Yoga Therapy as Lifestyle Therapy
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Yoga therapy is inherently a lifestyle therapy—both as a traditional practice (yoga cikitsa) and in more modern terms (lifestyle medicine)—encompassing physical, mental and emotional health, as well as taking into consideration social, spiritual and environmental factors which influence us on a daily basis.
Quality of life and physical and mental wellbeing are closely intertwined, yet our society tends to tease these apart and view them as unrelated. Age-old wisdom has told us that eating for wellbeing, reducing mental and physical pain, and getting sufficient sleep, are all physical "prescriptions" for happiness. By the same token, our state of mind directly impacts our perceptions, emotions, and willingness to engage in living at all levels. For women, particularly, the various roles we may occupy during the course of a lifetime can be fulfilling inasmuch as they are often bewildering, exhausting, and challenging.
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A yoga therapist cannot be the change, or make change happen. However, they can be a guide and catalyst for self-reliance, resilience, and finding equilibrium—a balanced state. We provide extended, thoughtful support over months or years, creating a client relationship that adapts and changes as needs, age, and circumstances change—delving into unhelpful lifestyle habits or patterns of thinking, bringing awareness to daily activities, providing a compassionate, open space for discussion of life, living, and perhaps even dying. Lifestyle Therapy and yoga therapy sessions may have a focus on these and more: ​​​​
Yoga For Women
It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.
__Bhagavad Gita
Second Nature Yoga Therapy encompasses each woman as a whole, supporting them physically and emotionally—providing individualized, appropriate and beneficial yoga and lifestyle therapy in a safe and non-commercial environment.
Lack of long-term support, focus only on the physical manifestations of an illness, and sporadic follow-up from an aggregation of specialists in the health system leads many women to feel disconnected from their bodies, with a sense of anxiety and loss of inner wellbeing. Life-changes, health challenges, societal expectations, various roles as woman, wife, mother, professional and / or homemaker—these are tremendous expectations, gracefully balanced by women on a daily basis. They are expected to be gentle and compassionate, yet also resilient and strong; comforter yet also disciplinarian; caregiver for others while not caring for themselves; absorbing the pain, sorrows, and difficulties of those around them while turning a blind eye to the warning signals of their exhausted bodies and depleted emotions. Yoga for women is a simple, sustaining practice, particularly during times of transition and change. Supportive yoga therapy can bring a sense of grounding, self-reliance, and calm to what may otherwise be a time of life which is challenging, or simply overwhelming.
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