Yoga Practices in a clinical setting

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Deborah Lubetkin with a client, Lotus Mudra FACES 2015 www.yogafordepression.

1 Giving the Mind a Bone Preparing for Mindfulness Amy Weintraub, MFA, ERYT 500 LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute Yoga Practices in a clinical setting Psychologist and LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Dr. Deborah Lubetkin with a client, Lotus Mudra FACES Centering Meditation Candle Gazing (Tratak) Toning (Nada Yoga) Yogic Three-Part Breath (Dirga) Ocean-Sounding Victory (Ujjayi) Intention (Sankalpa) Smile Yoga 1

2 Mood Disorder and Meditation For people who are suffering from mood disorders, beginning a meditation practice can be especially difficult, because depression is often accompanied by a lot of negative self-talk. How Yoga Meditation Helps The Tantric tradition of nondualism provides us with a number of breathing practices and meditation techniques that offer the busy mind a method of slowing down. A Doorway In If you regularly sit, it helps to have a technique to quiet the mind s chatter so that more of your meditation is spent floating on the still pond of your mind, observing the ripples and waves of your thoughts and feelings and less on drowning in them. Giving the Mind a Bone Breathing based Meditations Alternate nostril (Nadhi Sodhana) Stair Step (Anuloma & Viloma Krama) Bellows Breath (Bhastrika) Bee Breath (Brahmari) Mudra based Meditations Imagery based Meditations Mantra based Meditations 2

Chanting Om Shown to Deactivate the Limbic System Researchers compared 15 seconds of OM (5 O; 10 m) to 15 seconds of the sound Ssssss and to 15 seconds of rest.

3 Chanting Om Shown to Deactivate the Limbic System Researchers compared 15 seconds of OM (5 O; 10 m) to 15 seconds of the sound Ssssss and to 15 seconds of rest. Significant deactivation in the amygdala as well as other emotional areas only during OM chanting Bangalore G Kalyani, et al., Neurohemodynamic correlates of OM chanting: A pilot functional magnetic resonance imaging study International Journal of Yoga Jan- Jun; 4(1): 3 6. LifeForce Yoga for Mood Disturbance Study Between times one (before the LifeForce Yoga program) and two (two weeks after learning it), participants reported: 64% decrease in total mood disturbance (POMS) 53% decrease in average depression scores (BDI) At two months, overall mood disturbance continued to drop. Bennett, S., Weintraub, A., Khalsa, S.B., Initial evaluation of the LifeForce Yoga program as a therapeutic intervention for depression, Intern. Jour Yoga Therapy, LifeForce Yoga idra improved Depression & Anxiety Bellows Breath Inhale one breath per second Median BDI went from 30 to 16 at the third study visit, representing a change in level of depression from moderate to mild mood disturbance. BAI decreased from 27 to 13, representing a change in anxiety from moderate to very low. Mankar S, Cruser da, Jordan M, Ingram J, Brown S. Effects of Utilizing Yoga Nidra on Reducing Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in a Psychiatric Population. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2012;112(8):543. Abstract C

LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute Bellows Breath - Exhale Shanmukhi Mudra

Shanmuki Mudra that accompanies Bee Breath (Brahmari) to calm her racing

4 LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute Bellows Breath - Exhale Shanmukhi Mudra Shanmukhi Mudra in a Clinical Setting Bee Breath: Calming Psychologist and LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Dr. Deborah Lubetkin teaching an anxious client suffering from anorexia the Shanmuki Mudra that accompanies Bee Breath (Brahmari) to calm her racing thoughts and focus her mind for the transition into therapy. Bee Breath (Brahmari) exhale only Chin slightly tucked Lips Closed Root of the tongue to back of throat Mudra: Shanmuki Index points to brow point Middle covers eyes Ring at edges of nostrils Pinky at edges of lips 4

Mudras as a doorway in Nerve endings in fingers speak directly to the brain We re programmed for effort-driven rewards, using our hands.

Kelly Lambert, PhD, Lifting Depression: A euroscientist s Hands-On Approach to Activating Your Brain s Healing Power Experiment Chakra Four Anahata (Heart) Tone: Yum Color:

Chakra Five Vishuddha (Throat) Tone: Hum Color: blue Padma (Lotus) Mudra Bring the hands together as in prayer.

5 Mudras as a doorway in Nerve endings in fingers speak directly to the brain We re programmed for effort-driven rewards, using our hands. Did we lose something vital to our mental health when we began pushing buttons and stopped plowing fields? Kelly Lambert, PhD, Lifting Depression: A euroscientist s Hands-On Approach to Activating Your Brain s Healing Power Experiment Chakra Four Anahata (Heart) Tone: Yum Color: green Kapota (Dove) Mudra Palms together as in prayer. Keep the base of the palms and the tips of the fingers together but cup the palms. Chakra Five Vishuddha (Throat) Tone: Hum Color: blue Padma (Lotus) Mudra Bring the hands together as in prayer. Keep the base of the palms, the little fingers and the thumbs together. Open all the other fingers wide like petals. Chakra Six Ajña (Third Eye) Tone: Om Color: violet Kali Mudra Clasp your hands together with hands cupped, hovering close to forehead without touching, and with your index finger extended forward horizontally. Elbows out to the sides. 5

Chakra Seven Sahasrara (Crown) Tone: Nnng

together with hands cupped, hovering close

index finger extended forward horizontally.

Energizing Mudra Ganesha Mudra Energizing

6 Chakra Seven Sahasrara (Crown) Tone: Nnng Color: white Kali Mudra Clasp your hands together with hands cupped, hovering close to forehead without touching, and with your index finger extended forward horizontally. Elbows out to the sides. Energizing Mudra Ganesha Mudra Energizing Mudra Brahma Mudra Calming Mudra Adhi Mudra 6

soothing and evokes feelings of comfort and ease LifeForce Yoga Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books Yoga Skills for Therapists (W.

7 Calming Mudras Dhyana Mudra Meditations Bliss Meditation Inhale: I am to the crown; Exhale: Here to the feet. (Many variations of this practice) Calming Mantras for Chakras: Ō, Ū, Ah, Ā, Ē, Mm, Hing Bhavana Image from nature, or a face that is soothing and evokes feelings of comfort and ease LifeForce Yoga Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books Yoga Skills for Therapists (W.W. Norton) Newsletter - research & news on yoga & mental health Trainings & Retreats Award-winning Yoga practice DVDs and CDs yogafordepression.com 7

Yoga and Psychotherapy. Yoga Practices in a clinical setting. How Mindfulness Helps. Mood Disorder and Meditation. LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute

Yoga and Psychotherapy. Yoga Practices in a clinical setting. How Mindfulness Helps. Mood Disorder and Meditation. LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute Meditation Meets Rumination: A Portal into Mindfulness Amy Weintraub, MFA, ERYT 500 Internal Family Systems 2012 Annual IFS Conference I Yoga and Psychotherapy Self-Study (Svadhyaya) Compassion (Karuna)