Harmonizing Mind & Body: The Benefits of Integrating Yoga and Psychotherapy
5 minute read.
True healing incorporates the mind, body, and spirit. Here, we’ll explore how yoga and psychotherapy complement one another and what those new to yoga can expect. Beyond the physical benefits, yoga can serve us emotionally, behaviorally, and spiritually.
We’re such big believers in the power of yoga that after more than 10 years of providing mental health counseling, Evergreen Counseling & Wellness opened a yoga studio in the fall of 2023. Join us to bring more harmony into your life.
Strengthen your mind and body
As a beginner, yoga can prove intimidating when attending class with those who seem to effortlessly twist themselves into pretzels and balance upside down on their heads. You’re not alone. Even for me, after practicing yoga for most of my life, it is difficult to maintain certain poses. However, I continue to improve my strength and flexibility with time. Whether you’re a beginner or not, if/when you practice yoga at Evergreen Counseling & Wellness, you can expect to grow your yoga practice and strengthen your mind and body.
In addition to strength and flexibility, yoga will bring awareness to your samskaras, which are the habit patterns that guide our experiences in the world. Repeating samskaras reinforces them, fostering a familiar groove that is difficult to resist. Samskaras can serve or cost us. For example, positive samskaras can serve us generally as positive values, where negative samskaras can cost us by creating more negative feelings such as anger, loneliness, jealousy, and anxiety.
The here-and-now
Psychotherapist Irvin Yalom refers to the “here-and-now” of the therapeutic relationship as information into how clients interact interpersonally in their day-to-day lives. That is, how a client interacts with their therapist provides insight into how they interact with others as well as what their life looks like outside the therapy room.
Similarly, something I’ve come to understand is how we treat ourselves on our yoga mats often parallels how we treat ourselves in our day-to-day lives. Continually trying after struggling can foster resilience, and if I can do that in yoga class, I’m likely to keep harmonizing the mind and body. Yoga is not a competition with other students, nor with yourself. If you’re willing, you may find yoga that will meet you where you are (and it’s more than okay if that’s not upside down on your head!).
Checking in on your needs
Yoga challenges me to try poses that initially seem preposterous, as well as to check in on my needs, which isn’t always what the yoga instructor is asking the class to do. Sometimes, this means working a little harder, other times it may mean acknowledging my need for rest, and returning to child’s pose. (Child’s pose, or “balasana”, is where you spread your knees as wide as your yoga mat, and let your belly rest between your thighs and rest your forehead on the floor).
You can use this philosophy for on-or-off the mat! Yoga encourages this mindfulness— that is, the awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings. Mindfulness can help people avoid automatic habits and responses (aka samskaras) by learning to observe and reflect on their thoughts, emotions, and other present-moment experiences without judging them.
Buddha taught “the unreflecting mind is a poor roof.” He said “passion, like the rain, floods the house. But if the roof is strong, there is shelter.” Through conscious observation of the inner workings of our minds, we are able to gradually let go of our habitual, programmed interpretations and automatic reactions.
Physical & mental benefits of yoga
Studies at the Trauma Research Foundation show other benefits of yoga include:
Reduction in symptoms of depression
Reduction in anxiety
Improvement in cognitive function
Easing body pain
Increasing body’s strength and mobility
Those affected by trauma can profoundly benefit from yoga practice. Yoga has been found to help regulate our fight-or-flight response, which is an automatic physiological reaction to something perceived as stressful or scary.
When a traumatic event happens, we can experience different reactions, such as fight, flight, or freeze. Fight or flight is the hyperarousal reaction, where freeze is a hypoarousal reaction. Hyperarousal activates our sympathetic nervous system, and triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee. Our nervous system adaptively tries to protect us from danger. However, trauma may override this function, making it difficult for those affected by trauma to differentiate whether there’s actual danger or not.
Regular yoga practice reduces anxiety levels and minimizes sympathetic hyperactivity induced by stress. Yoga can activate our parasympathetic nervous system, which gently alerts our body and mind that it's okay to rest and “calm down.” However, it’s important to find the classes that feel soothing for your body.
Setting healthy boundaries and advocating for yourself
Whether due to injury or something else, our bodies have diverse needs and it’s helpful for yoga instructors to be able to offer modifications / suggestions when students aren’t comfortable executing certain poses. At Evergreen, our yoga teachers are well-versed in offering these kinds of modifications. Regardless of where you try yoga, if you need to rest or take a break, it’s always okay to pause from the teachers’ instructions to return to “child’s pose” at any time, or even to step out of class.
Yoga teachers will sometimes offer students “hands-on assists,” which are meant to encourage stability and guide proper alignment and expansion in the body. Touch is not appreciated by all students, so most instructors will take care to offer ways to opt out. For example, they’ll begin class by saying something like “give me a wave (or some kind of signal), and I’ll know to give you lots of space.” It’s important to prioritize your boundaries here.
Yoga instructors may encourage students to close their eyes during class, and even if it isn’t explicitly said, it is always an option! If you feel more comfortable keeping your eyes open, I recommend finding a non-distracting spot to focus your gaze. Often when practicing balancing poses, yoga teachers will refer to this, which is also referred to as a “dristi.”
What to expect at a yoga class
At Evergreen Yoga Studio, we provide a warm, intimate space for all levels. You can expect to walk into a studio that welcomes your senses with gentle scents of essential oils as well as zen sounds. We limit our classes to just 10 students at a time, which allows our instructors to get to know you and offer a more personalized experience. Due to our limited capacity, we suggest you pre-register to guarantee your spot.
It is recommended to wear clothes you’re comfortable moving in, such as yoga pants, sweatpants, t-shirts, and/or tank-tops. Also, blocks, straps, mats and bolsters are provided, but feel free to bring your own.
Our new student special $30 for the first 30 days, which includes unlimited classes. To check out our schedule and register, visit evergreencounselingandwellness.com/yoga. If you have questions about Evergreen Yoga Studio/classes/packages, you can call the office at 215.323.4244.
Furthermore, if joining a class in-person is not an option for whatever reason, there are an abundance of online resources available, such as “yoga with Adriene” on YouTube where you can practice yoga from the comfort of your living space.
Healing beyond therapy
Psychotherapy has the ability to foster healing and change lives. A goal of therapy is to enhance coping and problem skills and to then be able to apply those skills outside of therapy in real-life situations. Another goal is to facilitate personal growth and positive change.
Discovering qualities like intentionality, compassion, curiosity, confidence, resilience, calmness, and attunement through therapy need not be limited to the formality of that space. These qualities can be strengthened and even expanded through yoga practice.
As yoga and psychotherapy both encourage individuals to explore and develop a deeper understanding of their inner selves, when practiced together, they amplify healing as they unite the mind, body, and spirit. The combination of yoga and psychotherapy have benefited and even transformed individuals across the globe.
We are already seeing those who practice yoga at Evergreen flourish and encourage you to give it a try!
Hi, I’m Lexi!
I’m a licensed clinical social worker at Evergreen Counseling & Wellness. Read my bio to learn more about me and how I may help to provide support on your path to wellness.
