As we “sit with” the temporal, fleeting thoughts, feelings, and body sensations, focusing our awareness on our breath, something peculiar begins to happen. There is often a sense of detachment from our shortcomings, challenges, and symptoms of anxiety, trauma, and angst; and an inner stillness and joy begin to bubble up; a sense of knowing that we are more than our bodies and minds. When we can connect with this innermost essence of our being, our symptoms begin to transform and dramatic positive changes often ripple out into our lives.

In the book Understanding Yoga Therapy: Applied Philosophy and Science for Health and Well Being, authors Marylysa Sullivan and Laurie C. Hyland Robertson outline the biopsychosocial and neurophysiological model of integrative health pertinent to yoga therapy and offer clear explanatory framework of why and how yoga therapy works for yoga therapists, physicians, complementary healthcare providers, and their patients and students. 

Following is an excerpt from the book, discussing this concept of connecting to the innermost essence of our beings.

 “From the perspective of yoga therapy, true health and healing entail understanding that within us is an innate wholeness that can never be hurt or harmed and is never in need of healing. We are something vaster than our physical and psychological health. We possess a fundamental wholeness and well-being that is indestructible. For yoga therapy, curing the body and mind is not the ultimate goal, although it does offer interventions for restoring and maintaining physical and psychological health and well-being. But, more significantly, yoga therapy supports us to embrace a path that entails recognition of our innate wholeness, which is always healthy, no matter our state of body and mind.”

“Yoga therapy asks us to inquire into a deeper question: Are we more than our body, mind, and senses? Are we, perhaps, something that is luminous, unchanging, ever-present, and indestructible?”

“At its heart, yoga therapy is the application of yogic principles that empower us to realize our inherent wholeness and freedom from suffering. It invites us to awaken to our underlying essential nature that enables us to feel in harmony with ourselves, others, and the world around us, no matter our circumstance.”

We invite you to come try a session with Jessa at Kairos Wellness Collective and explore for yourself yoga therapy’s potential to restore and energize you and bring you a sense of clarity and serenity!