Yoga has been one of my passions ever since my mother and I started practicing when I was in high school.  To me, yoga has always been a clarifying activity for me and I have also felt that practicing yoga is a life-long journey.

As I grew up, went to college, and finally to more college to become an occupational therapist, I kept yoga in my routine.  I believe that yoga practice can be tremendously supportive to anyone because it fits into all different lifestyles for people of all ages.  Yoga is a personal journey and people find meaning in yoga practice for many different reasons.

When I became an occupational therapist I learned how yoga principles and philosophy can compliment the framework of occupational therapy.  I view yoga as a modality that can be used as a meaningful activity to help people achieve wellness and lifestyle goals.  During OT school, I was blessed to be able to complete a research project with one of my professors where we starting using the term “occupation-based yoga, or OBY” and it was during this time that I learned some of the many “occupation-based” reasons people seek yoga out.

Top “occupation-based” reasons people seek yoga:

• For improved sleep
• For improvement of pain so that they are able to participate in work and leisure activities
• For improved focus so that they are able to engage in high-level cognitive tasks

To learn more check out the following resources:

• The International Association of Yoga Therapists
• For occupational therapy practitioners and students, check out the Facebook group Yoga4OT.