Tag: complementary medicine

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Slowing Down: “Doing Nothing Is Still Doing Something”

When you allow yourself to pause, to live more slowly—during a vacation for example—, you’re doing something essential for your physical and mental health. Good news—yoga therapy can also help.

As the summer season unfolds, I wish you a chance to SLOW DOWN, and if possible, to do so in nature’s embrace. It’s vital for healing, for finding ourselves again, for reconnecting, for feeling deeply, and for being fully present in this life we’re given to experience—with all its joys and challenges. Because, let’s face it, we all go through tough times, no matter our age, gender, skin color, social status, or mental and physical health.

But, slowing down isn’t always easy, is it? Caught up in the whirlwind of daily obligations, you might often feel like you’re living on autopilot, without the time to truly connect with yourself.

Ideas, clarity and emotions can emerge

However, when you give yourself permission to live more slowly—like during a vacation—when you stroll through nature, pausing whenever you feel like it, you allow yourself to connect with your feelings, your deepest needs, and even your creativity. Ideas, clarity, and emotions can emerge.

As my friend, reflexologist Rodrigue Vilmen, says, “Doing nothing is still doing something.”

Rite of passage

A few weeks ago, I went “glamping” (mix of “glamorous” and “camping”) in the French Alps. During this trip, I was surrounded by breathtaking landscapes. I lounged around, took short walks, and read under tall conifers. This “doing nothing” unexpectedly turned into a kind of inner journey, where I felt, at times, sadness from unresolved past experiences. Slowing down also means giving yourself the time to feel what’s been buried and unexpressed, allowing it to be released from its emotional hold. Fully experiencing that sadness was healing because it allowed me to accept it, not fear it, and start to move past it.

Renewal in the French Alps!

Starting in September, you can reconnect with this idea of “doing nothing,” this letting go, by joining my therapeutic yoga workshops. Together, we’ll dive into the art of slowing down. We’ll feel, and continue to untangle the knots, tensions, and restrictions that are deeply stored in the body’s tissues. We’ll breathe and learn to live with more freedom and joy.

1 st Sept. 2024 workshop
14 Sept.2024 workshop
13 Oct. 2024 workshop
27 Oct. 2024 workshop
10 Nov. 2024 workshop
24 Nov. 2024 workshop
8 Dec. 2024 workshop

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Yoga Therapy for Dummies

Almost unknown, yoga therapy can be a powerful ally on the path to well-being. Here’s everything you wanted to know about the practice but never dared to ask.

While yoga is well known in the West, yoga therapy is a very new complementary practice that only a few insiders know about. So, let’s get started and lift the veil.

To understand the origins of yoga therapy, you have to go to the West Coast of the United States and look at one person in particular: Larry Payne. A Californian, athletic, he was an advertising executive in Los Angeles and made a lot of money. On the surface, life was good. But in 1978, at 35, his body spoke out under the weight of stress. Payne saw his blood pressure rise and suffered from chronic back pain. Physiotherapy, medication… nothing worked. Until one day, a friend took him to a yoga class. It was a revelation. For the first time in two years, his back pain disappeared. Payne felt reborn. He continued practicing yoga and left his advertising career to devote himself to the practice.

One of the founders of the International Association of Yoga Therapists

After a stint in India, he returned to Los Angeles and worked tirelessly to make yoga known as a complementary practice. He taught yoga, wrote several books, released videos, appeared on radio and TV shows, and in 1989, he became one of the founders of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).

What really worked in yoga and why

The association truly found its footing in the early 2000s. It aimed to make the profession of yoga therapist more professional. To do this, it was necessary to determine what really worked in yoga and why. This meant relying on science. That’s what the IAYT did. The association cataloged the scientific studies—more and more numerous—conducted on yoga therapy and certain chronic diseases. A milestone was reached in 2004 when the IAYT brought in conventional medicine professionals for the first time on its advisory board. In 2007, the first yoga therapy symposium was held in Los Angeles. The association published standards for yoga therapist training in 2012. Today, the IAYT has 5,600 members from around fifty countries and 150 training schools. It’s the start of adulthood.

So, what’s yoga therapy?

Many people think that yoga is a physical activity made up of stretching and movements. But that’s not the case. Yogis have known for millennia that the body and mind are one. Yoga therapy therefore harnesses the natural abilities of your body and mind to optimize your well-being. Specifically, the practitioner uses the tools of yoga—meditation, yogic breathing, postures, etc.—as well as psycho-emotional support through verbal communication and active listening to help you feel better.

Yoga therapy, for whom?

I often hear, “I’m too stiff,” “too big”… to do yoga. But yoga therapy is for everyone! In fact, the practice, taught in private lessons or small groups, can help high-level athletes as well as people who can barely move. To give you an idea, I had a therapeutic yoga teacher who was paraplegic!

Yoga therapy, for what?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world is facing an unprecedented mental health crisis. Yoga therapy is an approach that can be an effective ally in cases of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and insomnia, among others. While yoga isn’t a magic potion, more and more scientific studies show that the practice can relieve certain conditions, particularly chronic pain (lower back pain, arthritis) and those associated with fibromyalgia, for example. It also has a place in the care of people suffering from complications following a stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Similarly, it perfectly complements conventional medical treatments in the cases of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

But be careful, you don’t need to be suffering to benefit from yoga therapy. It can be a valuable aid to living better. And that, in itself, is already a lot.

A therapeutic yoga session is either one-to-one or in a small group.

Sources :
– International Association of Yoga Therapists
– Yoga Therapy Health\
– The Science of Yoga by William J. Broad (2012)

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Do Yoga. You’ll Access Your Intuition!

Yoga can clear the way to our intuition and creativity. All thanks to the practice’s breathing techniques.

Is there really a link between yoga and our intuition? Believe it or not—yes, there is.

The source of intuition is inside all of us. The problem is the mind and the thoughts that stop us from tapping into our inner knowing. The good news is that yoga can help thanks to breathing techniques or pranayamas which can quiet that noise.

How it works

Doing pranayama exercises means consciously controlling your breath. These breathing techniques affect the parasympathetic system to create a relaxing effect. Their benefits are numerous and impact vital functions like digestion, blood circulation, elimination, etc. But beyond balancing the body, breathing offers much more, and affects the mind and mood as I explained in my previous post, “Yoga Therapy Saved My Life.”


That’s already great news but there’s more. Pranayamas, when combined with slow movements and concentration, also influence intuition. This mix of breathing, movement, and concentration helps you become present with yourself, relax deeply and balance your nervous system–all essential to connect with your intuition. This process of “letting go” helps access your subconscious and therefore your inner voice.

To suddenly see clearly

Many people say they suddenly see clearly how to move forward in a tricky life situation during a yoga session. I’ve personally lost count of how many times yoga has given me clarity. Yesterday, for example, I suddenly became aware during my own yoga practice, of which approach and poses to use in an upcoming yoga therapy private so that the session can perfectly answer my client’s needs.

Sources: The Science of Yoga by William J. Broad, Radiance: Create an Amazing Life After Cancer (Kripalu Center), De l’inspir à l’inspiration (magazine Inexploré N. 62, printemps 2024).

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The Pause

My arm lymphedema recently got infected. It’s been a great reminder that I need to listen to myself and my body. At all times.

April 22nd started like any other day, doing yoga.

I had taught a yoga therapy workshop the day before and was feeling super energized. I performed the bridge pose and twisted my shoulders in a way that compromised my circulation. For someone with breast cancer-related lymphedema in my arm, this was a misstep. Off-guard moment. I knew I wasn’t supposed to twist my shoulder that way. The result? My lymphedema got infected.

Since then, I’ve put my foot on the brake. I revisited my schedule—once again—to have more breathing room (I’ve always overdone).

These days, I need nature. I walk. I lay down in the meadow. I read. I create space for myself. Trees, birds and the sky are there for me. To help me repair myself. Yesterday, I practiced yoga for the first time in three weeks, with so much more compassion.

Remember–honor your own wellness journey. In every possible way. That too is yoga therapy.

A nature park, close to home, five miles South of Paris, has been
my favorite place to rest.