Yoga Practices Giving the Mind a in a clinical setting...

LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute

©2013 Amy Weintraubwww.yogafordepression.com 1

FACES 2015

www.yogafordepression.com

Giving the Mind a

Bone—Preparing for

Mindfulness

Amy Weintraub, MFA, ERYT 500


Yoga Practices

in a clinical setting

Psychologist and LifeForce Yoga® Practitioner Dr. Deborah Lubetkin with a client, Lotus Mudra

Centering Meditation

�Candle Gazing (Tratak)

�Toning (Nada Yoga)

�Yogic Three-Part Breath (Dirga)

�Ocean-Sounding Victory (Ujjayi)

� Intention (Sankalpa)

�Smile Yoga



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



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. 2012 Jan-Jun; 4(1): 3–6.

10

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, 2008.

� http://www.yogafordepression.com/IJYT-2008-Bennett.pdf

LifeForce Yoga (idra improved

Depression & Anxiety

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 C19.

�

Bellows Breath – Inhaleone breath per second



Bellows Breath - Exhale Shanmukhi Mudra

Shanmukhi Mudra in a

Clinical Setting

Psychologist and LifeForce Yoga® Practitioner Dr. Deborah Lubetkin teaching an anxious client suffering from anorexia the ShanmukiMudra that accompanies Bee Breath (Brahmari) to calm her racing thoughts and focus her mind for the transition into therapy.

Bee Breath: Calming

�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



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

LifeForce Yoga Chakra Clearing

Meditation - Energizing

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.





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



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

Yoga Practices Giving the Mind a in a clinical setting...

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