226 Overcoming Blocks & Fears With Integrating Yoga Practices Into Clinical Sessions Episode By Chris McDonald

Chris McDonald: Do you want to integrate yoga into your therapy sessions, but feel stuck by fear or uncertainty? You're not alone. Many therapists hesitate, whether it's feeling worried about scope of practice or competence, or unsure on how and when to integrate into sessions. In this episode of Yoga in the Therapy Room, we're unpacking the biggest blocks therapists face when bringing yoga into clinical work, and more importantly, how to overcome them with confidence.

And guess what? You don't need to be a yoga teacher to weave powerful trauma informed yoga practices into your sessions. Stay tuned to learn simple ethical ways to get started, even if you're feeling unsure, on today's episode of Yoga in the Therapy Room podcast. Thanks for being here. 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 are 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 the Yoga in the Therapy Room podcast, the non-traditional therapist guide to integrating Yoga into your therapy practice. I'm Chris McDonald. And I just want to mention that through the time that I've spent on this podcast and talking with other listeners and my Facebook group and many trainings I've had and out in the community, I have found that many therapists are feeling fearful or have blocks to bringing yoga in their therapy room, which of course is totally understandable.

But something curious I've noticed, too, is even those who have training are hesitant to bring it into sessions. It can be a challenge to step out of our comfort zone into the unknown, to do something outside of the traditional realm of talk therapy, because I don't know about you, but when I went to graduate school, it was all about talk therapy and CBT approaches, just building that relationship, which is all key and important.

But to do something different, yes, that takes courage. It does. And it can leave us paralyzed and make it very difficult to take that step to bring yoga into your therapy room. So I'm going to dive into that today to look at some of those fears, help maybe you get some perspective on this from my experience and also working with other therapists on helping them to bring yoga into their therapy room with us look like.

And discuss some ways to work through the fears, because there are some things that you can do to maybe shift your perspective on this or lead to better understanding. And hopefully by the end of this episode to help you find some ways to bring yoga into your therapy room in a safe and ethical way. So this is why I think it's so important that I bring this topic to you today.

And this is a solo episode. because I thought that this is definitely something I'm an expert in and wanted to bring this to you by myself today. There are a lot of fears, especially with scope of practice, and I won't go into that for the whole episode and scope of competence, because I did talk about some of these ethical concerns in prior episodes.

But I would do want to go into that. So normalizing these fears, of course, is scary to bring yoga into your therapy room or any of these related practices, because we're not used to it. Most of us didn't have that training in graduate school, and that's something you'd have to get training for outside of school.

But even if you have 200 hours, I know a lot of people are hesitant, but I'm here to tell you, too, that you don't need 200 hours. That you can use some of your skills you have already to bring some of these practices in and just know that after time and after some practice, you can start to build some of that confidence.

I think we all get that imposter syndrome feeling like I'm going to be found out or I'm a fraud. I don't know what I'm doing with this. And totally just normalizing that for yourself. We can be scared when we try something new. But just bring it back to the basics. I think the key for this is remembering yoga is about awareness.

Teaching clients to be more self aware, aware of their body, their thoughts, their energy levels. Where are they in this room, this moment? Those simple questions can help bring awareness, which is yoga practices. So don't overthink this. And just remember the type of yoga that can be helpful in what I teach in my Yoga Basics course is about emotional regulation.

This is not about fit yoga. Maybe that's where people are getting tripped up. We're not going to teach a hundred sun salutations or teach them poses that are really causing them difficulty. Like most people can't do like handstands, headstands, the more extreme poses. I can't do those. I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about what feels right for a mental health therapist to bring into sessions. emotional regulation strategies, strategies to help them be able to find more balance, to be able to open their window of tolerance, to learn about the nervous system, to teach clients that so they understand themselves, which is awareness, right?

They understand what's causing the anxiety, how their nervous system may be reacting. But then having the awareness and knowing that there are some things to help make shifts in the body, in the mind and spirit. So just keep this in mind that we also want to make sure that we're on the same page with the type of yoga I'm talking about.

The goal, the intention of it, the intention is not to get firm abs or be more flexible or get stronger. Can we have some of those benefits? Maybe. maybe with a little bit more flexibility. But that's not the goal. The goal is to help clients with emotional regulation, nervous system regulation in a trauma informed way, which I'm going to get into a little bit.

There is an episode on that as well. So be checking that out. You don't need 200 hours. You don't need a thousand hours for sure. Just know the cool part is you're probably already doing some of these practices. So keep that in mind that somatic practices. are research based and are effective. And you may already be doing some of these.

So if you're using some mindfulness practices, just doing even 1, where you notice using all the senses, five things you see, smell, taste here in the room, that's yoga too. That's grounding. If you're using grounding practices, especially with trauma, that's a yoga practice. So don't overthink this too much that it's that far out of scope of practice.

I'm here to tell you it's within your scope of practice. I use it every day with clients, and I teach other therapists the same. The key to remember is we're looking at scope of competence, building your competence with this, and finding ways to do it safely and ethically. And of course, getting training if you don't, if you want to bring more of these practices, but you don't need Extensive training and grounding or mindfulness.

You're probably already doing some of that anyway. Breathwork is something definitely to get some training, but starting with some basics with breathwork. And I think the key with this too is individualizing for what you are comfortable with. If you don't want to bring movement in with clients, Then don't.

Focus on what feels right for you. Just like you individualize for clients, it's important to take in perspective what feels good for you. If that feels way too scary and you just don't feel comfortable in your own body, then definitely don't do that because clients will pick up on that. But if you're okay bringing some breath work, you're bringing yoga in your therapy room.

I cannot emphasize this enough. And it can be some simple practices. For example, asking a client to notice their feet on the floor. That's a grounding practice. That's a research base that shows that the amygdala calms down just with that cue. Noticing your feet on the floor. Doing body scans. Helping a client scan their body from feet to head or head to toes.

Just noticing different parts. Noticing tension, sensation. That's bringing awareness. That's bringing yoga. So just know a lot of these are very simple, easy to introduce practices that can align with clients goals and treatment plan, which is in your scope of practice and its research base. It is all ethical here.

Keep that in mind. And again, this is expanding outside of traditional therapy, but so we have to make sure that we're emphasizing informed consent and agency with this with clients. We don't want to tell them in a way that it's required that they do these practices. For new clients, I introduce it as, hey, I'm a holistic therapist and these are some of the practices that I may offer in session, but it's always your choice whether to engage or not.

So that they understand and can empower themselves that, Hey, I can decide if I, this doesn't feel right for me, or if I want something else. Framing these yoga tools as adaptable to what feels good for them is important because we don't want to be rigid on these, especially if you went to a training and, Ooh, I learned this really cool breath work and movement practice.

But it's, uh, it's not landing with your client, so we can't force them into this. And that's not going to be beneficial if it's something that is forced. So we always have to give informed consent each time that we bring something to a client, even if it's in your written informed consent, which I highly recommend, describing the benefits and risks, of course.

But every time that you bring it in, it's important. I've had clients who we've done a lot of yoga practice, movement, breath, and I'll introduce, say, hey, how would that feel today to bring some movement and to help shake off that anxiety? And I've had clients say, no, not today. And I honor that. That's OK.

And if you have people pleasers, then you may have to help them practice saying no and just really emphasizing the importance of doing what is right for them. And of course, that's a whole other deeper therapeutic topic with helping them to say no to you as authority figure as a therapist. It can take some time and practice to do this.

Therapist, have you noticed the limits of talk therapy and you're wanting to explore a more somatic approach with clients? Do you want to add more trauma informed body based tools to help your clients regulate their emotions more effectively? Join me for Trauma Informed Yoga for Therapists, a practical approach, a free 45 minute online training designed to help you bring trauma informed yoga into the therapy room in a way that supports nervous system regulation and healing.

In this training, you'll learn three simple yoga techniques to support nervous system regulation, trauma informed ways to introduce yoga into therapy, a short practice you can start using immediately. Don't miss this opportunity to deepen your skills and expand your therapeutic toolkit. Save your spot now.

Go to hcpodcast. org forward slash trauma informed yoga. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash trauma informed yoga. Trauma informed yoga. You're also welcome to get the link in today's show notes. I will also be, I will also be sharing how you can sign up for my yoga basics course for therapists after the training.

See you there.

So a lot of the fears I've also heard is, well, I don't understand the when and how. So if we're talking in session, how do we interrupt to bring a yoga practice in? It takes some time to really establish this with clients. I establish it. Like I said, I post this on my website.

So people know that's who I am. That's what I can offer. Also in the consultation, if you do one before you meet with new clients, letting them know these are available, they're not going to be psychic. They're not going to know that you learned some things and ask you about it if you don't tell them. So just being upfront, be transparent, say, Hey, this is an option, period.

And here's what it could help you with. So an example, so if you work with trauma, using some grounding practices is beneficial and helpful for them. I often start with grounding with clients who have experienced trauma just to help them regulate their nervous system. And hopefully to get them to a more safer space in their body.

With anxiety, you can start with breath work. Now breath work, if you don't want to teach changing the breath, you can ask them to just notice their breath. That's awareness, that's yoga. So even placing one hand on your chest, one hand on your belly, if you want to try it with me right now. And breathe. And you can just cue this as noticing the rise and fall of your belly beneath your hands.

Maybe notice that in your chest as well. And to keep it extra simple, you can just ask them, what would it feel like to breathe a little deeper here? To slow down the breath. And then when they finish a practice, inquire using your skills that you already have of open questions, how did that feel for you?

So to process and if it was triggering, you can talk about that and maybe try something different next time. But this is what I mean by simple practices. We got to break this down to the basics and it doesn't even have to mean getting out of your chair. This is the other place I feel therapists get stopped up is they're like, Oh my God, I have to get.

On the floor with clients and get on a mat with them, start with the chair. And that's where I start in my yoga basics course. We start just with chair. We do some standing and chair is simple. You're already in a chair, even if it's not the best furniture. If you rent space from someone, it's okay. Use what you got.

The other fear people have is, Ooh, I have a tiny office. I don't have much room. Well, if you're in your chair, And you can just do some of the grounding practices we did, such as noticing feet on the floor. You can also ask them to notice the chair beneath them. Notice shoulders. You pick the body part.

Notice your arms, hands, with the body scan. They don't have to get out. They don't have to stand up. They don't have to move around. But if you want to bring a simple movement practice, just doing arm breaths. So bringing arms out to the side. If you want to do this with me, inhale, arms up, arms straight up in the air, biceps by the ears, and then exhale, arms down.

And just, of course, the only thing to make sure is that you don't have anything that you're banging into or your client is next to you. And you can offer that as a cue. I notice, looking both sides, I don't see anything. Inhale up, exhale down. Offer that to go slower. This is challenging for people to slow down, but that's as simple as it can get and that can be enough so we don't have to do extensive flows or feel like you have to learn 55 different yoga moves.

Maybe start with just a few and keep it there, keep it simple, but offering with invitational language. What would it feel like if we did some breath work today? Would that Does that sound like it's in alignment with you? Could be one question. Or we can also do practices for energy. If someone is depressed, how would some simple movement feel for you today to bring some energy into the body?

Again, offering invitational language, ensuring client safety. If you have shoulder issues, so inhaling arms up and down, you can just come to cactus, which is halfway. So arms are parallel to the floor and then exhale down. Or if you want to get very basic too. Inhaling, right hand back, flexing, exhale, flex forward.

So you can just do this with hands, you don't even have to do it with arms. Just bringing a little bit of movement. into the body and checking in after to see how they feel. I also hear from therapists that they feel like there's not enough time in sessions for these practices. So how do we do this?

Again, back to the how and when. It could be at the beginning. I recently started with a new client who liked what I had to say about rituals to start at the beginning of a session. And so that's how we started our last session and she wanted to light a candle. So I, we were both on telehealth. So I lit the candle.

We did a little breathing. I brought the candle up to the camera so she could see it and invited her. And remember, these are all invitational practices to bring an intention for our session today. What would you like to get out of our session today? How would you like to feel by the end? And just notice what comes up.

And invite them to share if they want, but they don't have to. That could be 1 way is to do something simple like that. The beginning of a session and just ask them, will this be something you'd like to do? Each time we meet could also be grounding at the beginning. It doesn't have to be anything major.

In the middle, this does take a little more skill to figure out, when do I bring it in, if they're talking, and we're doing our regular talk therapy. I look for pauses, and I don't know if you've had this as well. I often get clients to be like, That's all I got today, or there's a natural pause when they've talked about an incident that happened with their partner or their child, something else that's triggering, and that's, that can be your in.

How would it feel to be able to move through that emotion today? Or would you take a, like to take a moment and ground? It sounds like activating for you. Just offering that way and see what happens. Sometimes also, depending on the flow of the session, I will offer before the end. So I'll be, I'll say something like, Oh, I see that we have five minutes left today.

Would you like to use some breath work to end our session today? just pick something. I know people get caught up like, what do I, what do you mean? What do I bring in then? Another thing to keep in mind, I think I talked about this in my other, um, episode was to bring in, write down a practice, pick one this week.

Maybe it's the breath work, maybe it's hand on chest and belly and breathe, noticing breath and just try it with every client that is open to it. The more we practice, the more we build our confidence, but just know these micro interventions from one minute to three minutes. can be just as effective as longer practices.

We're giving them that option to learn some ways to regulate their nervous system. It does not take 53 minutes, 45 minutes to do that. This can be something assigned as homework if they want to do that. If they, most of the people I see want to practice, they have some level of motivation, and if they don't, that's okay, but this, just know that's an option to further help them empower themselves to work towards their goals.

To be able to release some of that anxiety or stress, or to improve their motivation and energy if it's depression. Whatever it is, to find more resource and a resiliency to work on these issues. It's so important that we empower clients. And that's what trauma informed is, is trying to give them the power on what works for them and what they want to do.

Another fear, or I don't know if it's a fear, but a concern, is that can this work with telehealth versus in person? I think many people think that yoga should only be in person. My answer is yes, it works for telehealth. I did this all through the pandemic when I was all virtual. I am a hybrid practice now, so I do offer both telehealth and in person sessions, and it is a little tricky with clients because they may not have good cameras.

They may struggle with their phone putting it in placement, so we might have to give more feedback on that in cues so that we can see them for safety to make sure that they're being able to follow along with the cues that we're giving them. You just have to be much more clear on telehealth with what you're telling them.

And just know it works, whether you're on video or in person, that these practices can work, and that you're there, right there with them, supporting them through the process. So, if their eyes are closed on telehealth, just encouraging them, let them know I'm right here with you, even though we can't see each other if we're closing our eyes, which you shouldn't be, but they They may be closing their eyes, but just keeping their eyes on them, making sure things are okay, that they're not getting too anxious with any of these practices.

And that's what I talk a lot with my yoga basics course too, is just finding safety ways to keep these safe as possible. So just know if you're all telehealth, it could be adaptable for you as well, and that it does not have to be. just for in person. And just coming back to the confidence, that's just something that's coming up in my mind as I'm talking about this.

Right now I'm in a hundred hour teacher training for yoga teacher training for grief yoga with Paul Denniston, which is a phenomenal, by the way, but I will say this is that I have to practice too. It doesn't always come easy to me either, but I do have to practice. I have to give, we have to do four classes and in order to be certified.

So right now what I've been doing is going through some of the practices. And practicing out loud by myself feels a little weird, but he wants for the grief practices to say the intention of the practice and then to teach it. Now, it's easy to kind of memorize the cues a little bit, but to think of what is the intention for this practice and how do I want to say it in my words?

Because I could read his words, but it may not feel genuine or come across as authentic. So that's what I'm trying to do now, is to practice this, and then I'm gonna rope in my husband to practice with him, and then bring in some of these practices with colleagues. So I do recommend practicing on your own first, practicing with a partner, loved one, friend, whoever.

And then moving along to a client, maybe just start with one client first, but the more we can practice, the more confident you'll get doing it over and over as you, as you know, our brains require that because the first time we do it, it feels awkward. I have to teach a one hour class online for grief yoga with other trainees and a little nervous about it.

I don't know these people. I've only met a couple in some breakout rooms, so it is, it can be. Activating show us the word I was looking for the word activating for us to so just use that self compassion that I talked about in my one episode to be able to bring that to yourself that yes, it's going to be anxiety provoking, but the more we do it, the easier it can become just remember small steps can lead to big shifts to big result.

And check out some trainings too to help build that confidence, but I will caution you, I've seen a lot of people in my trainings and many of them have had other yoga trainings that not always not required, but, but don't just do trainings, practice is important. Put these in to play. I also have holistic mindful check in worksheets for therapists.

And this is very helpful too for clients that may struggle with something to talk about in session or to have a direction and they might shrug their shoulders. Even teens, this can benefit. Or if they're just disconnected from their internal experience, this can help bring awareness in their body, mind, and spirit.

And I do break it down through those three things, whatever spirit means to them. Can help them develop that interoception, which is that awareness of internal sensations, identifying emotions where they are mentally. So I will put a link to the holistic mindful check in sheets because that's another way to bring yoga into the therapy room in an easy, quick way.

Could be used for telehealth or in person. You can either share your screen for telehealth with the mindful check in sheet or you can send it to them by email and just go over it. And if you haven't joined my Facebook group, Bringing Yoga in the Therapy Room, it's a great place to join with other supportive colleagues who are interested in these practices.

And we have the whole continuum of people who have never done it to those who have done it for many years. So just know that you're not alone if you've never done yoga with clients, or maybe you're more experienced, and it's always good to connect with other like minded individuals. In a safe, supportive setting.

I hope this was helpful for you today. As always, if you wanna reach out, I'd love to hear from you. My email is Chris at yoga in the therapy room.com. That's Chris at yoga in the therapy room.com. That wraps up today's episode. I appreciate you being here and I hope you have a great week. Are you a therapist wanting to bring more somatic approaches into sessions but aren't sure where to start?

Are you ready to take the next step to bring the benefits of yoga based practices into your therapy sessions? Imagine feeling confident using yoga as a therapeutic tool, knowing the when and how to bring yoga into session safely and ethically. My Yoga Basics course for therapists is here to guide you.

This eight part online training covers everything from nervous system regulation to understanding how to guide clients with yoga effectively and through a trauma informed lens. Be the first to get all the details when this is released at the end of March. Sign up here to stay in the loop. Go to hcpodcast.

org forward slash yoga basics. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash yoga basics. And once again, this is Chris McDonald sending each one of you much light and love. 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 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 is not safe under certain medical conditions. Always check with your doctor before you start. to see if it's safe for you. If you need a professional, please find the right one for you.

The Yoga in the Therapy Room podcast is proudly part of the Psychcraft Network.