Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty with academic work in school because they are inattentive and disruptive as a result of the core systems of their disorder. In addition to behavioral challenges frequently associated with ADHD, these students may also have deficits in working memory, planning and organization compound their problem and often lead to poor academic outcomes. Meditation has been shown to increase attention and executive functioning in a number of populations, including students with ADHD. Using an interrupted time series experimental design, 20 5th grade students with ADHD were taught Samatha meditation, and data were collected on active academic engagement in math instruction and percentage of math problems solved correctly pre- and post-training. When compared to the pre-intervention control condition, the Samatha meditation training resulted in statistically and academically significant increases in active student engagement in math instruction and percentage of math problems solved correctly. This study provides further proof of concept of the utility of Samatha meditation in enhancing academic performance in math in this population. These results suggest that Samatha meditation may enable students with ADHD to better focus their attention on academic instruction, to increase their awareness of their mind wandering during academic instruction, and to remember what they should be doing in the present moment.
BackgroundSleep problems are a major risk factor for the emergence of depression in adolescence. The aim of this study was to test whether an intervention for improving sleep habits could prevent the emergence of depression, and improve well-being and cardiovascular indices amongst at-risk adolescents.
Methods/Design
A longitudinal randomised controlled trial (RCT) is being conducted across Victorian Secondary Schools in Melbourne, Australia. Adolescents (aged 12–17 years) were defined as at-risk for depression if they reported high levels of anxiety and sleep problems on in-school screening questionnaires and had no prior history of depression (assessed by clinical diagnostic interview). Eligible participants were randomised into either a sleep improvement intervention (based on cognitive behavioral and mindfulness principles) or an active control condition teaching study skills. Both programs consisted of seven 90 minute-long sessions over seven weeks. All participants were required to complete a battery of mood and sleep questionnaires, seven-days of actigraphy, and sleep diary entry at pre- and post-intervention. Participants also completed a cardiovascular assessment and two days of saliva collection at pre-intervention. Participants will repeat all assessments at two-year follow up (ongoing).
Discussion
This will be the first efficacy trial of a selective group-based sleep intervention for the prevention of depression in an adolescent community sample. If effective, the program could be disseminated in schools and greatly improve health outcomes for anxious adolescents.
BackgroundSleep problems are a major risk factor for the emergence of depression in adolescence. The aim of this study was to test whether an intervention for improving sleep habits could prevent the emergence of depression, and improve well-being and cardiovascular indices amongst at-risk adolescents.
Methods/Design
A longitudinal randomised controlled trial (RCT) is being conducted across Victorian Secondary Schools in Melbourne, Australia. Adolescents (aged 12–17 years) were defined as at-risk for depression if they reported high levels of anxiety and sleep problems on in-school screening questionnaires and had no prior history of depression (assessed by clinical diagnostic interview). Eligible participants were randomised into either a sleep improvement intervention (based on cognitive behavioral and mindfulness principles) or an active control condition teaching study skills. Both programs consisted of seven 90 minute-long sessions over seven weeks. All participants were required to complete a battery of mood and sleep questionnaires, seven-days of actigraphy, and sleep diary entry at pre- and post-intervention. Participants also completed a cardiovascular assessment and two days of saliva collection at pre-intervention. Participants will repeat all assessments at two-year follow up (ongoing).
Discussion
This will be the first efficacy trial of a selective group-based sleep intervention for the prevention of depression in an adolescent community sample. If effective, the program could be disseminated in schools and greatly improve health outcomes for anxious adolescents.
Laura Rendón is a scholar of national stature, known for her research on students of color and first-generation college students, and on the factors that promote and impede student success.The motivation for the quest that Laura Rendón shares in this book was the realization that she, along with many educators, had lost sight of the deeper, relationship-centered essence of education, and lost touch with the fine balance between educating for academics and educating for life.
Her purpose is to reconnect readers with the original impulse that led them to become educators; and to help them rediscover, with her, their passion for teaching and learning in the service of others and for the well being of our society.
She offers a transformative vision of education that emphasizes the harmonic, complementary relationship between the sentir of intuition and the inner life and the pensar of intellectualism and the pursuit of scholarship; between teaching and learning; formal knowledge and wisdom; and between Western and non-Western ways of knowing. In the process she develops a pedagogy that encompasses wholeness, multiculturalism, and contemplative practice, that helps students transcend limiting views about themselves; fosters high expectations, and helps students to become social change agents.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) skill includes the ability to encode, interpret, and reason about social and emotional information. In two related studies, we examined the relationship between children's SEL skill, their ability to regulate their own behavior, and the competence of their social interactions. Study 1 included 158 typically developing children ages 4 to 14 years. Study 2 included 126 clinic-referred children ages 5 to 17 years. Findings from both studies supported the conclusion that SEL skill includes three broad factors: awareness of nonverbal cues; the ability to interpret social meaning through theory of mind, empathy, and pragmatic language; and the ability to reason about social problems. Furthermore, the better children perform on measures of SEL skill and the more their parents and teachers report that children can regulate their behavior, the more competent their social interactions.
How is spirituality, which refers to the emotional connection to the transcendent, related to compassion and to altruistic behavior towards strangers? Are the effects of spirituality different from those of religiosity, which refers to living according to the rules and rituals of religion? We hypothesized that, even though correlated, spirituality and religiosity would have different associations with compassion and altruistic behavior. The first two studies documented that more spiritual individuals experience greater compassion, and that this effect was specific to spirituality and could not be explained by religiosity. Because compassion has the capacity to motivate people to transcend selfish motives and act in altruistic fashion towards strangers, we reasoned that spirituality (but not religiosity) would predict altruistic behavior and that this link would be explained, in part, by compassion. Indeed, Studies 3, 4, and 5 found that more spiritual individuals behaved more altruistically in economic choice and decision-making tasks, and that the tendency of spiritual individuals to feel greater compassion mediated the relationship between spirituality and altruistic behavior. In contrast, more religious participants did not consistently feel more compassion nor behave more altruistically. Together, these findings help clarify why spirituality produces more prosocial behavior.
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What can a speech reveal about someone's state? We tested the idea that greater stress reactivity would relate to lower linguistic cognitive complexity while speaking. In Study 1, we tested whether heart rate and emotional stress reactivity to a stressful discussion would relate to lower linguistic complexity. In Studies 2 and 3, we tested whether a greater cortisol response to a standardized stressful task including a speech (Trier Social Stress Test) would be linked to speaking with less linguistic complexity during the task. We found evidence that measures of stress responsivity (emotional and physiological) and chronic stress are tied to variability in the cognitive complexity of speech. Taken together, these results provide evidence that our individual experiences of stress or "stress signatures"-how our body and mind react to stress both in the moment and over the longer term-are linked to how complex our speech under stress.
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Social-emotional competence--it is a critical part of every child's school success, and just like any academic subject, children need instruction in it. Developed by a top expert, these proven curricula will help promote the social-emotional competence and resilience of children and adolescents. Divided into four age levels from kindergarten through high school, these innovative social and emotional learning curricula are filled with engaging, thought-provoking class activities that help students develop vital skills they will use for the rest of their lives: understanding emotions, managing anger, relieving stress, solving interpersonal problems, and much more. Lessons in each curriculum include optional, easily adaptable scripts, sample scenarios and examples, creative activities, and "booster" lessons that reinforce what students learned. Every school and early intervention program will benefit from the lasting effect of these four curricula: strong, resilient students with fewer mental health and behavior problems and better academic outcomes. Following contents of the accompanying CD-ROM, about the author, contributors, foreword (Hill M. Walker, Ph.D.) and acknowledgments, this book is divided into two sections. Section I, Introduction and Overview, presents: (1) About Strong Kids--Grades 6-8; (2) Design and Evidence; (3) Preparing Your Lessons and Your Students; and (4) Overview of the Lessons. Section II, The Strong Kids--Grades 6-8 Curriculum, concludes with: (Lesson 1) About Strong Kids: Emotional Strength Training; (Lesson 2) Understanding Your Emotions 1; (Lesson 3) Understanding Your Emotions 2; (Lesson 4) Dealing with Anger; (Lesson 5) Understanding Other People's Emotions; (Lesson 6) Clear Thinking 1; (Lesson 7) Clear Thinking 2; (Lesson 8) The Power of Positive Thinking; (Lesson 9) Solving People Problems; (Lesson 10) Letting Go of Stress; (Lesson 11) Behavior Change: Setting Goals and Staying Alive; and (Lesson 12) Finishing UP! The following is appended: Strong Kids Booster: Pulling It All Together.
BackgroundThe Support, Education, and Research in Chronic Heart Failure (SEARCH) study was designed to assess the impact of a mindfulness-based psychoeducational intervention on clinical outcomes, depression, and quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Although research has shown that psychosocial factors including depression are important risk factors for adverse events in patients with CHF, no large clinical trials have investigated the efficacy of psychosocial interventions to reduce these factors in this population.
Methods
This was a prospective cohort study of 208 adults with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and CHF geographically assigned to treatment or control groups with follow-up at 3, 6, and 12 months. Treatment groups met weekly for 8 consecutive weeks for training in mindfulness meditation, coping skills, and support group discussion.
Results
Subjects had a mean age of 61 years, left ventricular ejection fraction 26%, and median New York Heart Association class II. The majority were treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (80%) and β-blockers (86%). At baseline, patients in the treatment group had more severe CHF with higher New York Heart Association class (P = .0209) and more severe psychological distress (Center of Epidemiology—Depression, Profile of Mood States; P < .05). When compared with controls, treatment resulted in lower anxiety (Profile of Mood States, P = .003), depression (Center of Epidemiology—Depression, P = .05), improved symptoms (Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire symptom scale, P = .033) and clinical scores (Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire clinical score, P = .024) over time. There were no treatment effects on death/rehospitalization at 1 year.
Conclusions
An 8-week mindfulness-based psychoeducational intervention reduced anxiety and depression; this effect was attenuated at 1 year. Importantly, the intervention led to significantly better symptoms of CHF at 12 months compared to control subjects. Our results suggest that interventions of this type might have a role in optimal therapy for CHF.
Teachers' psychological wellbeing is important for teachers and students, but is highly stressful, particularly in special education. We examined the role of experiential avoidance (EA) in the wellbeing of 529 middle and elementary school teachers. EA involves the tendency to avoid thoughts, feelings, and other internal experiences even when doing so causes long-range consequences. Using a teacher-specific measure, we investigated its relationship to stress associated with student misbehavior and limited social support. We assessed EA's relationship to burnout and depression, finding EA significantly and moderately correlated with depression and all scales of Maslach's Burnout Inventory. Mediation analyses showed EA mediated the relationship between stress associated with student behavior and measures of wellbeing. We found 26.8% of teachers mildly, 8.9% moderately, and 2.8% moderately severely or severely depressed. This evidence concurs with studies showing the value of mindfulness-based interventions and points to the utility of implementing interventions aimed at decreasing EA in teachers.
Reflection has gained increasing attention in theory, practice and education in social and behavioral sciences. In this study, we systematically review empirical research on the concept of reflection within educational contexts in social work, psychology and teacher education to discern trends regarding the educational purposes attributed to reflection. Based on an inductive analysis of 42 relevant studies, we found that reflection is attributed diverse -and sometimes opposing-educational purposes. Furthermore, we distinguished three dimensions to which these purposes are primarily related: a personal, interpersonal and socio-structural dimension. Our findings illustrate both a conceptual and an empirical complexity and openness of reflection as an educational notion. Based on these results, we argue for the explicit articulation of the value and theoretical bases underpinning one's conceptualization of reflection when it is operationalized both in research and in practice.; * We review the empirical literature on critical reflection in the social sciences. * Our focus is on its educational purpose in social work, psychology and teaching. * Critical reflection is a flexible and open concept both conceptually and empirically. * Purposes are situated on personal, interpersonal or social levels. * Operationalizations of reflection should be constantly critically analyzed.
Reflection has gained increasing attention in theory, practice and education in social and behavioral sciences. In this study, we systematically review empirical research on the concept of reflection within educational contexts in social work, psychology and teacher education to discern trends regarding the educational purposes attributed to reflection. Based on an inductive analysis of 42 relevant studies, we found that reflection is attributed diverse -and sometimes opposing-educational purposes. Furthermore, we distinguished three dimensions to which these purposes are primarily related: a personal, interpersonal and socio-structural dimension. Our findings illustrate both a conceptual and an empirical complexity and openness of reflection as an educational notion. Based on these results, we argue for the explicit articulation of the value and theoretical bases underpinning one's conceptualization of reflection when it is operationalized both in research and in practice.; * We review the empirical literature on critical reflection in the social sciences. * Our focus is on its educational purpose in social work, psychology and teaching. * Critical reflection is a flexible and open concept both conceptually and empirically. * Purposes are situated on personal, interpersonal or social levels. * Operationalizations of reflection should be constantly critically analyzed.
Abstract Theory of mind describes the ability to engage in perspective-taking, understand intentions, and predict actions and emotions. Theory of mind typically achieves major developmental milestones around age of 5, coinciding with the transition to kindergarten, and is associated with a verbal ability (receptive and expressive vocabulary), executive function (inhibitory control and working memory), and emotion knowledge. Less is known about how the theory of mind operates in low-income samples, where foundational skills (i.e., verbal ability, executive function, and emotion knowledge) tend to be delayed. Applied to classrooms, the theory of mind may support the transition to kindergarten by facilitating relationships, learning-related behaviors, and socioemotional skills that require perspective-taking. In a low-income sample of 140 kindergarteners across 21 classrooms, the theory of mind was directly associated with teacher-ratings of social and emotional skills, behavioral and academic adjustment, and closeness within the teacher?child relationship, beyond the contribution of foundational skills. Moreover, verbal ability, executive function, and emotion knowledge were indirectly associated with outcomes through the theory of mind. Findings suggest the theory of mind facilitates the transition to kindergarten and is built upon a complex set of foundational skills.
Individuals who are homozygous for the G allele of the rs53576 SNP of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene tend to be more prosocial than carriers of the A allele. However, little is known about how these differences manifest behaviorally and whether they are readily detectable by outside observers, both critical questions in theoretical accounts of prosociality. In the present study, we used thin-slicing methodology to test the hypotheses that (i) individual differences in rs53576 genotype predict how prosocial observers judge target individuals to be on the basis of brief observations of behavior, and (ii) that variation in targets’ nonverbal displays of affiliative cues would account for these judgment differences. In line with predictions, we found that individuals homozygous for the G allele were judged to be more prosocial than carriers of the A allele. These differences were completely accounted for by variations in the expression of affiliative cues. Thus, individual differences in rs53576 are associated with behavioral manifestations of prosociality, which ultimately guide the judgments others make about the individual.
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This keynote address draws upon Rendón’s popular 2008 book Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice and Liberation. Rendón presents a framework for engaging with justice and equity in higher education illustrated by examples from three educators. Drawing on Latina feminist theorist Gloria Anzaldúa’s notion of “conocimiento,” she calls for educators to recognize the contemplative traditions and overlooked strengths of poor communities and families.
School-based interventions that utilize mindfulness and yoga exercises to build students' self-regulation skills have become increasingly popular, both in practice and in published literature. Yet little information has been gathered about how to effectively train educators to deliver these interventions with fidelity. The present paper aimed to advance the research on school-based mindfulness interventions by examining the extent to which educators were able to deliver a specific intervention, Yoga Calm, with fidelity following a series of in-service trainings and follow-up coaching. Study 1 examined intervention fidelity outcomes for fifteen educators following a series of in-service trainings, finding that a majority of educators were able to deliver the intervention with high levels of adherence to the intervention's core components. Study 2 used a multiple-baseline design to examine fidelity outcomes for four educators at baseline and following the introduction of side-by-side coaching supports. The data demonstrated four replications of an effect when comparing baseline to treatment, indicating a functional relation between participation in side-by-side coaching and adherence to Yoga Calm's core components. Both studies also used quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify potential moderators of intervention fidelity, with results highlighting the importance of factors related to educator buy-in, educator self-efficacy, program delivery factors (e.g., scheduling barriers), and accountability. The implications of these findings for educator training and practice, suggestions for future research, and the limitations of this study are also discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Environmentalists have argued that ecological degradation will lead to declines in the well-being of people dependent on ecosystem services. The Mill
"Where Is Love?" is a yoga interactive book for kids. This book was created for teachers and parents to introduce and teach yoga. The book is designed in a way for anyone to follow the story and enjoy the postures that are high lighted in red. The illustrations of the postures are at the end of the book along with a meditation and a chance to ask" What does love look like to you"? The most important thing about teaching kids yoga is to have FUN!
<p>Yantra Yoga, the Buddhist parallel to the Hathayoga of the Hindu tradition, is a system of practice entailing bodily movements, breathing exercises and visualizations. Originally transmitted by the mahasiddhas of India and Oddiyana, its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism in relation to the Anuttaratantras, more generally known under the Tibentan term 'trulkhor', whose Sanskrit equivalent is 'yantra'. The Union of the Sun and Moon Yantra ('Phrul 'khor nyi zla kha sbyor), orally transmitted in Tibet in the eighth century by the great master Padmasambhava to the Tibetan translator and Dzogchen master Vairochana, can be considered the most ancient of all the systems of Yantra and its peculiarity is that it contains also numerous positions which are also found in the classic Yoga tradition. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, one of the great living masters of Dzogchen and Tantra, started transmitting this profound Yoga in the seventies, and at that time wrote this commentary which is based on the oral explanations of some Tibetan yogins and siddhas of the twentieth century. All Western practitioners will benefits from the extraordinary instructions contained in this volume.</p>
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BACKGROUND: More than a third of the approximately 10 million women with histories of interpersonal violence in the United States develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Currently available treatments for this population have a high rate of incomplete response, in part because problems in affect and impulse regulation are major obstacles to resolving PTSD. This study explored the efficacy of yoga to increase affect tolerance and to decrease PTSD symptomatology.METHOD: Sixty-four women with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD were randomly assigned to either trauma-informed yoga or supportive women's health education, each as a weekly 1-hour class for 10 weeks. Assessments were conducted at pretreatment, midtreatment, and posttreatment and included measures of DSM-IV PTSD, affect regulation, and depression. The study ran from 2008 through 2011.
RESULTS: The primary outcome measure was the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). At the end of the study, 16 of 31 participants (52%) in the yoga group no longer met criteria for PTSD compared to 6 of 29 (21%) in the control group (n = 60, χ²₁ = 6.17, P = .013). Both groups exhibited significant decreases on the CAPS, with the decrease falling in the large effect size range for the yoga group (d = 1.07) and the medium to large effect size decrease for the control group (d = 0.66). Both the yoga (b = -9.21, t = -2.34, P = .02, d = -0.37) and control (b = -22.12, t = -3.39, P = .001, d = -0.54) groups exhibited significant decreases from pretreatment to the midtreatment assessment. However, a significant group × quadratic trend interaction (d = -0.34) showed that the pattern of change in Davidson Trauma Scale significantly differed across groups. The yoga group exhibited a significant medium effect size linear (d = -0.52) trend. In contrast, the control group exhibited only a significant medium effect size quadratic trend (d = 0.46) but did not exhibit a significant linear trend (d = -0.29). Thus, both groups exhibited significant decreases in PTSD symptoms during the first half of treatment, but these improvements were maintained in the yoga group, while the control group relapsed after its initial improvement.
DISCUSSION: Yoga significantly reduced PTSD symptomatology, with effect sizes comparable to well-researched psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacologic approaches. Yoga may improve the functioning of traumatized individuals by helping them to tolerate physical and sensory experiences associated with fear and helplessness and to increase emotional awareness and affect tolerance.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00839813.
BACKGROUND: More than a third of the approximately 10 million women with histories of interpersonal violence in the United States develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Currently available treatments for this population have a high rate of incomplete response, in part because problems in affect and impulse regulation are major obstacles to resolving PTSD. This study explored the efficacy of yoga to increase affect tolerance and to decrease PTSD symptomatology.METHOD: Sixty-four women with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD were randomly assigned to either trauma-informed yoga or supportive women's health education, each as a weekly 1-hour class for 10 weeks. Assessments were conducted at pretreatment, midtreatment, and posttreatment and included measures of DSM-IV PTSD, affect regulation, and depression. The study ran from 2008 through 2011.
RESULTS: The primary outcome measure was the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). At the end of the study, 16 of 31 participants (52%) in the yoga group no longer met criteria for PTSD compared to 6 of 29 (21%) in the control group (n = 60, χ²₁ = 6.17, P = .013). Both groups exhibited significant decreases on the CAPS, with the decrease falling in the large effect size range for the yoga group (d = 1.07) and the medium to large effect size decrease for the control group (d = 0.66). Both the yoga (b = -9.21, t = -2.34, P = .02, d = -0.37) and control (b = -22.12, t = -3.39, P = .001, d = -0.54) groups exhibited significant decreases from pretreatment to the midtreatment assessment. However, a significant group × quadratic trend interaction (d = -0.34) showed that the pattern of change in Davidson Trauma Scale significantly differed across groups. The yoga group exhibited a significant medium effect size linear (d = -0.52) trend. In contrast, the control group exhibited only a significant medium effect size quadratic trend (d = 0.46) but did not exhibit a significant linear trend (d = -0.29). Thus, both groups exhibited significant decreases in PTSD symptoms during the first half of treatment, but these improvements were maintained in the yoga group, while the control group relapsed after its initial improvement.
DISCUSSION: Yoga significantly reduced PTSD symptomatology, with effect sizes comparable to well-researched psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacologic approaches. Yoga may improve the functioning of traumatized individuals by helping them to tolerate physical and sensory experiences associated with fear and helplessness and to increase emotional awareness and affect tolerance.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00839813.
There is an increasing interest in the use of yoga for children to calm the mind and increase health and well being. Despite scant but increasing evidence supporting the efficacy of yoga in children, special yoga programs within schools are being developed for children and adolescents. This increasing popularity of the potential benefits of yoga may encourage parents to consider yoga for their children and request referrals or clarification of the purported effects. A description of the philosophical basis of yoga, the basic components of a yoga practice, safety concerns, and how to locate and evaluate a yoga program for children will be addressed.
Survivors of childhood cancer may experience persistent symptoms, including fatigue, sleep disturbance, and balance impairment. Yoga is a complementary therapy that improves fatigue, sleep, and quality of life in adult cancer survivors. Using a one group, repeated measures design, we evaluated the feasibility of a yoga program and assessed if cancer survivor participants ages 10 to 17 years (n = 13) had significantly less fatigue and anxiety, and better balance and sleep, after a 6-week yoga intervention compared with a 6-week pre-intervention wait period. Study recruitment was challenging with a 32% enrollment rate; yoga attendance was 90%. None of the scores for anxiety, fatigue, sleep, and balance had significant changes during the wait period. After the 6-week yoga program, children (n = 7) had a significant decrease in anxiety score (P = .04) while adolescent scores (n = 7) showed a decreasing trend (P = .10). Scores for fatigue, sleep, and balance remained stable post-intervention. Fatigue and balance scores were below norms for health children/adolescents while sleep and anxiety scores were similar to healthy peers.
Welcome to episode 72 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week’s guest features Amy Weintraub. Amy has been a pioneer in the field of yoga and mental health for over twenty years. She offers the LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Training for Mood Management to health and yoga professionals and offers workshops for everyday practitioners.Amy leads workshops and professional trainings at academic and psychology conferences internationally at such venues as the Boston University Graduate School of Psychology, the University of Arizona Medical School, the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, the Integrative Mental Health Conference, the Cape Cod Institute, Kripalu Center, Omega Institute, Sivananda Ashram, Yogaville, Esalen, Patanjali University in Haridwar, India and Yoga studios throughout the United States. Amy is also a regular contributor on the Goddesses in America blog.
In the episode, Amy talks about her background, the primary practices of Yoga for depression & anxiety and gives an example of the use of “Stair, Step, Breath”. Amy has also won numerous literary prizes for her short fiction, including national prizes from Writer’s Digest Magazine, explorations and Wind. Her novel-in-progress, and her film documentaries have received awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, San Francisco State University, and many other national competitions.
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