Therapy Chat · Laura Reagan, LCSW-C

478: Yoga for Depression with Amy Weintraub

April 14, 2025·31 min·3 clips

Amy Weintraub discovered yoga in the mid-80s after psychotherapy couldn't heal her depression.

This episode features an interview with Amy Weintraub, founder of Life Force Yoga and author of "Yoga for Depression." Host Laura Reagan, a trauma therapist, explores how yoga therapy can be integrated into mental health practice. Weintraub shares her personal journey of overcoming depression through embodied yoga practice after years of psychotherapy. She explains that Life Force Yoga adapts ancient yogic tools for clinical settings, making them accessible to clients who may resist traditional practices. A key technique is "stair step breath," designed for upper-chest breathers to avoid emotional flooding early in therapy. Weintraub notes that 80% of the time, anxiety coexists with depression, requiring tailored approaches. She details practices involving mantra tones, mudras (hand gestures), and Yoga Nidra for deep relaxation and trauma work. Weintraub emphasizes directing clients to specific bodily sensations, like the palms or fingertips, rather than asking them to feel global sensations, which can be agitating. She discusses collaborating with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, using yoga to help clients access "self-energy" and soothe parts. Her training includes a module developed with IFS executive director John Schwartz. Research on yoga's efficacy for mood disorders is compiled on her website, yogafordepression.com. A surprising insight is that simply asking a client to "watch the breath" can increase agitation for someone with anxiety or trauma. Weintraub recounts using Yoga Nidra to manage severe post-surgical pain without opioids. She states that yoga teachers often encounter clients having emotional releases on the mat, necessitating specific training. The International Association of Yoga Therapists requires an 800-hour training for the "yoga therapist" title, which Life Force Yoga modules can contribute towards. The conversation is educational and conversational, blending personal anecdote with clinical application. The tone is passionate and practical, focusing on actionable skills for therapists. This episode would deeply interest mental health professionals, especially trauma therapists, yoga teachers, and anyone integrating somatic practices into healing. Listeners seeking a purely theoretical discussion or those with no interest in body-based modalities might find it less relevant.

As heard by us

A grounded bridge between yoga, trauma work, and the body's quieter signals.

The episode settles into a careful conversation about yoga, trauma work, and the body's quieter signals. Its strongest quality is how abstract ideas keep turning into usable language: breath, rest, parts work, and trauma-informed attention all land as practices rather than…

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Why you'd press play

Yoga, parts work, and trauma-informed practice meet in a grounded conversation.

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