Yoga vs Yoga Therapy

1. What’s the difference between yoga and yoga therapy?
Yoga therapy matches the yoga to the special needs of the student. It’s about empowering people to
improve their health with yoga. A yoga therapist is a yoga teacher with a different skill set and extensive
specialized training to work with people facing health conditions. As a yoga therapist in a supervised
internship, I am completing my advanced 3‐year, 1,000 hour training in this emerging field, meeting the
training standards set by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. I’m presently working with
students facing various conditions including cancer, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain. We meet
privately and in small groups at the University Fitness Center.
In a yoga therapy session, we do an assessment and design a plan especially suited to your unique
situation. We focus on what’s right with you – your strengths and capacities – not just what’s bothering
you. No yoga experience is necessary, and the yoga can be done in a chair if needed. We use postures
and easy moving exercises to bring balance and ease, freeing the breath to move more easily. Using the
breath, meditation, and deep relaxation, students learn the art of self‐regulation, the ability to influence
our physical, mental and emotional states. This relieves stress (a big contributor to illness), improves
sleep, helps with treatment side effects, and gives a sense of control which is a powerful ally on the
healing journey.
Many people are unhappy with medication side effects or the frustration of chronic conditions. Yoga
therapy works nicely as a complement to your health care and helps you take a more active role in
health recovery. I encourage open communication with doctors and other health care practitioners
about my clients’ progress in yoga therapy.
The efficacy of yoga is supported by a growing body of research that shows it not only helps with stress,
but it also affects the biochemistry, function, and structure of the brain. It even shows positive
outcomes in gene expression that are associated with good health. Attending research conferences and
keeping up with the research helps me be an effective yoga therapist, and I enjoy sharing evidence‐
based techniques to help clients move towards health and well‐being.
I am both a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist at the Penn State Hershey University Fitness Center. My
regular yoga class on Monday evenings is open to the general public and involves a challenging set of
yoga, relaxation, and meditation that most anyone can do. It’s for people who are generally healthy. If
you have a specific health concern and want to schedule a private session at the University Fitness
Center or participate in an upcoming group class for people with anxiety, please contact me at
dcoma@comcast.net.