Modern postural schools

1. Introduction

Version followed: each school as its own institution or recognised teacher publishes it: Iyengar Yoga as described by the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI, Pune) and an affiliated Iyengar association; Ashtanga Vinyasa "Mysore style" as described by a Jois-family shala site; the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres' "Five Points of Yoga" (Swami Vishnudevananda); Viniyoga as presented in T. K. V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga (revised edition, Inner Traditions, 1999); Kripalu Yoga as the Kripalu Center publishes it; Yin Yoga in the Paul Grilley line as described by Yin teachers (Travis Eliot, Human Kinetics; yinyoga.com). The psychotherapist's work that follows is drawn from clinical and research sources and, where marked, from synthesis.

This is not a single therapy but a family of modern teaching schools of posture-based (āsana-centred) hatha yoga, several of which trace to the teaching of T. Krishnamacharya in twentieth-century Mysore and Chennai. [source: Desikachar 1999 publisher page; Jois-family Mysore style page] Historians such as Mark Singleton (Yoga Body, 2010) have argued that modern postural yoga blends older hatha yoga with modern physical culture [uncertain: not verified]. Each school teaches posture inside a wider spiritual frame (the eight limbs, Vedānta, prāṇa, witness consciousness, Daoist ideas in Yin), and these concepts belong to the schools: they are described here as the schools hold them, not stated as fact or dismissed.

How change is understood differs by school. Ashtanga holds that synchronised breath and movement (vinyāsa) steadies the mind: Pattabhi Jois is quoted as saying "When vinyāsa is perfect, the mind is under control." [source: Jois-family Mysore style page] Sivananda holds that control of prāṇa leads to control of the mind and that relaxation releases accumulated stress. [source: Sivananda Five Points, Google Arts & Culture] Viniyoga holds that practice must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs. [source: Desikachar 1999 publisher page] Kripalu holds that compassionate, non-judging self-observation (witness consciousness) carried "on and off the mat" is the engine of change. [source: Kripalu, What Is Kripalu Yoga] Yin holds that quiet, long holds at a gentle edge cultivate stillness. [source: Eliot, Human Kinetics excerpt]

For the psychotherapist, the practice belongs to the client and their teacher. Your work is client-led integration (understanding what the practice means to the client and drawing on it in therapy, with consent), safety (medical, trauma, touch, adverse experiences), referral to qualified teachers, and awareness of teacher-power problems documented in some schools. No school is presented here as a treatment for physical or mental disease; health claims stay with the schools that make them. Cross-refer: Domain X 135–143 (yoga therapy, Yin and restorative, hot yoga), Domain IV (trauma-sensitive yoga), Domain II (mindfulness programmes), Domain VII (spiritually integrated psychotherapy), and 008 (prāṇāyāma). [synthesis]

2. Framework

The schools do not publish a therapy course, so there is no session count for therapy use. The table below gives how each school structures learning, as published; the therapist's phases follow. [source: as cited per row]

Teacher credentials: Iyengar and Kripalu certify their own teachers; Yoga Alliance registration is a separate, voluntary registry [uncertain: not verified].

The therapist's phases [synthesis]:

1. Assessment and meaning. Goal: learn what the practice is, which school, how often, with whom, and what it means (fitness, spiritual path, community, identity). Move on when you and the client share a picture of the practice and its role.
2. Safety screen. Goal: medical issues for the doctor, trauma history and touch, history of adverse experiences, compulsive or perfectionistic patterns, teacher relationships. Move on when any medical question has been routed and a touch and adjustment plan exists if relevant.
3. Client-led integration. Goal: with consent, draw on the client's own practice language (e.g., witness, edge, breath) in therapy, or support a referral to a suitable class. Continue while it serves treatment goals.
4. Monitoring and review. Goal: watch for adverse experiences, injury, over-practice, teacher-power problems; adjust or refer. Review at natural milestones (new teacher, intensive training, retreat).

3. Guiding principles

• The practice belongs to the client and their school. Practical meaning: ask, do not prescribe; you are not their yoga teacher. [synthesis]
• Name the school. Practical meaning: Iyengar, Ashtanga, Sivananda, Viniyoga, Kripalu and Yin differ in pace, touch, intensity and spiritual frame; ask which one. [source: school pages above]
• Adapt to the individual. Practical meaning: as Viniyoga teaches, practice should fit the person's changing needs; support the client in asking for modifications. [source: Desikachar 1999 publisher page]
• Gradual progression. Practical meaning: Ashtanga and Iyengar both add material gradually; a client who is being pushed fast, or pushing themselves, is outside their own school's stated method. [source: Mysore style page; Iyengar NYC methodology]
• The edge, not past it. Practical meaning: Yin teaches leaning into the first resistance, aiming for "positive discomfort and not bad pain", and coming out if pain arises. [source: Eliot excerpt; yinyoga.com]
• Non-judging self-observation. Practical meaning: Kripalu's witness consciousness can be a shared language for noticing in therapy, used only if the client finds it helpful. [source: Kripalu]
• Choice and consent over the body. Practical meaning: the client decides about touch and adjustments; trauma-sensitive yoga removes hands-on assists and uses invitational language. [source: Act for Kids, TCTSY; Yoga Journal 2018]
• Medical questions go to the doctor. Practical meaning: conditions such as glaucoma or low bone density need medical advice on inversions and forceful practice. [source: Cramer et al. 2013]
• Concepts are attributed. Practical meaning: prāṇa, chakras, the eight limbs and Vedānta are described as the school holds them, without endorsing or debunking. [synthesis]
• No austerity or breath-retention prescriptions. Practical meaning: do not give fasting, diet, breath-holding or rapid-breathing instructions; such questions go to the teacher and doctor. [synthesis]
• Teacher power is real. Practical meaning: ask about the teacher relationship and listen for coercion or boundary violations, as documented in some schools. [source: Yoga Journal 2018]
• Stay in role. Practical meaning: you are not a guru, yoga teacher or spiritual director; refer for instruction and collaborate if the client wishes. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

Part A gives each school's openly taught method as it publishes it, so you can understand and talk about what your client does. These are not pose sequences for you to prescribe. Part B gives the psychotherapist's own work.

Part A. The schools' methods as published

4.1 Iyengar Yoga: precise, prop-supported, sequenced practice

• Purpose and when relevant: Your client attends Iyengar classes or is weighing them. The method emphasises correct alignment, precise language and gradual progression. [source: Iyengar NYC methodology; RIMYI page]
• Steps as taught (paraphrased): (1) A certified teacher demonstrates the posture. (2) Students follow precise, specific verbal instructions. (3) Props such as blankets, blocks, belts and chairs adapt the pose to the student's needs. (4) The teacher gives individual correction or adjustment where needed. (5) Classes follow a systematic order within the session and across weeks, building strength, flexibility, stamina and concentration. [source: Iyengar NYC methodology] RIMYI in Pune (founded 1975, directed by B. K. S., Geeta and Prashant Iyengar) is the method's centre and lists certification. [source: RIMYI page] B. K. S. Iyengar's Light on Yoga is the founder's posture manual [uncertain: not verified].
• Example language (illustrative): "You mentioned your teacher uses a chair and belts for you. What is it like to be given support rather than pushing on your own?"
• Watch for: Harsh self-criticism about alignment "errors"; distress during physical corrections (see 4.11); the client finding steadiness and concentration that carry into daily life, a sign the practice helps.

4.2 Ashtanga Vinyasa, Mysore style

• Purpose and when relevant: Your client practises Ashtanga: a set sequence of postures linked by breath and movement (vinyāsa), usually self-paced in a Mysore room. [source: Jois-family Mysore style page]
• Steps as taught (paraphrased): (1) The first lessons teach the breathing-with-movement technique and attention to gazing. (2) A beginner may start with only the opening and closing sequences, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes. (3) The teacher gives new postures one at a time, once earlier ones are memorised and steady, "at a rate appropriate for each individual". (4) Students practise independently in a shared room; teachers and assistants work one-to-one, with more independence and fewer adjustments as students progress. (5) A weekly led class at that shala reinforces when to inhale and exhale. (6) The shala recommends practice five to six days a week at the same time, with one or two rest days, "moon days", and traditional rest days for women during menstruation; it adds that two or three days a week still brings benefit. [source: Jois-family Mysore style page] Ujjayi breathing and bandhas are part of the wider method [uncertain: not verified]; no breathing instructions are given here.
• Example language (illustrative): "How does your practice schedule fit with sleep, work and the people in your life right now?"
• Watch for: Rigid daily practice through injury or illness, guilt over missed days, and hands-on adjustments the client did not want. Historic sexual-assault accusations against the founder, including during adjustments, were reported by Yoga Journal in 2018 (see 4.16). A client's growing ease with a self-paced practice and flexible attitude to rest days are good signs.

4.3 Sivananda Yoga: the Five Points

• Purpose and when relevant: Your client attends a Sivananda centre or ashram, whose courses rest on five principles that Swami Vishnudevananda synthesised. [source: Sivananda Five Points]
• Steps as taught (paraphrased): (1) Proper exercise: postures done slowly and consciously and held, with attention to the spine. (2) Proper breathing: prāṇāyāma, which the school holds regulates prāṇa and so the mind (no technique given here; see 008). (3) Proper relaxation: śavāsana, described as relaxation of body, mind and soul. (4) Proper diet: a lacto-vegetarian diet of simple, unprocessed food, linked to ahiṃsā (non-violence), as the school teaches it, not as a prescription here. (5) Positive thinking and meditation: Vedānta and dhyāna. A class draws on a set of basic postures, including inversions (headstand, shoulderstand). [source: Sivananda Five Points]
• Example language (illustrative): "Which of the five points matters most to you, and which feels hardest?"
• Watch for: Diet rules taking on an eating-disorder or purity function (route nutrition to the doctor or dietitian); inversions in clients with glaucoma or bone conditions (route to the doctor; see 4.10); ashram life and teacher relationships (see 4.16). Signs it helps: rest, relaxation and community the client values.

4.4 Viniyoga: practice adapted to the individual

• Purpose and when relevant: Your client works with a teacher in the Krishnamacharya–Desikachar line, often one-to-one, where the practice is built for them. [source: Desikachar 1999 publisher page]
• Steps as taught (paraphrased): (1) The teacher assesses the person's needs. (2) A personal practice is built step by step from postures and counterposes, with conscious breathing, meditation and study of philosophy. (3) The practice is revised as needs change. Desikachar describes the approach as a programme for the spine "at every level". [source: Desikachar 1999 publisher page]
• Example language (illustrative): "Your teacher seems to tailor things to you. Would it help to tell them what we are working on, in your own words?"
• Watch for: The teacher straying into psychotherapy, or the client treating the practice as their only mental-health support during a crisis. Coordination is good when the client chooses it (see 4.9).

4.5 Kripalu Yoga: the three stages and witness consciousness

• Purpose and when relevant: Your client practises Kripalu, which frames yoga as self-inquiry and compassion. [source: Kripalu, What Is Kripalu Yoga]
• Steps as taught (paraphrased): (1) Willful Practice: learn foundational postures, breathing and alignment with effort and discipline. (2) Sustaining and Deepening: hold practices longer and watch sensations, thoughts and emotions, building witness consciousness, the ability to watch experience without judgment or attachment. (3) Meditation in Motion: let movement and breath arise spontaneously, guided, as the school holds, by prāṇa rather than effort. Supporting values: sādhana (practice), sevā (service), saṅgha (community), and practice "on and off the mat". [source: Kripalu]
• Example language (illustrative): "In your Kripalu classes you practise watching without judging. Would you like to try that same stance with the feeling you just described?"
• Watch for: Spontaneous movement or strong emotion in the later stage that frightens the client (see 4.14); a client who uses "witnessing" to avoid feeling. A good sign is curiosity rather than judgment towards their own reactions.

4.6 Yin Yoga: long, quiet holds

• Purpose and when relevant: Your client attends Yin classes: mostly seated or floor postures held for minutes. [source: yinyoga.com; Eliot excerpt]
• Steps as taught (paraphrased): Three "laws" in one teacher's book: (1) find your edge, lean gently into the first resistance rather than forcing; (2) find stillness, removing restless movement while still making deliberate adjustments; (3) let time flow, prioritising time in a pose over number of poses (the source gives a usual window of three to five minutes). Aim for "positive discomfort and not bad pain". [source: Eliot excerpt] Another Yin source says the edge "is not to be passed, but played" and that pain is a signal to come out. [source: yinyoga.com] Grilley added Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts and anatomy to warm-ups learned from Paulie Zink. [source: yinyoga.com]
• Example language (illustrative): "In those long holds, what comes up for you, in your body or your mind?"
• Watch for: Long stillness bringing up trauma memories, panic or dissociation (see 4.12, 4.14); pushing through pain. A good sign is tolerating stillness with a sense of choice.

Part B. The psychotherapist's work

4.7 Practice and meaning assessment

• Purpose and when to use: At intake or when yoga comes up. Learn the school, the teacher, frequency and intensity, and whether the practice is fitness, a spiritual path, a community or all three. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Ask which school and teacher, and how long. (2) Ask what it means: body, mind, spirit, belonging, identity. (3) Ask about beliefs that matter to the client (prāṇa, the eight limbs, Vedānta, devotion to a teacher) and record them in the client's words. (4) If religion, spirituality or culture shape the problem, use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview, including its supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions [uncertain: not verified]. (5) Ask about other practices (breathwork, retreats, diet rules, fasting) to route to the right source of guidance. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "Some people do yoga as exercise, some as a spiritual path, some for the community. What is it for you?"
• Watch for: Shame or secrecy about practice; a sense that therapy competes with the teacher. Working well: the client talks openly about practice in their own terms.

4.8 Client-led integration in session

• Purpose and when to use: When the client wants their practice to be part of therapy, within spiritually integrated psychotherapy (cross-refer VII). [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Get explicit consent to bring the practice in. (2) Borrow the client's own school language: Kripalu's "witness", Yin's "edge", Viniyoga's adaptation, Ashtanga's steady breath with movement. (3) Use it as a metaphor or noticing stance, not as instruction: for example, finding the "edge" of a painful topic and staying with it rather than forcing. (4) Any movement in session is chosen by the client, small, and can stop at any time (seated posture changes, feeling the feet on the floor). (5) Review afterwards what helped. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "You talk about finding your edge in Yin. Where is your edge with this memory today, and what would 'playing' it rather than passing it look like?"
• Watch for: Spiritual bypassing (using practice ideals to skip grief or anger); the client performing for you. Working well: the client uses their own practice language to self-regulate between sessions.

4.9 Choosing a school and teacher; referral and collaboration

• Purpose and when to use: The client asks which style suits them, or a referral to yoga or yoga therapy is being considered. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Match pace and touch to the client: Viniyoga and Iyengar emphasise individual adaptation and props; Ashtanga is a set, vigorous, frequent practice; Yin is long, still holds; Kripalu stresses compassionate self-observation; Sivananda includes inversions, breathing and a dietary and Vedānta frame. [source: school pages above] (2) Suggest the client ask about the teacher's certification in that school (Iyengar and Kripalu run their own; Yoga Alliance is a voluntary registry [uncertain: not verified]). (3) For trauma, consider a trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator (4.12; Domain IV). (4) With the client's written consent, collaborate with the teacher on goals and limits; do not share more than needed. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "Would it help if I wrote a short note for your teacher, which you'd read first, saying you prefer not to be touched and to go slowly?"
• Watch for: Referring to a style that clashes with the client's beliefs (a devotional or Vedānta frame for someone uneasy with it, or the reverse). Working well: the client reports feeling safe and respected in class.

4.10 Medical routing

• Purpose and when to use: Any physical condition, pregnancy, injury, eye or bone problem, or questions about breathing practices, diet rules or fasting. [source: Cramer et al. 2013]
• Steps: (1) Know the published risk picture: a systematic review of case reports found musculoskeletal events most common, then nervous system and eye events; headstand, shoulderstand, lotus and forceful breathing were most often involved; one death was among the reported cases. [source: Cramer et al. 2013] (2) Its authors advise practice under a qualified teacher, beginners avoiding extreme practices, people with medical conditions adapting with their doctor and teacher, inversions avoided in glaucoma and forceful practices avoided with compromised bone. [source: Cramer et al. 2013] (3) Ask the client to discuss these with their doctor and teacher; you do not advise on postures or medicines. (4) Eating rules and weight concerns: assess for disordered eating; refer to the doctor or dietitian. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "Inversions can be a concern with some eye and bone conditions. Could you check with your doctor and let your teacher know?"
• Watch for: Practising through pain; health claims replacing medical care. Yoga is not presented here as a treatment for physical disease; schools' health claims are theirs, and the evidence for specific medical claims varies [synthesis].

4.11 Touch and adjustment consent planning

• Purpose and when to use: Before a client attends a style that uses hands-on assists (Iyengar corrections, Ashtanga adjustments), or after an unwanted adjustment. [source: Iyengar NYC methodology; Mysore style page; Yoga Journal 2018]
• Steps: (1) Ask how the client feels about touch in class. (2) Help them decide a default (no touch, verbal cues only, touch with asking first). (3) Practise a short script to tell the teacher, or point out options such as consent cards that some studios use. [source: Yoga Journal 2018] (4) Agree what they will do if an adjustment happens anyway (come out of the pose, speak up, leave). (5) After any unwanted touch, assess for distress and, if sexual, follow your local safeguarding and reporting duties. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "You are allowed to say 'No adjustments for me today, thanks.' Shall we practise that?"
• Watch for: The client freezing during adjustments; minimising language ("just an adjustment"). Working well: the client states their preference and it is respected.

4.12 Trauma-sensitive adaptation and referral

• Purpose and when to use: Clients with trauma histories, especially complex trauma, who want body-based practice. Cross-refer Domain IV. [source: Act for Kids, TCTSY]
• Steps: (1) Know the model: Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY), developed at the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts, modifies hatha yoga forms to build empowerment; participants choose what to do with their bodies, facilitators use invitational language and offer options, there are no physical adjustments, and attention goes to the body's felt sense in the present. [source: Act for Kids, TCTSY] (2) The same page reports that in 2016 TCTSY was recognised by a US federal mental health agency as an adjunctive treatment for trauma (attributed). (3) Refer to a trained facilitator rather than teaching yoga yourself. (4) In session, offer only invitations and choices about posture and attention, with eyes open if preferred. (5) For mindfulness adaptations, see trauma-sensitive mindfulness (Treleaven 2018) [uncertain: not verified]. [synthesis for steps 3–5]
• Example language (illustrative): "If you like, you might notice your feet. Or not; you can keep your attention wherever feels most okay."
• Watch for: Dissociation, flashbacks in particular poses or during long holds. Working well: the client reports more choice and ownership over their body.

4.13 Grounding and dose reduction

• Purpose and when to use: A client becomes overwhelmed during or after practice, or in session when talking about it. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Shift to eyes open and external orientation (name objects in the room). (2) Shorten or soften practice: shorter holds, more active movement, less inward focus, fewer days. (3) Suggest pausing intensive elements (long Yin holds, spontaneous movement stage, breathing practices) until stable, in consultation with the teacher. (4) Encourage ordinary routines: sleep, food, people, physical activity the client enjoys. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's look around the room together. Tell me three things you can see."
• Watch for: Rapid return of steadiness is a good sign; persistent symptoms need fuller assessment (4.14).

4.14 Challenging and adverse experiences

• Purpose and when to use: A client reports unusual, frightening or persisting experiences linked to practice, especially meditation, breathing, retreats or intensive trainings. [source: Brown University report on Lindahl et al. 2017]
• Steps: (1) Normalise without dismissing: the Varieties of Contemplative Experience study (Lindahl, Britton et al., PLOS ONE 2017) mapped 59 kinds of challenging experience in seven domains (cognitive, perceptual, affective, somatic, conative, sense of self, social), lasting days to more than a decade, and found they were not limited to people with psychiatric or trauma histories. [source: Brown University report] (2) A 2020 systematic review by Farias et al. (Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica) estimated how common meditation adverse effects are. (3) Point to specialist support such as Britton's Cheetah House resources. [uncertain: not verified] (4) Assess carefully for psychosis, mania, depression or dissociation, using standard assessment; case reports have linked meditation to psychotic and manic episodes. [source: Meditating in Safety research page] (5) Where the experience is spiritual and not a disorder, DSM-5-TR has a code for a religious or spiritual problem, Z65.8 [source: ICD-10-CM Z65.8]. (6) Before an intensive retreat or training, screen for recent psychosis, mania, severe trauma symptoms and current crisis, and plan support. (7) With consent, coordinate with the teacher. [synthesis for steps 6–7]
• Example language (illustrative): "What you're describing has been reported by other practitioners. It doesn't mean you've done something wrong. Let's look at what's happening now and how to steady things."
• Watch for: Sleep loss, agitation, grandiosity, loss of reality testing (urgent psychiatric review); spiritual distress read as illness, or illness read as spiritual progress.

4.15 Perfectionism, compulsive practice and scrupulosity

• Purpose and when to use: Daily-practice rules, alignment precision or diet rules become rigid, anxious or guilt-driven. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Ask what happens when the client misses practice or eats "wrongly". (2) Notice that schools themselves build in flexibility (the Mysore page says two or three days a week still bring benefit and recommends rest days). [source: Mysore style page] (3) If the pattern looks obsessive (fear of moral or spiritual contamination, checking, compulsive repetition), assess for OCD and scrupulosity and offer ERP, consulting the client's teacher about what the tradition actually requires [synthesis; IOCDF guidance on scrupulosity, uncertain: not verified]. (4) Screen for eating disorders and over-exercise. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "Your own school recommends rest days. What makes taking one feel so dangerous?"
• Watch for: Practising through injury; distress out of proportion to missed practice. Working well: flexible practice without guilt.

4.16 Teacher power, misconduct, coercive control and leaving

• Purpose and when to use: A client is devoted to a teacher, has experienced boundary violations, or is leaving a school or ashram community. [source: Yoga Journal 2018; Sivananda India trustees' statement]
• Steps: (1) Know the documented context: Yoga Journal (2018) reported accusations by several women that Pattabhi Jois sexually assaulted them, including during hands-on adjustments, and that community language like "inappropriate adjustments" minimised it. [source: Yoga Journal 2018] In the Sivananda organisation, a 2020 independent third-party investigation into a senior teacher was commissioned; the Indian trustees later stated the report had not been shared with them. [source: Sivananda India trustees' statement] (2) Ask about the teacher relationship: obedience, isolation, money, sleep and food control, secrecy, sexual contact. (3) Name signs of coercive control plainly but without labelling the group. (4) Support leaving: grief for community and identity, religious trauma, re-finding a safe practice if wanted. (5) Follow safeguarding and reporting duties for sexual abuse or minors. [synthesis for steps 2–5]
• Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like you're allowed very little say about your own body in that room. How does that sit with you?"
• Watch for: Self-blame; loyalty conflicts. Working well: the client keeps what they value while making informed choices.

4.17 Role, ethics and the therapist's own practice

• Purpose and when to use: Always, and especially if you practise yoga yourself. [synthesis]
• Steps: (1) Do not teach yoga to therapy clients or attend the same classes without considering dual relationships. (2) Disclose your own practice only if it serves the client. (3) Build spiritual and religious competence (Vieten et al. 2013) [uncertain: not verified]. (4) Follow your profession's ethics code on competence, multiple relationships and respect for religion [synthesis]. (5) Refer to qualified teachers, spiritual directors or clergy for instruction and spiritual guidance. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "I'm not a yoga teacher, so I'll leave technique to yours. What I can help with is how it all sits with you."
• Watch for: Drifting into a guru or teacher role; bias for or against a school.

5. Handling problems

The schools' published materials do not address psychotherapy problems; everything below is [synthesis] unless a source is tagged.

• Stuck client who "should" practise but doesn't. Explore what the practice means and what gets in the way; drop the "should". Practice is the client's choice, not homework you set. Note that the Mysore page itself says two or three days a week still help. [source: Mysore style page; otherwise synthesis]
• Resistance to bringing yoga into therapy. Respect it. Some clients keep their practice private or sacred. Offer once, then leave it.
• Client wants you to teach poses or breathing. Decline gently and refer to a qualified teacher or yoga therapist (cross-refer X 135–143). Do not give breath-retention, rapid-breathing, fasting or diet instructions.
• Overwhelm, panic or dissociation in practice. Ground (4.13), reduce intensity, consider a trauma-sensitive facilitator (4.12), and assess fully (4.14). Long Yin holds and spontaneous-movement practice may need to pause.
• Injury or practising through pain. Route to the doctor; review the client's own school guidance (Yin sources say pain means come out). Explore perfectionism or fear of the teacher's disapproval. [source: yinyoga.com; Eliot excerpt]
• Unwanted or sexual touch by a teacher. Believe, assess safety and distress, explain reporting options, follow safeguarding duties, and treat as a trauma. Do not push the client to confront the teacher.
• Rupture over beliefs. If you appear to dismiss prāṇa, chakras, Vedānta or the guru relationship, or to be pushing a spiritual view, name it, apologise and return to the client's own frame.
• Devotion to a teacher that limits the client's choices. Explore gradually; ask about money, isolation, control of sleep, food or relationships, and secrecy (4.16). Avoid labelling the group.
• Practice used to avoid feelings. Gently notice bypassing; honour what the practice gives while widening room for anger, grief and need.
• Unusual experiences after an intensive training or retreat. Treat as a possible adverse effect (4.14): sleep, safety, psychiatric review if psychotic or manic features; coordinate with the teacher if the client wishes.
• Diet rules turning restrictive. Assess for eating disorders; refer to the doctor or dietitian; separate the tradition's teaching from the client's anxiety.
• Minors in classes or ashram programmes. Apply child safeguarding procedures and assent and parental consent; never rely on a group's internal processes alone.
• Leaving a school or community. Expect grief, identity loss and possible religious trauma; help the client decide what to keep. A new, safer school or a trauma-sensitive class may help if they want to continue.

Sources

Web sources:

• RIMYI (Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute), bksiyengar.com
• Iyengar Yoga methodology, Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York
• Mysore Style, Jois Yoga archive
• The Five Points of Yoga, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, Google Arts & Culture
• Statements from the Trustees and the Directors, Sivananda India
• The Heart of Yoga, T. K. V. Desikachar, Simon & Schuster publisher page
• What Is Kripalu Yoga?, Kripalu Center
• Three laws of a Yin pose, excerpt from Travis Eliot, A Journey Into Yin Yoga, Human Kinetics
• Yin Yoga comes from martial arts and is an advanced, extreme practice?, yinyoga.com
• Sexual assault in the Ashtanga yoga community, Yoga Journal, 2018
• Cramer, Krucoff, Dobos 2013, Adverse Events Associated with Yoga: A Systematic Review of Published Case Reports and Case Series, PLoS ONE (UTS repository)
• Study documents range of challenging meditation experiences, Brown University, 2017 (on Lindahl et al. 2017, PLOS ONE)
• Research evidence, Meditating in Safety
• Trauma Centre Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY), Act for Kids

Books and papers cited:

• Desikachar, T. K. V. (1999, revised ed.). The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice. Inner Traditions.
• Eliot, T. A Journey Into Yin Yoga. Human Kinetics. (Year [uncertain: not verified].)
• Grilley, P. (2002). Yin Yoga, Outline of a Quiet Practice (as cited by yinyoga.com).
• Cramer, H., Krucoff, C., & Dobos, G. (2013). Adverse events associated with yoga. PLoS ONE, 8(10).
• Lindahl, J. R., Britton, W. B., et al. (2017). The Varieties of Contemplative Experience. PLOS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0176239.
• Singleton, M. (2010). Yoga Body [uncertain: not verified].
• Iyengar, B. K. S. Light on Yoga [uncertain: not verified].
• Farias, M., et al. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.
• Treleaven, D. (2018). Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness [uncertain: not verified].
• Vieten, C., et al. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies [uncertain: not verified].
• American Psychiatric Association. DSM-5-TR, Cultural Formulation Interview [uncertain: not verified].
• ICD-10-CM Z65.8, Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances (includes 'Religious or spiritual problem'), https://www.unboundmedicine.com/icd/view/ICD-10-CM/945432/all/Z65_8___Other_specified_problems_related_to_psychosocial_circumstances