Isn’t All Yoga Therapeutic? Let’s Talk About Yoga Therapy

You might have heard this at the end of a yoga class. I know I have: “My shoulder feels better now” or “My headache is gone”, or “I feel incredible!”

And yes — any yoga class can leave you feeling calmer, looser, lighter.

But does that make it therapy? Not quite.

That’s a bit like shooting blindfolded and hoping you hit the target. 🎯

You might feel better afterward, but there was no clear aim, no way to know what caused the change — or if it can be repeated.

What Makes Yoga Therapy Different

Yoga Therapy is not a style of yoga. It’s a process — a focused, individualized application of yoga tools designed to address a specific issue.

Whereas a regular yoga class or online program offers the same practice to everyone, Yoga Therapy is personalized medicine within the yogic framework.

At its core, Yoga Therapy includes four key elements:

1. Individual Assessment
   The Yoga Therapist takes time to understand you: your body, breath, mind, lifestyle, and the particular challenge you’re facing.

2. A Tailored Strategy
   A practice plan is created — using asana, pranayama, meditation, or kriya — aimed precisely at the problem you want to solve.

3. Objective Measurement
   Progress isn’t a guess. By the end of a session or program, something should have changed in a measurable way: less pain, better alignment, lower heart rate, greater mobility, steadier breath…

4. A Home Practice
   You leave with tools to continue at home, so the improvements become part of your daily life — not just something that happens on the mat once a week.

Why This Matters

In a group class, everyone does the same thing. That’s wonderful for general well-being, but it doesn’t allow for targeted intervention. If your back pain disappears from a group flow, it probably wasn’t that serious to begin with 😉.

Yoga Therapy, on the other hand, works like a collaboration. Both client and therapist can see what changed and why — so the process can be refined, repeated, and sustained.

Beyond Health: A Path Toward Freedom

Yoga Therapy isn’t limited to physical or mental health outcomes.

As the client gains stability and awareness, the conversation can go deeper — into the nature of action, the workings of the mind, and what stands between us and lasting peace.

In this way, Yoga Therapy becomes more than “fixing a problem.” It’s a path toward freedom, rooted in personal responsibility.

In Short

✨ All yoga can feel therapeutic.
🧠 Yoga Therapy is intentionally therapeutic.

One supports general well-being. The other helps you get better — in ways you can actually see, feel, and measure.