Founding a Well-Integrated Hospital-Based Yoga Therapy Program

This article describes a comprehensive outline of suggested steps for founding a hospital-based Yoga therapy program. Bringing Yoga or other integrative modalities to inpatient settings is a very involved undertaking, both from an organizational and a therapeutic perspective. This article offers strategies for approaching hospitals; overcoming administrative, structural, legal, and cultural obstacles to developing a hospital-based program; integrating Yoga into patient care; and working with patients' families. To illustrate the general challenges, principles, and processes of forming a hospital-based Yoga therapy program, this article describes the author's experience of creating a Yoga therapy-based program for the Pediatric Development and Rehabilitation unit at Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland, OR.