Mindfulness Based Yoga is an integrative therapy suited to clients wishing to practice:

  • emotion regulation - changing the intensity of one's emotional experiences

  • distress tolerance - staying with a challenging experience without becoming overwhelmed

  • mindfulness - noticing one's physical sensations, emotions &/or thoughts, even as they change, with an attitude of compassion & acceptance.

Learning these skills and practicing them is done through the use of yoga forms & the breath. Clients also have opportunities to discuss & reflect on their experiences. 

It is in this respect MBY is an integrative practice containing elements of talk, cognitive & yoga therapy.

In MBY we also recognise the therapeutic contribution of:

  • body conditioning - having the opportunity to positively & constructively condition one's own body

  • self-knowledge - understanding how one's own body & brain work, including how both adapt to trauma

For this reason MBY integrates:

  • increasing strength & flexibility

  • improving balance, co-ordination & posture

  • recovery from & prevention of physical injury

  • learning about one's functional anatomy*

  • learning about yoga & trauma psychology, physiology & neurochemistry*

  • re-framing the experience of touch through the exploration of physical adjustments &/or partner work**

Decisions about which of these options to focus on is discussed in an initial assessment & re-visited throughout the course of an 8 week term.

MBYT is generally offered in individual sessions. Under some circumstances it may be offered in small groups of 2 - 10 people.

MBY is not considered useful if:

  • you have needed a hospitalisation within the last 6 months, for trauma related experiences

*Study into these areas is conducted through a combination of recommended reading & guided observations of one's own body/breath

**please note that all physical adjustments & partner work are done at the clients own discretion - consent is always sought

These sessions may be challenging. We encourage participants to take any necessary steps in their self-care. No prior yoga experience needed.