Photo by Laurie Callahan
Michelle Fury, C-IAYT, LPC
Yoga therapy
Teens and children
Stress reduction
Coping skills
Body image
How I Found Yoga Therapy
I am a certified yoga therapist and a pioneer in the field of pediatric yoga therapy. I was named the first full-time yoga therapist in a hospital setting by the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
I fell in love with yoga when I was 19 and I often joked that yoga was my therapy. And I soon realized that it really was! As an active teen, I loved to run. But yoga calmed and energized me in ways that running didn’t. That feeling of calm followed me off the yoga mat and into my daily life. Yoga changed my life. I not only found focus, but confidence, motivation, a sense of humor and hope.
After college, I moved from Florida to Colorado to study yoga with American yoga master Richard Freeman. Richard taught me that yoga is about relationships, and that the more you study it the more it teaches you how to relate to yourself, others and life. He is my heart teacher.
By 2000 I received training in therapeutic yoga to work with people rehabbing from serious physical injury. I used yoga to help my clients alleviate emotional as well as physical symptoms. This led me to earn a masters in counseling, and then to integrate yoga and mental health for kids and families, which I've been doing ever since.
I've presented at numerous conferences on the mental health benefits of yoga. I've written articles, and have been featured in U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Yoga Journal and Embody. I am the author of Using Yoga Therapy to Promote Mental Health in Children & Adolescents. I also co-authored a chapter in Yoga for Mental Health.
Because yoga helped me when I was young, I am now passionate about this work. I care deeply about the kids and families with whom I work, and they feel that care.
I look forward to working with you and helping you to integrate yoga tools into your work with clients!
"We are both so happy ... to know you are moving in this important direction ... one that will be of great service in these turbulent times."
Mary Taylor & Richard Freeman, Ashtanga yoga masters