201 Embracing The Yogi Within | Stepping Into Your Role & identity With Yoga: Episode By Chris McDonald

Chris McDonald: Are you a mental health therapist curious about integrating yoga into your practice but are unsure where to start? Have you had some yoga training but feel conflicted and find it hard to embrace yoga as part of your identity? In the next episode of Yoga in the Therapy Room, we're diving into the obstacles therapists face when embracing a new yoga identity.

From professional boundaries and role confusion to cultural considerations and client receptivity, we'll explore the challenges and how to overcome them. Join me as we uncover the path to authentically blending yoga and therapy, helping you step confidently into your role as therapist and yogi. On today's episode of Yoga in the Therapy Room.

Welcome

to Yoga in the Therapy Room, the nontraditional therapist's guide to integrating yoga into your therapy practice. I'm Chris McDonald, licensed therapist and registered yoga teacher. This podcast is here to empower therapists like you with the knowledge and confidence to bring yoga into their practice safely and ethically.

So whether you're here to expand your skills, enhance your self care or both, You're in the right place. Join me on this journey to help you be one step closer to bringing yoga into your therapy room.

Welcome to this episode of yoga in the therapy room, the non traditional therapist guide to integrating yoga into your therapy practice. I'm Chris McDonald, therapist, yoga teacher, guide to help you on your yoga journey. As therapists, we often focus on guiding our clients towards healing, self discovery, the present moment awareness, and yoga can offer us a unique opportunity to do that with clients, to help them connect deeply with their own bodies, minds and spirits, and to bring that sense of groundedness and authenticity into our therapeutic work.

But this applies to us as well as clinicians. How can we connect more deeply to who we are? Embrace our many parts and identities that we can offer the world. One thing I noticed the past few years as I've done this podcast, I've talked to many therapists who have struggled to step into the identity of yoga teacher or yoga practitioner and embrace the yogi within.

There's often a disconnect. I've talked to many who get some training, some have a lot of training, but still, Keep these in separate worlds and they're unable to move forward using yoga in session feeling held back Struggling to embrace a yoga identity in this solo episode. We'll explore What are some of the obstacles to embracing this identity?

How can we overcome them and I'm gonna give you some insights to help you step Confidently into this dual role dual identity of therapist and yogi yoga professional yoga teacher however You want to name yourself and feel comfort with it. So there's a lot to get to in this episode. So I hope you are ready and geared up.

So listen up. So I want to start with my experience with changing my roles and identities. I got my 200 hour training. I had some training before, but that was the first long term training I had where I was actually a registered yoga teacher. It was hard for us to embrace this role. I felt really weird to say, I'm a yoga teacher?

It felt like with a question mark. And I'm not sure where the turning point came. I think somebody asked me, are you a yoga teacher? And I was like, yes, I am. I do have the training. I do have the experience. I've been using it in sessions. I often just identify as a therapist, a holistic therapist. That's kind of the identity I've shifted towards, but to actually start using that took some time.

And I think with You know, more confidence, more training, more time, practice, teaching therapists, this that I grew and grew into that role, if that makes sense. And I really started to embrace it. So I actually put it on my website. I made it as part of my bio in the past year to put that I'm a yogi. And it felt good.

It felt really good to feel more in alignment with what I truly am. But I think it's hard at first to make that shift. And the other shift I will mention about identity for me as I wrote the book Self Care for the Counselor and the workbook. Now, I'm not going to lie. It took me a few years to even call myself an author.

Does that sound weird or can you relate to that? It was so strange for me though, because I had colleagues who would say, oh, she's an author. And I'm like, I am. So, I think there is a gap. Sometimes there's a black hole. We got to cross of like, oh, wait. I can be a therapist and something else. Oh, I can have multiple roles.

So gradually, I started to move towards that, because it just felt kind of weird, uncomfortable, because I know I'm not a New York bestseller book author. That's okay, though. I am an author. I spent the time, energy, and effort to write books. Two books. That's an accomplishment. So I really wanted to own that and make that part of the bio that I share with people as well.

I am an author. Now another identity that's more recent for me is content creator, course creator. At first I was like, I like to teach and help create courses and it took me a minute to embrace that. Then it got a little easier. So I think as we make these shifts. It can be a gradual process. And once we adapt one, I find it was easier to adapt some of the other identities and roles.

That's kind of my experience, but I wanted to start first in this solo episode to talk more about what are these obstacles? Why do therapists struggle so much? I think it's hard when we start out, we're in the role of counselor or therapist, however you identify. And how do we step out of that? Can we have more than one identity?

And I hate to say dual role because that often becomes an ethical thing that we don't want to have quote unquote dual roles with people. We have an ethical obligation not to see clients in dual roles, so I think sometimes that can touch a nerve. So I won't say dual roles, I'll say dual identities. And that's okay.

Because I think it starts with role clarity and the boundaries between our roles as mental health professionals and yoga practitioners. Because people can be yoga practitioners or teachers without being a mental health therapist. I think that's kind of where it's like, ooh, wait, but I'm a mental health therapist.

How can I be better? Both. But I think when we decide to integrate yoga into therapy, we got to have the clear distinctions and boundaries to know that we're not teaching quote unquote yoga class unless you, you know, want to create that on your own in the community, but just as a part of what you do. And by the way, we will get in this another episode on ethics.

This is within your scope of practice. Unless something says different wherever you're located, because I don't know all the scope of practice for everywhere in the world. I know for LCMHC that we can do this. We can offer yoga as long as we have the scope of competence. I'm not going to get too far into this rabbit hole today with the ethics and the legalities.

That's a whole other episode. But scope of competence means that you have the training and experience to integrate a modality into session. So it's important to get some training and not just say, Hey, I've gone to yoga class once a week for five years. I'm good. No, you're not. You need to get some formal training and that's the first step I think, but also creating your own personal yoga practice.

We got to have both. We can't have one without the other. We have to embody these practices. So that's why I offer my yoga basics course for therapists soon to be launching again. And I did some pilot courses this year and it went very well. I'm so excited, took all the feedback, refining, gonna get that out to you soon.

So of course if you're interested you can always email me at chris at yoga in the therapy room dot com and we'll have that in the show notes as well for my email. So finding competence, getting training is really important, and I think that leads to confidence issues. So if we don't have the training and experience, we may feel insecure, uncertain.

I know when I first started to integrate yoga, I was stepping on the line of like, wait, can I do this? This feels uncomfortable, I'm not sure, because it was new. Anytime we do something new, it's very difficult in the beginning. We feel anxious sometimes. There can be a lot of different emotions that can come up for us.

We may feel like we're not enough. The fear of not knowing enough with yoga. Yoga is a huge field and you can study it the rest of your life and not learn everything. It is, there's so much out there. What is enough? That's the question. When are we competent enough? So that imposter syndrome, like I don't fit into yoga culture, that's not me, then maybe this isn't for you.

So we, we do have to really look at that too. What is a yoga practitioner? I think yoga practitioners come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, ethnicity. So just remembering that one size does not fit all, but how can you step into this role right? I think the other thing to consider is sometimes We have to think about how do we integrate yoga without disrupting the flow of therapy.

And I think that's where a lot of therapists get stuck and struggle to integrate because they're used to and have been taught how to have a therapy or counseling session in a certain way. This is how it goes. So there was no discussion, at least I don't remember that class in therapy in graduate school.

How do we do this? And no other trainings that I had known until I found these trainings I took years ago on how to do this. So we don't want to disrupt that flow. We don't want to mess up the therapeutic process. So I think that's what keeps a lot of therapists stepping back. Wait, I'm not sure. I don't want to mess this up.

That fear of making a mistake or crossing a line, causing harm. Which makes sense. Of course you're going to be hesitant, especially if you're an ethical provider. You want to provide the best service for your clients, the best experience. Make this a safe process, the safe container. And that leads to hesitancy, right?

With new modalities. So just, just remembering that there's an understanding. That this is going to be difficult and just reminding yourself that this could be difficult for me to do this. I think some therapists too are concerned about cultural appropriation, because that exists out there as well. They want to really respect yoga's roots.

Maybe they don't fully understand how to use yoga without appropriation and Not really understanding much about the history of yoga. So that may make people hesitate to move forward. And also the lack of knowledge or understanding. Like, how do I integrate with other therapeutic modalities or counseling theory?

How do I do that? And not knowing. Can cause hesitation and uncertainty and not feeling confident. We add that in, it can make it even more difficult to integrate and to embrace that identity as well. I've also heard from therapists about fears on clients. misunderstanding what yoga could be in session.

Maybe they've only seen yoga on Instagram where people are doing some crazy poses and that's all they know about yoga. They're like, I can't do that. I can't do crow pose. I can't do headstands, handstands. So there's a lot of misunderstanding, misinformation about yoga. And if you listen to my myths, debunking the myths of yoga and yoga and therapy practice.

I think you might have learned some from that too that there's a lot of misinformation misconceptions out there. So we do have to help clients find clarity, right? And again, just like with a holistic counseling podcast and any holistic modalities, there's always a stigma. Let's face it. I've seen this in my own local.

therapist community when I've posted episodes. Sometimes people get their feathers ruffled. Especially those in very traditional frameworks for therapy or yoga. Or yoga. Or counseling. I got yoga on the brain. So people have never heard this before. And some people have a very, what's the word? Rigid is the word.

Rigid framework for what therapy and counseling should be. And when they see other therapists doing something outside of that, they feel it's an ethical problem, it's a safety problem, how can you do that? And they just want to stay within their lines of teaching, well, from what they've learned, maybe. And as you, listener, as a non traditional, unconventional therapist, you can understand.

why they would judge. I have had that same feeling because we know offering these modalities really can uplevel your therapy sessions and make them more effective. So a lot of people will hide in the shadow of accepting the identity or integrating yoga because that fear of judgment. I've been there.

I've been on the receiving end. I'm not going to say it's fun. It's really uncomfortable, difficult, but we got to stand in our truth with this, but the criticism can come from others in the therapeutic community. It sucks, but it is going to happen. So just figuring out how can I manage that, right? And how can I provide appropriate information on what it is that you're doing and letting clients know too, that this is not what you see on Instagram.

So really being clear on what you offer and also to share that with colleagues, especially those that want to jump and say, you can't do that in therapy. But that takes some time, and practice, and reflection, but I think some people feel it could make them seem as less credible as a therapist, or they're not doing quote unquote the evidence based practices.

That's a whole other episode, by the way. But by the way, part two, yoga is evidence based. There's lots of science behind it, but I think there is that fear that we're not going to be credible, so that holds us back, keeps us on the sidelines from accepting this identity. Now here's the other thing I was thinking about with this.

I think a lot of times there's an internal conflict that therapists may not even be aware of they have about their own values or beliefs with yoga. Maybe it doesn't fully align. with what yoga is. They think they want to use it, but there's some kind of block about really connecting fully with yoga.

Maybe they have some myths or misconceptions about what it is, but I think this is where it comes down to doing your own inner work and taking a moment, stepping back. What does yoga mean to me? See if anything comes up, maybe some journaling, self reflection, maybe your own therapy about this. It could be interesting to see what does come up because I think we stand in our own way.

If we aren't accepting an identity or accepting that we can do something different besides traditional therapy, because you're here for a reason. You're listening to this podcast because you have found, I am sure, I'm pretty certain that traditional therapy is helpful, but it's not the only way. And there are limits to traditional therapy.

That's why so many are embracing these holistic modalities and yoga. And I think anytime we change an identity, it can be leading to some uncertainty about how you see yourself, how you see your work. And let's go back to what you might have learned in graduate school. Cognitive dissonance, that discomfort, That arises from holding conflicting beliefs or attitudes.

So just knowing when you achieve a goal. Let's say that you do get some yoga training or you get a 200 hour. At that moment, you might be like, oh, wait a second. Can I call myself a yogi or yoga teacher? But I'm a therapist. Can I be both? How much is enough? Again, back to that imposter syndrome. How much training is enough?

Can I hold more than one identity as a therapist? Food for thought, right? So many questions to ask about self identity. Have you been interested in adding yoga into your therapy sessions but are unsure how? Get ready to unlock the power of yoga in your clinical practice with my recorded one hour training.

Start up strategies for integrating yoga into clinical sessions and earn one continuing education contact hour. In this training, learn how to harness the powerful benefits of yoga and breath to help your clients learn how to reduce their anxiety and depression. You will also learn how to differentiate between slow mindful yoga and fit yoga to tailor your approach for therapeutic settings.

Get started with confidence and develop skills. Essential for integrating yoga into your practice, how to create a trauma informed approach. And you even get a script to help you learn how to guide clients safely through a yoga sequence for anxiety, transform your clinical sessions and empower your clients with the healing power of yoga today.

All of this, including one CE for only 65. Go to hcpodcast. org forward slash startup yoga. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash Startup yoga today. Moving on to adapting a new one. What does that mean for me? If I identify as a yoga teacher or yogi, how does that feel in my body? If we think about bringing the body into therapy, bringing ourselves into This process, saying it out loud, I'm a yogi, I'm a yoga teacher, practitioner, you decide what, how you want to label your new identity and just see what comes up.

Does it feel tense or anxious in your body or does it feel strong, solid, affirming? This might take some time. And if there is anxiety or uncertainty or tension, that's okay. Just accepting what is. Explore that a little more. I did want to bring to attention that I did find a Psychology Today article I'll put in the show notes called Adopting a New Identity After Reaching a Goal and I think that could be helpful for you as well as a resource.

So that's a lot of clarity on the obstacles and what can stand in our way. As we move towards embracing the yogi within, well how do we do that? I talked a little bit so far, but let's go into this a little deeper. Talked a little bit about scope of competence. I think we do have to clearly distinguish between your role as a therapist and a yoga practitioner, knowing that yoga and therapy can complement it without overstepping professional boundaries.

So it's holding both at the same time. Yes, I can be a therapist and a yoga practitioner at the same time. But just knowing that if we integrate yoga into sessions, it's an alternative and complementary modality meant to be integrated as part of the therapeutic process. You aren't there to teach a yoga class.

And you can always do that on your own as another role. So let's say you do something in the community as a yoga teacher, and then you're not a therapist then. So you can offer a class, but in therapy, it's meant to be integrated. So I talked a little bit earlier about. Letting clients know about the purpose of integrating yoga, what that means, and how it can be used to support them with their goals and their treatment plan.

So being very clear, I think, on that and answering questions and making it trauma informed. Now here's something to think about. Figure out how you want to label yourself as a yoga practitioner or teacher. Try it on for a while. See what happens. Notice how it feels. So if you go to a networking event, I challenge you to introduce yourself to say, Hey, I'm a licensed therapist and yoga teacher.

See how that feels. I know when I've done that, I get a lot of positive feedback. People are real excited and happy. I didn't own that. identity as a podcaster for a while either. But once I started to introduce myself as a podcaster at networking events, people got really excited and I opened up a whole discussion about podcasts and podcasting and different podcasts that can be helpful for therapists.

So sometimes we gotta experiment, see how it goes, try it on. If it doesn't feel right, maybe it's not for you. Or maybe add it to your bio or website. Try it for a little while. If it doesn't feel right, then don't do it anymore, right? So we can just experiment, see how it goes. And of course, getting enough training to build the competence is important.

And if you haven't integrated at all, that's okay. Start with simple practice. Breathwork is usually a good place to start, that's the easiest, before doing any asanas or movement practices. gradual build. Think of that. That's going to help boost your confidence. It's going to help you feel more confident in embracing an identity with yoga.

And I encourage you to connect with others in the field who are already integrating yoga into sessions. Recently I put a question in a therapy intensive group about who integrates yoga into sessions. I'd love to connect. You're welcome to do that too. You can do that in any of your Facebook groups. Who else integrates yoga?

I'd love to connect. And that way you can start building your own community. And I also have my Facebook group, Yoga in the Therapy Room, formerly called Holistic Counseling and Self Care Group. But there's going to be people in there if you want to connect and reach out. You can always post a question.

Hey, I'd love to connect with some other people. And then maybe you can DM each other. That's what I did as well. Just, hey, how's it going? How do you integrate? Love to learn more about what you're doing. Here's what I'm doing. That can build confidence as well. That can take away the isolation and help you feel more connected that, Oh, wait, I'm not the only one, which is one of the whole points of this podcast too, is to connect other therapists who are doing this.

Cause I think there's a sense of isolation that we don't know many people who do this. So it's nice to have that sense of community. Here's another challenge to build the confidence, the competence, and move towards embracing this identity. Schedule accountability. When are you going to do this? When can you start integrating even a breathwork practice with a client?

Maybe talk to a colleague, say, Hey, will you be my accountability partner? Let's both give it a go and integrate something and check back with each other in a few weeks. This could be identifying a client who might be more open to it. Maybe they've talked about practices they're already doing, and then see how it goes.

Of course, make sure you have training before doing a breathwork practice, but you know, doing your own research as well. Practice with a friend, a family member, and then try it with that client. Just try one thing. Sometimes that's all it takes, right? Then you're building the confidence, competence, and maybe starting on that road to embracing your identity.

Now the other thing I talked about was yoga appropriation, so being careful with that. So if you're not sure and you want to integrate more, educate yourself, right? Get out there, learn about cultural and spiritual roots of yoga in order to practice it and teach it with respect and authenticity. So this can help you avoid Many issues and help you stay true to what yoga is.

So another thing to think about is adapting to how you already practice as a clinician. How can yoga be integrated with what you're already doing? So you're, I'm going to take a guess that you're pretty confident in your modalities and how you offer sessions to clients. Where could yoga be integrated in there?

So I think this can enhance your client's understanding of yoga, because you're going to feel more authentic if you're already incorporating into something you already do, and just adapting to a modality, and just even asking clients to pause for a moment in session. Notice how this feels in their body as they bring up this topic.

Pause and notice. That can be very powerful. That's a good start with yoga. We all can do that. We're all qualified, have our scope of competence with this. So if you're someone who's worried about judgment from other clinicians in the field, make sure you familiarize yourself with the research, the benefits of yoga and therapy, that this is something we can do, and let them know the value that you've seen with clients you've used it with, if you have.

And just be prepared to share that this is something beneficial for clients, this can up level their therapy experience, make therapy more effective. This gives them the tools that they can use outside of session, that's a beautiful thing. So another thing to think about as you move on this journey towards embracing a yoga identity is think about your own personal beliefs and values.

How can yoga align with those? This can really be helpful. as you integrate it into your practice so that it feels more authentic and meaningful. Which parts of yoga do you really connect with? Are there parts you don't connect with? That's okay. Align with what feels right for you, you as an individual and an individual unique clinician, your strengths.

The other thing I wanted to mention was leading with self compassion and grace. As I mentioned, it wasn't always easy for me either to embrace new identities. It does get easier the more you change and shift and adapt new identities. It takes time. So using words of self compassion, placing a hand on your chest, this is hard for me right now.

I'm trying to figure this out. I'm going to give myself some time and grace as I work towards accepting myself in this new identity. Anytime we take something new on, It can be challenging. It can bring up difficult feelings, anxiety, fears, uncertainty. Give yourself time. And again, try on different identity.

Just do it for a while. See what happens, how that feels, and notice how your body responds. Notice what emotions come up. Is there joy? Is there happiness? Maybe that'll come. If it's not there, that's okay. Give time to adjust. It doesn't happen overnight. This is a process. There was a lot in this episode, I realize.

So I hope you can let the nutrients of everything in this practice this episode to sink in because it's going to take some time I think so you might have to re listen to some of this episode again to help yourself further expand your professional identity, learn to embrace it, embracing the yogi within and what that means for you.

But I thank you so much for being here today. I hope this episode did help you with your learning and take it a step further to put some of these things into action, take some steps. But have you been interested in integrating yoga into sessions but are unsure how? How would you like to earn one CE credit as well?

In my recorded one hour course, you will learn the powerful benefits of using basic mindful yoga, breath work, and meditation with clients to help reduce anxiety and depression. In my course, Startup Strategies for Integrating Yoga into Sessions, you'll learn the differences between slow mindful yoga and FIT yoga, You'll learn the basic strategies for getting started, including room setup, how to keep it trauma informed, a script included for teaching some poses, and ideas on when to use it in sessions.

Also discussed will be how you can start building your confidence with these practices. Go to hcpodcast. org forward slash startup yoga. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash startup yoga. This is Chris McDonald sending much light and love to each one of you. Until next time, take care. Thanks for listening to today's episode.

The information in this podcast is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or Or the guests are giving legal, medical, psychological, or any other kind of professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast.

Yoga is not recommended for everyone and it's not safe under certain medical conditions. Always check with your doctor to see if it's safe for you. If you need a professional, please find the right one for you. The Yoga and the Therapy Room podcast is proudly part of the Site Craft network.