Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth [Hardcover]

David Shannahoff-Khalsa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2007

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

Immediately practical and applicable. (Keeping in Touch: The United States Association for Body Psychotherapy Newsletter)

About the Author

David Shannahoff-Khalsa is the Director of The Research Group for Mind-Body Dynamics at the BioCircuits Institute, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and an affiliate of the Center for Chronobiology, UCSD. He is also a yogic therapist at the Center for Wellness and Personal Growth in the Executive Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry, UCSD. He has published widely in scientific journals and has written three books Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth; Kundalini Yoga Meditation for Complex Psychiatric Disorders: Techniques Specific for the Psychoses, Personality, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders; and Psychophysiological States: The Ultradian Dynamics of Mind-Body Interactions. He is a research scientist, world authority in yogic medicine, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and a leader in the field of alternative therapies for psychiatric disorders whose advice has been sought by the Pentagon and also the National Research Council Committee on Techniques to Enhance Human Performance.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 404 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (January 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393704750
• ISBN-13: 978-0393704754
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Shannahoff-Khalsa is the Director of The Research Group for Mind-Body Dynamics at the BioCircuits Institute, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and an affiliate of the Center for Chronobiology, UCSD. He is also a yogic therapist at the Center for Wellness and Personal Growth in the Executive Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry, UCSD. Prior to joining UCSD in 1994 he spent 23 years at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, first working on the building blocks of the genetic code, and later pioneering studies in the neurosciences that have led to the discovery of a novel step in the evolution of the nervous system that gives new insights to mind-body rhythms and their control. He has published widely in scientific journals and has written three books Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth; Kundalini Yoga Meditation for Complex Psychiatric Disorders: Techniques Specific for the Psychoses, Personality, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders; and Psychophysiological States: The Ultradian Dynamics of Mind-Body Interactions). He is a research scientist, world authority in yogic medicine, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and a leader in the field of alternative therapies for psychiatric disorders whose advice has been sought by the Pentagon and also the National Research Council Committee on Techniques to Enhance Human Performance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Each nostril experiences the world differently, February 15, 2007

By 

Sheldon Hendler "Sheldon S. Hendler, Ph.D., M.D." (La Jolla, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth (Hardcover)

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.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This actually works, to my surprise, September 2, 2007

By 

amorteur (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth (Hardcover)

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.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Tool for Healing and Understanding, February 10, 2007

By 

Student of Theory and Practice (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth (Hardcover)

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.