What Makes The Yogi OT™ Unique: The Perfect Partnership
Introduction
In order to understand what makes services at The Yogi OT™ unique, we first have to explain the two schools of practice that are integrated into our programs: occupational therapy and yoga.
Understanding Occupational Therapy
“I don’t need occupational therapy—I already have a job!” Is a common phrase occupational therapists hear when introducing themselves for the first time… or the equally common one: “I already had physical therapy today!”. Unfortunately, very few people know the extent of the amazing work occupational therapists do for individuals across the physical and mental health spectrum!
Occupational therapy is unique in that it is the only healthcare profession that assists all individuals, regardless of their age, illness, diagnosis, or disability, to “do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations)” (AOTA, 2021b). Additionally, occupational therapists utilize a holistic perspective to promote an individual’s independence, performance, and overall health and wellness. In other words, occupational therapists are experts at considering the whole person and determining how their unique skills, interests, values, environment—and so much more!—impact their daily functioning.
Part of this holistic perspective includes occupational therapists’ extensive knowledge and training in body systems, structures, and functioning. When working with individuals, occupational therapists are constantly analyzing the intersection of movement patterns, body functions and structures, environmental influences, and individual qualities, and how these factors impact the successful performance of desired tasks. Occupational therapists help identify the road blocks of these influencing factors and integrate functional changes or adaptive strategies into the individual’s daily activities to promote independence.
Occupational therapists assist both children and adults recover from physical injuries, adapt to neurological diagnoses, and overcome countless other barriers to optimal wellness. This includes both physical and mental wellness. Occupational therapists play a distinct role in assisting individuals in mental health recovery by fostering “hope, motivation, empowerment… [and] system change” (AOTA, 2021a). It is within this mental health realm that occupational therapists truly flourish.
Occupational therapists assist individuals in mental health recovery to (AOTA, 2021a):
Teach and support the active use of coping strategies,
Identify and implement healthy habits, rituals, and routines that support wellness,
Support and strengthen internal awareness of personal values, needs, and goals,
Enable autonomy in recovery through informed and realistic decision making,
Support the creation and use of a wellness recovery action plan,
Provide information to increase awareness of community-based resources,
Recognize and respond to acute changes in mental health status,
Support the ability to engage in long-term planning that supports recovery goals,
Use cognitive and behavioral strategies to challenge stubborn internal thought patterns,
…and the list goes on!
Occupational therapists are therefore a valuable asset to any mental healthcare team. Their unique person-centered perspective makes them well-equipped to assist all individuals in their process of healing and mental health recovery. The philosophy of occupational therapy holds that individuals with mental health diagnoses steer the ship in the sea of their own recovery through the support of holistic and person-centered practices. Occupational therapists are the expert travel guides that help ensure the ship is moving in the right direction: towards recovery!
Understanding Yoga
Yoga is an ancient mindfulness-based practice that integrates a combination of physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation to promote mental and physical wellbeing. The underlying principle of yoga is that by connecting deeply to our bodies, we are able to establish a stronger connection with our minds and spirits to uncover our “true selves” and quiet the inner chatter of our minds. This union sets the stage for optimal mental and physical wellbeing (Nichols, 2021).
Newcomers to yoga might think the practice is all about physical forms and breath. However, these are actually only two of the “eight limbs” of yoga. These eight limbs or “steps” act as a set of guidelines to assist individuals to live more full and meaningful lives. These eight limbs are (Stoller, 2019):
Yamas: ethics (what not to do)
Niyama: observances (what to do)
Asana: physical postures
Pranayama: breath control
Pratyahara: sensory transcendence (shifting focus from the external to the internal)
Dharna: concentration (attention to oneself)
Dhyana: meditation
Samadhi: ultimate “bliss”
Additionally, yoga focuses on uncovering “stuck points” in the different koshas—or bodily “layers” of an individual—to achieve ultimate well-being and well-doing (“bliss”). Resolving these physical and mental “stuck points” involves careful contemplation of the following interrelated parts of being (Stoller, 2019):
Annamaya Kosha: physical body; sense of safety
Pranamaya Kosha: energizing body; control of breath
Manomaya Kosha: mental body; emotions
Vijnanamaya Kosha: wisdom body; consciousness
Anandamaya Kosha: bliss; peace, recovery
By using the eight limbs to yoga and the Kosha Model of care, it is evident how yogic principles can help promote mental health recovery. In fact, yoga has been shown to be an effective supplement in the treatment of a variety of mental health diagnoses, including: anxiety and depression (Shohani et al., 2018; Bridges & Sharma, 2017), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Stoller, 2019), substance abuse disorders (Kuppili et al., 2018), and eating disorders (Hall et al., 2016; Pacanowski et al., 2017) (to name a few!).
Through consistent and therapeutic yoga practices, individuals with mental health diagnoses learn how to connect to their inner selves and identify their true values and recovery goals. Using the same ship analogy, yoga helps provide the tools and inner awareness to calm the sea of recovery (internal thought processes) and make the journey more manageable for the individual, while the occupational therapist continues to provide support on-board!
The Perfect Partnership:
Occupational Therapy & Yoga
As you were reading this article, hopefully some of the similarities between occupational therapy and yogic philosophy became apparent. In summary, occupational therapy helps to increase an individual’s independence in their everyday lives through the therapeutic use of meaningful activities. Yoga, similarly, helps to increase an individual’s internal sense of self, what they value, and how to achieve a state of “bliss” outside the cycle of use and abuse commonly associated with mental health diagnoses and behaviors. By expertly combining occupational therapy and yoga within our treatment programs at The Yogi OT℠, we are able to create a strong and supportive pathway to recovery. Along this pathway, your therapist will work with you individually to identify the qualities of your inner self, including your interests, values, and goals, to promote mental health recovery and overall wellbeing.
The secret to recovery has always been inside you: you just have to know where to look.
YOU have the power to steer the ship of your recovery in whichever direction you choose. Whenever you are ready, we will be here to help guide you in that journey.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). (2021a). Occupational therapy’s role in mental health. Retrieved from: https://www.aota.org/About-Occupational-Therapy/Professionals/MH/mental-health-recovery.aspx
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). (2021b). What is occupational therapy? Retrieved from: https://www.aota.org/Conference-Events/OTMonth/what-is-OT.aspx
Bridges, L., & Sharma, M. (2017). The efficacy of yoga as a form of treatment for depression. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 22(4), 1017–1028. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587217715927
Carracio, M. (2021). Get to know the 8 limbs of yoga. In Yoga Journal. Retrieved from: https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/beginners/beginner-faqs-why-yoga/eight-limbs-of-yoga/
Hall, A., Ofei-Tenkorang, N. A., Machan, J. T., & Gordon, C. M. (2016). Use of yoga in outpatient eating disorder treatment: A pilot study. Journal of Eating Disorders, 4, 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-016-0130-2
Kuppili, P. P., Parmar, A., Gupta, A., & Balhara, Y. (2018). Role of yoga in management of substance-use disorders: A narrative review. Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice, 9(1), 117–122. https://doi.org/10.4103/jnrp.jnrp_243_17
Nichols, H. (2021). How does yoga work?. In Medical News Today. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286745
Pacanowski, C. R., Diers, L., Crosby, R. D., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2017). Yoga in the treatment of eating disorders within a residential program: A randomized controlled trial. Eating disorders, 25(1), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2016.1237810
Shohani, M., Badfar, G., Nasirkandy, M. P., Kaikhavani, S., Rahmati, S., Modmeli, Y., Soleymani, A., & Azami, M. (2018). The effect of yoga on stress, anxiety, and depression in women. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 9, 21. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_242_16
Stoller, L. (2019). Sensory-Enhanced Yoga for Self-Regulation and Trauma Healing. UK: Handspring Publishing Limited.