SOMATIC PSYCHOLOGY: YOGA and BODY MOVEMENT THERAPY
Are you ready to explore a deeper connection between your body and mind? Are you curious about your embodied experience as a spiritual being?
The body-mind cannot be separated
Yoga therapy has been recognized as its own field, blending together somatics, physiology, psychology and yoga. Yoga therapy is an increasingly popular approach for improving mental health and well-being. It involves the use of yoga practices and principles to promote physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Here are some ways in which yoga therapy can be used for mental health:
Stress reduction: Yoga therapy can be effective in reducing stress and anxiety by promoting relaxation and mindfulness. Techniques such as breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga postures can help individuals manage their stress and improve their mental health.
Emotional regulation: Yoga therapy can help individuals learn to regulate their emotions by increasing their self-awareness and cultivating a sense of inner calm. This can be particularly beneficial for individuals with mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder.
Trauma recovery: Yoga therapy can be helpful for individuals who have experienced trauma, as it can promote healing and improve symptoms of PTSD. It can also help individuals to reconnect with their bodies and process their emotions in a safe and supportive environment.
Self-esteem and self-acceptance: Yoga therapy can promote self-esteem and self-acceptance by helping individuals to develop a positive relationship with their bodies and their emotions. This can be particularly beneficial for individuals with body image issues, eating disorders, or other forms of self-criticism.
Overall well-being: Yoga therapy can improve overall well-being by promoting physical health, reducing stress and anxiety, and improving mood. This can lead to increased feelings of happiness, contentment, and fulfillment.
It's important to note that yoga therapy should be used as a complement to, not a replacement for, traditional forms of mental health treatment such as therapy and medication. Individuals should consult with a qualified yoga therapist or mental health professional before beginning a yoga therapy practice.
trauma informed
Yoga therapy for trauma-informed care is a holistic approach to healing that integrates yoga principles, practices, and techniques to support individuals who have experienced trauma. Trauma can have physical, emotional, and psychological impacts on a person, and yoga therapy can help to address these impacts through a variety of techniques that promote relaxation, self-awareness, and self-regulation.
Some of the key principles of trauma-informed yoga therapy include creating a safe and supportive environment, empowering individuals to make choices and take control of their own healing, and recognizing the unique needs and experiences of each individual. Yoga therapy sessions may incorporate a range of practices, including physical postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), meditation, and mindfulness practices.
Yoga therapy for trauma-informed care can be beneficial for individuals who have experienced a range of traumas, including physical or emotional abuse, sexual assault, combat-related trauma, and other types of traumatic experiences. It can help individuals to develop coping skills, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improve overall wellbeing. It is important to note that yoga therapy should be used as a complement to, not a replacement for, traditional forms of therapy and treatment for trauma.
Dr. Renye’s training in clinical psychology allows her to blend yoga therapy technique into her work with individuals and groups. Her yoga training started with her first yoga instruction when she was 12 years old. She has had a long history of dance, body movement practice and embodiment since the age of 3 years old. It was a natural evolution into learning the practice of yoga. Dr. Renye is a Yoga Therapist, certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists as well as through the Yoga Alliance as a 500 hour certified Yoga Teacher.
Yoga therapy for trauma is an application of this field in service of helping you heal deep trauma. Working in a trauma informed way allows us to reach and work with individuals, couples, and groups in both deep and effective ways. Yoga therapy for trauma healing is necessary since talk therapy sometimes has limitations. Somatic therapy and yoga therapy for mental health are important avenues to explore when healing.
Intuitive Body Movement. Engage with you
Know your body
Increase your body awareness
Proprioception expansion
Embodiment
Knowing your body through attentive, embodied engagement can help you be your authentic self. This process will take you through preparation for body movement, experiencing the journey of intuitive body movement and having an integration session. No prior body movement practice necessary. Explore how much your everyday life enjoyment is connected to your capacity to experience pleasure. Allow yourself to receive the body movement with surrender and ease. This is a practice of witnessing how much you do, feel you have to do, or feel pressured to do while simultaneously releasing the reigns with each tiny or large movement. Through the authentic movement of the body in a safe space, the capacity to access your deeper self (unconscious/Self/essence/divine union) becomes more possible.
Dr. Denise Renye developed a practice called: Spontaneous Embodied Spiritual Experience (SESE) as a way to dive deeper into who you really are.
Dr. Denise Renye with student
Private Yoga Instruction
Dr. Denise sees individuals, couples and small groups for private yoga sessions. She is a 500 hour certified yoga teacher with a certified speciality in restorative yoga (through Judith Hansan Lasater certification level 1 and 2)
Restorative yoga calms the central nervous system as it builds the relaxation and receptivity muscle. It can be practiced on it’s own as well as a in conjunction with other forms of yoga, such as hatha and vinyasa.
Private sessions can be 45, 60 and 90 minutes in length in person or over video.
What is Yoga Therapy?
Overall health and wellness and a deepening of your awareness and knowing can help you increase your choices and possibilities of living. Yoga therapy sessions may be embedded into a depth psychotherapy that you are engaging with in Dr. Denise’s private practice, or they may be a shorter term arrangement of 10 sessions. Dr. Denise also offers year long programs of yoga thearpy.
Dr. Denise applies the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother that she learned through her time at their ashram in Delhi and Pondicherry. She has been studying with mentors and disciples of their teachings for 12 years.
Denise is certified as a yoga therapist through the International Yoga Therapy Association.
“The body has a wisdom of its own. However slowly and circuitously that wisdom manifests, once it is experienced it is a foundation, a basis of knowing that gives confidence and total support to the ego. To reach its wisdom requires absolute concentration: dropping the mind into the body, breathing into whatever is ready to be released, and allowing the process of expression until the negative, dammed energy is out, making room for the positive energy, genuine Light, to flood in.”
Coaching or Yoga Therapy is not a psychological service. If I identify mental disorder, I will refer you to a licensed mental health professional.
