YOGA FOR CHRONIC PAIN

We welcome Deirdre Heaney,  (retired senior OT and now yoga teacher) to continue our Deepening Your Practice series of workshops in collaboration with the Yoga Fellowship of Northern Ireland. For more about the complete series, read here. 

Mind Body Symptoms: how do we know? & why yoga is such  a great fit.  You'll learn about how the brain learns, predicts and maintains pain, how to recognise when pain is neuroplastic in origin, and how to talk about pain with clients in a validating, hopeful way with relevant exercises you can use right away. 

We now understand that all pain and many other persistent symptoms are created in the brain, through an alarm system that reacts not only to physical injury but also to emotional stress, trauma and threat. Yet most healthcare environments still treat physical and emotional pain as separate problems. This gap leaves many clients feeling stuck, dismissed, or misunderstood. Almost half of people in therapy live with ongoing physical pain and other persistent symptoms – and for many, scans and tests don’t reveal a clear cause. This is especially true for:

• Persistent back or neck pain
• Headaches and migraines
• Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue
• Abdominal or pelvic pain
• And many more chronic symptoms

The good news? When we address both the physical and emotional layers of pain together, clients often experience meaningful relief – sometimes very quickly.

What you’ll learn from attending this:

• How the brain learns, predicts and maintains pain - understand why symptoms can persist long after the body has healed, and how these patterns can be rewired
• How to recognise when pain is neuroplastic in origin - clear, practical indicators you can use in your assessment
• How to talk about pain and other persistent symptoms with clients in a validating, hopeful way - learn language and metaphors that reassure clients, build trust, and open the door to change
• Expect demonstrations, guided exercises, and tools you’ll be able to use in your sessions right away

BOOKING

Purchase a Deepening Practice Series pass via our booking page - each workshop is £40 or £30 for Yoga Fellowship members (see here for details of this collaboration and how to join the Fellowship). Remember to register onto Deirdre's workshop via the calendar or once you've logged into the student portal on booking. 

ABOUT DEIDRE

Deirdre is a qualified healthcare professional with over 20 years NHS clinical experience in working with long term conditions such as chronic pain & chronic fatigue. She is also a qualified yoga teacher with further training in trauma informed and somatic work.