Ciarra Marrufo

Ciarra Marrufo
Foundations Program Graduate
Advanced Program Student
C-IAYT Candidate
School Psychologist, Yoga Therapist
Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Website: www.omvalleynm.com

At the beginning of the program, I could sense the profound healing that can occur through therapeutic uses of yoga. After the foundations program, I have not only experienced this healing outcome for myself but have seen it occur for others. Connecting the bio-psycho-social-spiritual allows deep healing to happen.

When I applied, I had completed a 500-hour yoga teacher training, but was feeling called to the more therapeutic aspects. I chose Breathing Deeply because of the background of Brandt, the lead instructor, and how accessible the teachers are for student support. If was feeling called to a deeper practice of yoga and I listened to my intuition.

An autoimmune illness shook me to my core and changed the trajectory of my life. Applying the therapeutics of yoga in my own life has helped me to modulate my inflammation and stress levels, which were the root of my autoimmune illness. I also, now incorporate a more holistic perspective into my yoga teachings.

I believe experience is the most vital aspect of any teaching. You can cognitively understand and still not embody a teaching until it’s known through practice. So this has been the most valuable part of the program for me.

When I joined, I was worried about time commitments, but there is no pressure to keep a certain pace, which allows for your own learning to unfold in its own rhythm. I am a psychologist who is integrating yoga therapy practices into a more integrative psychological approach to healing, mind-body-spirit.

During the Foundations Program, I had a case study that was very successful in reducing pain in her body. She has tried a plethora of other modalities and said she had experienced the cessation of pain for the first time in over five years through the yoga therapy practice.