My Personal Growth Through PRYT

My personal growth kicked into high gear through Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy (PRYT), a one-on-one healing modality first taught in 1986 by Michael Lee.  Michael developed PRYT over the course of fourteen years through his own personal experience in both yoga and humanistic psychology.  To date, there are over 950 practitioners worldwide who are certified in this unique holistic modality. I am proud to be a member of this empowering, infinitely supportive community. In recent years, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy has added new training programs to bring this modality to wider audiences.  I have received my certification as a practitioner, which allows me to do the one-on-one session format of this modality.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy has been an instrument of personal transformation in both my professional and personal life. I stumbled across the training by chance – all I knew was that three close friends, who live over 120 miles away, had signed up and it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to reconnect with them. The fact that there were two spots still open for the class, when I called two days in advance, was my sign that I should do it.

Two days into the first level of training, my husband observed that he had never seen me this excited about anything, and commented, "This is what you want to do, isn't it?" My analytical, financial self countered "No! It is too expensive! I have to travel to Western Massachusetts to pursue the training. Too much hassle and cost!" A huge part of me felt like I had stepped into the Twilight Zone because I knew I had found something so moving, but it was simply by chance. Wouldn't it be incredibly flaky of me to pursue an expensive, extremely intensive training simply because it moved me?

It was through my husband's gentle insistence that I encouraged myself to connect with what it was about the training that touched me so deeply. It was the profound strength of those internal insights that challenged me to let go of my perceptions of how redirecting my life path was supposed to happen. I thought I would be thrown off balance by following my instincts, rather than my intellect. I have routinely searched the sky for signs of pigs flying or the blue moon or whatever else would signify that reality had in fact changed for me. Nevertheless, it was the strength of that connection that has carried me forward, down exciting new paths I could never have envisioned for myself. Amazingly enough, the skies are still clear ...

These are the things that touched me about Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy:

• Sessions are a way to give of myself without depleting myself. There is a synergy created within the session that fills me, yet all the while demanding that I be fully present for my client – physically, emotionally and mentally. Throughout my life, I would give, give and give of myself until I was drained. Sound familiar? I think it is something that many of us do, in part because of the self-imposed stigma of "selfishness" inherent in the concept of self-care. It was while learning how to do the sequence of leg movements that lead into the sideways hip stretch depicted in this photo, that for the first time in my life, I fully grasped and embraced the concept of self-care ... "I need to take care of myself. If I don't, both my client and I will suffer for it. If my intention is to give, then how can it be selfish to take care of myself? So how can I reposition myself to take some strain off my back without losing focus on my client?"
• I would be a facilitator, not a teacher. Though I had previously completed certification to teach yoga, I didn't enjoy teaching. I always felt like the title "teacher" meant that I knew more than the people in my class, and the reality is that I always believed that I could learn from them too. As a facilitator, I am an equal with my client in co-creating the session.
• Sessions respect the client's individuality and their own wisdom about what is right for them. It would never require me to sell my opinion or perspective or to push someone into something beyond his or her comfort. Coming from a career of management consulting, I had seen repeated instances where my "expert" opinion was supported by management, but never fully implemented within the organization because employees always know more than consultants. While it was great for my personal finances, each project left me dissatisfied, with a feeling that somehow I had not completed my job.
• Sessions respect that a human being is a complex system - physically, mentally, emotionally - and that true healing needs to address the whole, not the parts. This approach was consistent with my own personal experience in trying to find answers to my own health concerns.
  

These are just the tip of the iceberg for me. I encourage you to read about the sessions to decide for yourself. If you would like more information about the modality, practitioners in your area, or about the different training programs offered by the school, please go to the official Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy website.