Now offering Pain Care Aware™ yoga teacher training!
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Pain Care Aware™ teaches us to recognize pain as a human condition, for which our language and approach needs to be adapted to guide students experiencing pain during yoga. This is not about diagnosing or treating students when there is pain. We begin with gaining knowledge about pain and taking this knowledge into contemplative practices, then we reflect on our personal beliefs and attitudes towards pain during life and during asana, and then we practice language of yoga and science that will create environments of safety and resilience for our students. In addition, Pain Care Aware™ language seeks to avoid inadvertently creating fear of movement, helplessness when there is pain, and a sense of fragility. Through a pain care aware approach, practitioners create an environment of safety and resilience, including:
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Understanding pain and its impact on peoples' lives and behaviours and how they respond when there is pain
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Using language that promotes curiosity and discernment
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Knowing that words such as pain do not need to be removed during asana practice
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Avoiding language and instructions that inadvertently reinforce fear of movement, helplessness and a sense of fragility
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Offering permission and providing options for choice
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Providing strengths-based and capacity-building approaches to support bio-plasticity and resilience.
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Pain Care Aware™ does not seek to treat pain or pathology, but rather to recognize that pain will be experienced during yoga practice, and that our language and approach can be adapted to support students experiencing pain during yoga.
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Level 1 – Foundations Course is a self-paced, online, 30-hour course completed as part of select Yoga Alliance-accredited school programs (YTS) or individually for 30 Continuing Education professional development hours. Completion of Level 1 is a prerequisite of Level 2.
Level 2 is a 20-hour practicum and is led by PCA-certified trainer in-studio or online. Graduates of Level 2 earn an additional 20 Continuing Education hours and earn a Pain Care Aware Yoga Teacher Training Certificate.
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