LifeForce Yoga® for Depression News

From Amy Weintraub, MFA, RYT,
Author of Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering through Yoga
(Broadway Books, 2004)

...every year,
and every year
the hatchlings wake in the swaying branches,
in the silver baskets,

and love the world.
Is it necessary to say anymore?
Have you heard them singing in the wind, above the
final fields?
Have you ever been so happy in your life?
Mary Oliver, From "Goldfinches"

[It's so simple. Stepping onto your mat in the morning can be like birdsong. Stepping onto your mat is to love yourself, to love the world. -a.w.]

Welcome to the third issue of the LifeForce Yoga® for Depression Newsletter!

In this issue, you'll find a report from the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in D.C., where over 3,600 psychotherapists experienced Yoga. We'll look at Bhastrika (Bellows Breath), one of the breathing practices I led at the Symposium, and I'll provide instructions for you to practice at home. We will also review the current news and research about depression, Yoga and treatment alternatives, the current schedule of LifeForce Yoga® Workshops & trainings, and new and recommended books. As always, I've included an invitation to join me for a personal retreat here in Tucson and the on-line discussion about Yoga for the emotional body.

I'm preparing mind, body and spirit for a busy summer! This spring, I'll be traveling to Austin to teach at the Crossings, May 22 - 27th. In July, I'll be leading a training at Kripalu Center, and teaching at Omega and at Be Yoga in New York City. In August, I'll be teaching at Kripalu with psychiatrist Eve Wood, author of Medicine, Mind & Meaning. Then I'll travel to Rhode island to teach at All That Matters. September is very busy, with workshops in Seattle, and a teacher training and workshop in Vancouver, then across the country again to Lenox, MA, to teach at Kripalu. In October, I'll be back at Kripalu for the KYTA Conference, where I will offer a keynote, then to Arlington, MA, where I'll teach at Chip Hartranft's great studio. In November, I'll be teaching at Sherry Goldstein's Yoga Sanctuary in Las Vegas, then back to Austin for a weekend program at the Crossings. For more details about the schedule, see the calendar below, or visit my web site, which is updated regularly: click here for more information!

I'll be talking with author Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., on his live internet radio show on Wednesday, May 18th from 2 - 3 pm (actually, 2:25 - 2:40) To listen, go here and click on "Healing Zone Radio Show", then select "listen to the show."

Although it's not on the schedule yet, I am planning a residential retreat and CEU training in Tucson in early 2006. Please e-mail me if you would like more information about the residential when it becomes available. amy@amyweintraub.com. I hope you all will join me here!

Special thanks to Holly Ludwig for editing this issue.

I'm grateful to Yoga teacher Kristin Short, of Wilmington, Delaware, for her generosity and excellence in managing the Talk Forum. Kristin is a graduate of the LifeForce Yoga® Training for Depression and Anxiety at Kripalu and offers workshops, classes and private sessions in Yoga and mood management. She can be reached through the Talk Forum: www.amyweintraub.com/yogafordepression/ or at KBSBHS@aol.com.

Blessings,

Amy

In this Issue

Report from the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium
Practice: Bhastrika (Bellows Breath)
In the News
Research
Schedule of Workshops & Trainings
Books: New & Recommended
"Yoga for the Emotional Body" Discussion Forum Resources

Report from the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium

Richard Simon, Ph.D., the founding editor of Psychotherapy Networker Magazine asked me to be the LifeForce Symposium Facilitator at the 28th Annual Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in Washington, D.C. This role gave Yoga as much visibility and respect as other treatments for mood disorders. At this Washington, D.C. conference in March, more than 3,600 mainstream mental health professionals-clinical social workers, marriage and family counselors, addictions specialists, psychiatric nurses and psychologists-were exposed to Yoga and Yogic principles. They came in record numbers, not only to the standing-room-only, early morning Yoga classes and the afternoon pranayama breathing and meditation sessions I led every day, but also to breakout sessions on Yoga and therapy and mindfulness and dozens of body-oriented treatments based on ancient Yogic wisdom.

"Where attention goes," said Daniel Siegel, M.D., author of The Developing Mind and Parenting from the Inside Out, in his keynote address, "neural firing follows, and the possibility for synaptic change occurs." This statement has tremendous implications for a Yoga practice done with attention to the sensations in the body. For Siegel, "contemplative practices" are as important for changing our neuronal wiring, as our secure attachment relationships and psychotherapy. Even the dysfunctional wiring acquired in the first eighteen months of life may be reprogrammed.

Daniel Amen, M.D., another keynoter this year, and author of the best-selling, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, recently did SPECT scans of eleven Kundalini meditators practicing Kirtan Kriya, a meditation practice that involves mudra, mantra and visualization. In the study, the practice lit up the right temporal lobe, or as both Amen and study co- author Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., author of The New Golden Rules: An Essential Guide to Spiritual Bliss, describe it, the brain's "God Center." Subjects reported feeling transcendent and in touch with their higher power.

After analyzing the SPECT scans of his patients to determine the hot spots, Dr. Amen can more accurately prescribe treatment. For example, an over-active basal ganglia usually indicates anxiety. Therefore the method of treatment prescribed could be medication or behavioral changes that may include breath work, toning and meditation.

Psychotherapist Belleruth Naparstek, another keynoter and author of three bestsellers, Staying Well with Guided Imagery, Your Sixth Sense, and Invisible Heros: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal, reported on her interviews with trauma survivors and their therapists, recent findings from wide-scale disasters, and the latest brain scanning data. The convergence of this new information, she explained, tells us why guided imagery is an ideal technique for trauma survivors. Because of its reliance on the more primitive brain processes- sensation, perception, emotion, images and muscular reactivity-guided imagery, which, unlike talk therapy alone, "sidesteps the vicious booby trapped language and cognition centers, which can set loose a cascade of ugly flashbacks and panic states."

Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D., a Symposium Keynoter in 2004, medical director of the Trauma Center in Brookline, MA, and professor of psychiatry in the Boston University School of Medicine recommends that his patients in therapy also study Yoga, tai chi, or some other physical/spiritual practice. He is currently studying the efficacy of Yoga for post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), and the effects of Yoga on heart rate variability. Dr. Van Der Kolk cringes when I or anyone else call him the "father" of PTSD, but without his observation of a constellation of symptoms while working with Vietnam Vets in the 70's, his research and his clinical work, the mental health profession would not be as well-equipped to deal with trauma.

Yoga was an integral part of the Symposium schedule and was practiced before each morning's keynote address, and after the afternoon breakout sessions. Suzy Hurley led a pre-conference, day-long intensive on Anusara Yoga. Yoga was integrated into many of the workshops including mindfulness, conscious eating and anxiety management. Further, I taught an all-day intensive called LifeForce Energy Management, the emphasis of which was on pranayama and meditation practices from both Classical Yoga and Tantric traditions. During the conference, I also gave a Power Point presentation called Yoga and Therapy that distinguished between simple Yogic techniques that therapists can use in the office to help their clients focus and attune to feelings and those deeper practices that are best learned through instruction from a qualified Yoga therapist or teacher. Therapists were encouraged to visit the International Association of Yoga Therapists at IAYT and to form a working relationship with a Yoga teacher in their community for guidance.

Yoga was most visible during the opportunity I had to lead the entire gathering in five minutes of pranayama breathing before a keynote address. These five minutes introduced thousands of psychotherapists, many of them new to Yoga, to the benefits of Yogic breathing for themselves and their clients. They experienced the calming of the autonomic nervous system, the focusing of mind, and the integration of the left and right hemisphere as they prepared to listen to Daniel Siegel, M.D. talk about "Psychotherapy and the Integration of Consciousness." Unless contraindicated, the entire plenary session did a round of Bellows Breath, followed by alternate nostril breathing. When I asked how everyone felt after their breathing experience, I received a loud chorus of "Great!"

The link between Yoga and positive mental health certainly is not new. Herb Benson, M.D., author of The Relaxation Response, has been studying the effects of mantra-based meditation at Harvard's Mind Body Institute for more than thirty-five years. Jon Kabat-Zinn, also a keynoter at the Symposium and author of Full Catastrophe Living and the recent, Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and Our World Through Mindfulness Meditation, has had the beneficial results of his mindfulness-based stress reduction program duplicated in hundreds of research studies around the world. But for the first time, significant numbers of psychotherapists are paying serious attention to Yoga asana and pranayama, prescribing Yoga classes for their clients and using simple Yogic breathing techniques in the treatment room to help their clients relax, focus and have better access to their emotions. Mental health professionals are attending Yoga teacher trainings and workshops offering CEU's for Yoga teachers and psychotherapists because the research is in- you can't ignore the body when treating the mind. And, if you're dealing with a victim of trauma, you might seriously risk re-traumatizing him with talk therapy alone.

Practice: Bhastrika (Bellows Breath)

This breath is especially good for dysthymia, or chronic low level depression, because the vagus nerve is likely stimulated. Vagal nerve stimulation is a known treatment for depression because it often results in the release of the "feel good" hormones, oxcytocin and prolactin. The subjective experience is one of mild elation, followed by a feeling of relaxation. Various Yoga traditions teach Bellows Breath differently. The inhalation is deep and forceful, equal to the exhalation and is usually done at a slower pace. It can be practiced with or without the arm movements. You wouldn't want to do this breath if you are pregnant or menstruating. This is how I led it at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium:

Sit with your spine erect, either with the support of a meditation bench or on your knees with a pillow propped between your thighs. If this is uncomfortable, you may choose another seated position like half-lotus, easy pose, or you may sit in an armless chair with your spine straight. Make fists with your hands and then bend your elbows so that your fists align with your shoulders. Your fingers and palms should be facing away from your body. Take a natural breath in and out. As you inhale through the nostrils, raise your arms straight up over your head with great force as you open your palms to face outward, spreading your fingers wide. Exhale with great force through the nostrils as you bring your arms back to the starting position, again making fists with your hands. Do this at a moderate pace twenty times, then rest for thirty seconds. Practice two more rounds of twenty each, pausing for at least thirty seconds between rounds. When you've completed the practice, sit for several moments, observing the effects.

You can find this breathing exercise, along with many others, on my audio practice CD, Breathe to Beat the Blues.

In the News

Mutant Gene Linked to Treatment-Resistant Depression

A mutant gene that starves the brain of serotonin, a mood-regulating chemical messenger, has been discovered and found to be 10 times more prevalent in depressed patients than in control subjects. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), demonstrated that patients with the mutation did not respond well to the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant medications, which work via serotonin. This suggests that the mutation may underlie a treatment-resistant subtype of the illness.

"If confirmed, this discovery could lead to a genetic test for vulnerability to depression and a way to predict which patients might respond best to serotonin-selective antidepressants," noted NIMH Director Thomas Insel, M.D.

Research & Commentary:

Change Your Brain When You Meditate

Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin, and reported at the National Academy of Sciences Proceedings on November 8, 2004, suggests that meditation training involves temporal integrative mechanisms and may induce short-term and long- term neural changes. This research, which compared long-term Buddhist meditation practitioners with non- meditators, using electroencephalographic measurements, seems to validate the meditation practitioner's understanding that meditation is "a process of familiarization with one's own mental life leading to long-lasting changes in cognition and emotion. Click here to read the full text.
[This is a summary of an abstract that first appeared in the International Association of Yoga Therapy Newsletter.]

Research & Commentary:

Yoga and Sleep

Often people suffering from mood disorders have trouble sleeping. In fact, chronic insomnia can often be an early indicator of the onset depression. At Harvard, Bat Sir Khalsa did a study that was recently published in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, Dec 2004, 29(4):269-278. The abstract of the study appeared in the International Association of Yoga Therapy, and I'll include it here in its entirety: There is good evidence for cognitive and physiological arousal in chronic insomnia, and clinical trials of insomnia treatments aimed at reducing arousal, including relaxation and meditation, have found positive results. Yoga is a multicomponent practice also known to be effective in reducing arousal, although it has not been well studied as a treatment for insomnia. In this preliminary study, a simple daily Yoga treatment was evaluated in a chronic insomnia population with sleep-onset and/or sleep-maintenance insomnia and primary or secondary insomnia. Participants kept sleep-wake diaries during a pretreatment 2-week baseline and an 8-week intervention, during which they practiced the treatment on their own following a single in-person training session with brief in-person and telephone follow-ups. Sleep efficiency (SE), total sleep time (TST), total wake time (TWT), sleep onset latency (SOL), wake time after sleep onset (WASO), number of awakenings, and sleep quality measures were derived from sleep-wake diary entries and averaged in 2-week intervals. For 20 participants completing the protocol, statistically significant improvements were observed in SE, TST, TWT, SOL, and WASO at the end of treatment as compared to pretreatment values.

Research & Commentary:

Food and Mood

Studies have shown that people who suffer from depression are more likely to binge on high carbohydrate and high sugar foods. The reasoning being that carbohydrates stimulate serotonin production and thus eating them is an attempt to self-medicate depression. High carbohydrate meals raise serotonin while fatty or protein rich meals tend to lower it. The type of carbohydrate chosen seems to be based upon its glycemic index, or how high it causes blood sugar levels to peak. The higher glycemic index carbohydrates like sugar have a greater effect on serotonin than starchy, lower glycemic index foods like potatoes.

So, what's the food of choice to stimulate serotonin? Chocolate. Certain alkaloids have been isolated in chocolate that may raise brain serotonin levels. Scientists now speculate that "chocoholism" may actually have a real biological basis with a serotonin deficiency being one factor. Another mechanism that has been proposed for why chocolate has such a powerful influence on mood is that chocolate has 'drug-like' constituents including anandamines, caffeine, and phenylethylamine.

However, frequent chocolate binges can lead to weight-gain, feelings of guilt and can in fact magnify depression in the end.

Based on an article by: Nancy Schimelpfening.

Comment on Compulsive Overeating: When the binge feels mindless, when you're eating though you're no longer hungry, just to "satisfy" your craving, ask yourself if you really do feel satisfied. Chances are you don't. Why? Because the craving is likely the result of something else that is missing in your life, something deeper, like relationships or satisfying work. Perhaps, if you can own the true longing, you can create a sense of a fertile emptiness within. Often, if you can cultivate a relationship with the divine or a greater sense of Self through spiritual practice, you can begin to satisfy the true longing and the craving will subside.

Supplements:

A Vitamin a Day Keeps Depression Away

The last issue of this newsletter mentioned how those with higher levels of B-vitamins responded better to treatments of depression. Here are some other important vitamins and supplements that affect depression:
Vitamin C: Subclinical deficiencies can produce depression, which requires the use of supplements. Supplementation is particularly important if you have had surgery or an inflammatory disease. Stress, pregnancy, and lactation also increase the body's need for vitamin C, while aspirin, tetracycline, and birth control pills can deplete the body's supply.
Magnesium: Deficiency can result in depressive symptoms, along with confusion, agitation, anxiety, and hallucinations, as well as a variety of physical problems. Most diets do not include enough magnesium, and stress also contributes to magnesium depletion.
Zinc: Inadequacies result in apathy, lack of appetite, and lethargy. When zinc is low, copper in the body can increase to toxic levels, resulting in paranoia and fearfulness.
Iron: Depression is often a symptom of chronic iron deficiency. Other symptoms include general weakness, listlessness, exhaustion, lack of appetite, and headaches.
Manganese: This metal is needed for proper use of the B-complex vitamins and vitamin C. Since it also plays a role in amino-acid formation, a deficiency may contribute to depression stemming from low levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine. Manganese also helps stabilize blood sugar and prevent hypoglycemic mood swings.
Potassium: Depletion is frequently associated with depression, tearfulness, weakness, and fatigue.

Based on an article by: Nancy Schimelpfening

LifeForce Yoga® Workshops & Training Schedule

Austin, TX
May 22 - 27, 2005
Yoga to Beat the Blues, Omega at the Crossings Austin, TX 877-944- 3003,Click here to go to the Crossings

Lenox, MA
July 4 - 8, 2005
LifeForce Therapy for Depression and Anxiety, Kripalu Center, Lenox, MA, 800 741-7353, CEU's for Social Workers & Yoga Teachers.

Rhinebeck, NY
July 10 - 15, 2005
Yoga to Beat the Blues, Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY, 800-944- 1001, www.eomega.org

New York, NY
July 17, 2005
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Yoga for the Emotional Body Workshop, Be Yoga, 138 5th Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY, 212 617- 9642

Lenox, MA
August 21 - 26, 2005
Yoga and Positive Mental Health, Kripalu Center, Lenox, MA, 800 741-7353, CEU's offered. Amy teams up with psychiatrist Dr Eve Wood, author of Medicine, Mind and Meaning: A Psychiatrists Guide to Treating the Body, Mind & Spirit. Click here to go to Kripalu.

Wakefield, RI
August 28, 2005
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, LifeForce Yoga® for the Emotional Body, All That Matters, 401 782-2126. Private Sessions available.

Seattle, WA
September 11, 2005
10:00 AM-1:00 PM Yoga to Beat the Blues! The Breath and the Body in the Treatment of Mood Disorders, 8 Limbs Yoga Centers, 508 East Pike St., 206 325-8221

Seattle, WA
September 11, 2005
2:00 PM-5:00 PM, Yoga to Beat the Blues! LifeForce Yoga® Meditation for Mood Disorders, 8 Limbs Yoga Centers 508 East Pike St., 206 325-8221

Vancouver, B.C.
September 13 - 16th , 2005
LifeForce Yoga® Training for Depression & Anxiety, Semperviva, CE credits available for Yoga Teachers. Sponsored by Nirvana School of Yoga, 604 542-0392

Vancouver, B.C.
September 16th, 2005
7:30-9:30 PM, LifeForce Yoga® to Beat the Blues! - Intro, Semperviva, Sponsored by Nirvana School of Yoga, 604 542-0392.

Vancouver, B.C.
September 17th, 2005
1:00-6:00 PM LifeForce Yoga® to Beat the Blues! - The Body and the Breath in the Treatment of Mood Disorders, Semperviva, Sponsored by Nirvana School of Yoga, 604 542-0392

Lenox, MA
September 29 - October 2, 2005
Yoga to Beat the Blues, Kripalu Center, Lenox, MA, 800 741-7353, Click here to go to Kripalu

Lenox, MA
October 20 - 24, 2005
Keynote Address, Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association Conference, Kripalu Center, 800-741-7353, Click here to go to Kripalu.

Cambridge/Boston
October 28, 2005 7:30-9:30 PM LifeForce Yoga® Training for Mood Management Intro: The Breath, The Arlington Center, 369 Mass Ave, Arlington, MA, 781 316-0282. Private Sessions Available.

Cambridge/Boston
October 29, 2005
1:00-6:00 PM LifeForce Yoga® Training for Mood Management:The Breath and The Body, The Arlington Center, 369 Mass Ave, Arlington, MA, 781 316-0282, www.arlingtoncenter.org. Private Sessions available.

Pittsburgh, PA
October 30, 2005
1:30- 4:30 PM LifeForce Yoga® to Beat the Blues! Schoolhouse Yoga, 41st & Foster (next to 40th St. Bridge), 412 401-4444, , Private Sessions available.

Las Vegas, NV
November 11 - 13, 2005
LifeForce Yoga® for Mood Management, Sherry Goldstein's Yoga Sanctuary, 702 240-7666

Austin, TX
November 18 - 20, 2005
Yoga to Beat the Blues, The Crossings, 877-944-3003

Lenox, MA
February 24 - 26, 2006
Yoga to Beat the Blues, Kripalu Center, 800-741-7353.

Austin, TX
March 3-5, 2006
Yoga to Beat the Blues, The Crossings, 877-944-3003

Lenox, MA
July 2 - 7, 2006
LifeForce Yoga® Training for Depression & Anxiety, Kripalu Center, 800-741-7353.

Austin, TX
November 3-5, 2006
Yoga to Beat the Blues, The Crossings, 877-944-3003

The calendar is updated every few weeks with new trainings, and I'm currently beginning to book events in 2006, so please check here for the most current information.

Personal Retreats

Amy will design a personal retreat in Tucson to meet your schedule and needs. In addition to daily private LifeForce Yoga® sessions with Amy and opening ritual and ceremony, retreats include:

1. Native American healing sweat lodge with Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., author of Coyote Medicine and Coyote Healing
2. Consultation with Eve Wood, M.D., author of Medicine, Mind and Meaning.
3. Daily meditations and Chi Gong, plus an Energy Session with Integrative Medicine doctor and energy healer, Ann Marie Chiasson, M.D.
4. Nutritious and delicious meals prepared for you according to your dietary restrictions.
5. Lodgings in a beautiful private guesthouse in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, just north of Tucson.

For more information, click here

Private Sessions in LifeForce Yoga®

Each session incorporates the principles of LifeForce Yoga® to invite balance into the emotional and physical body, thereby establishing and maintaining Positive Mental Health.
An initial session includes an assessment and, after the third session, a written home practice.

On-line Discussion Group: Yoga and the Emotional Body

Whether you are new to Yoga, a Yoga teacher, Yoga therapist or a psychotherapist, this forum can be a valuable resource for you. Talk with others about their experience in establishing and maintaining positive mental health through yogic techniques.
The forum is hosted by Yoga teacher Kristin Barnekov- Short.

Books: New & Recommended

The New Golden Rules: An Essential Guide to Spiritual Bliss Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. Hay House Publishing, March, 2005 151 pp.

In his book, The New Golden Rules, Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., creates four "golden rules" to aid your spiritual growth and evolution. First, Khalsa recommends finding your miracle. He lays out a program that includes regular spiritual practice, incorporating selfless service into your life and surrounding yourself with people of similar spiritual goals. According to Khalsa, once you've taken these steps, your own guiding voice will become clear. Khalsa's second rule is Listen and agree, which means paying attention to your own guiding voice, and following its lead. The third rule is Dissolve your blocks . Here, Khalsa refers to your emotional blocks and suggests ways to dissolve them through the development of forgiveness, patience, and acceptance. Again, he recommends specific practices that help you to evolve the higher ideals of love, compassion, and courage. Finally, the fourth rule is to see the other person as yourself. Khalsa argues that once you are able to see others as yourself, your relationships become more intimate, united and harmonious.

Combined with his earlier book, Meditation as Medicine, Dr. Khalsa provides a map for everyday living that can sustain your positive mental health. --Holly Ludwig/Amy Weintraub

Other Resources:

For many good articles on treatment, supplements and other issues related to depression, visit depression.about .com.

McMan's Depression and Bipolar Weekly
This is an excellent source of news and information.

International Association of Yoga Therapists: This organization maintains a vast database of Yoga research, a library, a registry of Yoga therapists and teachers, and publishes a yearly journal and a quarterly newsletter with current research and articles. If you are a health professional, a Yoga teacher or therapist, or have an interest in Yoga therapeutics, I highly encourage you to become a member.

To learn move about Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books): click on this link
To listen to Amy's audio practice CD, Breathe to Beat the Blues: click here

Blessings on recovering and maintaining positive mental health!

Amy

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