Yoga for Anxiety | Simple Tools Therapists Can Use to Help Clients Find Calm

Yoga in the Therapy Room Podcast

Interview with Chris McDonald, Released January 8, 2025

In this episode, we explore how yoga-inspired practices can help therapists and clients manage anxiety. Chris McDonald and I discuss grounding techniques like breathwork, mudras, and simple movements that are easily integrated into therapy sessions. I share my journey with yoga, starting from personal stress relief to incorporating it into my trauma-informed therapy practice. We discuss the importance of trauma-informed care and customizable, accessible practices for clients with varied needs. 

“Yoga is an asset, a tool that can be used in the therapy room. It doesn’t even have to be on a yoga mat. What’s so great about utilizing yoga in the therapy space is that, really, just about anyone can do it.”

“Yoga can be so effective for mood regulation and part of that is because of the breathing we do; part of it is the movement, the poses. It might be some of the mudras, the chanting, whatever it is… so much of it can help the nervous system. And with nervous system regulation, we can decrease anxiety.”

“Some of the best practices are the simplest ones, right? It doesn’t need to be complicated, and for therapists who utilize yoga in session with clients, it’s what we — as therapists — are able to utilize for ourselves as well.  It might be several deep breaths. Taking belly breaths and elongating the exhale are practices that will soothe the nervous system and allow us to shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic. Something like breathing or a body scan, some simple movement seated in a chair or on a couch. You don’t need a yoga mat for this to be really effective for anxiety.”

“I also think a lot of yoga is off the mat. It’s how we live our lives. It doesn’t need to be a rigid practice on the mat. I think that an asana practice, a flow practice serves me really well to release tension in my body and to drop into my body, especially during times where I might be more anxious or stressed in my life.  Yet, it’s how I live my life off the mat – That is yoga to me.”