What is LifeForce Yoga?
LifeForce Yoga is an approach designed to work with and manage moods. The practices support clients in self-regulation, and many of the yoga techniques can be done in a chair, in bed, and do not require a yoga mat. Most practices are evidence-based and have been adapted for clinical settings. Developed by Amy Weintraub, who successfully used yoga to treat her longstanding depression, the practices are rooted in traditional active meditation and self-inquiry that embraces the polarities in our lives.
Practices include:
Pranayama and kriya breathing techniques that regulate the emotions
Meditations that lift the mood
Creating Affirmation (sankalpa)
LifeForce Yoga Bhavana (Imagery)
LifeForce Yoga Chakra Clearing Meditation
LifeForce Yoga Nidra
Tones that regulate the emotions (mantras)
Yoga asanas suitable for multilevel practitioners
Nondual Self-Inquiry through writing and Dyad Sharing
The fundamental belief in LifeForce Yoga is that all that we need is already within us; that beneath the current mood, the roles we play and the masks we wear, we are the wholeness we seek. It is a practice of compassion that creates a big enough container to embrace and accept all the dualities of mood. The practice is adapted to the client, so each individual can move into a more balanced (sattvic) and positive emotional, mental, and physical state of equanimity and self-awareness. I do not use LifeForce Yoga as a stand alone treatment, but as a complement to the other therapeutic approaches I use. I often invite clients to engage in particular mood-regulating practices (ie, breathing, Mudra or hand positions, mantra) in between sessions. For more information on LifeForce Yoga see yogafordepression.com