This reflective piece from Heather Mason, Founder of The Minded Institute, speaks directly to yoga therapists and those considering this path. Drawing on yoga philosophy, the koshas, and lived experience, Heather explores how yoga therapy shapes the therapist as much as the clients they serve.
Yoga Therapy as a Path for Yoga Therapists
As the years go on, I recognise that yoga therapy is more than a profession. It is a path of practice and a way of living that steadily discloses the inner life of the therapist. In working to support others, one cannot help but encounter the deeper layers of oneself.
In August, I spent a prolonged period on a yoga retreat without my phone, without email, without interruption from daily life. As The Minded Institute continues to expand, this kind of letting go is rare and precious. For a time, I was able to be a student of life again, rather than one who runs her own life.
The Koshas in Practice and Daily Life
On this retreat, it became clear that my practice and experience of self have become inseparable from the framework of yoga therapy that I have lived and taught for so many years. I could feel the koshas, the five layers of being described in yoga philosophy and drawn upon in yoga therapy, shaping and interacting with one another as part of creating me, with their interplay illuminated by the scientific foundations of the field.
These five interdependent layers, body, breath, mind, discernment and joy, were experienced not as parts within me but as my own becoming.
In Warrior II, ujjayi breath was drawn inward, lifting my ribs, opening my chest and allowing me to deepen into the pose as a breathing being. My body opened further, growing strong while releasing tension. In observing, my mind became absorbed in the process, transforming sensation into a lived physiological experience.
How Yoga Therapy Shapes the Therapist
In tracing these inner dynamics, my mind grew calm, merging with the psychophysical reality of breath. Discernment observed the triad of body, breath and mind interacting, while joy rose and fell with the shifting intensity of the posture.
This transformed threading together of such moments touched me deeply. I realised that yoga therapy has made me. Sometimes people have said I help to bring the field forward in my way, but in this instance, I saw how the field was bringing the Heather I knew into a different version of self, more expansive than before, more able to look through a myriad of dimensions to understand myself, and more capable of gently influencing them in service of my wellbeing.
Becoming a Yoga Therapist – A Deeper Calling
I share this experience with all of you for a few reasons. Firstly, to express gratitude to all my teachers, both those who formally trained me in this field and those who became my teachers organically, students and colleagues alike. I have been so busy working within the field that I did not see how it was also working within me, and how fortunate I am for that.
Secondly, to affirm that yoga therapy ultimately becomes more than a profession. It shapes the person who offers it. It metamorphoses you. For those currently starting or training as yoga therapists, know that this can and does happen as you continue along your journey.
And finally, for those wondering about becoming yoga therapists, ask yourself: are you ready for yoga therapy to become you? It is a deep and profound undertaking. It is a calling, it is a path, and I bow my head to the confluence of factors that have led me to it.
Explore Training for Yoga Therapists
Heather’s reflection is a reminder that yoga therapy does not only transform clients — it transforms yoga therapists themselves.
If you feel called to this path, learn more about our Yoga Therapy Diploma Programme, designed to support the next generation of yoga therapists in bringing evidence-based practice into the world.
Yoga therapists around the world are advancing this profession through organisations such as the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), contributing to the growing recognition of yoga therapy as an evidence-based healthcare approach.
