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Hi everyone,

We've created our own "event" on Facebook. Just log in and search for Clnical Yoga Intensive. Find us, friend us . . . all that. Actually it helps because then more people who are interested will be able to find us. Helping people to better health by using therapeutic yoga is still something that is being used by a very tiny sliver of the population. We're trying to change that, so thanks for your help!

Bethany and Stewart
Happy New Year 2011

Sun Salutation

The pauses allow you to see each step in the succession of poses and examine which muscle groups are being stretched.

Yoga an important tool for healing

The Clinical Yoga Intensive Course is designed for serious practitioners and teachers who want to use yoga to bring complete balance to the body. At one level yoga works with the structure of the body: kinesiology, joint mobility, muscle toning and so on. The course will give you an understanding of which yoga postures to use to assist clients with specific structural issues. Structure, however, is just the gateway to helping your client achieve more complete health. Working primarily with posture and breath it is possible to address a great number of underlying causes of disease. These can be divided into categories (respiratory, back pain, mental conditions, heart, etc.) The course addresses how to use yoga therapy for people with specific conditions. The best part: the type of yoga being utilized in this course is designed to be accessible to all patients, regardless of physical condition.

Breath is the Bridge

Breath is the bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, the voluntary and involuntary functions, or, in general, the body and the mind.

The respiratory system is both voluntary and involuntary. Using the voluntary control we can change the involuntary functions.

The objectives of yogic breathing practices are 1) to bring into action all the lobes of the lungs for full utilisation, 2) to normalise the breathing rate, and 3) to make breathing uniform, continuous and rhythmic.

Pranayama (yogic breathing techniques) and asana (yogic postures and movements) are utilized to regularise the breathing by using two principles: 1) increase and decrease in the breathing rate and 2) developing awareness of breathing through the movements of different parts of the body.

Sri Vivekananda

Two quotes from the founder of the Vivekananda Kendra, the organization that developed the SVYASA Yoga University where our programs are held.

All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.
Swami Vivekananda

All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.
Swami Vivekananda

The first step to fun

The first step to fun is relaxation. What tires you is anxiety and ambition for tomorrow. The anger and hatred of yesterday are also clogging our mind. In the same way feverishness pulls down our enthusiasm. In deep relaxation, you will find everything funny. Life becomes a game!

by Sri Sri Ravishankar

Breathing Over the Holidays

I was talking with Haresh who is organizing yoga trainings in Florida. We were discussing the benefits of different Pranayama techniques, particularly sectional breathing.

I think, in western-derived physical activities, the only time we use our lungs fully is when we are doing aerobic excercises. Sectional breathing pranayama teaches us to use all three parts of the lungs at a resting heart rate. This excercise engenders deep relaxation, centering, and peace of mind. We could all use that!

I would like to remind everyone how important it is to take time out to breath. Especially with the additional excitement (and sometimes) stress of the holiday season.

I've attached a PDF guide to sectional breathing.  To download it just click here.  This is just one of the many techniques that will be covered in our Clinical Yoga Intensive Course in India this summer.  It is a lot easier to learn when you are sitting in person with someone who can demonstrate and make corrections in your technique.

Enjoy!
Bethany

Dates Set for 2011

We've established the dates for the 2011 Clinical Yoga Intensive

Airport Pick up Bangalore, India: 25 - 26 June, 2011
Orientation: 27 June, 2011
Clinical Rounds and Yoga Intensive Workshop: 28 June - 7 July, 2011
End of Program/Departures: 8 - 9 July, 2011

Recent Yoga Conference and Workshop

I'm very excited about our upcoming trip to India.  Last month I attended yoga workshops led by Dr. Nagrathna and Meera Rao, as part of the recent yoga conference in Orlando, Florida, organized by SVYASA.

The workshops were outstanding.  It was exciting to share this workshop experience with other therapists from around the country.  Meera Rao provided us guidance for working with cancer patients based on her extensive experience as a yoga therapist for patients at Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.  She stressed the importance of flexibility on the part of the practitioner--treating each patient on an individual basis.  She showed us exercises that would be easy for patients to perform, even those severely depleted by chemotherapy.

Dr. Nagrathna shared her wisdom as a physician and yoga therapist and really gave us a feel for how the classic yogic texts inform the basis of the practices.  It was inspiring to hear about the amazing results that she has had with treating many seriously ill patients with yoga therapy over the years.

Dr. Nagrathna is one of the lead supervisors at the center outside Bangalore, India, where we will be doing clinical rounds during our Clinical Yoga Intensive.  She showed us a video of a stroke patient who was unable to walk when she entered the clinic program.  By the end of ten days of supervised yoga therapy she was able to walk upright through the halls.  

I look forward to leading our Clinical Yoga Intensive participants through the same process of learning and inspiration during our upcoming trip.

Dr. Bethany Bechtel

Clinical Yoga Intensive meshes with latest research

We just had a visit here in the US from our friend and colleague Naveen.  Drs. Shirley Telles and Naveen Vishveshwariah are in the forefront of clinical yoga research.  The results of these scientific and medical studies are applied in the practical course we make available to health care practitioners.  Follow our blog and we'll keep you up to date on the exciting opportunities, course updates, travel plans and more.

Regards,
Dr. Bethany S. Bechtel, AP, PhD
Stewart J. Thomas