I’m taking a break from my full life in Canada to vacation in the lush and very sunny, Costa Rica. Through my travels here, I’ve met many interesting and provocative people. A case in point is one lazy afternoon, I was sitting at a picnic table in the heart of Sabana Park, the largest urban park near San Jose. I was minding my own business and switching my attention back and forth between a lively game of men’s soccer, and admiring a school aged boy flying his kite, thoroughly enjoying them both. The moment came when the attention switching was interrupted when 2 young people approached me gingerly at the table. They wanted to talk about a meditation course coming up in a few days. They suggested the technique being taught would help to heal depression, alcohol and drug addiction and psychological trauma. They said too it was being actively researched in America. My ears really perked up when I heard all of this. And why not? It was in line with the work I was already doing back home, teaching Yoga and practicing therapy with people struggling to overcome the effects of trauma and addiction. How perfect this moment was! “The Universe is so smart!”, I thought. A 3rd fellow joined us, and we continued our spirited conversation about the value of attending the upcoming course.

What was of particular interest was the 2 young men at the table were both former drug addicts, who said they used this technique to help them get off illicit drugs. Interesting. Before I could fully commit to the course however, there were a few things that needed to be worked out, like a translation service from Spanish to English, and transportation to another community in the San Jose area where the course was being held. As our conversation began to wind down, we agreed to keep in touch via e-mail about the possibiity that I would attend. As I worked through the logistical details, I also decided to check out online the organization the young people spoke of so highly. Through it all, I could feel myself getting more and more excited about the possibility of learning a new researched practice to support the alleviation of trauma and addiction.

As I researched the organization, I learned ‘The Art of Living’ was founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in 1982. It’s a global organization that teaches a meditation technique that came to the founder in a meditation. The Sudarshan Kriya was made up of 3 breathing practices, Ujayi, Bastrika, and Kaptabhati, all sequenced together and practiced in a cyclical rhythm. Frankly, it sounded quite intense to me. Wouldn’t it overwhelm someone who wasn’t yet stable themself? Hmm. But I put my wondering on hold in favor of continuing on with my online exploration. I learned too that in addition to teaching the technique, the organization did service work in struggling communities around the world. I was also able to confirm what I’d heard from my young friends, that the technique was being actively researched in America for psychological trauma.

As I continued with my research, I learned there were people who said they benefited from the technique. Tauma survivors reported feeling more relaxed, having a calmer mind, and no longer experiening nightmares as a result of practicing the technique. Some said the technique felt like hyperventilation and that this led to altered states of consciousness. Now, there’s nothing wrong with altering consciousness, but some claimed to have had a harmful adverse reactions in the course of altering consciousness through the practice. This news stopped me in my tracks. My ears perked up again. Yoga isn’t supposed to do us harm. Yes, it’s going to change how we experience ourselves and how we see the world, but a shift in perception or experience isn’t necessarily the same thing as bringing on harm. Hmm. Others reported when they were part of the organization they felt as though they’d been indoctrinated into having to revere the guru. Hmm, again. There were people who left the organization saying they believed it was a cult, and I discovered undermining language to describe the founder himself. Of course, nasty things get said about founders all the time, but all of this gave me pause. It really saddened me and deflated my enthusiasm for the course. And the technique itself sounded so outside of the careful and gentle approach we take to meditation, and Yoga for that matter, here at psychologicalhealingandyoga.com. Besides, there’s no one here to revere, except for the Guru within. But I digress . . . Who to believe? What to do? What was my body telling me?

To make a long story short, in the end I listened to my body and stepped away from involving myself with a practice that sounded as intense as this one, when people reported to having been harmed by it, and when the founder was spoken of in disparaging terms. Better safe than sorry as ‘they’ say. I just didn’t want to take a chance with my mind in a new country, with a different language, and on reports that didn’t instill confidence in either the technique or the organization. Maybe I’m a big chicken? Maybe I have no sense of adventure? And maybe I value my stable mind, and am willing to protect it. Anyways, at the end of the day I decided to explore more of this beautiful country I’m visiting for just a few more days. Pura vida!

One last thing, as a side note it’s very intersting where our curiosity and open heart can take us as we travel through life. We need discernment to help us navigate our decisions, to stay safe and out of trouble. Furthermore, who can we trust with our precious mind? Eventhough there are many wonderful teachers out there, how do we know when we’ve found one? This is a great topic for a future post! If there’s a moral to this tale it would be something like – Explore, learn and grow, and be careful too from whom you learn and practice. We’re not supposed to loose our mind to a guru, we’re supposed to work with a guru as a mirror to our own Teacher within.

Until next time, take care.

In healing,

Gloria

PS In case you’re wondering what “pura vida” means, it has many meanings to the Ticos, or Costa Ricans. It can mean hello, awesome, goodbye, all is well, just to name a few.

Your breath is always there with you. There’s nothing to buy, no place to get it from, no special clothes to put on. You can tap into it at any moment. It’s better than a chemical substance or acting out compulsively to shift how you feel inside, and without any negative side effects to boot. All that breathing through your belly will cost you is your time, your attention, and your patience. And if you don’t think you have much of the latter, it’ll help you to cultivate it, with each rhythmic breath that is breathed in the practice.

Belly breathing is done when you allow your breath to move in and out of your belly with a soft, focused attention. It can be done lying down on the floor or sitting up in a chair. It’s a popular practice with those who want to enhance their connection to their breath, to detoxify at a cellular level, to learn to relax and to deepen their connection to the Stillness within.

It’s also a practice that is particularly important for those who have experienced psychological trauma or who are recovering from addiction. It’s deeply relaxing, and helps to create a feeling of psychological safety inside. And besides, breathing through the belly in a slow and rhythmic way simply feels good to the bodymind. This is reason enough to practice.

You’d need nothing in particular to get started. No special outfit or fashionable water bottle (not that there’s anything wrong with either). Just the willingness to travel inward and be present to your breath in your body.

Would you like to give it a go and see what it’s like to belly breathe? If you do, then here’s what you can do. If you have a Yoga mat, consider lying it down in a favorite spot where you can be alone with yourself without distraction. If you don’t have a mat, then laying down a blanket on the floor would work just fine. You can gather up a foam block or a pillow and put it beneath your head, that would be okay too. You might even want to cover yourself with a blanket. Once you’ve got everything together, then click on the link below. It’ll take you to a special (unedited) audio recording, close to 15 minutes in length, that’ll guide you through a belly breathing practice. So, if you’re up for it, do what you need to do to get ready, and I’ll meet you on your mat. Note: This is a slow moving practice. Please give it your undivided attention -and stay safe.

Belly Breathing1

At the end of your practice, consider taking a moment to reflect on what the experience was like for you. How did it feel to be breathing through your belly? Where did your mind go? How did you feel after the practice was over? I welcome any thoughts you may have about belly breathing in general, or the audio practice in particular. Reflecting on how a practice makes you feel is as important a part of a Yoga practice as is the practice itself.

* * * * *

If you love your body, it’ll love you back with good health. If you love your breath, it’ll love you back with inner peace.  If you love your breath as it moves in, and through and out of your body, and do so with the same devotion you’d give to a beloved friend, you’ll have started a love affair that’ll only deepen over time.

In healing,

Gloria

What would happen if you were to do an experiment?   An experiment that would explore what it might be like to step out of an identity you’ve been tending for a long time (without knowing it) and into a new one?  In fact how about doing the experiment right now?  If you’re okay with it allow yourself to close your eyes, pause, exhale deeply, and take a moment to imagine what it might look like if you were to no longer be living with the pain you’re living with now?  How would you feel?  What would you be doing with your time?  Who would you be hanging out with? What would matter in your life now?  Who could you become?  It’s all worth imagining, as doing so could be the beginning of a whole new life and a whole new you.

For many of us however, the thought of change can feel oh so frightening.  It can keep us trapped where we are, even when we know we don’t want to be here anymore.   I’m going to let you in on a little secret:   To change is safe.  It’s built into the design of our being to move forward in life.  Some would say it’s why we’re here on this planet to begin with, to learn how to flow with the energy of life that is within us and all around us all the time.  It’s not change itself, but the resistance to change, that can prove to be so threatening to our health and well-being.  It stimulates suffering and stress in a way that can compromise our health overtime, not to mention prevent us from being present to life in the here and now.

So, where are you at with the thought of moving out of familiar pain?  Do you resist it?  If so, why might that be?  Big questions.  I welcome your thoughts below.

In healing,

Gloria

Other highlights of the symposium included a keynote address by Dean Ornish, MD who spoke about the effects of lifestyle in the treatment of heart disease.  He was inspiring, eloquent and really drove home the power the individual to have an effect on the course of their health through conscious choices about diet, exercise, spiritual practice, and loving intimate relationships.  Bessel van der Kolk, MD lectured on trauma, Yoga and the neurobiology of self-regulation, which I loved for a few reasons.  I’ve enjoyed each and every one of his lectures to date, I do trauma therapy work myself, and because Dr. van der Kolk’s pioneering work to demonstrate the viability of Yoga in the treatment of psychological trauma has been both inspiring and validating for me.  It has validated the efficacy of a gentle and subjective approach to Yoga in the treatment of trauma, an approach that mirrors my own for the past 15 years.  And it has inspired me to keep doing what I do to help others to overcome the often debilitating effects of psychological trauma.

The symposium offered lectures from leading researchers about the use of Yoga in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, shortness of breath in the elderly, breast and ovarian cancer, to name a few.   It offered poster presentations on 40 projects from around North America where Yoga was used effectively in the treatment of a health and mental health condition for both adults and youth.

Overall, it felt like a professional home being at this symposium.  The vegetarian food was delicious, the conversations fascinating, and care and kindness that was put into the production of the event was palpable.  I don’t think I’ve ever attended a symposium where there was so much felt kindness and warmth in the air.

Yoga really is on its way to becoming an accepted therapy in mainstream healthcare.  Kudos to the International Association of Yoga Therapists who sponsored this very successful event.

Overall, this was an excellent training experience.  It deepened and broadened the Yoga and psychotherapy work that I do.  Now I have an additional and proven way that is rooted in the Yoga tradition and researched by modern science of meeting people in the moment who are struggling with the effects of psychological trauma, and of paving the psychological way for their return to the Harmony within.

There is only one decision you need to make;

either you are working at your Freedom,

or you have accepted your Bondage.

Robert Adams

May 2010 bring you all you need to support you in your healing journey.

Warmly,

Gloria

If you bring forth that which is within you,

then that which is within you will be your salvation.

If you do not bring forth that which is within you,

then that which is within you will destroy you.

The Gnostic Gospels

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved, but hope for the patience to win my freedom.”

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet/Saint

Ever wondered if there is anything you can do to grow out of the psychological conditions labelled ‘addict’ and ‘trauma survivor’?  Well, there are.  Eventhough each carry the burden of feeling trapped in a world of unending pain and suffering, each also hold the potential for relief and transformational change.  The question is how ready and how willing are you to do what you can do for yourself, right now, to move out from where you are and into a new condition of mind and body?  It’s a big question.  And for some one that rouses a genuine fear of the unknown.

What would happen if you stepped out of the warm emotional nest of an old identity, one you’ve been tending for a very long time, even if it’s been a painful one, and into an identity you’ve never experienced before?  What would happen to the comfort of the familiar pain?  Where would it go?  More importantly, how would you feel without it?  Exposed?  Frightened?  Relieved?  How would you identify yourself when the words ‘addict’ or ‘trauma survivor’ no longer apply?  Then what?  Who would you be then?

The good news is the movement out of a comfortable emotional nest of an old identity and into a new one is a natural process.  It can be a process that unfolds at a pace that is comfortable for you, where you can do what you need to do to take care of yourself, in the now, while you grow steadily into a new you.

What would this process look like?

• Creating safety and preventing relaspe, and getting clean time under your belt.  This lays the foundation for the emotional work you may know you need to do.
• Learning to regulate your emotional experience in order to be in control of it once again.  This will help you to feel safe through the healing process, and to prepare yourself for future emotional work.
• Creating a container for your felt experience through your body to learn to be in the present moment as it is, unfettered by wishful thinking about the past or future.  The present moment is your point of power for healing and forward movement.
• Enlisting the support of compassionate others who are both walking the same path as you, and who have walked this path before and  know the way through.

Together, this approach will meet  you where you’re at to enhance your power to change by working with, and not against, your natural healing instincts.  It will help you to grow into the person you already know you are deep inside.  Stay tuned for details about an innovative new program being designed to support you through this life enhancing process.