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LifeForce Yoga® for Depression Research & News
From Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT (500),
author, Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books)
Dear Friends,
Colleagues & Students,
It is only to the extent that we expose ourselves
To that which annihilates
That we discover within ourselves
That which is indestructible.
Author Unknown
Sometimes we need to stand in the fire, facing the
burning bush within, in order to know the truth of
who we really are. The practices we do on the mat
and on the meditation cushion allow us, with equal
parts of equanimity and self-awareness, to dance
like Nataraja (dancing Shiva), in the ring of fire,
burning away what is no longer necessary in our
lives.
How often do you find yourself clinging to
relationships or ideas or old stories about your
life or outmoded strategies for getting what you
want? It’s the clinging that becomes the real source
of the suffering. When you can observe, with
compassion, those relationships, ideas, stories or
strategies, you free yourself from their grip. Yoga,
when practiced with attention to breath and
sensation, cultivates that observing mind, so that
we may find ourselves finally facing that which we
fear will annihilate, only to discover that which is
eternal and indestructible.
If this doesn’t sound like a prescription for
happiness, well, it isn’t. And it is. What I’m
talking about here are not yogic strategies for
feeling good, like pranayama and kriya practices or
meditation techniques. I’m talking about the
darkness that may be exposed when we do these
practices. Sometimes when the layers of protection
in which we’ve armored ourselves begin to dissolve,
we feel more—both joy and pain. Over and over with
my students and in my own explorations on the mat, I
have seen that if we can invite the darker emotions
“in for tea” as my mentor Richard Miller would say,
we can begin to free ourselves of their power over
us. “When you invite your depression in for tea,"
says Richard, "you will discover that you are not
the depression, but the one who welcomes it in for
tea.”
Ultimately, this work is a prescription for
happiness. But we may first have to annihilate that
which is false and no longer serving us, a sometimes
painful but always rewarding process, to arrive at
the eternal and indestructible truth that we are
whole and perfect, just as we are. To truly believe
that, as my friend Stephen Cope says, “Everything is
already okay.”
Welcome to the 9th issue of LifeForce Yoga® for
Depression News!
In this issue, we’ll be reporting current
research and news of interest about yoga
and mental health. You can see the schedule
of events and workshops and trainings that I’ll be
offering this fall, and I’ll tell you briefly about
three books that have inspired me this
summer. Please feel free to share this information
with your friends, colleagues, clients and students.
NEWS: NASW-AZ approval
for LifeForce Yoga® Tucson Retreat & Training
After last year’s successful January Retreat &
Training in Tucson, we were able to quickly receive
NASW approval for 20 CEU’s, which means that in
addition to social workers, the Arizona Licensing
Board will also grant continuing education credit
for counselors and other mental health
professionals.
In addition, this year’s retreat offers 42 hours of
direct contact instruction credit with Yoga
Alliance.
Sign up for the January retreat and Training in
Tucson has begun, and there are only a handful of
private rooms left, although we still have plenty of
doubles.
For more information, you can read the brochure on-
line and sign-up that way as well by visiting
www.yogafordepression.com If you have questions
about the retreat, please write or call LifeForce Yoga® Program Manager, Rose Kress at
rose@amyweintraub.com or 520 349-2644.
NEWS: LifeForce Yoga® Therapy
In-depth interview with Amy On-line
Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., conducted a thorough
interview with me about LifeForce Yoga® and its
application to those suffering from depression
and/or anxiety. It appears in the current issue of
Yoga Therapy in Practice, the quarterly publication
of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
You can read it on line by clicking on the following
link.
http://www.iayt.org/publications/ytip/au
g06/weintraub.htm
NEWS: Stories of Transformation
Share Your Yoga Story
I'm adding my story of how yoga changed my life to
an upcoming, fundraising book meant to inspire new
and experienced yogis alike, and you can too. Please
visit the website for "Stories from the Yogic Heart"
at
http:/ /www.yogastories.net/guidelines/, and
see sample stories and guidelines for how to add
your transformational yoga story. You can choose a
charity where you want your honorarium to go.
NEWS
Green Yoga
Would you like to “foster ecological consciousness,
reverence and action within the yoga community”?
Would you like to support the 40 Green Yoga studios
and other individual yogis in their efforts to be a
positive force for change in the world? Green Yoga
is just two years young, but they’ve already had an
impact on our community. You can help by joining as
an individual member (you receive their excellent
newsletter by mail and notification of events and
conferences). Or, if you’re a studio, you might
consider going green, along with the 40 other
studios in their pilot program. The second
conference on Green Yoga will take place May 18-20,
2007 in California. May 18 will focus on studios,
and an extended Green Yoga Teacher Leadership
Retreat will run from May 15-23. To find out more
about the Green Yoga Association and to join, visit
their web site:
www.greenyog a.org.
RESEARCH: Yogic Breathing
Slow Pranayama Breathing and its Effects
The authors of a research paper published in Medical
Hypotheses in April, 2006, propose a hypothesis that
explains the physiological process of how long
pranayama breathing works to decrease oxygen
consumption, decrease heart rate, decrease blood
pressure, as well as increase theta wave amplitude
in EEG recordings, increase parasympathetic activity
accompanied by the experience of alertness and
reinvigoration. Voluntary slow deep breathing
functionally resets the autonomic nervous system,
say the authors, synchronizing neural elements in
the heart, lungs, limbic system, and cortex. For
more information, please see Med Hypotheses.
2006;67(3):566- 571. Epub 2006 Apr 18.
RESEARCH: Yoga and Anxiety
Yoga Intervention Reduces Anxiety
Researchers at the Integral Health Clinic (IHC) at
the Department of Physiology of All India Institute
of Medical Sciences were able to show significant
changes, within a ten day period, in stress levels
in participants in a yoga lifestyle training
program. According to a study published in the Jan-
March 2006 issue of the Indian Journal of
Physiological Pharmacology, both state and trait
anxiety were significantly reduced. Among the
subjects significant improvement was seen in the
anxiety levels of patients of hypertension, coronary
artery disease, obesity, cervical spondylitis and
those with psychiatric disorders. The training
program consisted of asanas, pranayama, relaxation
techniques, group support, individualized advice,
and lectures and films on philosophy of yoga, the
place of yoga in daily life, meditation, stress
management, nutrition, and knowledge about the
illness. Observations suggest that a short
educational program for lifestyle modification and
stress management leads to remarkable reduction in
the anxiety scores within a period of 10 days.
RESEARCH
Antidepressant Treatment and Suicide Risk: Children
versus Adults
In a study published in the August, 06 issue of
Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers at
Columbia University in New York evaluated the risk
of suicide among patients following discharge after
hospitalization for depression.
Included were 263 children and adolescents who
attempted suicide, and 8 who completed suicide.
Corresponding numbers among adults were 621 and 86.
Each case of attempted or completed suicide was
matched to as many as five controls by age, sex,
race or ethnicity, state of residence, date of
hospital discharge, substance use disorder, recent
suicide attempt, and recent treatment with
psychotropic drugs other than antidepressants.
Results reinforce previous analyses that show
increased suicide attempts and completed suicides
among children and adolescents treated with
antidepressant for depression. Adults do not appear
to share this increased risk.
CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS
LifeForce Yoga® to Beat the Blues – 5 Days at Kripalu
For the first time, by popular request, I will be
offering LifeForce Yoga® to Beat the Blues as
a 5-day program at Kripalu. There are so many
practices and space-clearing processes to lift the
mood, a weekend hardly seems long enough. I’ll be
leading Breathe to Beat the Blues over the
weekend of September 8-10, then the 5-day program
from September 10-15th. CEU’s available. For
information about both programs, please visit
http ://www.kripalu.org/presenter/28/
Home to Rhode Island to Teach
I began teaching yoga in Newport, Rhode Island in
1991, so it’s always fun to see old friends when I
teach at All That Matters in Wakefield, RI.
I’ll be teaching a new program called “Brain
Changing Yoga” on September 22-23, 2006, “LifeForce Yoga® for Trauma” on Sunday morning, September 24th,
and a program on LifeForce Yoga® Therapy for
professionals on Sunday afternoon. For information
call 401-782-2126 or visit
www.allthatma tters.com
Midwest LifeForce Yoga®
Do folks in Nebraska consider Grand Rapids the
Midwest? In 2006, it’s the most Midwest place I’m
teaching, unless you count Pittsburgh. I’ll be
teaching at Expressions of Grace Yoga on
October 7-9th. For more information call 616-361-
8589 or visit
www .expressionsofgraceyoga.com.
Psychotherapy Networker Symposium West
San Francisco, October 19-22, 2006
Keynoters include Mary Pipher, Dan Siegel, Jean
Houston, Susan Johnson, & Sam Keen. Scheduled
throughout the weekend are more than 70 workshops
with other luminaries in the field of psychotherapy.
I will be presenting an all-day pre-conference
workshop on October 19th, and teaching morning yoga
and afternoon meditation every day throughout the
Symposium.
www.p sychotherapynetworker.org
Texas LifeForce Yoga® to Beat the Blues
I love to teach at The Crossings in the Texas
Hill Country, near Austin. I’ll be there again for a
weekend program on November 3 – 5th. For more
information call 877-944-3003 or visit
www.thecrossingsaustin.com.
LifeForce Yoga® in Phoenix
I’ll be back in Arizona, teaching a LifeForce Yoga®
workshop in Phoenix at Yoga Youphoria on Saturday,
November 11th. For more information call 480 706-
5400 or visit www.www.yogayou
phoria.com.
Pittsburgh LifeForce Yoga® Weekend in November
I’ll be back in Pittsburgh, where I spent my
childhood, visiting family and friends and
celebrating Thanksgiving. Schoolhouse Yoga is
one of my favorite places to teach, and I’ll do so
again November 17th – 19th. Friday, Saturday and
Sunday morning are for all levels, including
beginners. Sunday afternoon is a LifeForce Yoga®
Therapy workshop for mental health professionals and
yoga teachers. For more information, visit
www.schoolhouseyoga.com/workshops
REVIEWS
THE WISDOM OF YOGA: A Seekers Guide to Extraordinary
Living by Stephen Cope (Bantam Books, 2006).
The 3rd century Indian sage Patanjali penned The
Yoga Sutras, a sophisticated understanding of human
psychological development and spiritual potential
that was most likely the culmination of wisdom
transmitted orally between teacher and student for
thousands of years. Patanjali may have been the
first cognitive therapist. He understood that in
confronting reality directly—“a persistant, direct
and authentic investigation of the experience of
being human,” as Stephen Cope explains it—we have
the potential to see more clearly through the fog of
ignorance and to remain fully awake human beings.
Although there have been many valuable commentaries
of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras in the centuries since
their composition, including Chip Hartranft’s, the
English translation of which Cope quotes in full in
an appendix at the end of this book, there is
nothing quite like The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seekers
Guide to Extraordinary Living. Here the focus is
not on Patanjali’s text, but every idea is informed
by it.
As an early editor of this work, I had the
opportunity to read its evolution, draft by draft.
At each sitting with his manuscript, I found new
inspiration. Cope's in-house Bantam Books editor
worked with him on the final version, stripping away
the inessential, so the book is infinitely readable,
lucid, and inspiring.
In the Prologue, we are introduced to six
contemporary seekers, including Cope himself, with
whom we will travel as each one struggles with the
human affliction that prevents her or him from full
awakening. Throughout the book, Cope interweaves a
deep understanding of Western psychology and Eastern
wisdom, even as he entertains with stories that
bring his characters to life in the reader’s mind.
As we read how these contemporary seekers face the
challenges of lives plagued by seemingly insatiable
needs, we begin to understand The Yoga Sutras at the
deepest, most experiential level. “Secondhand
answers have no power in them,” says Cope in the
Prologue. The skillful use of sometimes disturbing
stories that dig deep for psychological and
spiritual truth, may rock the foundations of our
perceived realities. In so doing, The Wisdom of Yoga
comes closer to a firsthand experience of these
ancient wisdom teachings than any ordinary
commentary on The Yoga Sutras.
The Wisdom of Yoga is an accessible twenty- first
century classic, destined to join the centuries-
long dialogue about the wisdom teachings contained
in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
LETTING GO OF THE PERSON YOU USED TO BE: Lessons on
Change, Loss, and Spiritual Transformation by Lama
Surya Das (Broadway Books, 2003)
As always, the author of Awakening the Buddha
Within, the classic best-selling book on living an
awakened life, brings your life and mine into bas
relief against the wisdom teachings of Tibetan
Buddhism. Even those long on a spiritual path will
find new twists and turns that open the heart and
free the mind to receive lessons in leading a
happier life. There is much wisdom here, beginning
and ending with love. The reader taking her first
baby steps onto the path, as well the seasoned yogi
or meditator, will identify with Lama Surya Das’s
stories of personal loss and letting go. A brilliant
storyteller and lucid writer, Das offers an engaging
narrative that helps heal, even as it entertains.
Each Chapter suggests a practice to assist the
reader on the road to letting go and “healing our
wounded hearts.”
He shares his own small losses that seemed big at
the time, like, when just back from India, he lost
most of his clothes and his favorite saffron shirt
in a Woodstock Laundromat one Saturday night, while
he was down the road chanting.
He tells the story of a deep love lost, unmanifest
in the world but fully alive in the heart. From this
personal tale of the loss of an important
relationship, he says, “I learned how to hold on
tight when you can, and to let go light when you
must.”
There are stories about the painful letting go in
divorce and death and lessons about meeting grief
and loss, without numbing out. Das looks at the
hardest questions—how to stay open and trusting when
you’ve been betrayed; how to be a hero in the midst
of fear. “Heroes aren’t afraid of being afraid,” he
says. “They don’t run from their fears.” And he
reminds us that “Generosity of spirit is part of
heroism; holding yourself back can impose all
varieties of mind-made limitations.”
Das quotes from his teachers, from the Buddha, and
from the holders of wisdom in every religion and
culture—Schopenhauer, Teresa of Avila, Jewish and
Christian mystics, and from ordinary people—his
students, his friends and his colleagues.
When, by the end, Das tells us to “Meet each day
like a renewed life,” we are more than willing to
follow his lead. We trust him, because he has shared
so much of his own journey to daily renewal.
NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION: A Language of Life by
Marshall B Rosenberg (Puddledancer Press, 2003)
In the circles in which I travel, there has lately
been a buzz about the benefits of nonviolent
communication, called by its practitioners, NVC. One
of the most conscious businesses I know, Yoga on
High in Columbus, Ohio, was founded seven years ago
by three women who continue to operate it and remain
true spiritual friends, as they manage personnel and
schedules and planning for future development with
the use of NVC. Their success caught my attention
when I taught there in April, so I bought
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by
Marshall B. Rosenberg.
Rosenberg is a clinical psychologist who travels
throughout the world mediating conflict. His book is
full of anecdotes about teachers and students and
principals and communities and families at war with
each other, who learn to communicate with greater
compassion. During his years as a clinician, he
studied the words we use to get what we want. He
found that often those words are tinged by judgment
or demand. From his studies, he cognized an approach
to using language that “leads us to give from the
heart, connecting us with ourselves and with each
other in a way that allows our natural compassion to
flourish.”
Through antecdote and exercises, Rosenberg instructs
us in the four principles of NVC: 1) observe without
evaluating 2) express true feeling 3) take
responsibility for the feeling 4) form a specific
request, using positive language. He demonstrates
how these four steps help us receive what we are
truly asking for from another. Most of us would like
to be more conscious and compassionate in our
relationships, and we have learned the value of
making “I” statements and of not blaming. However
NVC takes this consciousness several steps further.
Rosenberg quotes the 20th Century Indian sage
Krishnamurti, “Observing without evaluating is the
highest form of human intelligence.” Yes, and it may
be the hardest. It is true spiritual practice. I
can’t tell you if it works, because it’s not a
practice that can be done alone on the yoga mat. I
hope to find NVC partners willing to practice with
me.
RESOURCES
McMan's Depression and Bipolar Weekly
In his excellent on-line newsletter, editor/writer
John McManamy reports on current research,
particularly related to pharmaceuticals. However, he
also keeps readers in the know about complementary
treatments, new books and other resources. John is
working on a book about bipolar disorder. You can
subscribe by emailing mcman@mcmanweb.com and put
"Subscribe" in the heading and your email address in
the body.
www.mcmanweb.com
International Association of Yoga Therapists
This organization maintains a vast database of Yoga
research, a library, publishes a yearly journal, and
a tri-annual newsletter with current research and
articles. In addition, IAYT maintains a searchable
online member database, which folks can use to
locate a Yoga therapist/teacher in their local area.
(They currently do not do any verification of
training and experience.) 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.
www.iayt.org
RESOURCES
Yoga for Depression
To learn move about
Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books)
Blessings on recovering and maintaining your positive mental health!
Amy
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