Yoga Medicine

Americanasana (review essay on history of yoga in America)

by Jared Farmer

Special attention given to Mark Singleton's YOGA BODY, Stefanie Syman's THE SUBTLE BODY, and Robert Love's THE GREAT OOM.

Reflexiones en torno a la complementariedad terapéutica entre usuarios del Yoga en Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mitológicas XXI, pp 23-45

by Maria Mercedes Saizar

Complexity Science and Adult Education: The Role of Trauma in Nurses' Embodied Learning

by Ann Swartz

Dissertation, Penn State University, 2009

ABSTRACT
Every day nurses work in environments that expose them to trauma and they move through their... more ABSTRACT
Every day nurses work in environments that expose them to trauma and they move through their professional space as embodied creatures with their own histories of trauma. Because trauma changes our bodies in multiple ways, these diverse, changed and changing embodied selves are the people who come to class when nurses engage in higher education. From Adult Education emerging interests in several discourses are present to inform this picture: complexity science and education, embodied learning, neuroscience, and trauma. Although the discourses have intersecting theoretical underpinnings, they are not yet interconnecting in explicit ways.
This mixed-methods, primarily qualitative research study grounded in a complexity science theoretical framework sought to understand how RN-BS clinical students learned through their bodies, how they formed new patterns of connection, and how these patterns related trauma. It examined, retrospectively, the learning that occurred for a group of 16 RN-BS students who took two courses in health assessment and complex clinical problems, using a pedagogy that included experiential anatomy, yoga trance dance, mindfulness exercises, reflective journaling, and clinical storytelling that attended to body experiencing. Course content incorporated an ethological neurobiological model of human development and trauma and a complexity science informed perspective of nursing and healthcare.
Outcomes were examined as new patterns of connection into the contexts of personal and professional lives. Findings revealed the ubiquitous presence of trauma in nurses’ clinical learning. The trauma arises from education and socialization processes and the paradoxes of hi-tech healthcare. Embodied connection with self emerged, branching into new patterns of connection as new personal / professional knowledge and actions.

The Impact of a Short-Term Iyengar Yoga Program on the Health and Well-Being of Physically Inactive Older Adults

by Lily O'Hara

Published in International Journal of Yoga Therapy

Background: With the current challenge of rapidly aging populations, practices such as yoga may help older adults stay... more Background: With the current challenge of rapidly aging populations, practices such as yoga may help older adults stay physically active, healthy, and fulfilled.

Methods: The impact of an 8-week Iyengar yoga program on the holistic health and well-being of physically inactive people aged 55 years and over was assessed. Thirty-eight older adults (mean age 73.21 ± 8.38 years; 19 intervention, 19 control) engaged in either twice-weekly yoga classes or continued their usual daily routines. Physical health measures were muscle strength, active range of motion, respiratory function (FEV1), resting blood pressure, and immune function (salivary IgA and lysozyme). Self-perceived general, physical, mental, spiritual, and social health and well-being were assessed with the Life’s Odyssey Questionnaire and the SF12v2™ Health Survey.

Results: Muscle strength, active range of motion, physical well-being, and aspects of mental well-being (emotional well-being and self-care) improved significantly in the yoga group (p < .05). Median changes in most of these variables were also significantly different from those in the control group.

Conclusions: Participation in Iyengar yoga programs by older people is beneficial for health and well-being, and greater availability of such programs could improve quality of life.

Secret Healing, Rejuvenation, and Longevity Techniques of Ancient India: The Techniques of Somakaya, Sanjivani, Kayakalpa, Navakhandasiddhi, Rasayana, and Pranarasayana by David L. Spess

by David L. Spess

The Techniques of Somakaya, Sanjivani, Kayakalpa, Navakhandasiddhi, Rasayana, and Pranarasayana by David L. Spess

The human body innately and instinctually has basic rhythms that control its autonomic functions. These functions... more The human body innately and instinctually has basic rhythms that control its autonomic functions. These functions purposely are not accessible to the conscious mind. Yet, it is precisely these inaccessible functions that control aging, healing, and rejuvenation of the physical body. It is not impossible that the expression of DNA within single or groups of cells can be consciously controlled along with the manipulation of hormones, specific enzymes, and protein synthesis, mitochondrial enhancement, as well as energy exchange to promote healing, rejuvenation and increased longevity. In this paper we will discuss the secret techniques of Somakaya, Sanjivani, Kayakalpa, Navakhandasiddhi, Rasayana, and Pranarasayana.