Dr Divina Pillay

I am a consultant psychiatrist and yoga therapist working with adults, and have special interests in Eating Disorders, Mood and Anxiety disorders, and ADHD.

I strongly believe in a holistic approach to mental health, and it is within this spirit that Present Health was created.

Present Health

I created Present Health as safe, nurturing space to use the wisdom and science of yoga therapy to support you back to better health.

No previous experience of yoga is required - all that is needed is an open heart and a willingness for change.

Yoga Therapy is a holistic model of therapy that supports an individual’s journey back to a healthier place. It involves a therapeutic process, where we will work together to help restore your mental and physical wellbeing, which ensures you feel and function in a more authentic, synergistic way. Our bodies hold so much: memories, trauma, intelligence and wisdom. Understanding this valuable information is an excellent place to start working to restore our system to harmony.​

In yoga, we understand health through the lens of the Kosha system. This is a framework of understanding ourselves as a system comprised of layers- the body, the mind, the energetic body, intuition and our true centre of bliss and contentment. Working to create harmony within and between these parts, allows more synchronicity and alignment between how we feel, function and connect with ourselves and the world around us.

When we use this lens to think of mental illnesses, we can start to see conditions like depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc. as expressions of underlying disharmony. Working to address mental health conditions in this way, allows us to meet our underlying needs and create fluidity of energy between our koshas that ultimately can result in a more peaceful, empowered self with which to move forward.

Yoga therapy incorporates practices from yogic tradition, psychotherapeutic principles, mindfulness and neuroscience to allow a mode of treatment that addresses your unique body and mind. For so long, those who practice yoga have felt the benefits of practice. Understanding how and why these practices serve us, informs an individualised approach based on how you arrive to the therapeutic space, and your goals for the treatment. Yoga therapy uses specific tools from yoga to build and foster awareness, acquire regulation skills and build your mental and physical resilience to manage what may appear in our lives.

​We encounter stress in escalating proportions in our current world. Not all stress is bad, and in fact stress is vital to help us adapt and survive, however, when stress is elevated and unregulated for longer periods this can affect us in profound ways, resulting in mental and physical burnout and illness. Tapping into our bodies’ innate wisdom, we can learn to manage, heal and indeed flourish in everyday life.

Through yoga therapy, I hope to offer you a safe, held space where we will work together with curiosity, compassion and care to bring yourself back to health. You will learn skills on the mat that give you an embodied experience of how you may function off the mat and in your day-to-day experience. Our work will begin wherever you are physically and mentally, and all parts of you will be welcomed.

If you are involved with secondary mental health services, it is recommended that I have contact with your team for purposes of safety and cohesion of care. Yoga therapy can be held as a standalone therapy or alongside your usual care. Depending on your mental health condition(s), it may be necessary to work in conjunction with secondary care- this will be decided on a case-by-case basis.