Synopses & Reviews
Given the popularity of yoga in this day and age, you probably know about the benefits it can have on both the mind and body. An increase in positive mood, a decrease in stress, better sleep, and fewer aches and pains are just a few. Maybe youand#8217;ve been busy, and have been meaning to try itand#151;or maybe you have tried it but still find it difficult to fit into your schedule.
The most common excuse people give for not exercising is that they have no time. Between work, family, school, and social obligations, many of us are overbooked and scrambling to get things done in our daily lives. But what if there were quick, easy yoga exercises that could be integrated into your daily routine?
Yoga Sparks offers 108 quick, practical, and accessible yoga exercises that you can practice anytime, anywhereand#151;no matter how busy or stressful your schedule. In this book, you will learn how yoga in and#147;bite-sizeand#8221; pieces can become a healthy habit that can relieve emotional stress, increase your physical strength and flexibility, and help you to lead a happier, healthier life.
Whether practicing relaxed breathing while in traffic, sitting with proper alignment while working at your computer, or even balancing on one leg while waiting in line, the step-by-step, breath-by-breath practices in this book will help you bring the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of yoga practice into your daily life.
Review
“McGonigal explores the complex picture of chronic pain, recognizing the many dimensions that contribute to one’s suffering. In simple, easy-to-follow steps, she takes you on a journey, connecting your mind and body through the yoga experience. This book is very much in line with all that the American Chronic Pain Association teaches. I recommend that you relax, renew yourself, and enjoy your adventure through
Yoga for Pain Relief.”
-Penney Cowan, executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association
Review
“McGonigal explores the complex picture of chronic pain, recognizing the many dimensions that contribute to one’s suffering. In simple, easy-to-follow steps, she takes you on a journey, connecting your mind and body through the yoga experience. This book is very much in line with all that the American Chronic Pain Association teaches. I recommend that you relax, renew yourself, and enjoy your adventure through
Yoga for Pain Relief.”
-Penney Cowan, executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association
“Yoga for Pain Relief provides accurate, easily understood principles of self-care in a user-friendly format. The book offers professionals immediate activities for clinical adaptation with the best, most up-to-date evidence. The person in pain can celebrate the artful bridging of ancient wisdom with the genius of the author in creating an easy-to-follow, personalized road map that is sure to sustain hope and allow him or her to remember joy!”
—Matthew J. Taylor, PT, Ph.D., RYT, president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and founder and owner of the Dynamic Systems Rehabilitation Clinic
Review
“Kelly McGonigal’s Yoga for Pain Relief is easily one of the best books I have ever read on yoga therapy, and includes plenty of research and practical tips for dealing with pain. This book is perfect for anyone who lives with any kind of physical or emotional pain, as well as for those working with these conditions professionally, including both conventional and alternative health care providers and yoga teachers. The book has heart and soul, is both kind and informative, and recognizes the individual experience without being reductionist or prescriptive. This book will be required reading for all of the students in my yoga therapy training program.”
—Molly Lannon Kenny, MS-CCC, founder and director of The Samarya Center, an internationally recognized training institute for yoga and yoga therapy
Review
“Yoga for Pain Relief will help you to find your ease, courage, and ability to transform your chronic pain. Unlike many other pain treatments, McGonigal’s book illuminates a path free of adverse side effects that is synergistic with your present pain therapy. Yoga for Pain Relief is a jewel, and its brilliance and clarity will touch the heart of healing within.”
—Julie Good, MD, DABMA, clinical assistant professor of pediatric pain and symptom management at Stanford University
Review
“Yoga for Pain Relief is an empowering toolkit for people living with pain or illness.”
—Halle Tecco, founder and executive director of Yoga Bear, a nonprofit organization that teaches yoga to cancer patients and survivors
Review
“In this important book, McGonigal elegantly and simply empowers us, through science and ancient practices, to compassionately transform pain and suffering into ever-present joy blossoming in our hearts. A gift for us all!”
—Nischala Joy Devi, international yoga teacher and author of The Healing Path of Yoga and The Secret Power of Yoga
Review
“Yoga for Pain Relief is an epic book for an epic condition. McGonigal is a quintessential teacher and a brilliant author. Highly recommended for healthcare providers, yoga teachers, or anyone in pain.” —Larry Payne, Ph.D., director of the Yoga Therapy Rx Program at Loyola Marymount University and coauthor of Yoga for Dummies, Yoga Rx, and The Business of Teaching Yoga
Review
“Whether you are in pain now or you treat those who are, Yoga for Pain Relief will broaden your view of suffering and change your life. McGonigal outlines a clear, step-by-step method, evidence-based yet ancient, to reconnect with the wisdom and joy that is your birthright—the source of wellness that is so much bigger than your pain.”
—Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT 500, is founder of LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute and author of Yoga for Depression
Review
“In this book, McGonigal provides insightful pathways that can lead those with chronic pain toward a healthier life. Highly recommended for those suffering with chronic pain as well as healthcare practitioners and yoga teachers who work with people in pain.”
—Shoosh Lettick Crotzer, director of Mobility Limited and Enhancement, Inc., and author of Yoga for Fibromyalgia
Review
and#147;This is a wonderful collection of micro-practices designed to elicit the meaning of the teachings [of yoga]. Who would want more? Pause, feel the truth, be glad. Keep it simple, short, and frequent.and#8221;
and#151;Erich Schiffmann, author of YOGA: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness
and#160;
Review
and#147;With a lighthearted understanding and compassion, we are offered 108 easy practices to and#145;sparkand#8217; our remembering, connecting us to our spiritual source, each and every moment.and#8221;
and#151;Nischala Joy Devi, international teacher and author of The Healing Path of Yoga and The Secret Power of Yoga
Review
and#147;Krucoff's
Yoga Sparks is a simple, powerful tool for you to move from and#145;doingand#8217; yoga to and#145;beingand#8217; yoga. For too long in the West we've separated yoga as something we do, when by practicing Sparks you will discover that yoga is in fact what you are, moment to moment. My sense is you will soon be creating your own Sparks as you delight in your realization that 108 is really only just a good start! Let your fire burn brighter with
Yoga Sparks!and#8221;
and#151;Matthew J. Taylor, PT, PhD, ERYT, former president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and the and#145;mind-bodyand#8217; rehab guy bridging traditional rehab with yoga
Review
and#147;
Yoga Sparks is the perfect book for anyone interested in a practical way to incorporate yoga into his or her daily busy life. Krucoff goes beyond the poses and really provides a guide to experiencing all of the benefits that yoga has to offer for improving health and well-being.and#8221;
and#151;Adam Perlman, MD, associate vice president for health and wellness for the Duke University Health System and executive director at Duke Integrative Medicine
Review
and#147;Yoga is popularly described as a practice for on and off the mat, but how many people actually integrate and transfer their insights from yoga to ordinary moments? Our reactivity easily eclipses our ease and calm when triggered by the unexpected, or worse, the unwanted details of life. If yoga is to become more than merely exercise, we need to inhabit mini moments with awareness and find ways to reconnect ourselves in body and mind. In
Yoga Sparks, Krucoff offers profound wisdom in sparkling bites that can easily be applied while moving through our day, enhancing our capacity for mindful living. She teaches us that our busy life is not in the way of our yoga practice, and in fact the way to live yogically is through the everyday moments of our life.and#8221;
and#151;Sarah Powers, author of Insight Yoga
Review
and#147;It is so easy to go from zero to sixty and stay in high gear until you break down.
Yoga Sparks generously offers a way for you to make a U-turn: quickies that translate into quick ease of posture, concentration, joy, and presence. Krucoffand#8217;s sensitive sparks jump off the page and inject moments of repose into your days, nights, and life.and#8221;
and#151;Jill Miller, ERYT, creator of Yoga Tune Upand#174; and the Therapy Ball Systemand#8482;
Review
"The secret to yoga's healing power is to practice every day, even if briefly. That's easier said than done, of course, which is why
Yoga Sparksand#151;with dozens of quick and easy practicesand#151;is so valuable. Just a few of them, done regularly, could improve your health and well-being."
and#151;Timothy McCall, MD, medical editor for Yoga Journal and author of Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing
Review
"Carol Krucoff's
Yoga Sparks are unpretentious poses, breathing practices, meditations, and straightforward guiding principles that are easily engaged, but which can initiate powerful fires of inspiration within us. Simple yet powerful, these practices are designed to uncover our inner wisdom and inspire wonder, awe, delight, true purpose, and meaning into our lives. Weave Krucoffand#8217;s offering into your hands, and you, too, will feel sparks of inspiration awakening in your life."
and#160;and#151;Richard Miller, PhD, author of Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing, founder and president of the Integrative Restoration Institute, clinical psychologist, meditation teacher, and yoga scholar
Review
Losing a loved one to death pushes us into a series of feelings, beliefs, and behaviors that we try strongly to resist. These are painful and scary, and we fear that these experiences of our brokenness may never end. Antonio Sausys has taken [my] tasks of mourning and shows how the simple practices of yoga can help us fulfill these tasks and bring us the re-integration and relief that we seek. Practicing the wisdom of this ancient mind-body discipline can help the mourner begin to integrate [his or her] experiences after loss and to re-establish a sense of wholeness.”
J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP, author of Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy and Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies
Review
Provides in-depth understanding of psychosomatic aspects of grief and guides us through somatopsychic methods of yoga that empower us to regain our health, inner peace, and happiness.”
Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, chairman of ICYER at Ananda Ashram, Pondicherry, India, and honorary international advisor to the International Association of Yoga Therapists, USA, and various Gitananda yoga associations worldwide
Review
"With compassion and clarity, Antonio Sausys brings dignity to the grieving process as he guides you, step-by-step, through loss to transformation and rebirth. Herein lies an important road map for the difficult rite of passage that we all must face at some point in our lives.”
Anodea Judith, PhD, author of Wheels of Life: Eastern Body, Western Mind
Review
In this book, Antonio shows us his skillfulness as a master teacher and skilled yoga therapist who offers us practical and accessible tools to meet the natural process of grieving. His years of experience in working with grief through his personal life and work with students shines through in this very pragmatic manual for how to heal through grief, not by leaving grief behind, but by moving all the way through it with love, kindness, and compassion for ourselves, and for what we have lost.”
Richard Miller, PhD, psychologist, meditation teacher of nondualism, and author of The iRest Program for Healing PTSD and Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga
Review
A loving approach to transforming grief and loss. Antonios work is East-West wisdom at its finest.”
Larry Payne, PhD, founder of Samata International Yoga and Health Institute; coauthor of Yoga for Dummies and Yoga Rx and the Business of Teaching Yoga; and director at Yoga Therapy Rx™ and Prime of Life Yoga™
Review
The heart of yoga is here in Antonio Sausys
Yoga for Grief Relief. Sausys understands grief firsthand, as well as yogas capacity to help us heal from the inside out. Trust Sausys deeply intuitive, compassionate, and authoritative voice as he helps you release the bodily effects of grief, guides changes in your perception, and opens you to greater self-awareness. I fully endorse this practice and this book!”
Amy Weintraub, founding director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute and author of Yoga for Depression and Yoga Skills for Therapists
Synopsis
Based on the latest advances in mind-body research and the wisdom of the yoga tradition, Yoga for Pain Relief offers both a new way of thinking about the causes of suffering and practical strategies for ending it. Readers will learn how past experiences with injury, illness, and other stressful life events change the relationship between body and mind and how negative mind-body habits actually create and reinforce pain.
Far from being a simple book of postures, this guide presents a complete mind-body program for healing chronic pain. Readers learn deep relaxation practices drawn from the yogic tradition, and work toward incorporating those practices into their daily lives. The book also helps readers address feelings of anger or betrayal that may be keeping them from making peace with their bodies. Author Kelly McGonigal presents two forms of physical yoga exercises: moving with the breath and holding poses and stretches. Black-and-white photographs clarify the yoga postures.
Synopsis
It's no secret that yoga increases muscular flexibility and strength, but you may not know that yoga is a proven treatment for back pain, knee pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic pain conditions. Yoga also helps to ease the stress, anxiety, and depression that can create and reinforce pain, making you feel more comfortable in both your mind and your body.
Written by a yoga instructor and former chronic pain sufferer, Yoga for Pain Relief is packed with gentle postures and practical strategies for ending pain. This complete mind-body tool kit for healing also includes deep relaxation practices drawn from the yogic tradition and psychological techniques for helping you make peace with your body and dissolve pain. As the ancient practice of yoga releases the hold that chronic pain has over your life, you will begin to feel more like yourself again.
Synopsis
In Yoga for Pain Relief, Stanford psychology instructor and prominent yoga teacher Kelly McGonigal shows readers how the wisdom of yoga and the latest skills drawn from mind-body research can end the physical and emotional suffering of chronic pain.
Synopsis
Yoga Sparks offers 108 quick, practical, and accessible yoga exercises that you can practice anytime, anywhere. In this book, you will learn how yoga in and#147;bite-sizeand#8221; pieces can become a healthy habit that can relieve emotional stress, increase your physical strength and flexibility, and help you to lead a happier, healthier life.
Synopsis
When people grieve, they experience profound pain in both body and mind. Some may experience depression, fatigue, anxiety, or even chronic pain. For readers whove experienced loss (and have lost their way) Yoga for Grief Relief combines over 100 illustrations of gentle yogic poses and the latest research in psychophysiology and neuroscience to help them get back on the path to wellness. Written by the founder of Yoga for Health, the step-by-step exercises in this book can be tailored to the readers personal needs, and are designed to help them work through their loss and begin on the journey to self-knowledge and enlightenment.
Synopsis
If youve experienced loss, you may feel intense emotional or even physical pain. In fact, its not uncommon for grieving people to experience depression, anxiety, fatigue, and a variety of other physical, mental, and spiritual symptoms. If youve tried other ways to move beyond your loss but have yet to find relief, you may be surprised to discover the transformative effects of yoga.
Yoga for Grief Relief combines over 100 illustrations of gentle yogic poses and the power of psychophysiology and neuroscience to help you recapture a true sense of well-being. Youll also find breathing exercises, cleansing techniques, and self-relaxation tips to help you work through your loss and begin on the journey to self-knowledge and re-identification. At its core, yoga is about accepting change. If you are open to viewing your loss as an opportunity for growth, this book will help transform your grief with gentle clarity and awareness.
To find out more, visit yogaforgriefrelief.com
About the Author
Antonio Sausys, MA, IGT, CMT, RYT, is a somatic psychotherapist and yoga instructor specializing in one-on-one yoga therapy for people with chronic and acute medical conditions, as well as emotional imbalance. He studied with yoga masters and teachers such as Indra Devi, Swami Maitreyananda, and Larry Payne. He has continued his professional development with training in integrative grief therapy with Lyn Prashant, foot reflexology, Swedish therapeutic massage, and Reiki. Antonio teaches and lectures periodically at the University of California, Berkeley; at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. He is a member of the World Yoga Council, the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. He is the founder and executive director of Yoga for Healththe International Yoga Therapy Conference, and television host for
YogiViews. For more information, visit yogaforgriefrelief.com.
The author thanks his freelance editor, Elliott Vogel, for his creative assistance on Yoga for Grief Relief. Vogel is a freelance writer and editor. A student of yoga for over ten years, Vogels journey studying the philosophy and practice of yoga originated under the tutelage of the books author, Antonio Sausys. He currently resides in Mill Valley, CA.
Foreword writer Lyn Prashant, PhD, FT, IGT, SYVC, is a somatic thanatologist, certified grief counselor, massage therapist, yoga instructor, author, and international presenter. She is the director and founder of Degriefing® (Integrative Grief Therapy) and the Institute of Somatic Thanatology.
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