Yoga as Therapy: Beyond the striving and strain of ‘modern’ life there is a place where we can heal
- darynwober
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Life conspired to place me on the banks of the Ganges in the foothills of the Himalayas. I was deeply grateful. The sun was resplendent in the sky, the water flowing in the sacred river shivered and sparkled, the rock upon which I was perched felt warm and stable. It was the place I absolutely needed to be in that moment. This was a time to reflect, to take space, to practice and to listen.
Just a few months earlier I arrived inwardly dishevelled at a client meeting. I was tired, mildly irritable, under pressure across multiple domains of my life. Something needed to give. I couldn’t keep on working as I was. The suppression of nagging thoughts and emotions had become my forte yet the more I excelled in this perverse sport the more depleted I felt.
Things had been in the balance for sometime with our largest client. I sat there in front of their owner. We were far too dependent on them than we should have been. We had been caving to their demands and expectations for too long and it was starting to take its toll on our whole team. As the meeting went on the tone of their language started to border on abusive. I sat their listening, absorbing, and attempting to remain calm.
Out of the blue, and most surprising for me in such a situation, I realised that I was feeling calm! I asked for a pause in the meeting and went outside to call my business partner. During that short call I explained what had transpired thus far in the meeting and that something had just shifted in me. The shift was that when we finished our call I would be walking back in to the meeting, politely thanking them for their business and, subsequently, serving our three month notice to terminate our contract. This was more than ending one client relationship. Ending this contract would be ending our business. We wouldn’t survive long without them unless we landed some new clients. I went back in, I did it.
The difference this time was that I was fully done. Completely baked. Totally burnout. Not an ounce of fight left in my system. I had no intention of finding new clients or going on the chase any longer. Nearly two decades of pushing myself too hard, not honouring or even knowing my boundaries, of burying myself in the daily buzz of work, on a mission to, I really don’t know. Well, in that moment it all came to an abrupt halt. It wasn’t a choice as such. It was simply the deeply felt path I knew I had to walk. I needed to stop, I needed to prioritise finding balance, I needed to process, I needed to heal.
At that point yoga had been present in my life for just over a year. My practice was an exclusively physical one. I was on the mat every day and it was an intense physical discipline. Lots of arm balancing, very long flowing sequences, a lot of sweat, a lot of strain and a fair amount of physical discomfort (and plenty of injuries). The ritual of stepping on to the mat everyday and bringing my mind away from the world of my business, my inner emotional challenges and my constantly wondering mind was certainly helping me. I very much credit it with creating the space for me to gain the perspective and inner strength to make the changes in my life that were so needed.
The epiphany producing meeting with our client took place in September. By December we had finished our work with them. Thankfully they employed almost all our staff which was a huge relief. By January we no longer had an office or employees and we’d terminated all our other clients. Apart from the admin of closing down the business I was out of that particular game. I had time to start practicing for much longer periods, to read about yoga psychology and philosophy, and to sit on the sofa for a few hours a day and try to just let my body and mind settle.
A few months later I was sitting by the Ganges having completed my 200 hours teacher training in a style of yoga that matched the intensity of my physical practice at that time. Whilst I loved the group, the environment and the experience in general, I knew I was looking for something that could help me move deeper in to balance and to support me on my journey of healing.
That call for something deeper was answered when I came across the teachings of Sri T Krishnamacharya. This wont be the time or place for me to dive deep in to who he was or the power and profundity of what he taught. I’ll also save for another time the story of how I came in to connection with his work and teaching lineage. What I will say for now, within the confines of this short piece is that, to the best of my capacity, if you have joined me for a group class or for one-2-one work, his approach to yoga is what I am sharing, and of course, what I practice too.
A very short summary of the key principles of practicing in this way are as follows. We practice slowly and mindfully lead by the gradually lengthening pace of our breath. We try to be stable but comfortable as much of the time as possible. We try to let go of strain and reduce tension and over-effort. We attempt to cultivate a balanced pleasant feeling within the body and the breath. We let go of the idea of asana (yogic movement/postures) as exercise and utilise the body and breath as tools to bring the mind to stillness. We let go of attachment to the physical form of the posture and use our bodies in a way that honours our capacity rather than conforming to an external shape or view of what we should be doing.
Once I started practicing in this way so much began to change. I realised that the intensity of my previous practice was just another manifestation of the imbalanced striving that was causing problems in so many areas of my life. I understood that to unpick those adrenaline peaking patterns I had absorbed I needed to practice the total opposite. I needed to feel being slow, I yearned for techniques to unwind tension, I valued practices that could help shift my inner state and mental perspective. Week by week, month by month and year by year I observed how things gradually began to evolve for me. An evolution towards a more balanced, calmer and less externally triggered version of myself. I made peace with not being on an external mission. In fact my inner mission was now to be at peace as best as I could manage.
That connection to Krishnamacharya’s work took me to the school in India that was founded by his son TKV Desikachar during his lifetime to share his teachings. Once I completed their training I moved on to learning to become a yoga therapist. To be able to work with people individually as well as in groups to support their physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health. I’ve been training with some of the last students still alive that studied under Krishnamacharya. Truly a blessing.
I guess due to my own journey, I find myself working a lot with people who find it hard to manage stress in their lives, who are anxious or depressed, who are frequently emotionally overwhelmed, or who need support managing work/life balance. Also people suffering from burnout or requiring support to make the changes to bring balance in their lives. Due to our holistic nature it is often the case that people in these situations as also suffering from conditions such as high blood pressure, auto immune disorders, digestive issues and body pain (and plenty of other conditions too). In my work with them we look at the imbalances across their inner and outer lives and I support them to make changes and implement regular practices to bring them back to balance.
This whole approach of working with individuals also informs the way I work with groups too. Yoga is a form of therapy. Yoga is a practice of healing. We know if the type of yoga we are practicing is doing what it should if we notice off the mat that we are generally calmer, more peaceful, more compassionate, more loving. If we get more pleasure from the simple things, if our mind becomes a bit quieter. I hope you feel this approach coming through in all our interactions in class and beyond.
I’d love to hear from you if any of this resonates. If you’re working with some of these challenges. If you’re finding your practice useful in this regard and of course if you’d like to go deeper. Look out for some of my offerings later this year where I’ll be creating some courses and retreats specifically focussed on managing overwhelm, regulating the nervous system, soothing our anxieties and learning skills to step back from the brink.
I also have two spaces that have just come up for working individually (in person and/or online). If that sounds of interest and you’d like to find out more please do get in touch.
As always many thanks for joining me.
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