Trauma Healing in the Yoga Zone A Guide for Mental Health Professionals, Yoga Therapists and Teachers

The book describes an original model of nervous-system informed, trauma-sensitive yoga, a synthesis of classic yoga, somatic psychotherapy, and neuroscience research. It is organized around the eight stages of classic yoga practice and includes scripts of chair yoga postures, the three-part deep breath, and the Integral Yoga version of yoga nidra, for use by professionals who are not certified as yoga teachers. The book is needed for three reasons: mainstream psychotherapy has, until recently, ignored the body, a major element in the healing of trauma and other emotional and mental dysregulations. It has also omitted the wisdom from the world's great spiritual traditions, perpetuating an artificial separation between religion/spirituality and science. The field is also currently being enriched by empirical data from the field of neuropsychology that describes brain function. The profession is ready to transform and embrace a holistic model and yoga can play a significant role in that transformation. The book is primarily intended for mental health professionals and yoga therapists and teachers, both civilian and in the military. It could be of interest to professionals in related fields, such as medicine, as well as the general population of people interested in yoga and healing.