Using the power of observation to connect to yourself.
Observation is a tool frequently used in meditation mindfulness to help focus the brain. When we take our attention to one specific object and not only helps to eliminate distracting thoughts, but we can also learn something about ourselves.
Recently I have deepened my studies in the practice of meditation. Learning that observations are powerful tool I’ve also started bringing this into my medical practice. I have offered patients prompts they can use to observe their mind and body.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how the power of observation is helped my patients to understand themselves and has allowed me to help them more effectively. Here are three ways in which observation can be used in your own healing journey.
Gathering data
The clinical encounter medicine can serve multiple purposes. Sometimes there’s a simple question that needs to be answered. Sometimes there is an emotional connection that will be made. Many times there is a transaction of information in which the patient must share. Data gathering, which often takes place in the form of history taking is extremely important.
Physicians and patients struggle with the exchange of information during the clinical exchange. Physicians are trained to think scientifically and to read patients like a book. Patients experience their symptoms in a linear fashion that is often noted to coincide with life events. Physicians become easily frustrated when patients share details that are often on the surface irrelevant to why they’ve come in.
When I’m working with a patient that’s having trouble relaying information, I will ask them to make observations about what their experiencing. This isn’t to be judgmental and it is definitely not to lay blame. But with a few gentle prompts, patients can start to make observations about their symptoms that are very helpful.
Dealing with addictive habits or self sabotage
Primary care physicians often act as health coaches. It is not unusual to offer more coaching advice rather than diagnosis. This can include inspirations to achieve a healthier lifestyle such as through nutrition or healthy movement.
Addictions and self-sabotaging behavior a much more common than most people realize. Patients often have a real struggle coming to groups with why they would return to a habit that’s hurting their bodies.
I have found that teaching patients about the power of observation and asking them to perform 90 seconds of observation before engaging in a destructive habit is extremely powerful. The instructions are simple. Before you pick up the cigarette set a timer for 90 seconds. During the 90 second seconds, observe how you feel prior to smoking. Then when the timer goes off observe if you wish to still smoke the cigarette, proceed with lighting the cigarette.
In the case of addiction, that observation period can often help the brain rewire itself and calm down the reward system in the brain.
Obervation to Empower
Traditionally the practice of medicine was based on a paternalistic model. This meant that the doctor gave orders to the patient that were accepted and never questioned. Times have changed. This is no longer an acceptable way to practice. Due to complexity of healthcare patients must participate in their own care.
Patients that have not felt empowered in most of their life will have a struggle with this. When it is time to make a decision about treatment options they may feel like throwing up their hands and want the physician to make the decision for them.
Inspiration for Helping Cancer Patients In Their Journey
Many people consider a healing modality such as Reiki a luxury item that’s only used for stress relief for relaxation.
In this article, I would like to share with you how Reiki can play an integral part in the care of cancer patients.
Understanding what happens to patients when they’re diagnosed with cancer helps all of us to visualize where holistic healing can help. Particularly for Reiki practitioners, I would like you to understand some of what cancer patients go through. Hopefully this will provide you inspiration to add distance Reiki for oncology patients to your services.
Can Adding Reiki Help Cancer Patients?
The answer is a resounding yes! Receiving Reiki during the cancer journey can and should be offered in modern medicine. It can help patients and families cope with the difficult journey of cancer care.
A small study performed at the University of Calgary with 16 patients sought to measure if Reiki treatments could improve Cancer Related Fatigue. The study showed that high compliance of participants (inferring increasing interest in complementary care). This study compared prescribed rest periods with Reiki sessions in patients being treated for cancer. The overall results show that repeated Reiki treatments helped to improve Cancer Related Fatigue.(1)
Practical applications of Reiki in oncology care
One of the most powerful aspects of Reiki healing is that it can be offered from a distance. Keeping in mind that moving forward social distancing and public health will remain a major concern for all of us, distance Reiki could help to augment care for cancer patients. My personal recommendation is to consider doing distance Reiki session during certain scheduled events that can help those treatments go easier.
During Surgery
One of my favorite times to provide Reiki to my clients is during surgical procedures. Healing energy can be channeled directly to the patient as well as to the surgical team. I have received positive feedback many times from the clients that this helps to speed up their recovery and also helps calm anxiety before the procedure.
I personally performed distance Reiki on my mother while she was having major surgery on her lumbar spine. Naturally, I was very nervous for her and felt very powerless before her surgery. It was one of the most powerful experiences in my life as a Reiki healer and of course as a daughter. I was able to send energy into her surgery and get a sense of what was going on in the room. It immediately helped to calm my nerves. It also seemed to make the waiting period go by much faster. Initially I had been so nervous in the waiting area I was not able to carry on conversations. Because my anxiety had improve, I ended up making a very pleasant connection with a gentleman working in the hospital and learning his story.
During Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is often a necessary part of cancer care. It’s particularly taxing due to the frequency of treatments, and dealing with the side effects of chemotherapy. One inspiration for Reiki healers is to offer Reiki healing during chemotherapy. Reiki can be delivered effectively by distance without any interference in therapy. Sending Reiki during chemotherapy can help the patient deal with the side effects of the medication. The healing energy that’s been transmitted can also help the patient fall asleep during chemotherapy which will help the whole process go faster.
During Radiation
Sending Reiki during radiation can also help reduce the stress anxiety of a frequent medical treatment. Radiation treatment tends to be shorter than chemotherapy and occurs more often possibly even daily. If a person has an agreement with a regular practitioner, sending regular treatments during chemotherapy may be worthwhile. Reiki healing can be used for instance, to reduce the risks of side effects from the radiation treatment.
Doctor’s Visits
Interacting with physicians during the cancer journey can be physically, emotionally and spiritually taxing. Every cancer journey is individual, but most visits are typically a turning point in what will happen next in treatment and finding out progress as well as prognosis. I often recommend and offer distance Reiki to the appointment with physicians. The reports that I’ve heard from my clients is that they felt much less anxious going into the appointment. They also felt that they understood the information they received much better and the overall visit was much calmer with the Reiki energy flowing there. In a similar fashion to surgery and chemotherapy, there’s no absolute need to send the energy if the exact same time is the appointment. This can be done ahead of schedule.
Getting Started with Reiki in Cancer Care
Reiki Healers-Offer Distance Reiki
I would like to encourage Reiki practitioners that are actively practicing to consider offering distance Reiki to oncology patients right away. As a practicing physician, I often witness how taxing and stressful the cancer journey can be. Availability of Reiki practitioners is limited. Also public knowledge of this healing modality is very limited. Therefore, I do hope to start a conversation that can spread around the world. Reiki practitioners can easily offer distance treatment to those undergoing cancer care. It’s a simple as offering the service right now.
Caregiver-Learn Reiki
If you find yourself in the position of being a caregiver of a loved one with cancer, and you are considering learning a holistic remedy to help with the care at home, I will strongly encourage you that it is worth it. Reiki can help to protect you against caregiver stress and you will have a healing modality in your home that you can invoke at any time to help heal stress, calm anxiety, and side effects from treatments.
Cancer Patient-Learn Reiki
This may seem like the most outrageous of all the recommendations, but if you have recently been diagnosed with cancer, you may wonder if you should learn Reiki. You may wonder if you would have the energy to do this. I can tell you from personal experience and having worked with my own clients that learning Reiki when you are diagnosed with cancer can be one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself. Yes, you will have all of the taxing decisions to make about your cancer care. Yes, you will meet a new specialist and feel very uncomfortable and experience pain. You would be surprised to find that learning Reiki would help you tap into a strength you didn’t know you had. I’ve seen this in my own clients and I have been amazed. I’ve witnessed how a cancer patient learning Reiki can help themselves so much to the journey.
References
Tsang, K. L., Carlson, L. E., & Olson, K. (2007). Pilot crossover trial of Reiki versus rest for treating cancer-related fatigue. Integrative cancer therapies, 6(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735406298986
A patient shared with me her concerns about developing Autoimmune Disease. She already had been diagnosed with Autoimmune Thyroiditis, and she was starting to manifest joint pain, stiffness and swelling that could signal rheumatoid arthritis. Her physical symptoms made it hard to cope with her psychological symptoms. She was suffering from severe depression that came from a history of childhood trauma.
In traditional medicine, the healing encounter starts with the recording of the medical history. Since medical visits are problem focused, the history is directed towards the timing of the problem. It is interesting in modern healthcare that we gather information on the past medical history but rarely do we look any deeper than that. I ask about family history, which tells us about genetic predisposition for disease.
I asked my patient if we could review her Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire to quantify her traumatic experience and determine her risk of developing disease.
Sign up for my “3 Secrets of a Reiki Physician” to receive a workbook with an ACE you can complete.
The healing encounter of a Reiki session may involve some history gathering, but usually the focus is on delivering healing energy. When I’m working with Reiki clients, information about the past often plays a role in the client’s current issues.
I’ve had many patients ask why I have interest in their past history, and if it has any relationship to why they are in my office . It seems that an illness that has resolved two or three decades ago should not impact a person’s health later. Beyond that, patients may wonder why I may ask about experiences in childhood, as on the surface, there should be no relationship to issues as an adult.
What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?
Adverse Childhood Experiences are clinically validated experiences that have been shown to increase the chance of illness in adults. Childhood traumatic stress increased the likelihood of hospitalization with a diagnosed autoimmune disease decades into adulthood. In this study, the majority of individuals with at least one Adverse Childhood Event were hospitalized with an autoimmune disease (1)
Reiki healers often confront past trauma and its result on the clients well-being. Inner Child work involves working the client in the version of themselves that was a child that suffered childhood trauma. The client must first be brought into a deeply relaxed state through some sort of regressive therapy. The client is then asked to recall the emotion or feeling they are having now that is causing the most suffering. The client then explores if they have had this feeling before. It is during this time that the client will self identify the age at which the trauma occurred. The “Inner Child” is thought to be the age at which the person suffers a major trauma that creates energetic and emotional scars. The “Inner Child” is a subconscious precept the client holds that often reawakens as an adult, expressing strong emotions in any life event that is similar to the original trauma. The Reiki practitioner then begins to work with the Inner Child, to help heal those wounds and make the child feel safe.
This is a powerful healing technique, and can be quite uncomfortable. Bringing in the Inner Child often brings up very painful childhood memories. This process is almost like a surgical healing. It is likely to be painful, but working with the Inner Child can often bring about deep, lasting healing for the client. Clients that receive Inner Child healing often leave the encounter with a deep understanding of who they are as a person.
The connection between childhood trauma and current medical illnesses complex. There are two general examples we can use to explore this topic.
The following examples are fictional.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is a complex digestive disorder that leads to many symptoms. . Many individuals living with IBS often don’t realize they are also having emotional distress that often accompany the digestive issues. Many of my patients with IBS first began having digestive symptoms in childhood. If the patient developed negative feelings towards school for example, it was likely not acceptable to ask the parents to miss school because they were being bullied. It would be acceptable to ask to stay home because of a stomach ache. Over the years, subconsciously the person may learn that having a stomach ache can often help to avoid unpleasant experiences. Gradually, the brain begins to make a neural connection with stress avoidance and digestive symptoms. The cycle perpetuates itself, eventually manifesting as severe digestive disease.
Lupus
Another example, SLE, so Systemic Erythematous Lupus may develop its roots in a person who suffered through multiple childhood traumas. A middle-aged female patient may present with lupus complicated by kidney disease, pulmonary disease, and digestive issues. She may relate to her physician that she had a tumultuous childhood including multiple stays in various foster homes. The relationship here maybe that because she did not feel rooted as a child, she has a poorly energized root chakra. As an adult, her root chakra which is the basis of the immune system never learns to work very well. She develops an immune system that is highly overactive and attacks her own body tissues. The end result is a severe autoimmune disease.
Reincarnation, which is the process of returning to Earth multiple times in various forms, is thought to possibly lead to illness in the current life. Similar to Inner Child work, it is possible to use regression therapy to go back to past lives for healing. This can be very difficult and likely will require multiple sessions between a client and healer that have a trusting relationship.
Childhood Abuse and Trauma Can Make You Sick, But There’s Hope
Acknowledging this past hurts and traumas is important in healing. This does not mean that there is not hope for healing in a long time. Matter of fact, the best chance for healing is acknowledging the hurts of the past. taking inventory and looking a little bit deeper than the past medical history can pay off in unimagined ways.
References
1.Dube, S. R., Fairweather, D., Pearson, W. S., Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., & Croft, J. B. (2009). Cumulative childhood stress and autoimmune diseases in adults. Psychosomatic medicine, 71(2), 243–250. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181907888
In a recent article from theACP internist March 2021 volume 41 number 3, an article by author Charlotte Huff states that “roughly 40% of adult women develop some type of anxiety disorder during their lifetime compared to 26.4% of men” which is a quotation taken from the international journal of methods and psychiatry research. Anxiety is a very common diagnosis. Unfortunately it is becoming more common with the meaning enforce changes we have all endured due to the pandemic.
In my medical practice, I frequently treat patients with the diagnosis of anxiety. Unfortunately, the Pandemic of 2020 drastically increased the occurrence of anxiety in my medical practice. The Pandemic has increased worry, and there are certainly many reasons to be anxious.
My own observations, which are not necessarily quantifiable or have any research to back them up, I am witnessing a sharp increase in patients presenting with anxiety or anxiety like symptoms. Interestingly, I noticed the biggest increase after the wintertime surges.
They’re actually many forms of anxiety. Generalizes anxiety disorder is the anxiety disorder I encounter most medical practice. Other forms of anxiety include social phobias, agoraphobia, or anxiety related to public speaking. Anxiety may also be a component of another psychiatric disorder such as major depression or bipolar disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder, is characterized by persistent worry that leads to life changing consequences that last over 6 months. The classification is important because the emotion of anxiety happens to all of us. The distinction must be made when these symptoms are impacting the quality of life.
The typical symptoms of anxiety include but are not limited to:
Excessive Worry
Inability to rest or relax
Hypervigilance
Irritability
Tense muscles
Poor quality sleep
Anxiety can lead to many physical symptoms including:
Palpitations
Tremors
Excessive sweating
Digestive issues
Muscle spasms
Many factors can put a person at risk, but it seems the greatest risk factor is being female.
Those that have never experienced anxiety and severe enough to require treatment may have trouble understanding why someone would require treatment for this condition. Anxiety can be crippling. Someone in the grips of an anxiety attack often is not unable to understand reality, which will drive severe behaviors. That is very worse anxiety can increase the risk of suicidal attempts.
We all have times we feel anxious. Having transitory “butterflies in the stomach” or feeling on edge is a normal part of the human experience. It is when these symptoms persist, occur frequently, or interrupt daily activities that it may require management by a healthcare professional.
The Suicide Prevention Line is available if you are having severe symptoms and need help now.
Where to Get Help
It is important to know where to find help to cope with anxiety. If you have a relationship with a physician or care provider such as a Primary Care doctor, they are often more than ready to help you. This is a good time to find a primary care provider if you don’t have one if you feel you have anxiety. If you don’t have health insurance, many state agencies have helplines such as #211 that can help get you to resources. In any case, it is usually impossible to determine by yourself how to figure your symptoms truly if they require treatment.
A complete history and physical exam is recommended to make sure no medical diagnosis could be causing the symptoms.
Once anxiety has been confirmed with the diagnosis by healthcare professional, treatment options can include but are not limited to:
Therapy
Medications
Observation
These treatment options require evaluation and recommendations of a healthcare professional. Treatment must be individualized and tailored to each person’s needs. Once treatment is selected, monitoring will need to continue potentially for several months.
Beyond what happens in the clinic, if you have been diagnosed with anxiety or are worried you may be at risk or developing anxiety that is clinical there are things that you can do for yourself at home to improve your symptoms.
Meditation
I routinely recommend meditation to many of my patients as well as my Reiki clients. Meditation is easily accessible, can be completely free, and requires no special equipment to get set up.
Meditation is the perfect compliment to medical treatment or therapy. Meditation often reduces the symptoms of anxiety immediately and when performed daily will help long-term.
If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of meditation I want to gently remind you that anyone can meditate. please now that even if on the inside your thoughts are racing and you don’t think you can find peace, just the attempt at meditation will reap benefits.
Yoga
I frequently mention Yoga as a self-care modality that can be included with with meditation when managing anxiety. Yoga has been clinically proven to help reduce the symptoms of anxiety.
One of the important aspects of Yoga that can help alleviate anxiety is the focus on breath work. Individuals suffering from anxiety often have little to no awareness of how they breathe on a regular basis. Because they tend to breathe in a shallow manner they often don’t realize that they set the stage for anxiety attacks. The practice of yoga can help those suffering from anxiety learn how to work with their chest and their belly to breathe effectively in order to reduce the pulse.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy has grown in popularity over the years. The science of aromatherapy involves engaging the olfactory nerve which has a strong connection to the brain to create therapeutic benefits. Aromatherapy and the form of essential oils can be therapeutic and lower anxiety. Also, aromatherapy can be pleasing and pleasurable to the senses.
Essential oils can be very expensive. Because of this, I usually limit my recommendations to a few essential oils that are relatively well tolerated and can be found in most natural food stores.
Lavender
Frankincense
Peppermint
Patchouli
If you are considering using aromatherapy, I recommend diluting essential oils and a high quality carrier oil and using a roller bottle. This makes carrying aromatherapy with you throughout the day much easier and less messy. this also allows for a very light application if you’re wanting to keep the smell in a limited area.
If you are managing anxiety it is important to realize that your anxiety may take a long time to improve. You want to be patient, gentle and caring with yourself. Do not rush yourself to “get back to normal”.
Going to level deeper, as you journey through your experience of anxiety you may want to sit with the feeling to learn what the anxiety is teaching you. Anxiety rarely occurs for no reason at all. With the help of a skilled therapist, it is likely you will learn more about yourself and the way you exist in the world that has led to your experience with anxiety. Anxiety can become a learning opportunity for your soul. Anxiety is going to teach you something, so if possible try to learn what it is that you need to about yourself.
As a thank you for spending time learning about a difficult topic you may download my channel negative emotions meditation I created. There are many ways that you can meditate. This particular meditation I created to harness the energy of unwanted emotions and channel them for the greater good.
In a recent article from the ACP internist March 2021 volume 41 number 3 an article by author Charlotte Huff states that “roughly 40% of adult women develop some type of anxiety disorder during their lifetime compared to 26.4% of men” which is a quotation taken from the international journal of methods and psychiatry research.
In my medical practice, I frequently treat patients with the diagnosis of anxiety. Unfortunately, the Pandemic of 2020 drastically increased the occurrence of anxiety in my medical practice. The Pandemic has increased worry, and there are certainly many reasons to be anxious.
My own observations, which are not necessarily quantifiable or have any research to back them up, I am witnessing a sharp increase in patients presenting with anxiety or anxiety like symptoms. Interestingly, I noticed the biggest increase after the wintertime surges.
They’re actually many forms of anxiety. Generalizes anxiety disorder is the anxiety disorder I encounter most medical practice. Other forms of anxiety include social phobias, agoraphobia, or anxiety related to public speaking. Anxiety may also be a component of another psychiatric disorder such as major depression or bipolar disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder, is characterized by persistent worry that leads to life changing consequences that last over 6 months. The classification is important because the emotion of anxiety happens to all of us. The distinction must be made when these symptoms are impacting the quality of life.
The typical symptoms of anxiety include but are not limited to:
Excessive Worry
Inability to rest or relax
Hypervigilance
Irritability
Tense muscles
Poor quality sleep
Anxiety can lead to many physical symptoms including:
Palpitations
Tremors
Excessive sweating
Digestive issues
Muscle spasms
Many factors can put a person at risk, but it seems the greatest risk factor is being female.
We all have times we feel anxious. Having transitory “butterflies in the stomach” or feeling on edge is a normal part of the human experience. It is when these symptoms persist, occur frequently, or interrupt daily activities that it may require management by a healthcare professional.
Getting Help
If you’re suffering from symptoms of anxiety, it is important to know where to turn to for help. If you have a relationship with a physician or care provider such as a Primary Care doctor, they are often more than ready to help you. If you do not, the next best step is to try to find someone to see on a regular basis. If you don’t have health insurance, many state agencies have helplines such as 211 that can help get you to resources. In any case, it is usually impossible to determine by yourself how to figure your symptoms truly if they require treatment.
A complete history and physical exam is recommended to make sure no medical diagnosis could be causing the symptoms.
Once anxiety has been confirmed with the diagnosis by healthcare professional, treatment options can include but are not limited to:
Therapy
Medications
Observation
These treatment options require evaluation and recommendations of a healthcare professional. Treatment must be individualized and tailored to each person’s needs. Once treatment is selected, monitoring will need to continue potentially for several months.
Beyond what happens in the clinic, if you have been diagnosed with anxiety or are worried you may be at risk or developing anxiety that is clinical there are things that you can do for yourself at home to improve your symptoms.
Meditation is the perfect compliment to medical treatment or therapy. Meditation often reduces the symptoms of anxiety immediately and when performed daily will help long-term.
If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of meditation I want to gently remind you that anyone can meditate. please now that even if on the inside your thoughts are racing and you don’t think you can find peace, just the attempt at meditation will reap benefits.
Yoga
I frequently mention Yoga as a self-care modality that can be included with medication and with meditation when managing anxiety. Yoga has been clinically proven to help reduce the symptoms anxiety
One of the important aspects of Yoga that can help alleviate anxiety is the focus on breath work. individuals suffering from anxiety often have little to no awareness of how they breathe on a regular basis. Because they tend to breathe in a shallow manner they often don’t realize that they set the stage for anxiety attacks. The practice of yoga can help those suffering from anxiety learn how to work with their chest and their belly to breathe effectively in order to reduce the pulse. In this way is how yoga will help reduce anxiety in the immediate.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy has grown in popularity over the years. The science of aromatherapy involves engaging the olfactory nerve which has a very strong connection to the brain to create therapeutic benefits. Aromatherapy and the form of essential oils can be therapeutic and lower anxiety. Also, aromatherapy can be pleasing and pleasurable to the senses.
Essential oils can be very expensive. Because of this, I usually limit my recommendations to a few essential oils that are relatively well tolerated can be found in most natural food stores.
Lavender next paragraph
Frankincense
Peppermint
Patchouli
If you are considering using aromatherapy, I recommend diluting essential oils and a high quality carrier oil and using a roller bottle. This makes carrying aromatherapy with you throughout the day much easier and less messy. this also allows for a very light application if you’re wanting to keep the smell in a limited area.
If you are managing anxiety it is important to realize that your anxiety may take a long time to improve. You want to be patient, gentle and caring with yourself. Do not rush yourself to “get back to normal”.
Going to level deeper, as you journey through your experience of anxiety you may want to sit with the feeling to learn what the anxiety is teaching you. Anxiety rarely occurs for no reason at all. With the help of a skilled therapist, it is likely you will learn more about yourself and the way you exist in the world that has led to your experience with anxiety. Anxiety can become a learning opportunity for your soul. Anxiety is going to teach you something, so if possible try to learn what it is that you need to about yourself.
As a thank you for spending time learning about a difficult topic you may download my channel negative emotions meditation I created. There are many ways that you can meditate. This particular meditation I created to harness the energy of unwanted emotions and channel them for the greater good.
I recently had the honor of speaking with Sara Alavi. Sara has an incredible story, having overcomes Multiple Sclerosis and heart disease by pursuing her own personal healing journey of meditation, Yoga, Reiki, and many other healing modalities. Sara created Yoga Home of Therapeutics, a yoga studio that has trained many Yoga Instructors, Reiki Healers and other healers that have worked across the globe. She has instructed thousands of students in Yoga meditation as well has treated thousands with her Intuitive Healing services. Sara is my personal Guru. I was blessed to have been introduced to her by a dear friend when I began attending her studio where I was fortunate to train as a Yoga Instructor, Reiki Healer, as well as many wonderful workshops. Sara is now providing her amazing healing skills on her website Sara Alavi Intuitive Healer. She is offering many powerful healing techniques, including Yoga Therapy. I often share with my patients and clients the importance of Yoga and how it can help in bringing balance to the body.
I really wanted to go deeper into Yoga Therapy and what is offered with this service. The following is our discussion on the role Yoga Therapy plays in healing and resilience.
“Yoga in the West is portrayed mostly as a Yoga poses. This is because people gravitate towards this aspect of Yoga, and rarely go into the depths of the Yoga poses. Most Yoga classes focus on the poses, mainly alignment and breathing. Most Yoga classes tend to focus on alignment and breathing. Most students will learn asana, meditation and relaxation. In the west, more value is based on the physical body appearing strong, creating a strong, healthy body. Why the west focuses so much on the poses is that in the West, we tend to focus more on external appearance on Yoga Poses. Yoga in the west often overlooks the depths of Yoga beyond asana.“
“Yoga therapy looks at the person as a whole, seeing the human body as a universe. Yoga therapists view the person as a mind, body, brain, emotions, and feelings. The Yoga Therapist sees the person as presenting with a past that includes times in the lifetime as well as past lifetimes. “
According to Sara, Yoga Therapy approaches the individual as a whole, and not only takes into account the current issues such as pain, physical illness and emotional suffering. Yoga Therapy embraces the human being as what Dr. Richard Weber, author of Vibrational Medicine, would say, “Multidimensional beings of energy.” Yoga therapy not only addresses challenges in this life, the ancient healing modality can address past life dissonance. Yoga Therapy uses energy in the physical body to heal the mind and body.
Yoga Therapy is an individualized approach to health and wellness. Rather than a classroom setting in which students follow the instructor, individuals work one on one with a highly trained instructor such as Sara to achieve results. As a practicing physician, I find this approach very attractive since Yoga can be tailored to individual needs.
Issues Addressed in Yoga Therapy
Mind
Body
Spirit
Emotions
Past Life
An important aspect of Yoga Therapy is consideration of personal past history as well as karmic past history. Yoga Therapy takes into account the individuals history of reincarnation, and how that may play a role in current illness.
“What kind of conditions does yoga therapy help?”
Yoga therapy can address many different needs, from feelings of disconnection, depression, to severe autoimmune diseases such as Lupus. Sara learned Yoga herself to overcome a major neurological disorder by practicing Yoga. Her experience has translated to a Yoga practice that has not only educated and trained many instructors, but has also aided thousands through their own personal trials.
According to Sara, the Yoga Therapy Client learns about this body, both physical and energy body. “Pranayama kosha, the energy source that sustains your life“, is used to heal the body, mind and soul naturally in Yoga Therapy.
“Yoga therapy allows the person to feel at peace and calm and harmonious within themselves,” which can help with healing, living through, surviving, or accepting a difficult diagnosis. Sara has applied the healing modality even to clients who are preparing to die.
“How does yoga improve resilience?”
I have wanted to focus on resilience during the month of March 2021.
We have all seen and been through so much. As I have posted in previous blog posts and my podcast, resilience sometimes is the last tool to helping in getting through challenges in life. Here is Sara’s Response:
“Everyone deserves prosperity, abundance of love, joy, peace and wisdom. With Yoga Therapy, you never run out of tools for healing. Because of the depth and breadth of Yoga Therapy, there is always some aspect of Yoga Therapy that can improve strength and resilience.”
Sara also shared with me something I found very interesting, and comforting. In her Yoga Therapy Practice, she has has new clients that were facing a disease that would end their lives. These students wanted to work with Sara in Yoga therapy to help in the process of dying. She shared with me that for these individuals, the practice of Yoga Therapy helped to being peace, acceptance and calm to a difficult process. This effect spread to the families of the dying individual.
