What is yoga therapy?

MoveWell yoga therapy is a supportive, educational approach that can assist you to understand and develop capacity to minimise, if not eliminate, pain, discomfort or ‘unease’ that develops from dysfunctional movement, breathing, psychological habits or existing health conditions. The way we move reveals patterns of behaviour that are often unknown and detrimental to health - these patterns become habits and can reinforce ways of moving that cause pain or overuse of alternative muscle groups, leading to imbalance.

Yoga therapists use principles of biomechanics, physiology and applied pathophysiology (disease) alongside the holistic philosophy of yoga to evaluate your health from physical, psychological, emotional and energetic perspectives. Yoga therapy also draws on yoga’s sister science of ayurveda to identify your unique constitution and the approaches that best support your ‘self’ with nourishing breath, movement, food and environments.

Individual work with a professional yoga therapist involves detailed assessment to identify dysfunctional movement patterns and habits that negatively affect your posture, create pain, discomfort or restricted movement. Learning to move in a different way can resolve pain, increase mobility and create stability through the joints, muscles and structures that support day to day, functional movement and activities.

A yoga therapy session can help with:

  • Back pain

  • Hip & pelvic pain

  • Sacroiliac joint problems

  • Neck & shoulder pain

  • Scoliosis

  • Muscular imbalance

  • Postnatal recovery and rehabilitation

  • Recovery and rehabilitation following injury or surgery

  • Managing a new chronic health diagnosis

  • Chronic health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes

  • Chronic inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, spondylitis

  • Breathing and respiratory conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive or inflammatory diesease, overbreathing (hyperventilation)

  • Anxiety, depression, insomnia, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

  • Core stability

  • Refining strength & conditioning programmes

A yoga therapist can help you to develop more functional and supportive ways of moving, breathing and being that enable you to manage your own health.

+ Yoga therapists

Yoga therapists are experienced yoga teachers with a minimum of 800 hrs additional professional qualifications, specialised skills and knowledge in the application of; therapeutic yoga, developmental and biomechanical movement principles, biomedical knowledge, clinical assessment, therapeutic movement and breath practices, manual therapy, and bodywork that are appropriate to individual client needs.

+ BIO Dr Jane Hardcastle

Learning and development inspire Jane’s energy and commitment to practice and teach yoga and therapeutic movement. Although all yoga should be therapeutic, not every pose or practice suits every body, or the stage of life we are currently in. By combining over 30 years of experience in health care and adult learning with a desire to help people move and be well, Jane can help you learn how to do the things you want to do without the niggles or discomfort that can arise from habitual movement patterns that may not serve you well.
As a self-confessed bookaholic and perpetual learner Jane loves to read, study and play with ideas and experiences to help students & clients develop greater awareness and understanding of their body…and how to befriend it! She shares this knowledge and practice through local workshops and co-teaches with esteemed yoga therapists Vincent Boletta and Leila Stuart in New Zealand and overseas.
Time out is spent as time ‘in’ the kitchen, garden or chill out yoga nidra – anywhere she can lose track of time by being in the flow of creativity and space.

+ qualifications

  • Authorised Hansa Yoga Therapist 500 hrs (April 2019)
  • Advanced Yoga Studies – Donna Farhi yoga teacher training 2015, Christchurch, NZ (150 hrs)
  • YTT level 1 – Santosha Yoga, Bali 2014 (150 hrs)
  • Registered Yoga Teacher – Yoga Alliance (RYT200)
  • iRest® yoga nidra (level 1) teacher in training (2017)
  • Shakti mat teacher (Shakti Canada 2018)

+ Education

  • EdD (Doctor of Education, recipient of Dean’s award), Massey University, NZ
  • MEd (Master of Education – First Class Honours – Adult education), Massey University, NZ

+ Health

  • BSc (Nursing Studies), Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh
  • ENB100 (General Intensive Care Nursing), City University, London
  • RN (Registered Nurse), Leeds Eastern School of Nursing