Types of therapy
At Paracelsus Recovery, private yoga therapy is an essential component of our treatment programmes. Yoga therapy, which strengthens the mind-body connection and facilitates healing, can be extremely supportive of mental health or addiction recovery.
What is yoga?
Yoga is a broad range of practices that benefit the body, mind and spirit through a combination of breathing techniques, strengthening exercises, postures and meditation. There are many types of yoga; all are beneficial. Yoga therapy is applying yoga practices in a structured way to achieve specific physical, mental and emotional goals. The aim of yoga therapy is to restore our inner equilibrium between mind, body and spirit. Whereas yoga is taught by a yoga teacher, yoga therapy is facilitated by a highly-trained yoga therapist.
Yoga has its roots in ancient India. While yoga is not inherently religious, this ancient practice can have a spiritual impact on a person. For example, it can promote inner thought and a greater understanding of a person’s place in the world. Rather than just being about moving through the physical postures, yoga emphasises the importance of regular meditation because it can help increase positive thoughts, decrease negativity and strengthen our mind-body-spirit connection.
Aside from the spiritual benefits, there are many other benefits of a regular yoga practice. For example, according to research, yoga has many physical benefits such as reducing muscle tension and limiting inflammation. Alongside this, there are various benefits to emotional and mental health, including improving attention and reducing stress. Yoga therapy, when combined with complementary therapies such as mindfulness, can also increase our emotional awareness. For example, as practitioners become more centred, negative emotions such as shame, guilt, anger and hostility are released. People who practise yoga become more compassionate toward themselves, and in turn, towards others.
What is yoga helpful for?
Due to its numerous benefits, yoga can be a hugely supportive complementary element of holistic mental health and addiction treatment programmes. In terms of mental health conditions, yoga is an excellent complementary therapy for anxiety treatment because it can alleviate the physical discomfort that anxiety causes. In addition, as it promotes relaxation, yoga can reduce the intensity of stress responses. In other words, it has the potential to alleviate the fear and stress caused by excessive rumination and worrying. Yoga therapy has also been shown to help ease symptoms of depression. In particular, deep breathing exercises, postures and an emphasis on nurturing the mind-body connection can help relieve symptoms of depression such as pain, fatigue, sleep issues and stress.
Yoga can be very supportive of recovery from substance abuse disorders. This is in part due to the potential yoga has to help people cope with acute trauma, depression, anxiety or the stresses of everyday life, which are often the reasons people turn to substances in the first place. Yoga, when combined with therapy and other forms of treatment, can help people break the cycle of addiction, release “stuck” thinking patterns and provide both immediate and long-term benefits. For example, yogic deep-breathing requires inward-thinking, which promotes self-confidence and an improved ability to resist the urge to abuse the body with drugs and alcohol. And despite the time and effort required, yoga improves overall physical and mental health, helping to prevent and counteract the negative physical and emotional consequences of long-term drug and alcohol use. When practised consistently, it can restore balance, inner peace and overall well-being that may have been lacking for many years.
How is yoga included in my programme?
At Paracelsus Recovery, our private yoga therapy sessions are an important element of our comprehensive and 360-degree mental health and addiction programmes. We understand the value of specialised yoga as a form of mind-body therapy for addiction and mental health recovery. Our yoga therapists collaborate closely with the clinical team to ensure that our clients receive the most integrated and individually-tailored treatment programmes possible.
Our yoga therapists are highly-trained and enthusiastic teachers who will tailor each session to your specific needs and skill level. The style of yoga and frequency with which you practise yoga will depend on your symptoms, condition and lifestyle. However, in general, your programme might include practising at least two to three times per week in the comfort of your private accommodation.
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