In this video, Breathing Deeply founder Brandt Passalacqua speaks with Shelby Caffery, Breathing Deeply graduate, about a 79 year old client who came in presenting knee & hip pain but revealed her real concern was severe depression that left her housebound and isolated.
After 21 sessions over one summer that had a special focus on meditation techniques, Shelby’s client was able to reclaim her life and her freedom. Tune in to hear her story.
Depression rarely arrives as a single, clean problem. For many people, it is layered, entangled with physical pain, disconnection from the body, social withdrawal, existential fear, and a gradual erosion of the things that once made life feel meaningful. Talk therapy can provide real support, but it does not always reach the places where depression actually lives, in the breath, the nervous system, the body, and the deeper layers of how a person relates to themselves and the world.
Yoga therapy approaches depression as a whole-person condition. Movement, breathwork, and meditation are not supplements to a primary treatment. They are direct interventions targeting the physiological and psychological patterns that sustain depression over time.
In Shelby’s case, that meant beginning where her client actually was. A woman who initially came to Shelby complaining of significant hip and knee pain but revealed her true reason for coming was severe depression and isolation plus a strong desire to learn how to meditate.
From that starting point, Shelby built a practice that included chair-based movement and a standing warrior sequence to regulate the nervous system, simple intercostal breathwork and a progressive meditation practice.
Meaningful change appeared within two weeks. By the end of the summer, her client was hosting a book club, going to the mall with friends, welcoming family for the holidays, and describing a freedom in her body, mind, and spirit she had not experienced in nearly sixty years.
A severe depression that had resisted years of talk therapy resolved across one summer of consistent, individualized yoga therapy work.
If you have a condition you believe is ‘unsolvable,’ consider working with a Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapist or join our Breathing Deeply Wellness Platform.
If you feel called to support others through complex physical and mental health challenges, our professional Yoga Therapy Training provides mentorship, clinical thinking skills, and whole-person education.
If you are navigating physical and/or mental health challenges, Breathing Deeply Wellness offers accessible programs rooted in yoga therapy principles to support meaningful change.
Breathing Deeply is a Yoga Therapy and Meditation School co-founded by lead teacher Brandt Passalacqua in 2011. Breathing Deeply offers two levels of certification: Foundations of Yoga Therapy and an IAYT-accredited Advanced Program, offering C-IAYT eligibility.
Other offerings include Breathing Deeply Wellness, a service-driven community of Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapists dedicated to helping the public optimize their physical, mental, and spiritual health, an annual online meditation teacher training certification, and specialized yoga therapy courses. Breathing Deeply is an active and thriving community of meditators and yogis, caregivers, therapists, teachers, medical professionals, parents & children with the same intention—to serve others, lessen suffering, and co-create a new paradigm in wellness.
Brandt talks about common questions applicants have about the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Program. Tune in to get the full program details.