What Becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) Has Added to My Occupational Therapy Practice

A few months ago, I became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200). Since then, I've had time to reflect on how this training has shaped both my personal life and my work as an occupational therapist.

People are often surprised to hear that occupational therapy and yoga fit together so naturally. At first glance they may seem like separate professions, but they share many of the same values: cultivating awareness, supporting participation, honoring the whole person, and recognizing that health is about much more than the absence of illness.

While yoga is not occupational therapy (and occupational therapy extends far beyond yoga) I have found that the principles of yoga provide another thoughtful, evidence-informed lens through which to support my clients.

Occupational Therapy Is About Living Life

One of the biggest misconceptions about occupational therapy is that it focuses only on recovering from injury or improving physical abilities. In reality, occupational therapists help people participate in the activities, roles, and routines that give their lives meaning.

Occupations include everything from preparing meals, getting dressed, managing a household, attending school or work, maintaining relationships, engaging in hobbies, caring for our health, and participating in our communities.

These everyday activities require far more than physical strength. They also rely on executive functioning, emotional regulation, sensory processing, body awareness, energy management, motor planning, habits, routines, and the ability to notice and respond to what our bodies need throughout the day.

This is where yoga has enriched and continues to enrich my perspective.

Yoga Offers More Than Physical Movement

When many people hear the word "yoga," they picture advanced poses or impressive flexibility. While movement is certainly one aspect of yoga, my training emphasized something much broader.

Yoga encourages us to become more aware of ourselves.

It invites us to notice our breathing, our thoughts, our emotions, our body's signals, and how we respond to challenge. Rather than striving for perfection, yoga asks us to practice curiosity and presence.

These ideas fit remarkably well within occupational therapy.

Many of my clients are learning to reconnect with their bodies after years of masking, chronic stress, trauma, burnout, or feeling disconnected from internal cues. Others are working to build sustainable routines that support their health rather than constantly pushing through exhaustion.

Yoga doesn't solve these challenges, but it can provide meaningful opportunities to practice awareness in a safe and supportive way.

Supporting Interoceptive Awareness

One area where I've found yoga especially meaningful is in supporting interoception.

Interoception refers to our ability to notice and interpret the internal signals coming from our bodies. Hunger, thirst, fullness, muscle tension, heart rate, fatigue, emotions, temperature, pain, and the need for rest all depend on interoceptive awareness.

Many neurodivergent individuals experience differences in interoception. These differences can make it difficult to recognize needs until they become urgent or overwhelming.

Yoga offers opportunities to slow down and notice.

• How does this stretch feel?

• What changes when I breathe more slowly?

• Where am I holding tension?

• What happens if I soften my shoulders?

• What signals is my body giving me today?

These aren't questions with right or wrong answers. They're invitations to build a stronger relationship with our bodies over time.

Supporting Nervous System Regulation

Another lesson I've carried with me is that regulation isn't about forcing ourselves to feel calm.

Our nervous systems are constantly adapting to the demands placed upon them. Some days we need movement to wake ourselves up. Other days we need stillness. Sometimes we need sensory input. Sometimes we need less.

Yoga offers many different pathways, shapes, and forms.

Breathwork, mindful movement, grounding practices, balance poses, restorative positions, and meditation each offer different experiences. As occupational therapists, we can thoughtfully adapt these experiences based on an individual's goals, sensory profile, preferences, and daily occupations.

Rather than asking, "How do we make this person calm?" I find myself asking, "What does this person's nervous system need to support participation in the life they want to live?"

That shift in perspective feels incredibly aligned with neurodiversity-affirming care.

A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach

As an autistic occupational therapist, one of the things I appreciate most about yoga is that it can be adapted.

• There is no single "right" way to practice.

• Bodies move differently.

• People process sensory information differently.

• Attention fluctuates.

• Breath feels different for every person.

Some people prefer movement. Others find stillness uncomfortable. Some enjoy closing their eyes, while others feel safer keeping them open.

A neurodiversity-affirming approach recognizes that variation is expected and a part of the human exprience.

When I integrate yoga-informed strategies into occupational therapy, they are always individualized. The goal is never to make someone fit a particular practice. Instead, we adapt the practice to fit the person.

• Sometimes that means a breathing exercise.

• Sometimes it means gentle stretching while sitting in a chair.

• Sometimes it means mindful walking.

• Sometimes it means simply noticing where your feet meet the ground.

Yoga as One Tool Among Many

One of the things I value most about occupational therapy is having a wide range of evidence-informed tools available to support each individual.

As a life-long learned, I enjoy finding new ways to support my clients and learn alongside them. I find that theraputic tools complement and build on one another, allowing me to thoughtfully tailor interventions to each person's unique strengths, challenges, values, and goals.

Yoga has become another piece of that toolbox, not because every client needs yoga, but because every client deserves individualized care.

Continuing to Learn

Over the past few months, I've continued to reflect on how yoga principles can thoughtfully support occupational therapy while remaining grounded in evidence, client-centered care, and neurodiversity-affirming practice.

I've become even more convinced that healing and well-being rarely come exclusively from pushing ourselves harder. More often, they come from learning to listen, adapt, and respond with curiosity and compassion to find the just-right challenge.

Whether we're building supportive routines, recovering from burnout, strengthening interoceptive awareness, developing coping strategies, or discovering new ways to engage in meaningful occupations, the goal isn't perfection.

The goal is participation.

At Hart and Haven LLC, I believe that every person deserves the opportunity to build a life that feels sustainable, meaningful, and joyful. I'm grateful that my yoga training has given me another way to support that journey, and I'm excited to continue integrating these practices thoughtfully into my occupational therapy work.

Because sometimes the most meaningful changes begin simply through awareness.