AROMATHERAPY
CHAKRA BALANCING
techniques when you’re at home. This is biofeedback,
and it’s proven to help treat a variety of medical conditions,
including urinary incontinence, chronic pain, anxiety, high
blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, and more.
ART & MUSIC THERAPY Using art and music to
address physical and emotional needs might sound like
just a nice way to spend the afternoon, but there’s a grow-
ing body of research showing these artistic interventions
can deliver a wide range of benefits. One review of 1 2 stud-
ies, published in the journal Psycho-Oncology, found that
giving cancer patients an opportunity to express themselves
via art helped them manage treatment-related symptoms.
Music therapy—everything from playing soothing tunes in
the neonatal intensive care unit to applying low-frequency
sound (a.k.a. vibration) directly to the body of Parkinson’s
patients—can improve outcomes and symptoms.
AROMATHERAPY Essential oils extracted from plants
have been used therapeutically for thousands of years to
improve physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. While
experts aren’t entirely clear how it works, many believe our
sense of smell communicates with parts of the brain that
store emotions and memories, which influence health, says
Covington. “For example, there’s some evidence to show
lavender stimulates activity of brain cells similar to the way
some sedative medications work,” she says. What’s involved
in a session? Your aromatherapist will apply essential oils
topically, or ask you to breathe them in via a piece of cloth,
steam machine, vaporizer, or spray. “Aromatherapy can be
used in a range of settings—from hospitals and integrative
treatment rooms to your own home,” says Covington, and
it’s been shown to help ease pain, depression, and more.
No matter which complementary therapy you choose,
try to keep an open mind, and remember Allyn’s advice
to continually check in with yourself: “As yogis, we have
a unique ability to trust ourselves, which puts us in a good
position to be able to receive the benefits of many of these
healing modalities,” she says.