for the client.

Unlike the typical group yoga class, a typical therapeutic Yoga session takes place one-on-one between a client and yoga therapist. A thorough, multifaceted intake process is conducted where the all aspects of the client’s well-being are explored, understood and documented. Once this is complete, client and therapist both begin to work together using specific practices to facilitate the desired outcome of a balanced and whole system.

A yoga therapist ideally has a deep and expansive skill set and has typically studied other healing modalities such as Ayurveda, massage therapy, Medical Astrology etc. This comprehensive skill set allows the therapist to view the client from an interdisciplinary perspective, assessing and addressing the client’s current state of health on all levels including the physical, mental, energetic and karmic aspects of being.

In an effort to further this art, we here at 7 Centers are proud to offer to the community, a weekly therapeutic yoga class every Saturday from 4:30 – 6:00 PM, as well as a monthly donation based yoga therapy clinic, which focuses on a different aspect or system of health and wellness each month.

(Re-printed from Four Corners Magazine)

== COMING UP NEXT MONTH ( I promise )==


“From The Ground Up: The Therapeutic Foundations Of Asana”


Jeff Masters LMT, CYT, MPCT, MSc. (Hon.) is the founder and directory of Thunder Mountain Wellness Center in Sedona. He can be reached at (928) 600-2609 or visit http://www.tmwc.org for appointments or consultations.

Alas, gentle reader, this column has been a long time in coming and I am extremely honored and humbled to be able to write about a subject for which I have great passion – the body.


Wrestling with which topic to start with, I decided to tackle a fundamental question I am sometimes asked: is it really necessary to study anatomy at all?


On the surface the answer seems obvious.  As yoga students or teachers we have to know about the body, how it moves, what we are doing to it when we practice and how to bring about a desired change when needed.  However, when we take a moment, step back, look a little deeper and approach our body not as just a vehicle by which we navigate this world but as a doorway through which we glimpse the great mysteries of the universe, then it puts the question in a whole new light.


The Bridhadaranyaka Upanishad states that the “source of all actions is the body, for it is by the body that all actions are done.  The body is behind all actions, even as Brahman is behind the body.”


As you know, the ultimate goal of yoga is to reawaken the awareness of our intrinsic union with Brahman or the source of all.  According to the passage above, one of the simplest ways for us to begin to experience this connection is to first know our body.  It is all too common for people to move through life on autopilot without the knowledge (jñāna) or awareness (citi) of their body, how it feels or what messages are being relayed from their deeper consciousness.  Unfortunately, this lack of awareness pervades our culture and society and leads to the disconnected life experience we see all around us.


One of the most effective ways to begin to know the body is to study it.  This is where anatomy comes in.  Through awareness and knowledge of the physical structures and metabolic functions of the body we begin to sense something greater, an intelligence and organization to things.  We become aware of a deeper undercurrent or force animating that which we study.  The deeper we explore, the more our awareness of universal principles existing within our body increases.


Through the lens of this awareness we begin to view the body in a sacred, reverent way.  What was once the rote study of gross physical structures and mechanical functions becomes a spiritual journey, a quest where our own experience of physical existence is no longer mundane or on “autopilot” but takes on a mystical hue.


In his note at the beginning of Dr. David Frawley’s book, Inner Tantric Yoga, professor Lokesh Chandra quotes the Amrita-ratnavali saying that “[t]he essence of all things resides in our bodies.”  This is why the study of anatomy is so important. It is a keystone in the foundation of understanding our physical being and connecting to not only our inner dimensions but also our planet and the cosmos at large.


For me, this is the true study of anatomy and the perspective from which I hope to present future columns for your enjoyment.


== COMING UP NEXT MONTH ==

“Yoga Therapy: What’s On The Horizon”


Jeff Masters LMT, CYT, MPCT, MSc. (Hon.) is the founder and directory of Thunder Mountain Wellness Center in Sedona.  He can be reached at (928) 600-2609 or visit http://www.tmwc.org for appointments or consultations.