What style of yoga is Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT)?
Rather than a style of yoga, Integrative Yoga Therapy is a process. A graduate from the IYT yoga teacher training program will be able to select and arrange yoga techniques in a way that the yoga classes fulfill a particular aim.
For example, the teacher decides on “Breath, the Heart of the Class” as the theme of the class. Which inspirational poem, mudra, pranayama, relaxation, meditation and affirmation will be selected? And what order will they follow?
I practiced Ashtanga yoga as well as hatha yoga, can I study in this program?
Yes, you can. The Integrative Yoga Therapy yoga teacher training program will prepare you to teach yoga for total wellness. Students practicing all styles of yoga have completed this training successfully.
Can I teach regular yoga classes with this training?
Yes. In addition to offering yoga classes to the general public, graduates teach yoga-based wellness programs in hospitals, businesses, universities, clinics, and complimentary health care settings.
How much time is required for home study?
There are 3 parts to the home study: reading and answering at least 2 questions, journalism, and practice.
Reading - One chapter of the manual is covered each month. Chapters include The History of Yoga, Ayurveda and Yoga, Stress Management, and Meditation, Imagery, Relaxation and Yoga Nidra. How quickly you integrate the material and answer questions will depend on how familiar you are with the topic.
Journaling – What prepares you to be an effective yoga teacher is your own personal experience and journey of transformation as a student of yoga. As you explore the topic for the month, you capture and share whatever you are comfortable sharing of that experience. Sharing may include creative drawings.
Practice – The foundation of yoga is practice, practice, practice. For this time is required. The yoga techniques are learned systematically and by actually doing them. Developing a daily practice brings many benefits. As you begin to appreciate the value of this, creating practice time becomes part of your flow. In addition, practice teaching to family and friends starts you on your teaching path.
How much time are you willing to devote to get the most of your teacher training? Some find 4 hours a week adequate.
I have just discovered yoga and got so much benefit that I want to share it with others. Am I qualified to take the training?
You must know the basics of yoga before you can train to be a teacher. While in training, you will learn the names of the poses and how to perform the pose correctly. Sometimes students feel they can never teach like their teacher, and are intimidated by this. This program assists teachers in developing their own unique vision and mission, along with the maturity and insight to clarify this vision.
Take the support of family and friends as you can dedicate the time necessary to complete the program thoroughly.
1. Shallow Chest Breathing
Is your breathing shallow? To check, place one hand on the chest, and the other just above the navel. If the hand on the chest moves more, then shallow breathing is your normal breathing pattern.
Shallow breathing, also called paradoxical breathing, creates tension in the shoulders, neck and thoracic spine and increases heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension and metabolism.
Yoga Breathing Exercise: To correct chest breathing, practice the following exercise 10 – 20 minutes daily for several weeks until breathing from the diaphragm becomes natural and easy.
• Lie on your back with you knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Place a hard cover book or 10-15 lb sandbag on your abdomen around the area of the navel.
• As you inhale through the nose, lift the book. As you exhale through the nose, the book lowers.
2. Rough Breathing
Your breath is jerky. Sit comfortably with the spine lengthened. Notice your incoming and outgoing breath. Is it smooth?
Yoga Breathing Exercise: Place one hand about 4 inches away from your body. Move one finger from navel to chin as you inhale, then back down as you exhale. Practice with awareness of the breath.
3. Mouth Breathing
Mouth breathing exacerbates high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, dry cough and many other medical problems.
Yoga Breathing Exercise: Sit comfortably for 3-5 minutes and practice breathing through the nose. You can also press one nostril closed with a finger or thumb and breathe slowly through the other nostril. Then change sides.
Yoga breathing exercises must be practiced without force.
This is the 7th in a series of interviews with graduates from the Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher training program offered through Body Therapies Yoga Training. If you are thinking of becoming a yoga teacher, you’ll find these of particular interest.
1. What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must do?
Be willing to reflect and examine oneself deeply.
2. What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must avoid?
Seeking perfection.
3. Is being a yoga teacher just trendy or is it here to stay?
I think becoming a yoga teacher is something that a person does for him/herself so it does not matter if it is a trend or not.
4. Can a yoga teacher still be successful if they are in a crowded niche?
Yes, I think each yoga teacher has his or her own style and there will be students who will be comfortable with that style.
5. What has the yoga teacher training done for you?
Yoga teacher training with Heather Greaves has influenced my life immensely, spiritually and emotionally. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my love for yoga with others. Teaching yoga has added a rich new dimension to my life.
Anju Joshi
Integrative Yoga Therapy
email: yogawithanju@cogeco.ca
We hope you enjoyed reading Anju’s experience. And if you’d like to learn more about our Integrative Yoga Therapy yoga teacher training program, check for information at www.yogatogo.com and send us an email.
This basic pranayama, breath awareness, helped reduce the angst and anxiety that had been my shadow companion.
Meditation had been part of my daily routine for many years. Yet angst and anxiety was my shadow companion. Sure, I was definitely peaceful. Yoga philosophy had answered many of life’s big questions for me. I could accept life’s dramas, and understand that we were all actors. The law of karma and reincarnation I got. This knowledge had brought a great deal of calm.
So how come I was still anxious? The fact that my breath was shallow would have contributed significantly to the angst. I remember once a massage therapist said to me something like, “Your breath is high up. Try to get it down here.” Her hand was resting on my belly and I couldn’t get my breath down there.
In my heart of hearts, I prayed for an answer to this anxiety, which would step out from the shadows every now and then. One day I suddenly realized my prayers had been answered. I couldn’t remember the last time I was anxious. What was it that had changed things for me?
I had begun to practice the basic pranayama breathing exercise – simple breath awareness; being aware of the breath. Breath awareness is vital in yoga therapy. My meditation practice changed and became this basic breath awareness; sitting and following the breath in and out. I don’t remember exactly how long each practice was. I know it was at least 10 minutes. And it was definitely in the morning. Meditation is also important in yoga therapy.
If you have used any no cost pranayama, breathing exercise, to cope with anxiety, or to reduce the number of times you take medication, I’d like to hear your story. Comment below.
This is the 6th in a series of interviews with graduates from the Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher training program offered through Body Therapies Yoga Training.
1. What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must do?
Know that it is your journey and it can only be travelled by you. You must be true to yourself and that means honouring both strengths and limitations. Like all travels you will forget some of the experiences so keep a journal and remember that the destination is the ability to know your true self.
2. What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must avoid?
Do not compare yourself to the person beside you. Yoga can never be a group sport nor a competition. Yoga can only be about your own personal practice. Anything else and it is not yoga.
3. Is being a yoga teacher just trendy or is it here to stay?
Yoga has been practised for over 3000 years and it will continue to be practised but I believe the practise of yoga in North America will go through changes until it will find it’s own balance. Yoga is about finding a balance, individually and universally.
4. Can a yoga teacher still be successful if they are in a crowded niche?
Absolutely. It may seem crowded because of the attention it is gaining in every gym and health centre but that is only one very small representation of yoga. Yoga is about adapting a practise to individual needs. Yoga can be practised by everyone no matter their limitations. The very young, the very old, the sick and the healthy, yoga can benefit all.
5. What has the yoga teacher training done for you?
Yoga teacher training has changed the way that I think about myself, about other people and about the journey that I am on. It has taught me how I must continue to remove the obstacles that I have so carefully constructed around me, obstacles that have prevented me from living in the moment.
We hope you are enjoying reading the experiences of these lovely teachers. If you are, let us know. And if you’d like to learn more about our Integrative Yoga Therapy yoga teacher training program, check for information send us an email or give us a call at 905-628-6463.
Yoga Therapy is not just for the person with a health condition. And it is not simply a prescription for yoga exercises. If you are going through a life change, or a transition, you can benefit from yoga therapy.
Yoga Therapy is a holistic mind body approach to health and healing that embraces the traditional elements of yoga together with the latest advances in mind body medicine. Yoga stress management techniques are used within sessions to reduce stress.
Foundation of Yoga Therapy
The foundation of yoga therapy is yoga philosophy and yoga psychology. The Yoga Therapist shares skills and resources, and creates a safer space for you to examine life’s challenges. This can be done in a group or individual sessions.
If you are having an individual session, the yoga therapist will select and adapt the techniques from the yoga tradition according to your age, culture, religion, and specific physical challenge. Yoga therapy does not have a one size fits all approach to self healing. The holistic mind body approach is customized and takes into consideration your Ayurvedic mind body constitution and your strengths and weaknesses.
The 3 plus 1 A’s of Yoga Therapy
1. Awareness – Are you only deeply connected to your health or life challenge? How aware of you of all parts of your being?
2. Acceptance – Can you find a way to accept whatever condition does exist?
3. Adjustment – What are the yoga techniques that will create balance and bring more freedom and joy?
And the 4th A – Awakening – Using yoga philosophy the yoga therapist seeks to highlight the question: What is preventing this individual from experiencing the whole person?
This is my brief overview of Yoga Therapy that focuses on these 4 “A”s. If you would like to bring balance and harmony to your life, consider the 4 questions and accept support available for your healing journey.
January 20, 2009 Comments Off
As we sincerely practice any skill over years and years, our confidence and comfort level increase, together with the quality of our performance. Whether it is dancing, writing, sailing, or designing a building, we understand ourselves and our object of study better.
As a beginner yoga teacher, my attention was focused on increasing:
- Knowledge of postures and breathing exercises
- The art of creating curriculum
- Skill of hands-on assisting
- Developing style of language and delivery
- Meditation practice
These were the skills that I paid attention to, to become more and more comfortable teaching yoga. The skill set of a yoga teacher is different to that of a yoga therapist.
Each individual brings to his teaching and practice his/her own experience and formal training. To build on my own strengths as well as boost my knowledge in vital areas, as a yoga therapist I pay attention to increasing these skills:
- Listening deeply to the individual
- Quickly identifying strengths within the individual
- Facilitating the experience of the whole self
- Knowledge of subtle and physical anatomy
- Knowledge of healing tools and techniques from Yoga philosophy and psychology
Yoga and Yoga Therapy are vast topics with great diversity from traditionalists to revisionists. Each individual touches a part and can experience the Self as whole.
It is said, “If you want to learn something, teach it.” I invite you to learn more about Yoga and embark on a healing journey. Check our website www.yogatogo.com and contact us if you have any questions.
The location was Enchanted Mountain Yoga Center in south Brazil, the home of Integrative Yoga Therapy. Since the 80’s I had travelled many times to India for meditation at the Brahma Kumaris Headquarters in Rajasthan. This was my first yoga vacation.
Life lessons from a yoga vacation
1. Keep a journal – we do forget
After I got the idea to write on this topic, I wondered if I would find my journaling at that first vacation. Whew! I found it. How much I had forgotten. The soul searching, the massage, and the classes I skipped. I smile now as I easily remember the delicious food, and the warmth of the sun that seems to bring out my playfulness spontaneously.
2. Intentions influence our experiences
My intention to be open minded and to have a kind heart resulted in my doing things like pacing myself by listening to my body; even leaning on the side of caution by going to bed early in order to fully participate in the next day’s activities. And with an open mind, I appreciated the differences in our two societies.
3. “Simplicity in releasing the old, embracing the new” – quote from the journal
I love to travel lightly, and so needed more room to bring back items purchased. For a while I pondered about how to solve the problem. Then I took a deep breath, straightened my spine, and made the decision to leave some things I brought with me behind. Life’s like that.
Come play in a yoga vacation in the most pristine Caribbean rainforest island of Dominica March 28 to April 4, 2009. Experience the bounty of nature, peace, healing and transformation through intimacy with, amongst other things, your own nature. Novices to yoga are welcome. Visit www.yogatogo.com, call 905-628-6463 or email heather@yogatogo.com for more information.
Heather Greaves
Yoga Therapist
January 5, 2009 Comments Off
Joseph LePage founder of Integrative Yoga Therapy.
Joseph grew up in suburban California and left to search for something more real. He first visited India in 1974. He was 20 years old and a student of anthropology in Kenya, East Africa. He dropped out of school for a year and set off to discover the world with a backpack and a few dollars. He began by hitch-hiking the length of Africa from Kenya to South Africa. After 8 months he sailed third-class from Kenya to Bombay, and on a “music club” evening on the deck of the ship he met a spiritual teacher from India. Joseph says that it was in India that he began to understand human suffering.
His next trip to India was in 1984 as a photojournalist. It was this journey that allowed him to see another India, as he had the opportunity to step into the lives of the rich and famous of the country. He walked in Indira Gandhi’s funeral procession. As he boarded a plane back home, he writes “Mother India has worked her magic of transformation again.” The journalist was left behind and something new was being created.
The following year he left journalism to begin his healing journey. One day he hiked into the Himalayas to see a hermetic Tibetan monk. In answer to Joseph’s question, “How can I overcome fear?” the monk answered with another question, “If you love other people and treat them with kindness and compassion, what would you ever have to be afraid of?“
During this trip Joseph volunteered as an English teacher for the Tibetan refugee community, and had the opportunity to have a one-hour private audience with the Dalai Lama. He was deeply impressed with the Dali Lama’s simplicity and humor, and also the depth and presence of clarity. The Dalai Lama took Joseph’s hand between his two hands with “simplicity and love like that of two small boys perfectly content in the moment that surrounds them.” Joseph continues, As we walked slowly and in silence, I felt a light and a prayer rising within my heard: “I offer my life for the benefit of others“. For the first time in his life, he realized that fear had been left behind.
As a yoga teacher in the Kripalu tradition and a body-worker whose special focus was energy healing, Joseph founded Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) in 1993. The IYT program developed out of Joseph’s studies of traditional healing arts in over one hundred countries, together with his master’s degree work in experiential education. Joseph has trained over 3000 yoga teachers and yoga therapists around the world, and is recognized as a creative and innovative teacher. He lives in South Brazil with his wife Lilian, also a yoga teacher, where they own and operate Enchanted Mountain Yoga Center.
Flickr Photos