ABSTRACT

This phenomenological reflection aims to chronicle the author’s journey from social worker to yoga teacher over a 10-year period as the first yoga teacher at a large inpatient psychiatric hospital. The paper describes the transition from teaching small therapeutic process-oriented groups to movement and breath-based groups. Highlighted are the common practices used and how they were received. Key influences in the literature that are woven into the unique story have guided the experience and confirmed the author’s observations and lived experience of teaching therapeutic yoga in an inpatient setting. The paper concludes that there is room for more research regarding the application of gentle yoga-like postures and breathing practices as it relates to clinical social work practice. Pinpointing a “minimum dose response” (of practice) would be helpful. In the meantime, available data suggest that daily practice is where upstream work—such as yoga—shines. Even small doses of breath and movement, done often enough, provide a simple way for social workers to connect to themselves and to their clients in a more embodied manner and may improve client outcomes.

IMPLICATIONS

• The time has come for bringing the wisdom of the body and the reflectiveness of social workers and their clients into their work (and social work education).

• Emotion regulation happens when both top-down and bottom-up approaches are included in treatment. Breathing exercises provide direct access to the nervous system. Therefore, making space to introduce these simple practices in social work should be a consideration.

• Considering how social workers might incorporate movement into their sessions or interactions with clients (walking and talking, small arm movements, gestures, intentional breathing practices) is a worthwhile pursuit for both social worker and client wellbeing.

摘要

这种现象学上的反思旨在记录作者在一家大型住院精神病医院担任第一位瑜伽老师的十年间从社会工作者到瑜伽老师的旅程。本文介绍了从小型的面向治疗过程的小组教学到以运动和呼吸为基础的小组的过渡。重点介绍了常用的惯例以及如何接收它们。扎根于独特故事的文献中的主要影响力为这一经验提供了指导，并证实了作者的观察结果和在住院环境中教授治疗性瑜伽的真实经验。本文的结论是，关于轻柔的瑜伽式姿势和呼吸练习的应用，还有更多的研究空间，因为它与临床社会工作实践有关。指出（实践中）的“最小剂量反应”将很有帮助。同时，现有数据表明，日常练习是上游工作（例如瑜伽）发亮的地方。即使经常进行少量的呼吸和运动，也可以为社工提供一种简单的方式，使他们以更具体的方式与自己和客户建立联系，并可以改善客户的结果。

含意

• 是时候将身体的智慧和社会工作者及其服务对象的反思带入他们的工作（和社会工作教育）了。

• 当自上而下和自下而上的方法都包括在治疗中时，就会发生情绪调节。呼吸运动可直接进入神经系统。因此，应考虑为在社会工作中引入这些简单的实践留出空间。

• 考虑社会工作者如何将运动融入他们的会话或与客户的互动中（步行和交谈，小臂动作，手势，有意的呼吸习惯）对于社会工作者和客户的幸福都是一个值得追求的目标。