Yoga Therapy

Heal your mind, body and soul with a personalized yoga therapy session designed around your needs. Yoga therapy offers a holistic approach to health by combining Yogic principles with physical postures and mindfulness techniques. Its benefits are numerous—use it to alleviate stress, manage anxiety, encourage emotional insight, or restore physical strength. No prior experience is necessary, and people of all skills and fitness levels are welcome. Whether you have mobility issues preventing you from participating in conventional yoga activities or preferring private classes to group environments, an individualized session can start your healing journey.

During your yoga therapy session, Sarah will perform a well-being review and work with you to co-create a therapeutic plan reflecting your goals. Together, we review your lifestyle, dietary preferences, and physical and mental barriers in a supportive, non-judgmental way. Blending the assessment with her formal medical background and comprehensive, holistic training, Sarah will customize a 60-minute session or series of sessions that meet your unique requirements.

Many of us feel isolated or dissatisfied despite living in an increasingly technologically connected world. The stresses of a culture that values busyness and materialism over quality time and nature can affect our physical and mental well-being. Prolonged stress wreaks havoc on our immune systems and can affect our sleep patterns, mood, and much more. Yoga therapy helps to strengthen the mind-body connection so that you can more effectively cope with everyday stressors.
Have you ever noticed how your breath quickens when you feel agitated or fearful? In the same way, our emotions affect our physical state; we can use our physical condition to affect our emotions. Pranayama is the art of using specific breathing techniques to induce a desired emotional response. By practicing breath control, guided meditations, or simple visualization exercises, we can develop healthy coping mechanisms for stressful or unpleasant situations.

Heal your body with yoga therapy designed with your abilities in mind. Practicing yoga asanas (physical postures) can benefit those with reduced mobility due to past injuries, physical disabilities, or neurological conditions. Yoga therapy helps to improve flexibility, circulation, muscle strength, and cardiovascular health. Through props such as blankets and walls, Sarah can design a 90-minute session that will allow you to access the many benefits of yoga regardless of your skill level or physical limitations.

Sarah is particularly interested in the brain’s role in our physical healing. Strengthening the mind-body connection can accelerate healing by forming new neural pathways. During your yoga therapy session, Sarah can give you the tools to help rewire your brain to benefit your body.

School of H.E.A.R.T. respects all faiths, cultures and religious beliefs and celebrates the unity and diversity of all spiritual paths.

Sarah welcomes others’ spiritual or religious practices into the session as part of a holistic healthcare approach. Integrating mind and body requires attention to the soul, as emotions are deeply connected to our essential spirit and makeup who we are.

The mind-body-spirit connection is that we are all more than just our thoughts. We are also our bodies, emotions, and spirituality; all these combine to give us identity, determine our health, and make us who we are.

Ayurveda is an ancient healing practice that seeks to restore imbalances in the body by identifying their root causes and then working to correct them through natural means. It emphasizes a solid connection to nature and preventing illness instead of merely treating it. Ayurveda proposes that we all hold these elements of nature within ourselves: water, air, fire, earth, and ether. Together, these elements form what Ayurvedic practitioners call doshas, or life forces. Each of the three doshas—Vata Dosha (air and ether), Kapha Dosha (earth and water), and Pitta Dosha (fire and water)—govern a different function in the body.

Your requirements for a balanced, healthy life depend on which of these energies has the most substantial presence in your body. After determining which dosha is dominant, Sarah can help you to understand how to best achieve balance through, yoga postures, guided meditation, breath work, and recommendations for change to your environment.

Online virtual appointments are booked through Jane App which is an online platform designed for health and wellness practitioners. Jane app offers secure video and is compliant with The Personal information Protection and Electronic Documents Act-PIPEDA (Canada), General Data Protection Regulation-GDPR (E.U) and Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act-HIPPA (U.S).

Sarah’s availability and calendar can be found via the Jane App site in Alberta, Canada Mountain Standard Time, MST (UTC/GMT -6 hours).

For other time zone availability please contact us

Sarah will ensure all online sessions are secure and confidential by using The Jane App platform.

Jane app online appointments are best experienced on a computer or laptop using Google Chrome or Opera. Android devices work best with Google Chrome. If you’re on an iOS device (iPhone, iPad) you will need the Jane Online Appointments app which is available on the app store.

Please arrange for your virtual appointment to occur in a private space where you can talk and move freely without distraction. Wear loose fitting clothes. If possible, place your yoga mat horizontally with the long side parallel to your device’s screen. Place your device on a table, chair or stand (about hip height is ideal) 8-10 feet away from the edge of your mat. Adjust the angle of your device screen so you’re fully visible from feet to hands (to the extent possible) whether you’re sitting or standing, and make sure you can see the screen. The tilt of your device screen can be adjusted when moving from sitting to standing during the class/session. It is best to be physically positioned to hear the sound clearly from your device. Please ensure your device is fully charged or placed where it can easily be plugged in to recharge. Set notifications on your device(s) to DO NOT DISTURB. Having a light source facing you is best rather than behind you. Lighting behind you, including a sunny window, creates a silhouette effect, and you will not be visible on the screen.

Confidentially will be assured by Sarah, and the sessions will not be recorded.

All are welcome! School of H.E.A.R.T. takes a trauma-informed, culturally responsive and socially just stance within our yoga practice. This environment creates physical, psychological, and emotional safety for all clients.

We take an anti-ableism body-positive stance which rejects body-shaming culture that stems from racism, transphobia, sexism and homophobia.

Sarah works primarily with adults. Individual therapy can be extended to small virtual groups as requested.

The Benefits of Yoga on Stress Reduction

The consequences of long-term stress on the body are well documented in scientific studies. Chronic stress increases the risk of hypertension, heart attack, or stroke. It can affect sexual function and fertility, exacerbate respiratory illnesses, impair immune responses, increase inflammation, and aggravate gastrointestinal problems. The mental effects of prolonged stress include depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, impaired memory and cognitive function, and an increased risk for Alzheimer’s and dementia later in life.

Thankfully, many research-based studies suggest that yoga plays a promising role in counteracting the adverse effects of stress and improving our overall mental and physical health. The American Psychological Association states, “Relaxation techniques and other stress-relieving activities and therapies have been shown to effectively reduce muscle tension, decrease the incidence of certain stress-related disorders, and increase a sense of well-being.” Documented studies recommend regular yoga practice to reduce cortisol and adrenaline, stress hormones which adversely affect the body. Several analyses have determined that yoga helps the management of chronic pain and also positively affects mental conditions such as anxiety and depression. It also provides a wealth of physical benefits, such as reduced inflammation and improved cardiovascular health, and is credited with boosting energy levels, increasing tolerance to pain, and improving mood.

60 minute online sessions – $88 Canadian dollars.

3 Sessions package for $225 Canadian dollars.

Please contact School of H.E.A.R.T. for fee sliding scale requests, fees in your local currency and in-person availability.