MEET KATHRYN VAN HOWE – YOGA THERAPIST

WHAT IS INDIVIDUAL YOGA THERAPY?

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM GOING TO GROUP YOGA CLASSES EACH WEEK? 

I’VE NEVER DONE YOGA BEFORE – IS THIS ACCESSIBLE TO ME?

These are usually the first questions people put to me when they first get in touch about one-to-one yoga therapy sessions.  Group classes can be extremely beneficial on many levels (I teach some group classes). However, yoga certainly is not ‘one-size-fits-all’ and there is a limit to how much a yoga teacher can work with an individual within the group class setting.

People seek different therapies for many reasons, but there is very often the desire to move towards healing of some kind with the support of a therapist.  As a one-to-one yoga therapist, I work with the client to understand their ‘startng point’, what they are looking for, what they are maybe trying to ‘fix’ – be it physical, emotional or they may not even know exactly but have an overall feeling that maybe yoga can help.

At our first meeting, I invite you to talk while I listen, taking a medical history and anything else you want to tell me – all in complete confidence. I then create, teach you and draw up for you a personal practice, tailored to your own, unique starting place and how you can build this into your daily routine. You may be able to have an hour of your day for your practice – you may only be able to carve out 20 minutes...... but – and it is a but – like a physio-therapy exercise programme, the therapy only works if you do the practice!

We touch base again after a couple of weeks to see how you are progressing and how we can adjust the practice as necessary for you.  After that, clients typically come back to see me about once a month to review and develop their practice.

35 years ago I had a serious car accident in the United States where I was living at the time. The injury which caused me the most severe ongoing problem over the years turned out to be two (undiagnosed at the time) fractures of the neck (cervical spine) which then healed badly and caused immense pain and severe limitation of arm movements.

A very insightful physiotherapist recommended taking up yoga and eventually, through working one-to-one with a yoga therapist, I gradually achieved more and more mobility and, most importantly, then had the ‘portable toolkit’ I needed to help myself. I believe in empowering other people to help themselves through owning their own yoga practice.

I can’t promise healing miracles, everyone is unique and brings their own story. However, I know from personal experience and through many of my own students over the years, how yoga can in many ways help us to heal body, mind and spirit.

I am a fully trained and qualified yoga therapist (Association for Yoga Studies – AYS), and registered with the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council)- recognised by the government as meeting a high professional standard of practice.

If you would like to come along for an individual consultation (1hr and 15 minutes), I am at the Open Door Clinic, in the beautiful Events Room, on Thursdays. Contact me for further details and to book.

Kathryn Van Howe: 07905 332955 kathryn@hutonthehill.co.uk www.hutonthehill.co.uk