I was 30 years old, 100 pounds overweight and a very skilled four-pack-a-day smoker.
As a touring musician, this kind of lifestyle was supported. One day I was home doing some renovations and the next I was in intensive care with a rare autoimmune illness that was killing my red blood cells.
I was a mess, and the prognosis was grim. I was well enough to not be in the hospital, so eventually I was sent home—only my doctor expected me back in the hospital within a short period of time.
Instead of being sad about this reality, however, it inspired me. I began researching alternative healing options. My friend sent me to a yoga class where I met a really great teacher who explained to me the power of lying still.
She taught me Yoga Nidra that day, and I was convinced that it saved my life.
That was over 15 years ago. I am now a (healthy) full-time Yoga Therapist. I have a few different intellectual reasons why Yoga Nidra saved my life but I think I’m better off bringing myself back in time and remembering the feeling of just lying there, completely relaxed and blissful, allowing the world to work on me like the most skilled surgeon might.
Now I work with individuals suffering from a wide variety of diseases including obesity, eating disorders, acute and chronic physical complaints, chronic diseases, and mental conditions.
Read more about Brandt’s story in his “How I Got Here” blog post.
In addition, I created the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy training programs so others can now to do the same. If you’re also interested in helping others heal themselves, click here to learn more about our Yoga Therapy programs.
Note: the full article was originally posted in Elephant Journal here.
Most of us western yoga teachers have a similar path that looks something like this: We realize we are suffering (from an illness, anxiety, watching family age poorly, etc.) We find yoga and it helps us We want to share this amazing helpful thing called yoga with others We see our local studio has a […]
Yoga therapy is a relatively new method of healing born out of an ancient tradition. Yoga has been around for over 1,000 years. The idea of using yoga in a therapeutic context has been credited to Tirumalai Krishnamacharya who died in 1981 at the age of 100. We can think of yoga therapy the same […]
Listen in as Brandt discusses how a Yoga Therapist might work with a client who has already been to physical therapy, as well as some of the different approaches between the two therapies.