Product Description

More than 4,000 years ago, the early masters of yoga made an astonishing discovery: before we can find true happiness, we must first learn how to be open to the energy of our emotions. On Yoga for Emotional Flow, Stephen Cope, psychotherapist and Senior Scholar-in-Residence at Kripalu, the largest yoga center in America, presents a life-changing strategy for "riding the wave" in even the most challenging emotional situation.

Cope details the psychology behind the difficult circumstances we create for ourselves through improper handling of our feelings, and shares the prescription for effectively relating to anger, fear, grief, joy, and others from a yogic point of view. Through breathing and visualization techniques used successfully by thousands of his students, Cope offers listeners practical tips for day-to-day emotional balance; lessons in awakening the "witness consciousness" - a nonjudgmental vantage point for welcoming emotions; steps for "clearing the field" at the end of each day, and more.

For the yogi, there are no "bad" feelings - only unskillful responses to our ever-changing emotional states. Yoga for Emotional Flow is an essential program for working with these powerful forces, and a template for a new way of being.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111889 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05
• Released on: 2006-12-28
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Unabridged, Import
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD

About the Author
Stephen Cope is a psychotherapist who studies the relationship between Western psychology and the Eastern contemplative traditions. He is currently Senior Scholar-in-Residence at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts, and the author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self and Awakening the Witness.

Customer Reviews

Not a lot new here, but worth hearing
I was a little let down by this CD. I am a fan of other things Stephen Cope has done and was expecting to be really excited by this. But there is nothing new here and it seems much more surface level than his other works (perhaps it is the spoken vs. written, but I find people like Pema Chodrun and Jack Kornfield very compelling on audio). This would make a nice introduction for someone who really has not spent much time on yoga/meditation, but is probably not for people who have read Cope's work.

Awesome!
I love this CD set. I haven't listened to the first CD yet as I just received it yesterday and went straight to the second CD which has the exercises on it. Stephen has such a nice calming voice and I was extremely relaxed after listening to it. I love how he keeps you focused on the "feeling" aspect with no judgment. Very highly recommended!

Very useful exercises along with a simple introduction to a yoga worldview
This set consists of two CDs. The first CD provides a simplified introduction to yoga thought and covers concepts such as duality, interdependence and the distinction between feeling an emotion and acting out. It also talks about the development of witness consciousness, introduces the concept of an energy body and talks about how this is related to working with emotions. The first CD also briefly discusses yoga as a physical practice and an overall life philosophy. It's a good introduction for those who know very little about yoga, but have some real curiosity about the very basic concepts.

The second CD is where the real value of this set comes in. Disc TWO begins with an exercise called the daily body scan which puts one in touch with the sensations that are occurring in the body. Since emotions are related to what is occurring in the body and awareness of changes in these sensations, the overall effect is to heighten awareness of emotions as they are expressed or held in the body.

The second exercise on this CD talks about riding an emotion as a surfer would ride a wave. It builds on exercise 1 and helps the individual to disidentify with their emotion it while fully feeling it. This causes a felt shift and perhaps a healing transformation. This often happens in therapy, so this is not exactly a foreign concept.

I particularly like the third exercise on this CD which you do before you fall asleep. It is similar to exercise 2, but it brings in the events of the day and has a very relaxing phase that quiets the nervous system through deep and relaxed breathing. Physiologically, by extending the exhalation by relaxing the abdomen and avoiding chest breathing, the parasympathetic branch (calming) of the nervous system is activated. If you don't like deep explanations, then all I can say is it will help you with problems with insomnia.

If you are interested in working with emotions in this way and would like to read further, I suggest THE POWER OF FOCUSING and/or FOCUSING and Tara Bennet-Goleman's excellent book EMOTIONAL ALCHEMY. For a truly great and comprehensive introduction to yoga, I highly recommend THE YOGA TRADITION by Georg Feurenstein. If I could rate this book a 6 I would and it is a tremendous bargain at under $30.00.