The Deeper Purpose of Yoga Therapy – Free Class with Gary Kraftsow

Healing can feel fragmented when every symptom is handled on its own, yet your lived experience is never divided that neatly. There is a deeper way of understanding wellbeing – one that includes the body, the breath, the mind, and the patterns that shape how you move through life.

In this grounded session, Gary Kraftsow shares the therapeutic heart of yoga as a practice of self-care, discernment, and participation. Rather than asking you to fight your body or override what you feel, he points toward a more intelligent relationship with what is actually happening inside you.

You will be introduced to an approach that honors both ancient wisdom and everyday reality, so the path feels usable rather than abstract. The result is a steadier, more empowered way to meet pain, stress, imbalance, and change.

If you have been looking for a practical spiritual framework for caring for your health with more clarity and less helplessness, this event offers a meaningful place to begin. It is calm, direct, and rooted in real experience.

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Why Attend “The Deeper Purpose of Yoga Therapy: How to Take Charge of Your Healing and Relieve Pain, Stress & Imbalance”

Many people have been taught to think about healing in separate compartments, so physical pain goes one way, emotional strain goes another, and deeper existential stress is left unnamed. Yoga Therapy offers a more integrated view, which means you can begin to understand how these layers influence one another and respond with greater intelligence.

Gary Kraftsow brings decades of experience in an authentic therapeutic lineage, so this event is not just inspirational language without application. He helps make a profound tradition practical, and then shows how movement, breath, and meditation can support real regulation, self-awareness, and steadier participation in your own wellbeing.

This session also matters because it restores agency. Instead of depending only on outside systems to tell you what is wrong, you will be invited to notice what your own system is communicating, so that healing can become more relational, more compassionate, and more sustainable over time.

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What You’ll Learn About Yoga Therapy

Let’s begin with the larger frame, so you can see why Yoga Therapy is more than a modified yoga class. You’ll explore how this tradition understands pain, stress, imbalance, and healing across multiple layers of experience, which means the work becomes more personal and more precise.

In this session, you’ll be guided through practical therapeutic methods, and then shown how they support self-care in daily life. You will experience gentle movement, calming breathwork, and meditation, so your understanding is not only conceptual but felt in your own body and mind.

We’ll also look at what it means to participate in your wellbeing with more clarity, so that health is not reduced to symptom control alone. You’ll leave with a stronger sense of how Yoga Therapy can support resilience, quality of life, and a more conscious relationship with healing and aging.

Here’s just a little bit of what you’ll learn:

• How Yoga Therapy differs from general yoga and Western symptom management
• Why healing often needs to address multiple layers of experience
• How pain, stress, and structural tension can be understood more holistically
• Ways therapeutic movement can help release lower back tension and stabilize the body
• How laghana pranayama can soothe the autonomic nervous system and sharpen focus
• What a pancamaya-based meditation reveals about your lived experience
• How Yoga Therapy supports chronic pain, long-term illness, and emotional overwhelm
• Why individualized practice matters for function, quality of life, and self-awareness
• How this tradition can support midlife, aging, and major life transitions
• What it means to become a more empowered participant in your own self-care

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Who This Yoga Therapy Class Is For

This event is for people who want a deeper and more practical relationship with healing, especially if they feel limited by approaches that only address symptoms on the surface. It is also for anyone who senses that wellbeing includes more than the physical body, yet wants guidance that stays grounded and usable.

You may be navigating chronic pain, illness, stress, emotional overload, structural tension, or the changes that come with midlife and later life. You may also already love yoga, and want to understand its therapeutic roots more clearly so your practice can support you in a more individualized and meaningful way.

• People seeking a more empowered role in their own healing
• Anyone living with pain, stress, tension, or long-term health challenges
• Yoga students who want to understand Yoga Therapy more deeply
• Practitioners interested in authentic therapeutic yoga lineage
• People in midlife or later life seeking conscious support for aging and wellbeing
• Those who want practical tools for nervous system regulation and self-awareness

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About Gary Kraftsow

Gary Kraftsow has been an innovator in the transmission of yoga for health, healing, and personal transformation for more than 40 years. He began studying yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga International in Paris in 1988.

He earned a master’s degree in psychology and religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983 and opened the Maui School of Yoga Therapy around that time. His work has consistently brought therapeutic yoga into practical settings where it can support real human need.

In 1999, Gary founded the American Viniyoga Institute, LLC, where he continues to serve as director and senior teacher. He developed protocols for National Institutes of Health studies on yoga for chronic low back pain and yoga for anxiety, and also helped develop a clinical trial on mind-body stress reduction in the workplace.

He is the author of Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation, and has created numerous therapeutic training resources focused on back pain, shoulders, depression, and anxiety. Across his teaching, writing, and research, his emphasis remains clear: helping people understand their own system more deeply so healing becomes more skillful, more compassionate, and more participatory.

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Reviews

“I love the way Gary presents the teachings in such an understandable and eloquent way.” I am so thankful for the work Gary has done in inspiring people. I love the way he presents the teachings in such an understandable and eloquent way. When he stated that the reason we suffer “is the result of our entanglement with the world of name and form,” I was just blown away. When framed that way, all of a sudden everything makes sense to me. I understood how the greatness of the whole has magnified my understanding.

E.N.

Viniyoga teacher-in-training

“I am such an advocate for Gary because these teachings are real.” I am such an advocate for Gary because these teachings are real. They have transformed my life, and I have witnessed a transformation in the lives of my students as well. I am profoundly grateful to be a part of this tradition.

S.C.

Viniyoga teacher

“I cherish the mantras and meditation.” I cherish the mantras and meditation. My brain was soaked in the mantras to the point where when I woke, I heard them playing in the background of my consciousness. Now that is deep work!

M.D.

Viniyoga student

“I was able to feel a shift in my productivity and mental health…” By practicing the material, I was able to feel a shift in my productivity and mental health after a two-year slump.

Kelley

Aurillac, France

“I felt like, for the first time, I was being initiated into a yoga practice that was authentic…” I felt like, for the first time, I was being initiated into a yoga practice that was authentic and carried the true energy of this ancient wisdom and science. It felt like a very rare opportunity and the next level in my personal practice.

Steve Waldron

Haiku, Hawaii

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Frequently Asked Questions

When and where does the event take place?

This free online event takes place on Tuesday, June 16, at 4:30pm Pacific Time (PT). When you register, you can join live, receive the recording, or stream the final replay presentation on Saturday, June 20, at 11:00am Pacific Time.

Who is Gary Kraftsow?

Gary Kraftsow is the founder and director of the American Viniyoga Institute and one of the foremost teachers of Yoga Cikitsa, or Yoga Therapy. He has more than 50 years of experience and studied with T.K.V. Desikachar and Tirumalai Krishnamacharya.

What will I learn during this event?

You’ll explore how Yoga Therapy differs from general yoga and Western symptom management, and how it supports empowered self-care across physical, physiological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. You’ll also be guided through movement, breath, and meditation practices you can begin using right away.

What if I can’t attend live?

You can still register. Everyone who signs up receives access details and the recording, and there is also a final replay presentation available after the live event.

How long is the event?

The event itself is about an hour long, with guided teaching and experiential practice throughout.

Do I need any special equipment to participate?

No special equipment is required. A quiet space, comfortable clothing, and enough room to sit or move gently can help you get more from the practices.

Who is hosting the event?

This event is presented by The Shift Network, a global leader in transformational online programs.

Is this event suitable for beginners?

Yes. The session is designed to be accessible for people who are new to Yoga Therapy as well as those with an existing yoga or healing practice.

Is this event religious?

No. This event draws from an authentic yogic therapeutic tradition, yet it is presented in a practical and accessible way for people from many backgrounds.

Will there be an opportunity to go deeper after the event?

Yes. During the event, you’ll also hear about Gary’s upcoming 12-week online video course for those who want to continue learning.

What can I expect to experience during the event?

You can expect a grounded introduction to Yoga Therapy along with gentle practices involving movement, breath, and meditation. Many people may leave with greater clarity, calm, and a more empowered sense of how to care for themselves.

Can I share this event with friends?

Yes. You’re welcome to share it with anyone who may benefit from a more integrated and empowering approach to healing and wellbeing.

Is this event really free?

Yes. The event is free to attend.

What is Yoga Cikitsa, or Yoga Therapy?

Yoga Cikitsa is the therapeutic application of yoga practices to support health, function, and quality of life. It uses methods tailored to the individual rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach.

How is Yoga Therapy different from a regular yoga class?

A regular yoga class often emphasizes generalized postures or fitness goals, while Yoga Therapy responds to the specific condition, capacity, and needs of the individual. Its aim is to support healing, regulation, and self-understanding in a more precise way.

Will there be guided practices during the event?

Yes. Gary will guide you through therapeutic movement to release structural tension, a calming laghana pranayama practice, and a pancamaya-based meditation.

Can Yoga Therapy help with pain, stress, or chronic illness?

Gary will explain how Yoga Therapy can support people navigating chronic pain, emotional overwhelm, structural limitations, long-term illness, and the challenges of aging. The approach is meant to support self-care and improved quality of life, not replace medical care.

What is laghana pranayama?

Laghana pranayama is a calming breath practice used to help soothe the autonomic nervous system, release tension, and cultivate focus. In this event, Gary will use it as an accessible entry point into therapeutic breathwork.

What is a pancamaya-based meditation?

A pancamaya-based meditation helps you map the layers of your human experience so you can understand yourself more clearly across body, breath, mind, awareness, and deeper wellbeing. It is designed to support compassionate self-observation and wiser self-care.

Is this event helpful for midlife or later life transitions?

Yes. This event is especially meaningful for people in midlife and later life stages who want a more conscious and empowered relationship to health, healing, aging, and wellbeing.

How should I prepare for the event?

Arrive a few minutes early, have water nearby, and choose a space where you can sit comfortably and move gently if you’d like. A notebook may also be helpful for reflecting on what you notice during the session.

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