The philosopher Cressida Hayes asks that those of us who are concerned with the body as a site of transformation find new ways in which we can encounter ourselves. Yoga may initially be viewed as as a method for self regulation but, with time, it becomes a space in which one encounters the self and learns from the fragile, temporary strength of the body. Changing the feeling of living in ones body takes time; the insights gained are not so much thought as they are lived.
Sharing a delightful little insight from Minded Founder Heather Mason & Kelly Birch’s book, ‘Yoga for Mental Health’, and this quote from Laura Douglass & Samantha Bottrill, is one of our favourite passages:
“The presence of yoga asks therapists to envisage the therapeutic landscape as a space in which the clinician & client come together to explore embodiment.
While yoga does offer potential shifts in our experience through self regulation, it does not demand that we heal or become better – it merely asks that we slow down & be with what is.”
Doesn’t that sum the very essence of a therapeutic approach to yoga quite beautifully?
