Venus Rising

ProfileIssue: Aquarius 09 - The Change Issue

Yoga Therapy Can Help Us Embrace Change

Géraldine VatanHad you told me ten years ago, when I was still a graduate student in Modern Literature that I would move to Vermont, start a journey of personal growth and healing, and train to become a yoga therapist, I would have smiled incredulously. I was raised in a very scientific-minded family in France, the country of Descartes, where, like in most of the Western world, we believe that reason should control emotions, and that intuition is inferior because it cannot be scientifically proven. Our education is based on this principle and so we are ill prepared to deal with many life events and problems that go beyond our reasoning capacities.

In the course of growing up, I relied on my reasoning, acting out my received family and cultural values, accepting their “norm” as the right way to be, trying to fit in instead of listening to find out who I was and what I needed. I did not think that my body had a language and that it could provide me with an intimate knowledge of my emotions, fears, and hopes. As a young adult, I hit some hard walls that made me feel hopeless and out of control. I chose unhealthy relationships, chased after unfulfilling goals, and fell into depression. I paid the price every time I ignored the messages my body was sending me. That is what brought me to yoga, a practice that has allowed me to reconnect to my body, breath, inner wisdom, and the amazing sensation of wholeness, letting go and awareness. This is not to say that logic is bad. It is very useful in solving problems that do not involve emotions, human behavior, and finding a life direction. These are best approached with one’s heart, a willingness to see things as they are and the courage to live on the edge of one’s comfort zone.

Yoga brought me back to listening, respecting and acting upon my inner messages. The process I use with my clients is the same. The goal is to create a safe space in which they can listen to their body, and understand what it is trying to express through the sensations, the emotions, thoughts, memories, sounds or images that are triggered by the yoga postures. I hold the mirror up for my clients and I offer them support to trust their own wisdom, let go of the energy lingering in their body from past wounds and take action on the direction they choose to take with what they discover in each session. Once the client becomes aware of how their relationship to their body affects their life, self-confidence, healing and change are underway.

This practice is named Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, after the mythical bird that finds rebirth in the flames of life. It symbolizes change and the support we need in our transitions, in our desire to move forward towards inner freedom. It is unique among yoga therapies in that it combines the mind-body techniques of yoga with a non-directive dialogue so that our clients can verbalize and make sense of the messages they receive from their bodies. People who come to see me do not seek me for advice, diagnosis or medication but for the process that I offer, which brings them to their own place of wisdom and direction, and towards healing and empowerment by reconnecting their body wisdom with their emotional intuition and mental knowledge. This alternative therapy can be a great complement to psychotherapy or other healing work. It has shown significant results, sometimes within a single session, for people dealing with past trauma, life crisis or transition, stress related conditions and the desire for a lifestyle change.

Yoga is now being recognized as a healing tool by science while even psychotherapy is moving in the direction of body-centered healing. Going into a century driven by technology and fast change, Yoga therapy is tackling the challenge of helping us keep the channels of communication open between our ancient body knowledge and our forward thinking visions. Without this connection, we loose our ground in the present and we grow anxious, stressed, and sick.

To find out more about Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy or to inquire about receiving a session, contact Géraldine Vatan at . Also visit www.pryt.com.