My 4 Step Process
I care deeply about why you want to feel better.
Listen and Understand
Each body tells a story and no two stories are the same. I believe your story matters and is part of unlocking what brought you to come see me in the first place. Our bodies are intelligent and remember past injuries, bad habits (like carrying a purse over the same shoulder every day), and holding tension from stress and/or conditions of the body and mind. Our bodies compensate over and over again until it results in limited mobility, flexibility and eventually pain.
We will go over a diagram together of where you are experiencing pain, discomfort, and/or limitations currently and prioritize the areas that have the greatest effect on your daily life so you feel relief as soon as possible. We will also go over any medical history, medications and current recommendations from your healthcare providers (Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Medical Doctors, Physiotherapists, Massage Therapists, Psychotherapists etc.) to get a whole picture of what your health plan is and how Yoga Therapy can help support that plan.
2. Assess
There is a story the body tells when you see it moving. We go through a few assessment exercises to help establish:
what is moving well?
what is not moving well?
what is moving when it shouldn’t be?
what is not moving when it should be?
Gathering this information helps put together the picture of how your body has been holding onto the injuries, stress, conditions etc. throughout your life. Perhaps that intolerable knee pain could actually be coming from your hip, or your foot or calf! When we know how your body is holding we can make a plan to release those patterns and give you relief.
3. Personalized Practice
I give approximately 4-8 movements/exercises/breathwork/mindfulness exercises each session. My clients lead busy lives and need to be able to fit this in sustainably to see and feel change. Each week there may be different exercises focusing on different parts of your body and how they all move together. I use no templates. Nothing is pre-determined. It’s all about which movements feel best in your body and provide the most relief.
Before long, you will have the right movements to relieve your symptoms. Better yet, practicing regularly will mean your symptoms no longer need relieving!
I offer the personalized practice a few ways:
Pen and paper drawings with notes to take with you
iPad/iPen drawings with notes and save to your device
Video version tailored just for you to watch anywhere
4. ReFine and Retrain
Throughout the assessment and personalized practice you’ll learn all about your body’s warning signs and what is unique to your movement. You’ll learn to stay in a ‘warning-free’ zone. You’ll learn to retrain your body and mind to move well, instead of more. Once you move well then you can add more. More movement or perhaps more weight. More growth. We repeat this process until you are well on your way to achieving your goals. Let’s get you back to your activities with more movement integrity!