What is Yoga Therapy and a little about me 😊

When I tell people I am training as a yoga therapist I'm often met with a confused looking expression so in this blog I am sharing what it is about and why I decided to train as a yoga therapist even though I have had a successful career in Optometry and teaching for 20 years.

The yoga therapy training that I am taking is rooted in the tradition of Tantric Rajadhiraja Yoga as taught by the late yogic master Shrii Shrii Anandamurti and now his direct disciple Ganga Devi. At its heart yoga therapy looks at the whole person, working to address the root cause of their difficulties that may be experienced on different levels; physically, psychologically and spiritually. None of these are separate from each other and for us to thrive we need to address and balance all of these.

As a yoga therapist trainee, I am learning how to take the ancient wisdom and practices of Yoga, Ayurveda and other natural healing therapies and apply them in a practical way to empower others to live in a state of balance, health and happiness. A yoga therapist serves as a guide or a coach using the tools of; meditation, breathing (pranayama), movement (asana), psychology, spiritual guidance, lifestyle advice, natural herbal remedies, healing foods, energy healing, acupressure and much more.

The training is in-depth, fascinating and is having profound effects on my own life as I implement the practices into my own daily life and share them with my holistic therapy clients and yoga students.

So why did I decide to do this?

As an optometrist I see many patients in practice to look after their eyes and are astounded by the number of people existing on a cocktail of medications for lifestyle diseases that can be prevented, and for stress and depression. Much of this can be avoided if we were taught how to look after all aspects of ourselves and to not see ourselves as different body parts disconnected from each other. Often we are just living in our minds bouncing around from one thought to another, often quite negative ones,  with no awareness of or relationship to the body, let alone a sense of love or compassion for ourselves.

In contrast to this, living in the North Yorkshire countryside at the foot of the dales I meet famers who live simply spending time in nature, breathing fresh air, who are active into their later years, unmedicated, living proof of how lifestyle matters in maintaining health and happiness. These people express humour, big open hearts and are a joy to spend time with.

It is no wonder that there is so much dis-ease associated with our modern lifestyles, eating processed food, constantly running around stressed out, sitting in desk jobs. As amazing that our modern medicine is at saving us in an emergency situation, it is unable to manage chronic lifestyle disease and treats symptoms rather than getting to the root cause of the imbalance.

This is where yoga therapy can help to regain balance. I have always had an interest in natural health since I took training in massage, reflexology and reiki in my early 20’s, with the dream to one day have my own healing centre. This dream took a back step as I trained as an Optometrist, lost my mother to cancer at a young age, cared for 2 children, completed a Phd in research and suffered from my own poor health being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and ocular myasthenia. During this time, to counter the effects of my busy lifestyle I developed a love for meditation which I have been practising for 13 years. This daily practice has been invaluable in supporting me the ups and downs of life and provided a space of deep healing for my body. And then like many people in 2020 life took a different turn and my personal life turned on its head as my marriage dissolved rocking my world, and I embarked on a deeper journey of self-discovery and healing. And this is when I returned to my passion for yoga and holistic health taking basic and advanced yoga teacher trainings in the Rajadhiraja tradition with my mentor Ganga Devi. I was initiated into the tantric lessons of meditation and received the Sanskrit name Karuna (more on this in another blog).

This journey ignited my dream for how I could be of service to others, combining my background in healthcare, teaching, holistic therapies, energy healing, many life experiences and this is when I took the decision to study for another 3+ years as a yoga therapist.  My dream is to be able to provide a safe sanctuary for you and practices to support and empower you on your own journey into physical, psychological and spiritual health.

Now in my last year of study I am excited to be putting into practice all that I am learning both in my own healing journey and in helping others. 2025 is the year where you will be seeing and hearing more from me as I bring all my training and experience together and offer these to you as blogs, free webinars and audios/videos, and more in-depth paid 1-1 coaching services and courses. Let us go on this journey together and lets all be empowered to live our best lives, healthy, happy, blissful, and connected. Let me hold your hand and help you experience even a few moments of peace, much love Caroline (Karuna) 🤗