What is yoga therapy and how does it address the whole person, whether that person is working with disease or wellness? In this episode, I sit down with four teachers certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) to learn about the transformational relationships, whole-person care, and wellness paradigm that characterize the yoga therapy profession. In order of speaking, the guests are:

1. Lois Steinberg, Ph.D., Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher Level 4, C-IAYT, Director Iyengar Yoga Champaign Urbana

2. Saraswathi Vasudevan, Founder and Director of YogaVahini

3. Diane Finlayson, Department Chair of the MS in Yoga Therapy program at Maryland University of Integrative Health

4. Molly McManus, Current Board President of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Co-owner of Yoga North International SomaYoga Institute

The group discusses how:

1. they work with the western medical model.

2. you can change the way you think of the learning process itself through yoga therapy, and how working with yourself is the most fundamental thing you can do.

3. it's not about expanding the numbers of conditions but about taking in the complexity of the human being.

4. interoceptive information from the body informs yoga therapy, versus talk therapy, which is just about the mind.

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Also! This episode included some Sanskrit. We've translated most of the words used here:

1. Sankhya: a dualistic school of Indian philosophy

2. Ayurveda: an alternative medicine system that focuses on holistic healing 

3. Upanishads: the most recent part of the Vedas (the oldest Hindu scriptures)

4. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: a collection of Sanskrit threads on yoga theory and practice

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Also referenced:

1. International Association of Yoga Therapists

2. Yoga Therapy program at Maryland University of Integrative Health

3. Yoga North International SomaYoga Institute

4. Iyengar Yoga Champaign Urbana

5. Lois Steinberg's adaptation course

5. YogaVahini

6. Practicing Well episode with Sat Bir Singh Khalsa

7. Yoga Sutras

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Episode credits:

Original music by Kim's band Governess.

Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks.

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