KRIPALU YOGA INSTRUCTOR

 

You can have control over what you thought you never could!

For the first time, a physician, certified Kripalu yoga teacher, and someone living with depression and anxiety comes forward to offer a holistic, deeply personal and scientifically grounded guide to using yoga as a tool for emotional resilience. 

In The Art of Learned Relaxation, Dr Gordon Kanzer bridges the worlds of modern medicine, yoga, and lived experience to explore yoga as a way to gain peace and contentment in the face of often daunting mental challenges.

Imagine your mind a pond. Depression and anxiety are like stones that you toss that create ripples along the surface of the water. For some, those stones are small pebbles and, for some, large rocks. Those ripples are quite visible, but need not define you. The practice of yoga has the power to smooth out the ripples. And as they disappear, the unique and special person you are becomes visible below the surface. Yoga allows us to see deep down into the soul, connecting to thoughts, ideas and emotions.

Learned relaxation might be considered a “skill” that can be used to lessen the impact of these often debilitating diseases. Rather, an “art” is a better qualifier since the learning process requires creativity, the imagination, and self-reflection. Similar to a successful artist, you can create your own version of yoga that comes from the heart, based on life experiences and imbued with individuality and uniqueness. Once this art is mastered, states of relaxation can be accessed at any time, especially when the symptoms of anxiety and depression are at their worst. You will learn to have some control over what you thought you never could. 

Drawing from the Kripalu tradition, known for its emphasis on self-compassion and inner listening, this book is a safe companion for anyone seeking gentle, sustainable support for depression and anxiety.

Inside you'll find:

• Yoga as a coping mechanism for depression and anxiety

• Posture sequences to de-stress

• Relaxing into the asanas, the yoga poses, and pranayama, the breathing techniques

• Mindfulness and the experience of the internal and external worlds

• The many definitions of relaxation and how to achieve it

• Defining depression and anxiety as something you have and not who you are

• Gaining an awareness of the mind-body connection and an appreciation for the responses of the human body to stress

• Realizing a healthier body and a healthier mind

• Embracing the philosophy of yoga to realize self-compassion and self-love