As Yoga Therapists, of course we want our clients to feel better. We want them to have good days – and naturally, we want those good days to be as good as possible.
But when someone is living with chronic pain, illness or another difficult reality that we cannot simply take away, we need to pay attention to the expectations we bring into the therapeutic relationship. What are we hoping to achieve for this person? How high are we setting the threshold for what counts as a good day? And is our idea of a good outcome the same as theirs?
In this edition of The Yoga Therapy Toolbox, I want to share something a client once taught me – a simple observation that changed the way I thought about what a ‘good day’ can look like.
"An ill day can also be a good day"
My client was living with multiple autoimmune conditions, persistent pain and digestive issues. She needed regular corticosteroid treatment and knew that her health conditions were something she would be living with long term.
One day, when I asked how she was, she told me she had had a good day. What she had realised was that being ill and having a good day were not mutually exclusive.
Her illness hadn’t disappeared; neither had her pain. She did feel better that day – just not completely well. And there could still be pleasure in a cup of coffee, love for her children or pets, or enjoyment of a sunrise or sunset.
What are we aiming for as Yoga Therapists?
There is a natural temptation as a Yoga Therapist to aim for the best possible result. If we imagine a scale of one to ten, we might want our client to reach a ten – to feel wonderful, to have no pain, or to experience a significant improvement in their symptoms.
But a good day doesn’t have to be a ten. For someone living with chronic illness or persistent pain, a three, four or five may still feel significantly better than the day before. If we set the threshold for a ‘good’ outcome too high, we risk overlooking that progress.
This is particularly important when working with chronic pain, chronic illness or other complex circumstances. Yoga Therapy may not be able to remove the reality someone is living with. That doesn’t mean it cannot make a meaningful difference to their experience of it.
So it is worth regularly questioning the expectations we bring to our work. Are we looking for an outcome that is realistic for this particular person? Are we allowing their experience to tell us what progress looks like? And are we recognising a good day for what it is, even when the bigger picture hasn’t changed?
Sometimes the most valuable lesson comes from the client themselves. This client taught me that you can be ill and still love your family, adore your pets, enjoy your coffee, notice a beautiful sunset – and have a genuinely good day.
And sometimes, that good day is enough.
