Product Description

For several decades, yoga has been a popular mainstream approach to health conscious living, and is used by those with medical disorders.
Now, following a bevy of recent research studies, yoga has exploded onto the mental health scene, and clinicians and patients alike are embracing the use of yoga to effectively help combat psychiatric disorders.

In Kundalini Yoga Meditation, Shannahoff-Khalsa—researcher, Kundalini yoga teacher for over 30 years, and worldwide authority in the field of alternative therapies for psychiatric disorders—weaves scientific insights, clinical trials, case histories, and disorder-specific techniques to explain how the ancient science of Kundalini yoga can be a useful stand-alone or supplemental treatment for psychiatric disorders.

Written for all those in the mental health profession, the book begins by laying out a number of landmark scientific studies based on Kundalini yoga, all of which have led to a new understanding of mind-body dynamics, physiological states, and ways of noninvasively altering the brain and body. Included are novel yogic concepts on rhythms of the brain, personality structure, models for the mind and consciousness, and other fundamentals to enhance our understanding of health and disease processes.

With this scientific overview in place, Shannahoff-Khalsa goes on to explore, chapter by chapter, how Kundalini yoga can be applied to the treatment of psychiatric disorders— including OCD and other anxiety disorders; major depressive disorders; bipolar disorders; addictive, impulse control, and eating disorders; insomnia and other sleep problems; chronic fatigue syndrome; ADHD and co-morbid disorders (conduct and oppositional defiant disorder); PTSD; and the abused and battered psyche. His work also illuminates the treatment of complex co-morbid disorder patients. Most importantly, each chapter includes the full set of disorder-specific meditation protocols and techniques described in complete detail—64 in total. Photographs help illustrate poses for easy simulation. The final section of the book covers the application of Kundalini yoga for individuals, couples, and groups in therapy, and includes an epilogue that discussed the future of psychiatry.

Mind-body medicine is at the forefront of current mental health research and treatment, and the introduction of this ancient technology of the mind into the equation is a major breakthrough in our understanding of improved treatment for a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. Kundalini Yoga Meditation skillfully introduces this exciting new frontier, and equips psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, and other clinicians with the tools and techniques necessary to incorporate yogic meditation into their practices, and bring hope and healing to their clients.

color and b/w illustrations.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104870 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 404 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780393704754
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
Immediately practical and applicable. (Keeping in Touch: The United States Association for Body Psychotherapy Newsletter) REVIEW: A valuable and accessible tool for the psychotherapist and yoga teacher. (LifeForce Yoga News and Research)

Review
A valuable and accessible tool for the psychotherapist and yoga teacher.

About the Author
David Shannahoff-Khalsa is the Director of The Research Group for Mind-Body Dynamics, Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California, San Diego. He has published widely in scientific journals and routinely presents at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meetings. He is a world authority in yogic medicine, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and a leader in the field of alternative therapies for psychiatric disorders.

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Customer Reviews

Each nostril experiences the world differently
This astonishing insight and the fact that the amount of air flowing through each nostril shifts several times daily (an ultradian rhythm) was made thousands of years ago by yogic practitioners, particularly those who practiced Kundalini yoga. Over 30 years ago, David Shannahof-Khalsa studied the techniques that arose from these insights, including forced nasal-cycle breathing, and has devoted his life to the study of how nasal cycle breathing and other yogic techniques can be used to cope with some of the most recalcitrant mental health and medical problems, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD,) addictive behaviors, chronic anxiety, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome (CSF) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD,) among many others. The present book is the culmination of Shannahoff-Khalsa's studies and discoveries and is must reading for all mental health practitioners, as well as primary care physicians and intelligent laypeople.
Shannahoff-Khalsa has performed an outstanding and valuable job in bridging Eastern wisdom with Western science in a book that is well written and loaded with practical and important advice.

This actually works, to my surprise
I tried this method as a self-treatment for OCD, from which I had suffered for quite a few years (about 26 years, actually), and which was getting worse. The breathing method prescribed is quite arduous and I was not sure that it would work for me. Actually, to be blunt, I was quite skeptical that it would work for anyone, as I am not a believer in any Eastern religion (or other religion) and am generally inclined to believe that the benefits of meditation, yoga, and like practices are overblown, even when significant. However, I was desperate, and I had read Mr. Shannahoff-Khalsa's scientific articles, which appeared to have been conducted according to sound scientific protocols and to give significant support to the hypothesis that certain kinds of breathing methods can treat OCD. I actually found that the method worked -- my obsessions diminished and eventually went away. I do not take any prescription medications, and I actually do not even practice the method anymore (I don't need to). Of course, I am simply one person, and it is possible that things would have changed for me, anyway, with or without this method. However, nothing had worked before this except, to some extent, Saint John's Wort, which I do still take but which had never cured (merely alleviated) my obsessions. I also worked on psychological techniques I learned from Steven Phillipson's website, which I also highly recommend. Perhaps my recovery was a consequence of one of these or a combination, not of the pranayama breathing; perhaps it was merely something that would have happened by itself. But I don't think so, and I would urge anyone who is suffering as I did to try this. You have very little to lose and a lot to gain. I myself saw results right away.

Magnificent Tool for Healing and Understanding
As a patient diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Shannahoff-Khalsa's book has offered me a fantastic means to improve strength, clarity, and resiliency. His emphasis on technique and careful documentation provide yoga practitioners of all levels with a smooth and steady introduction to increasing one's powers of healing while also expanding consciousness. It would be wonderful if all health professionals and counselors utilized these methods to complement their work -- or even as a primary method of healing and prevention.

Shannahoff-Khalsa has worked with researchers and practitioners to share the Kundalini practice with insight and compassion. If you're involved in the world of healing in any capacity -- whether as a patient, psychology professional, medical student, or friend/family of a loved one -- it is incredibly worthwhile to share the knowledge of this book. It has helped me make enormous progress, and I trust it can do so for others.