The floor at Andrea Soos Yoga Studio is covered with bodies lying on their sides, limbs and heads propped up variously by bolsters and folded fleece blankets. Theres no warrior pose or downward-facing dog. Soos clients make small movements, emphasizing stability and balance over speed and intensity. It looks relaxing, but Soos says its hard work.

Theyre practising a form of therapeutic yoga thats been getting more and more attention in recent years. Its so new that the International Association of Yoga Therapists only developed a set of standards for certification of yoga therapists in July 2012.

There are trends in any industry and I dont want to call this a trend but I do say its the new wave, Soos says. To me, its kind of the polar opposite of hot, fast-paced yoga.

When Soos, 40, started teaching yoga in Hamilton in 1998, she was offering more traditional classes. She switched focus when back pain caused her to consider slowing down and adopting a practice that stressed strengthening through simple movements and proper form rather than strengthening through tension, which can lead to injury.

Yoga has become mainstream, says Soos. I think people have been trading in their gym memberships for yoga studio memberships and the thing is sometimes people strive a little bit too much.

Many of Sooss clients have chronic pain, including rotator cuff injuries, arthritis, back and hip problems, sciatica, fatigue, Parkinsons and more. Soos says she has students who tell her theyre finally sleeping through the night after years of waking due to back pain. Thats because therapeutic yoga pays attention to the way the individual can move rather than trying to twist people into a pose. Its a practice people can age with.

Pat Dermer, a retired dental hygienist, has attended Soos classes for 10 years. Dermer says yoga has always helped ease the musculoskeletal pain she developed while working, but the therapeutic classes are even better. Many of Soos participants say they consider therapeutic yoga a kind of personal health insurance policy. It allows them to tailor the movements to their own limitations something that can be difficult in the beginning.

The biggest challenge is having the individual feel OK, feel comfortable with being different, says Heather Greaves, owner of Body Therapies Yoga Training in Hamilton, where she trains yoga instructors. If someone has sciatica, they cannot do those forward bends. We must offer them a different option.

Greaves says she leads a pre-class chat to address the self-consciousness some students may feel about adapting movements. She says that insecurity can be the hardest part for people getting into therapeutic yoga, but it can also be necessary to make them feel at ease.

Soos agrees that its sometimes tough for people to accept that such small movements can create big change. Theres a widespread belief that, when working out, no pain equals no gain. Thats not the case with therapeutic yoga, says Soos.

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Therapeutic yoga: Small movements, big changes