Yoga Psychology

When Autobiography of a Yogi first appeared in 1946, it was acclaimed as a landmark work in its field. The New York Times hailed it as "a rare account". Newsweek pronounced it "fascinating". The San Francisco Chronicle declared, "Yogananda presents a convincing case for yoga, and those who 'came to scoff' may remain 'to pray." Today it is still one of the most widely read and respected books ever published on the wisdom of the East.

Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga is a book for survivors, clinicians, and yoga instructors who are interested in mind/body healing. It introduces trauma-sensitive yoga, a modified approach to yoga developed in collaboration between yoga teachers and clinicians at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, led by yoga teacher David Emerson, along with medical doctor Bessel van der Kolk.

Mom and yoga teacher Sarah Ezrin offer 34 practices to find more presence, patience, and acceptance—with your child and with yourself. Each chapter highlights a yogic posture and theme and explores how it relates to parenting, including presence, boundaries, balance, and nonattachment. Chapters include prompts such as intention setting, breathwork, and journaling. Ezrin also features the stories and insights of a wide range of yoga practitioner parents whose experiences include single parenting, grandparenting, and passing on intergenerational yoga traditions.

In Eastern Body, Western Mind, chakra authority Anodea Judith has brought a fresh approach to the yoga-based Eastern chakra system, adapting it to the Western framework of Jungian psychology, somatic therapy, childhood developmental theory, and metaphysics. Illuminated with personal anecdotes and case studies, Eastern Body, Western Mind seamlessly merges the East and West, science and philosophy, and psychology and spirituality into a compelling interpretation of the chakra system and its relevance for Westerners today.

Millions of Americans know yoga as a superb form of exercise and as a potent source of calm in the midst of our stress-filled lives. Far fewer are aware of the full promise of yoga as "the way of the fully alive human being" - a 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation that fits the needs of modern Western seekers with startling precision. Now Stephen Cope, a Western-trained psychotherapist who has lived and taught for more than 10 years at the largest yoga center in America, offers this marvelously lively and irreverent "pilgrim's progress" for today's world.

Has yoga improved your health and expanded your awareness - but emotional and relationship issues continue to challenge you? Or have you found psychotherapy helpful...yet you yearn for further spiritual discovery? With Yoga & Psyche, Mariana Caplan invites you to explore these two profound domains of transformation and learn how they so effectively complement each other.

Life is busy, full of things competing for our time and attention, and it’s easy to believe that the best way to get things done is just to keep going—as fast as possible. But that just isn’t true. In fact, taking time to re-centre ourselves can have tremendous personal and professional benefits. In this concise programme, sports psychologist Dr Josephine Perry and yoga for sports specialist Lexie Williamson will guide you through tried-and-tested relaxation techniques designed especially for busy people—which, let’s face it, is all of us.

When treating a client who has suffered from interpersonal trauma - whether chronic childhood abuse or domestic violence, for example - talk therapy isn't always the most effective course. For these individuals, the trauma and its effects are so entrenched, so complex, that reducing their experience to a set of symptoms or suggesting a change in cognitive frame or behavioral pattern ignores a very basic but critical player: the body.

Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery bridges the path of healing between the psyche and the body by walking you through the sacred practice of yoga so you can release the burdens of trauma from your body and mind. Grounded within the principles of polyvagal theory, affective neuroscience, and trauma-informed care, this book will help you gain a better understanding of how our brains and bodies respond to stress and trauma and offer a self-led healing journey toward feeling more empowered, grounded, clearheaded, inspired, and at ease.

In his long-awaited book, Rewilding, Kripalu director Micah Mortali brings together yoga, mindfulness, wilderness training, and ancestral skills to create a unique guide for reigniting your primal energy - your undomesticated true self - and deepening your connection with the living earth. For hundreds of thousands of years, humans lived intimately with the earth. We were in the wild and of the wild. Today, we live mostly urban lives - and our vital wildness has gone dormant.

Presenting ways in which Restorative Yoga can contribute to healing emotional wounds, this book invites yoga teachers, therapists and practitioners to consider the psychological impact of ethnic and race-based stress and trauma. It aids in the process of uncovering, examining and healing one's own emotional wounds and offers insight into avoiding wounding or re-wounding others.

Trauma-Informed Yoga for Survivors of Sexual Assault provides a comprehensive overview of how to offer yoga to survivors of sexual assault in a safe, effective, evidence-based, and healing way. Zahabiyah A. Yamasaki, founder of Transcending Sexual Trauma through Yoga, draws on the framework of trauma-informed care and trauma-informed yoga program development and curriculum, while also weaving in personal narrative and inspiring survivor stories.

Brendon Abram combines his first-hand experience with PTSD in the field and years of teaching to offer this practical guide to bringing trauma-sensitive yoga to both clinical and studio settings. Drawing on his work with military veterans, first responders, and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, he emphasizes the importance of respecting the uniqueness of every individual and demonstrates how to use the foundational principles of yoga to create a safe experience.

Although many forms of trauma treatment rely solely on talk therapy as a means of healing, we cannot "talk out" every issue related to trauma. Indeed, trauma is stored in the body and the brain and must be treated as such. Designed with both mental health clinicians and clients in mind, Trauma-Informed Yoga offers forty-seven short, simple practices that regulate the autonomic nervous system, calm the racing mind, and center those of us living chaotic twenty-first century lives.

Drawn from Tibet's rich contemplative literature, Buddhist Meditation offers classic exercises focused on the opportunities and challenges of life; cultivating inner calm; fostering a wider perspective on oneself in relationship to others; working with negative emotions, and the highest values of the Buddhist tradition, love and compassion.

This powerful book series by Heather Dolson—a nurse, yoga instructor, and advocate for women’s liberation—dives into body wisdom, sensual empowerment, and spiritual awakening. With The Roots of Pelvic Floor Yoga and Divine Feminine Unveiled, you’ll blend ancient knowledge with modern empowerment, gaining tools to break free from conditioning and embrace your potential.

Tantra - Discovering the Power of Pre-Orgasmic Sex is a common-sense guide on how to utilize sexuality to complement a full-scope system of yoga practices. Practical techniques are provided which enable both couples and solo practitioners to utilize the sexual response to cultivate ecstatic energy to its highest levels of spiritual manifestation. Finally, here is a no-nonsense book that takes the mystery out of sexuality and its relationship to yoga and the spiritual path.

Reclaiming Life After Trauma addresses both the physical and psychological expressions of PTSD, presenting an integrative, fast-acting, evidence-based, and drug-free path to recovery. Authors Daniel Mintie, LCSW, and Julie K. Staples, PhD, begin with an overview of PTSD and the ways in which it changes our bodies and minds. They present research findings on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and yoga, giving the listener insights into how these powerful modalities can counteract and reverse the physical and mental aftereffects of trauma.

Yoga for Trauma Recovery outlines best practices for the growing body of professionals trained in both yoga and psychotherapy and addresses the theoretical foundations that tie the two fields. Uniting recent developments in our understanding of neuroscience and trauma recovery with ancient tenets of yoga philosophy and practice, this foundational text is a must-listen for those interested in the healing capacities of each modality. Listeners will come away from the book with a strong sense of how to apply theory, philosophy, and research to real-life complexities.

Among the various treatments for trauma, trauma-informed yoga stands out, rooted in an ancient practice, offering a safe, compassionate, and empowering path to recovery. This book, authored by a seasoned yoga practitioner, serves as a compassionate guide towards empowered healing, resilience, and personal growth.