A lot of people find their way to yoga therapy through a mental health door. They're burnt out, anxious, overwhelmed, or moving through a low period that hasn't responded to the things that are supposed to help. Some have tried talk therapy, medication, meditation apps. Some have tried regular yoga and found it didn't quite fit. They arrive curious, sometimes cautiously so, wondering if this is going to be more of the same.

I see this all the time in my work, and I live it myself. Even now, something as simple as arriving somewhere new can trigger a whole cascade of preparation — scanning, bracing, rehearsing. Not because anything is wrong. Because the nervous system has learned that novelty sometimes requires it. For many neurodivergent people, that baseline of preparation is already higher than average. It often reflects the sheer amount of processing required to move through environments....