Healing Through Yoga: 5 Insights from My Journey

Yoga has played various roles in my life – serving as a form of exercise, a discipline, a sanctuary, and a guiding teacher. It has been my haven for reconnecting with my body and embracing the concept of non-doing, allowing for a newfound sense of tranquility. Each yoga session would typically start with a whirlwind of thoughts and anxieties, yet by the conclusion, a calming silence would envelop me. This idea of granting myself the time to simply relax was revolutionary.

Above all else, yoga has been my healing balm. It has facilitated not only the recovery of my spine but also addressed the unseen wounds of trauma that influenced my body, mind, and spirit. As I continued my yoga journey, it evolved from a mere physical exercise into a catalyst for emotional and spiritual transformation.

Here are the insights I gained throughout my travels on this path: insights that may assist you in discovering healing through your own practice.

Recognizing Trauma Within the Body

I was raised carrying trauma that left lasting impressions on both my mind and body. During my teenage years, scoliosis curved my spine, while unspoken familial stresses rendered me tense, anxious, and laden with responsibility.

Initially, yoga was just a physical activity for me, a means to stretch out and alleviate pain. However, I was intuitively in search of something greater: a reconciliation with a body that felt damaged and a life that felt overwhelming.

Insight 1: Pay attention to your body.
Pain and tension serve as the body’s unique language. Start by observing areas where you feel tight or unsteady, and inquire: What message is my body conveying?

Taking the Initial Steps

Through yoga, I found physical relief; a simple hamstring stretch alleviated tension in my lower back, and gentle backbends provided space where I previously felt constricted. I approached it much like physical therapy, and it yielded positive results.

As I practiced more, I recognized deeper changes. My breath became slower, my nervous system calmed, and the compulsive urge to control everything diminished. Yoga was imparting lessons that extended beyond anatomy; it was teaching me the importance of surrender.

Insight 2: Begin with the body, while tuning into your breath.
Even if your yoga practice starts off as mere physicality, let your breath serve as your grounding point. Healing is sparked by the fusion of body and breath.

Transcending the Physical Realm

As my commitment to yoga deepened, I began to recognize how it reflected my daily life. On the mat, I often pushed myself too hard in pursuit of perfection. Off the mat, I mirrored this behavior, seeking to please others while sidelining my own needs.

Yoga encouraged me to soften my rigid edges and bolster my weaknesses. This echoed my experiences with scoliosis and my emotional state. I realized it wasn’t about achieving perfection, but rather about embracing myself in my current state.

Insight 3: Use the mat as a reflection.
Observe your patterns during practice. Do you exert too much effort? Do you collapse without support? The mat provides a safe environment to explore new ways of being.

Cultivating Stability and Ease

When I embarked on teaching yoga, my goal extended beyond assisting others; it involved reinforcing the lessons I equally required. Each time I guided a student to find steadiness and comfort, I reminded myself of these essential truths.

Working as a physical therapist, I came to understand that back pain transcended mere muscular and skeletal issues. It illustrated how we navigate through life – either too rigid or excessively yielding. Yoga provided a pathway to restoring balance.

Insight 4: Share what you need to learn.
Whether formally or informally, share your healing experiences. Teaching or coaching can help solidify the lessons you most need to internalize.

Embracing Silence, Space, and Transformation

The most profound metamorphosis for me occurred in the stillness of the desert. Alone amidst vast openness, I liberated myself from sequences and rigid structures. I moved in accordance with what my body desired – at times flowing, at others remaining still, even lying on the ground and simply breathing.

In that expansive environment, I recognized that yoga was no longer about achieving postures. It was about liberation, presence, and wholeness, scars included, even with a flawed spine.

Beginning my practice in Tadasana (mountain pose), I felt my feet connecting with the earth. The ground beneath me and the vast desert before me provided resources from which I could draw; they helped guide me from my overanalyzing mind back into my body and into the present moment.

Insight 5: Allow space for unstructured practice.
Occasionally, release the need for structure. Move freely in accordance with your body’s desires. This is where yoga transforms into not just healing but true liberation.

Healing is About Living Fully

Currently, yoga serves as my foundation. My guiding mantra is straightforward: May I be shown my dharma (purpose) and be granted the strength to pursue it.

Steadiness and ease. Strength and softness. Stability and freedom – these attributes extend beyond postures; they govern our lives. Healing is not merely about erasing the past or seeking bodily perfection. It is about fully embracing life, just as we are, and trusting the wisdom that surfaces when we balance discipline with grace. It represents the journey from being traumatized to becoming resilient, from inflexibility to fluidity, from feeling broken to achieving wholeness, and embodying this narrative in our daily lives, both on and off the mat.

---

Author Bio

Rachel Krentzman PT, C-IAYT, MBA is a dedicated yoga therapist and physical therapist, as well as a certified Hakomi psychotherapist. Originating from Montreal and raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, she navigated her own challenges, including the trauma from her father’s arrest, leading her to emerge from a constricted upbringing. Specializing in personal healing through somatic, body-centered psychotherapy and yoga therapy, she invents powerful healing modalities that benefit numerous students and patients worldwide, despite her own struggles with scoliosis and damaged discs.

Rachel currently resides in Israel with her husband, son, and two dogs. She has authored several books on yoga, including Scoliosis, Yoga Therapy and the Art of Letting Go (2016). Her newest release is As Is: A Memoir on Healing the Past Through Yoga. Discover more at happybackyoga.com.