Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carissa Burke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Carissa, thanks for joining us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

I began clinical yoga therapy through the free yoga therapy clinic online at My Vinyasa Practice in January of 2023 as part of my module 3 to complete my yoga therapy certification. I am truly thankful for this clinic as I have grown tremendously from these practicum hours.

So during my internship, while learning from both iRest and Yoga Therapy in tandem, I felt ill equipped to handle a particular client during my practicum hours that had suffered from depression and had many traumatic issues notated from their intake form and I was extremely nervous. I felt like I was completely out of my depth with this particular person from the indicators on their intake form. However, I went into the zoom call with confidence telling myself that I had and have alot of tools to use with this person and made up my mind that I would rely on what I have learned and would be able to use these tools perfectly to their suit their needs. It was a wonderful learning experience for me and the person on the other end as well. I know from confidential recordings on zoom that the experiences I have received from using iRest and yoga therapy during practicum applications through my internships I have grown tremendously and I am more confident now then ever to begin and continue my own practice with the tools I have and need to treat many patients from PTSD to Suicide Prevention and Recovery to Medically treating patients recovering from any kind of surgery or even terminal lilness with all my Yoga Therapy and iRest tools I am now confidently proficient. I am actively seeking a place to call my own space to practice yoga therapy in these aspects.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I first decided I wanted to use the whole iRest experience to help others through co meditations and yoga nidras after completing level 1 in December of 2020 I knew I had to begin my search for a yoga therapy facility that would help me piece it all together. Once I registered for the yoga therapy IAYT program through My VInyasa practice, I also registered for the Level 2 iRest training in late 2020 early 2021 and continued working in tandem with both iRest program and MVP Yoga Therapy program until just recently when I finished the iRest courses in August of 2023 and am now a Certified iRest Teacher that has completed the extent of the iRest program and now am completing the IAYT Yoga Therapy Program with MVP this Fall of 2023. This is where all the many hours of training and workshops help add even more to my skills like bio therapy sound and sound bowl healing and where I have learned so much about how the body responds and heals through sound. I have many hours of learned training all about the human body and different kind of rehabilitation private and group therapies from eating disorders, memory loss, anxiety, depression, pre and post op to even addiction recovery. I have been trained in depth on how the psychology of yoga works and why it works. And I can explain to you in depth why it works.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The most challenging obstacle I have faced thus far and what I have learned is that I am going to have to work extra hard to break out of the yoga instructor mold. I do not have a college degree and some companies expect this along with an IAYT. However, I bring other and more valuable assets with me to my practice BECAUSE I don’t have a typical degree mold that I fit into. I work with people on a very different and new level that surprises and delights most people when they work so in depth with me on such a different level than they have worked with most or any psychotherapist counselor or even physical therapist. What makes the difference in what I do you ask? Simple breath and meditation. I am a professional and am excited to help others in my journey to share all the tools I use in yoga therapy and iRest.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The main lesson from this I am learning is BECAUSE I do not have a degree I do not fit into a typical mold AND I also use different tools that are unexpected. So for instance if you have a psychotherapist or a counselor LCSW that they work with specific tools that they have learned from their degrees they are use to doing things a certain way in talk therapy. However, I do not have a degree and BECAUSE of that I can break out of the typical talk therapy or rehabilitation mold that is expected. I do not need to know anyone’s back story. I can start right where they are at and process everything from emotions to sensations just as they are. I know my job is not to fix or even change anyone. My job….my job is to help the one person that is in front of me to find homeostasis.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ihart.yoga
• Instagram: ihart.yoga
• Facebook: ihart.yoga
• Linkedin: Carissa Burke
• Youtube: ihart.yoga1

Image Credits
Biofield Tuning Michelle Skiles