“You, more than anyone else, Deserve your love and affection."
Buddha

"That we may have come to see ourselves as separate and shut off from others is the central dilemma that we methodically dismantle in our Yoga practice because it is from this false sense of separation that we create so much of our own suffering and contribute to the suffering around us."
Donna Farhi, Bringing Yoga to Life: The Everday Practice of Enlightened Living

Message from Amy:
If you are taking your first baby steps onto a yoga mat, treating yourself with love and affection, as the Buddha suggests, isn't always easy, especially in the beginning, when you see how stiff you really are, or how you've been refusing to listen to your body's messages for a long time. But like yoga asanas, loving oneself is a practice, cultivated over time. As you practice with attention to the sensations in your body and to your breath, there is a natural blossoming of love and affection. It does, I promise you, become easier to treat yourself with the love and affection you deserve.

What eventually happens on the mat, as Donna Farhi so beautifully suggests, is a falling away of the sense of a separate self. As we begin to feel the unity that is yoga in our embodied practice on the mat-- that energy that is flowing through every cell and that flows through all beings--we see our own lives as sacred. We have no choice but to treat what is sacred with love and affection.

But it begins simply and sometimes unexpectedly, as my able assistant, Rose Kress, also the president of the Arizona Yoga Association, writes in her "Message from the President" in the current AYA Newsletter:

"I teach in a couple of gyms and everyday I see people working hard to perfect a yoga pose, or their abs, or their tennis swing – sometimes people come to yoga so that they can enhance their performance on the tennis court or in a bicycle tournament. But sooner or later a practitioner will begin to feel the “other” effects of yoga.

"Yoga used as a tool for overall well being can ease the pain of a breakup, can support a couple’s journey from miscommunication to communication, or help a person to function at peak performance in a crisis.

"Some of my students in the gym have come to my class in the hopes of regaining the flexibility that they once had. These same students have begun to tell me stories of using pranayama in the doctor’s office to lower their anxiety. They have also told me of releasing anger issues around situations at work. More importantly, they speak of how they have grown to love and accept themselves as they are. The physical act of yoga has brought these students the tools to encounter the reality of change with ease and grace. This is the gift of yoga."
 

Another way to offer yourself love and affection is to choose good summer reading--books that stimulate your mind and open your heart; books that provide valuable wisdom on the road to healing mind, body, and spirit, and living a happier life. In that light, we have reviewed several new books or reissues by Swami Radha, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Henry Emmons, M.D., Russil Paul and others.

Blessings and welcome to the 8th issue of LifeForce Yoga® for Depression Research & News! In this issue, in addition to the book reviews, you’ll find an energizing practice suggestion for lifting the mood, current research and news with a bit of commentary, and my current schedule of workshops and trainings.
 

In this Issue:
Practice
Research
News
Schedule of Workshops & Trainings
Reviews
Resources

RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT
We are currently conducting a study evaluating the effects of the LifeForce Yoga® program, which involves yogic breathing exercises (pranayama and kriya), mantra chanting, mudra (hand gestures), yoga postures (asanas), visualizations (bhavana), relaxation (yoga nidra) and meditation. We will be asking those taking the program to volunarily participate in an evaluation of the potential benefits of the LifeForce Yoga® program, for managing mood. Most reports of yoga’s benefits in this area are anecdotal. If you are attending a LifeForce Yoga® workshop in the near future, your participation is important to help us obtain an empirically valid foundation for the use of yoga as a complementary treatment for depression and mood disorders.

The evaluation will consist of the completion of a paper questionnaire at three times, once upon arrival in the workshop, once by e-mail two weeks upon completion of the workshop, and once, by e-mail, two months after the completion of the workshop. The questionnaire will focus on mood and general well-being. Completion of the all of the questionnaires will take less than 10 minutes on each occasion.

Tucson Retreat/Training RETREAT & TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT
Our SECOND annual LifeForce Yoga® Healing Intensive in Tucson, which offers CE credit for Yoga Teachers and mental health professionals (NASW/AZ pending) and is open to all, including beginners, will be held January 6 - 11th, 2007, the best time to come to sunny Tucson. We are beginning to accept reservations now. I am grateful to Susan and the folks at the Redemptorist Renewal Center at Picture Rocks in the Tucson Mountains (120 acres adjoining Saguaro National Park, watched over my Hohokam petroglyphs) for inviting us to their outstanding and affordable retreat center in prime time. Please click here to read more about the retreat and to register on-line. The early bird discount applies until October 1st.