July/August 2014 - Transformation Journal

American Meditation Institute americanmeditation.org

JULY – AUGUST 2014

AVERILL PARK, NEW YORK

Self-Care for Healthy Living

Receive a FREE eBook of The Heart and Science of Yoga with the purchase of this online course.

The wisdom of the sages, in the comfort of your home.

Photo by 123RF.com

New 5 1/2 Hour Online Video Course

COMPREHENSIVE MEDITATION AND EASY-GENTLE YOGA Meditation • Mantra Science • Diaphragmatic Breathing • Yoga Psychology • Easy-Gentle Yoga Life After Death • Mind Function Optimization • Lymph System Detox • Nutrition • Ayurvedic Medicine • Prayer Contains 40 lecture segments –– now available for immediate use. / P. 8

Upcoming Classes and Events Inside this Issue: AMI Stress Management Beginner’s Meditation Comprehensive Meditation If you want to start and maintain a meditation practice, this course is perfect for you. / P. 2

FREE Guided Meditation Every Sunday morning at 9:30 you can experience a “guided meditation” with Leonard. / P. 5

This six week “self-care” program offers the complete science of Yoga, and lifelong support. / P. 3

Transformation

Practical essays by respected Yoga scientists to support and deepen your meditation. / P. 8

This one day course provides the tools to transform stress into useable creative energy. / P. 5

Sacred Journey By understanding the meaning of death, you’ll learn how best to live your life. / P. 4

COMPLETE AMI CLASS SCHEDULE: Pages 2-5

AMI Classes for July - August 2014

BEGINNER’S MEDITATION: The Basics for Getting Started Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), AMI Founder LEVEL I: Have you ever thought about trying meditation, but didn’t know how to get started? In AMI’s two-session course, you’ll receive step-by-step guidance on how to start—and stick with—a daily meditation practice. It’s easy to learn the basics: how to deal with distractions, reduce stress, enhance your body’s immune system and become more focused, creative and content. This class includes a FREE “guided meditation” CD.

What is Meditation?

In meditation you are fully alert, but the mind is relaxed and allowed to let go of its tendencies to think, analyze, remember, solve problems and focus on events of the past or expectations for the future. Meditation helps the mind to slow down its rapid series of thoughts and feelings that often lead to stress and dis-ease, and to replace that mental activity with a quiet, effortless, one-pointed focus of attention and awareness. Thus, meditation is not thinking about problems or analyzing a situation. Meditation is not having an internal conversation or argument with yourself. It is an inner attention that is concentrated, yet relaxed. It does not conflict with any religious tradition.

and body are calm and relaxed, dis-ease from a previously agitated system (that may have intensified issues such as high blood pressure, headaches, back pain, insomnia, digestive problems or PMS) is lessened, and you feel better.

• Meditation can improve all relationships.

By offering you tools to deal with stressful thoughts, meditation helps you remain calm, compassionate and skillful with others and to be more loving toward yourself.

• Meditation makes you smarter. A 2005 Harvard Medical School study showed that meditation increased thickness in the regions of the brain associated with attention, sensory awareness and emotional processing.

Why Should I Meditate?

• Meditation makes you more creative. By

According to ABC World News Tonight, meditation is used today by many Americans including the U. S. Marines and students in classrooms all over the country. In 2011, 10% of U.S. adults (over 20 million) practiced meditation and 3 million patients, on the recommendation of their physicians, established their own meditation practice.

resting the mind from its habit of thinking, planning, judging and worrying, you create more space for new ideas to arise and to be noticed. Meditation also lowers resistance you may have to new concepts and ways of thinking.

• Meditation can make you healthier.

Daily meditation is an essential ingredient in your own personal “self-care health program.” Scientific studies at the Mayo Clinic show that “meditating slows breathing rate, heart rate, lowers blood pressure and aids in the treatment of anxiety, depression and a range of other ailments.”

• Meditation calms the mind. The mind and body are inter-connected. When the mind is calm, the body becomes stronger, more flexible, and less inflamed. When the mind 2

Meditating in a Chair: AMI teaches you to meditate in a straight-back chair. For proper posture, the head, neck and trunk should be comfortably erect (no slouching). For best back comfort, your buttocks should be slightly higher than your knees.

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SATURDAY MORNINGS, 9:30 -10:30AM, $95. (2 WKS) JUL 26 & AUG 2; OCT 11 & 18

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Your entire $95 registration fee will be applied to your COMPREHENSIVE MEDITATION tuition should you decide to register for that additional class within one year.

americanmeditation.org • Tel. (518) 674-8714 TMTM

COMPREHENSIVE MEDITATION: The Heart and Science of Yoga Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), AMI Founder

LEVEL I: AMI’s acclaimed six-week course teaches you how to apply meditation principles to every situation. This complete “self-care health program” includes all the Beginner’s Meditation material plus breathing techniques, nutrition counseling, easy-gentle yoga exercises, instruction on how to make the best possible choices and lifelong support for your meditation practice. It provides you all the tools you’ll need to ease stress, reduce pain, boost your immune system, heal relationships, enhance your problem solving ability and find inner peace, happiness and security.

A retrospective case study of former Heart and Science of Yoga TM students recently found these positive, reproducible, long-term health-promoting changes: • Lowered blood pressure • Lowered heart rate • Reduced cholesterol levels • Weight loss

• Increased breathing capacity • Increased exercise capacity • Improved restorative sleep • Improved energy levels

• Increased creative capacity • Diminished migraines • Reduced stress and fear • Eliminated irritable bowel

• Enhanced happiness/optimism • Diminished or extinguished acute and chronic pain

TM

The Heart and Science of Yoga Curriculum is Endorsed by

Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz MD), Dean Ornish MD, Bernie Siegel MD, Larry Dossey MD WEEK 1: YOGA SCIENCE How to use the mind for the best choices How to create new, healthier habits Understanding pain as an agent for healing Increasing energy, will power & creativity Antidotes for worry, stress and depression WEEK 2: MEDITATION Systematic procedure for meditation How to diminish distractions Learning the one-minute meditation Building focus, fearlessness, and strength WEEK 3: BREATHING TECHNIQUES Breath as Medicine How breathing irregularities foster dis-ease Complete (three-part) yogic breath

WEEK 4: PSYCHOLOGY & AYURVEDA How the mind supports optimal health The power of the present moment Building and healing relationships Introduction to Ayurveda WEEK 5: EASY-GENTLE YOGA Yoga stretches and exercises for: muscles, joints, glands and internal organs Physiological benefits of Hatha Yoga WEEK 6: MIND-BODY CARE PLAN The healing power of prayer The practical benefit of contemplation Creating a therapeutic care plan Learning to budget your time Integrating spiritual beliefs

PHYSICIAN ACCREDITATION (15 CMEs)

NURSING ACCREDITATION (15 contact hours)

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of Albany Medical College and The American Meditation Institute.

Albany Medical College is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

This continuing nursing education activity was approved by the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses, Inc., an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialling Center's Commission on Accreditation.

The Albany Medical College designates this Live activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

WEDNESDAY NIGHTS, 6:30 - 9:00PM, $475. (6 WKS) Physicians, Residents, Fellows, PAs, NPs: $775; RNs: $575 JUL 9 – AUG 20 (excl. Jul 30); SEP 17 – OCT 22

Registration Includes: Lifelong support for your meditation practice, a Guided Meditation CD, a complementary subscription to Transformation journal and a copy of The Physiology of EasyGentle Yoga.

Required Texts: The Heart and Science of Yoga : A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom from Fear, and The Art of Joyful Living.

TM

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americanmeditation.org • Tel. (518) 674-8714

Our Founder LEONARD PERLMUTTER is a noted educator and founder of The American Meditation Institute. He is the author of The Heart and Science of Yoga TM and the mind/body medicine journal, Transformation. Leonard has served on the faculties of the New England Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine, the Himalayan Yoga Teachers Association and the College of Saint Rose. He is a disciple of Swami Rama––who, in laboratory conditions at the Menninger Institute, demonstrated that blood pressure, heart rate and the autonomic nervous system can be voluntarily controlled. Leonard has presented courses at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Commonwealth Club, the Albany Medical College and The New York Times Yoga Forum with Dean Ornish, MD.

Professional

ENDORSEMENTS “Traditional medicine is very good at treating physical illness. However, studies show that the state of one’s health has more to do with lifestyle choices than with heredity or medical care. Patients need something beyond what we can offer them. Meditation relieves stress, allows clearer thinking and helps to control many chronic illnesses, all at very low cost and a small investment of time. We are fortunate to have the excellence of AMI in our area.”

SACRED JOURNEY

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Living Purposefully And Dying Gracefully

Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter Available by CDL (Computer Distance Learning) *Now available online. Call 518.674.8714 for details.

Level II: To understand the purpose of our lives, we need to examine the relationship between life and death. The two are partners––each providing a context for the other. Death is not the end, but merely a pause in an eternal journey. When both birth and death are understood and accepted as parts of the human journey, the fear of death subsides and life can be lived more fully and joyfully. Based on the ancient Katha Upanishad, this course reveals how to organize your life in a way that leads to expansion and growth. Because of the importance of this scripture to everyday life, the course has been extended from 3 weeks to 6 weeks. Every person with a body is encouraged to attend.

Required text: Sacred Journey, by Swami Rama

MONDAY NIGHTS, 6:30PM - 8:30PM (6 WKS) JUL 14 - AUG 25 except July 28, $150.

GURU PURNIMA Full Moon Fire Ceremony and Movie LEVEL I: Guru Purnima is the brightest full moon of the year. It is the time for spiritual seekers to gather with their teachers to honor the wisdom and blessings of the Guru lineage.

JULY 12, 7-10PM FREE see p. 6 for more details

RICHARD RUBIN MD Internal Medicine, Slingerlands, NY The AMI Curriculum is also endorsed by:

PERSONAL COUNSELING

Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz MD), Dean Ornish MD Bernie Siegel MD, Larry Dossey MD

Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), AMI Founder Int’l. Association of Yoga Therapists

Directions to A MI • 60 Garner Road I-90 Exit #8 (Rt. 43 E). Take Rt. 43 for 4 1/2 miles. In W. Sand Lake, take a right turn at the lighted intersection onto Rt. 150.

Go 1 mile on Rt. 150. Take a left turn on Cnty Rd #52/Sheer Rd (at stone wall). Go 1 mile on Sheer Rd and bear left at fork onto Garner Rd. AMI is the 3rd house on the right.

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Meditational Therapy is a powerful tool of mind/body medicine. With 37 years of personal practice, Leonard will counsel you on how to apply the principles of Yoga Science for a happier, healthier and more rewarding life.

AMI HOME CENTER, By appointment. $125 /hr.

AMI Classes for July - August 2014

The Heart and Science of Yoga

A MI STRESS MANAGEMENT

SUMMER RETREAT

Techniques to Transform Stress

Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), AMI Founder

Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev) AMI Founder

July 18-20, 2014 Now in a concentrated weekend format, AMI’s July retreat presents the same curriculum as in our six-week Comprehensive Meditation course (see page 3). All the practices are designed for both the general public and healthcare professionals.

Physicians, PAs, RNs and NPs receive 15 continuing medical education credits.

Gourmet vegetarian meals are included.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: TEL. (518) 674-8714 OR VISIT ONLINE: americanmeditation.org

PHYSICIANS’ RETREAT Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), AMI Founder November 5-9, 2014 Cranwell Resort • Lenox, MA • 30 CMEs

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 1 in 3 Americans are now seeking mind/body healing therapies to supplement their conventional care, and a growing number of patients are seeking guidance about the value of various holistic modalities. This conference (at one of the nation’s premier golf and spa resorts) provides an opportunity for physicians and other health care providers to deepen their understanding of Yoga Science as mind/body medicine in a stimulating immersion course led by Leonard Perlmutter and a panel of other leading medical experts. Physicians receive 30 CME credits; nurses receive 30 contact hours.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: TEL. (518) 674-8714 OR VISIT: americanmeditation.org/cme

FREE GUIDED MEDITATION Leonard (Ram Lev) and Jenness Perlmutter LEVEL I: Join AMI’s FREE 20-minute guided meditation and satsang teaching. Participants may sit on comfortable chairs or on the floor.

SUNDAYS, 9:30 - 11:00AM, FREE

The pace of modern life makes stress management a necessary skill for everyone. Many people juggle multiple responsibilities: work, family, school, caregiving and a variety of other relationships. Learning to identify stressful situations and implement solutions is the key to successful stress reduction. Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. Remember that your brain comes hard-wired with an alarm system for your protection. When your brain perceives a threat, it signals your body to release a burst of hormones to fuel your capacity to respond. This has been termed the fight-flightfreeze response. Once the threat is gone, your body is meant to return to a normal relaxed state. Unfortunately, the nonstop stress of modern life means your alarm system remains on high alert and never shuts off. Over time, high levels of stress can lead to serious health problems. That’s why stress management is so important. AMI Stress Management provides you a range of helpful tools (like diaphragmatic breathing) to reset your alarm system.

Don’t wait until stress has a negative impact on your health, relationships or quality of life.

Start today to learn a range of simple and easy to use stress management techniques that have worked for over 5,000 years.

TUESDAY NIGHT, 7:00 - 8:30PM, $75 AUG 5; SEP 2

YOGA PSYCHOLOGY

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The Gita’s Mind/Body Connection Leonard (Ram Lev) and Jenness Perlmutter Available by CDL (Computer Distance Learning) Study Yoga Psychology from your own home or anywhere in the world. Call 518.674.8714 for details.

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LEVEL II: The next Yoga Psychology course will begin with chapter one of the Bhagavad Gita.

MONDAY NIGHTS, 6:30 - 8:30PM, $150 (6 WKS) SEP 8 - OCT 13 (excl. Sep 15) 5

PHYSICIANS’ RETREAT Also: RNs • NPs • PAs • Psychologists

Cranwell Resort & Spa, Lenox, MA

CALENDAR

NOVEMBER 5-9, 2014 30 CMEs

SUNDAY GUIDED MEDITATION & SATSANG

For Details: (518) 674-8714

Sundays 9:30-11:00 AM with Leonard (Ram Lev) and Jenness Perlmutter. Love donations appreciated.

www.americanmeditation.org/cme

Guru Purnima-July 12 Full Moon Fire Ceremony & Movie

Saturday Night: 7-10PM

JULY 2014 JUL 9- AUG 20: COMPREHENSIVE MEDITATION see p. 3 Wed. Nights, 6:30 - 9:00 PM (6 weeks)

JUL 12: GURU PURNIMA see p.6 Sat. Night, 7:00 - 10:00 PM

JUL 14 - AUG 25: SACRED JOURNEY see p. 4 Mon. Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM (6 wks; available online)

JUL 18 - 20: SUMMER RETREAT

see p. 15

Friday through Sunday (15 physician CME credits)

JUL 26 & AUG 2: BEGINNER’S MEDITATION

see p. 2

Sat. Mornings, 9:30 - 10:30 AM (2 weeks)

AUGUST 2014 AUG 5: AMI STRESS MANAGEMENT see p. 5 Tues. Nights, 7:00 - 8:30 PM

SEP TEMBER 2014 SEP 8- OCT 20: YOGA PSYCHOLOGY see p.5 Mon. Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM (6 wk.Gita Study excl Sep 15) On this day students revisit their teachers to rejuvenate their practice and to receive inspiration and further instruction. The Light of Guru is our own inner, intuitive wisdom, always available to help correct our ignorance and enhance our health and well being.

Please join us as we honor the wisdom of our Yoga tradition.

RSVP before July 9

American Meditation Institute

Self-Care for Healthy Living

July-August, 2014 • Vol. XVII No. 5 ©2014 60 Garner Road, Averill Park, NY 12018

americanmeditation.org \ Tel. (518) 674-8714 ami@americanmeditation.org AMI is a tax exempt, non-profit 501(c)3 educational organization. Donations are fully tax deductible.

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SEP 17- OCT 22: COMPREHENSIVE MEDITATION see p. 3 Wed. Nights, 6:30 - 9:00 PM (6 weeks)

Print & eBook Versions Now available at the AMI Bookstore and Booksellers Nationwide

AMI’s 17th Annual

GIVING CAMPAIGN

Please support AMI with your generous donation.

Thank you for your generosity. americanmeditation.org/make-a-donation

MEDITATION NEWS Physician Burnout to be Addressed at CME Conference on Meditation and Yoga as Holistic Mind/Body Medicine How to diminish physician burnout will be one of the major topics addressed at The American Meditation Institute’s sixth annual mind/body medicine CME conference on meditation and yoga November 5-9, 2014 at the Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Entitled American Meditation: The Heart and Science of Yoga™, this comprehensive physician training is accredited through the Albany Medical College.

As part of AMI’s “Yoga of Medicine” program, this conference is dedicated to providing quality, comprehensive and evidencebased education to physicians and other health care providers. This 30 hour continuing medical education (CME) course will offer a broad curriculum of Yoga Science as mind/body medicine to ward off stressful burnout and disease. Topics include mantra meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, Yoga psychology, chakra system therapy, mind function optimization, nutrition, functional medicine, epigenomics, ayurveda, easy-gentle yoga and lymph system detoxification.

According to a recent column in The New York Times by Pauline W. Chen, MD, “Research over the last few years has revealed that unrelenting job pressures cause two-thirds of fully trained doctors to experience the emotional, mental and physical exhaustion characteristic of burnout. Chen concludes that, “Health care workers who are burned out are at higher risk for substance abuse, lying, cheating and even suicide. They tend to make more errors, lose their sense of empathy for others, and are more prone to leaving their clinical practice.” But Chen is also optimistic when she sites a new study from the Annals of Family Medicine, that suggests a daily meditation practice can be a tool to reverse physician burnout. Dr. Mary Catherine Beach, lead author of the study and associate professor of medicine at Johns

Hopkins University states, “This study supports meditation as a way to improve the health of both doctors and their patients.

Meditation helps doctors listen better, talk less and see more clearly what patients need.”

The dedication, enthusiasm, and teaching methodology of the AMI faculty combine to create a dynamic and interactive course for their students. Each faculty member is committed to the advancement and training of Yoga Science as holistic mind/body medicine. Presenters will include AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter; Mark Pettus MD, Director of Medical Education at Berkshire Health Systems; Susan Lord MD, faculty member and holistic health consultant for Kripalu; Kathie Swift MS RDN LDN, leading educator and author in the field of integrative nutrition; Beth Netter MD MT, holistic physician; Rosy Mann BAMS, Ayurvedic practitioner specializing in women’s health; and Jenness Cortez Perlmutter, co-founder and faculty member of AMI. The National Institutes of Health report that approximately 38% of adults in the United States aged 18 and over, and nearly 12% of U.S. children 17 years and under use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. Significant among these therapies are deep breathing exercises, meditation and yoga––all of which are offered in The Heart and Science of Yoga™ conference.

According to Joel M. Kremer, MD, Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology in Albany, New York and a recent AMI conference attendee, “This teaching has been an enormous benefit in my personal and professional life. I have less stress, more focus, and am able to serve my patients with greater clarity. It becomes surprisingly easy now to recognize the many clinical situations in which patients with somatic manifestations of ‘dis-ease’ could greatly benefit from the tools provided by Yoga Science.”

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Three segments from AMI’s new online video course include Alternate Nostril Breathing, Easy-Gentle Yoga and Guided Meditation

New 5 1/2 Hour Online Video Course

COMPREHENSIVE MEDITATION AND EASY-GENTLE YOGA

Receive a FREE ebook The Heart and Science of Yoga with the purchase of this online course.

Meditation • Mantra Science • Diaphragmatic Breathing • Yoga Psychology Easy-Gentle Yoga • Life After Death • Mind Function Optimization Lymph System Detox • Nutrition • Ayurvedic Medicine • Prayer All 40 lecture segments –– now available at americanmeditation.org For thousands of years, human beings have practiced refined techniques of mental focusing designed to change the habitual conditioning of the mind. Central to many spiritual, philosophical and religious traditions, the practice of meditation is considered a powerful means for enhancing health, happiness and spiritual fulfillment.

In recent decades, modern science has dramatically confirmed what meditators have long known through their personal experience—that meditation, practiced under the guidance of a competent teacher (representing a time-tested lineage) offers deep and lasting benefits for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Now, through the gift of modern technology, Leonard Perlmutter’s new online video course, Comprehensive Meditation and Easy-Gentle Yoga, brings to you his comprehensive training in the world’s oldest and most effective holistic mind/body medicine.

Acclaimed author, philosopher and founder of the American Meditation Institute, Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), is a direct disciple of Swami Rama of the 8

Himalayas––the holistic medicine pioneer who, in laboratory conditions at the Menninger Institute, demonstrated that blood pressure, heart rate and the autonomic nervous system can be voluntarily controlled.

According to Leonard, “The essence of what Swami Rama taught me, what I have practiced for 37 years, and the core curriculum that I teach today, are contained in this new online video course. Comprehensive Meditation and Easy-Gentle Yoga is an homage to my spiritual master and the 5,000 year old lineage of Yoga Science.”

In 2009, in support of the American Meditation Institute’s continuing medical education accreditation for physicians (through the Albany Medical College and the American Medical Association), AMI conducted a retrospective case study of participants who completed the same curriculum offered in Comprehensive Meditation and Easy-Gentle Yoga.

The findings of this study were impressive. The tools and practices learned led to the following positive and reproducible, long-term health-promoting changes:

Lowered blood pressure Lowered heart rate Reduced cholesterol levels Decreased chest pain Diminished acute and chronic pain Weight loss Increased breathing capacity Increased exercise capacity Improved quality and quantity of sleep Improved energy levels Increased creative capacity Diminishment of migraine headaches Significant reductions in stress and fear Elimination of irritable bowel syndrome A general sense of happiness and optimism Now you too can experience these remarkable, life-affirming benefits. If you’re ready to undertake life’s greatest adventure, this detailed and easy-to-follow video instruction will teach you how to become healthy, creative and secure in every circumstance. Segments you can explore at your own pace will provide you a clear understanding of how to establish a meditation and easy-gentle yoga practice and how to keep it going. Emphasizing clarity and practicality, this new online video course will empower you to embrace life’s ever-changing circumstances with a brilliance of confidence.

The following is a brief summary of the 40 individual segments contained in AMI’s new online video course, Comprehensive Meditation and Easy-Gentle Yoga.

Introduction 01:09 Lesson 1 - Who Am I? Part A 06:09 When we see Yoga as a metaphoric bridge, our meditation practice becomes a powerful tool to connect our inner wisdom with our outer actions. Using the “Bridge of Yoga” assures that our thoughts, words and deeds will bring about positive, creative, rewarding and life-affirming consequences.

Lesson 2 - Who Am I? Part B 04:54 The practice of Neti-Neti (Not this. Not this.) teaches us how to detach from the relative and ever-changing concepts stored in our unconscious habits, while it provides new opportunities to serve and to experience the

absolute, unchanging Truth of who we truly are. Through this process of self-inquiry we can conclude with new certainty that, “I have a body, but I am not the body. Neti-Neti. I have thoughts, but I am not the thoughts.

Neti-Neti.”

Lesson 3 - Who Am I? Part C 07:07 In deconstructing the “soul” through the study and practice of Yoga Science we learn that the first characteristic of the real “I” is called Sat. The real “I” is eternal; not dependent on anything else for its existence.

The real “I” was never born and will never die. The real “I” is not subject to death, decay or decomposition.

Lesson 4 - Who Am I? Part D 05:57 The second characteristic of our essential nature is called Chit (consciousness and wisdom). The real “I” is pure consciousness (awareness) that has access to an intuitive library of wisdom known as the superconscious mind. When we can access intuitive, superconscious wisdom from within and make it the basis of our thoughts, words and actions, we are always led for our highest and greatest good.

The third characteristic of our essential nature is called Ananda (bliss and fullness).

The very nature of consciousness is fullness, bliss and happiness––even without an object.

Whenever the mind can be focused in a onepointed manner, we experience the bliss and fullness of Ananda. And human beings refer to this experience as love.

Lesson 5 - Who Am I? Part E 07:23 You are a citizen of two worlds (spirit and human). The Truth of subtle, transcendent spirit expresses itself in the manifest world through the human being’s three deepest, driving desires for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Lesson 6 - Who Am I? Part F 17:23 • Discrimination: Our thoughts are our greatest resource for experiencing happiness, health and security, but not every thought will lead us in a positive and rewarding direction. Only the discriminating faculty known as the buddhi 9

(conscience or Holy Spirit) can reliably identify which thoughts to serve and which thoughts not to serve so that we may fulfill the purpose of our lives.

• Mantra: The mantra is a compact prayer; a word or series of words usually containing the name of the Divine Reality (a.k.a. God). The mantra acts as our leader to help us steward the creative energy of our thoughts, desires, emotions and concepts. Every time we silently listen to the mantra it changes old, unconscious habits by providing us love, fearlessness and strength.

Lesson 7 - Who Am I? Part G 08:44 Choosing a Mantra Several mantras from the world’s great traditions will be repeated. As you listen, imagine that you are seated inside the “cave of the heart,” the mid-point between the two breasts. Choose a mantra that speaks to your heart and that feels uplifting and inspiring.

With each repetition, the mantra will generate love, fearlessness and strength. Devote time to listening to the mantra and it will become your best friend and strongest support. The mantra is to be used as the exclusive object of your attention in seated, silent meditation and during the practice of japa (“prayer without ceasing”).

Lesson 8 - Rediscovering Our Roots 12:09 At the core of every spiritual and religious tradition––beyond the many layers of personality, history, doctrine, economics and culture––lies an eternal, unifying Truth. For instance, examine the essence of the ancient Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions and you will find Yoga, the unifying kernel of Truth that unites all belief systems.

Lesson 9 - Introduction to Meditation 06:55 It’s important to establish a time, place and proper posture for your meditation practice, and to understand how meditation provides a sort of “barometric reading” of how skillful your actions have been during the previous 24 hours.

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Lesson 10 - Systematic Procedure for Meditation Part A 12:49 The complete systematic procedure includes the following components: 1. Preparing the Body 2. Prayers (helpful for the spiritually minded, agnostics and even atheists) 3. Easy-Gentle Yoga 4. Breathing Practices 5. Relaxation Survey of the Body 6. Establishing a Stable and Comfortable Meditation Seat in a Chair Lesson 11 - Systematic Procedure for Meditation Part B 13:21 The final preparations for meditation: 1. Recommendations on Clothing and Eyeglasses 2. Following the Breath Along the Spine 3. Acknowledging the Eternal Witness in the Cave of the Heart 4. Pledge of Resolve (Sankalpa) 5. Dealing with Distractions 6. Witnessing the Breath 7. Listening to the Mantra and Following it into the Silence 8. Concluding the Meditation Practice Lesson 12 - Survey of the Body 13:15 This relaxation practice is part of the systematic procedure for meditation. It teaches you how to methodically observe the spine, major organs, joints and glands in a therapeutic manner. When we give our unconditional love (attention) to the body a resulting relaxation response allows prana (energy) to be received for healing and nurturing.

Lesson 13 - A Guided Meditation 08:48 After the “Survey of the Body,” you will be guided through a sample mantra meditation that will cover the following: A. Where to meditate B. Pledge of Attention (Sankalpa––Determination, Resolve) C. How to listen to the mantra D. Dealing with distractions E. Concluding your meditation Lesson 14 - Making Choices 06:30 If you accept bold promises from the culture or from your own senses, habits or ego

without exercising your discrimination, you will not always receive what was promised.

Such unexamined acceptance guarantees that relationships will suffer and that some consequences will be painful.

Lesson 15 - Meditation in Action 02:21 When we sit for silent meditation we gain the skills of detachment, discrimination and will power. The ability to employ these skills, known as “meditation in action,” enables us to increasingly base our thoughts, words and deeds on our own inner wisdom. In the process, relationships become beneficial and rewarding.

Lesson 16 - Diaphragmatic Breathing 08:43 A full and smooth diaphragmatic breath is composed of three distinct, yet seamlessly integrated phases of inhalation: abdominal, thoracic and clavicular. When all three phases of diaphragmatic breathing are integrated into one continuous motion, the breath becomes the flywheel for a healthy mind and body.

Lesson 17 - Breath Meditation 03:17 This “One Minute Breath Meditation” may be used as a preliminary centering exercise before seated meditation, as an occasional substitute for your seated meditation when time is short, or whenever you feel the need to focus and calm yourself during the day.

Lesson 18 - Alternate Nostril Breathing Introduction 08:04 A brief overview of the relationship between the physical body and the subtler forces of the mind and energy lays the foundation for understanding the chakra system and the balancing of the male and female principles present in every human being.

Lesson 19 - Alternate Nostril Breathing Practice 11:07 A complete description of Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana). The practice is both centering and extremely energizing––a more effective pick-me-up than two cups of black coffee. It cultivates one-pointed attention, enhances memory, calms your nerves and oxygenates the blood.

Lesson 20 - The Three Selves 13:42 Yoga Science defines the human being as three separate selves: the mortal self, the semi-immortal self and the immortal Self.

During this lifetime each human being has the necessary instrumentation (body, breath, senses, and a mind equipped with buddhi) to resolve the debilitating habit patterns (samskaras) of fear, anger and self-willed desire stored in the unconscious mind. By resolving these attachments the animal nature evolves, through the human, to unite with the Divine.

Lesson 21 - Functions of the Mind 13:29 Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sutras, taught that all Yoga (happiness, health and security) begins with an understanding of and coordination of the functions of the mind. A disciplined and discriminating mind, therefore, can be our best friend and strongest ally in that endeavor, and conversely, a mind lacking in discipline and discrimination can be our most formidable adversary.

Lesson 22 - Ayurveda 13:08 Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine widely practiced in India for more than five thousand years. The Sanskrit word Ayurveda means “the science of life.” Ayur is life, and veda is knowledge or science. It is a complex science, yet its basic principles are easily employed in making everyday decisions about our health and well-being. The study of Ayurveda offers us a profound understanding of our bodies, personalities and relationships.

Lesson 23 - Ayurveda Body Types 09:12 Every form in the universe, including the human body, is comprised of the five basic elements: space, air, fire, water and earth. To facilitate health and healing it is essential to understand the unique balance of these five elements that form your own body. There are three basic Ayurvedic body constitutions, or doshas, known as vata, pitta and kapha.

Lesson 24 - Easy Gentle Yoga Part I Introduction 01:56 Giving the body loving, your one-pointed attention as you move through these EasyGentle Yoga exercises will increase physical and mental flexibility, energy and wellbeing.

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Lesson 25 - Easy- Gentle Yoga I A 11:08 Exercises 1 through 12 Always remember that ahimsa (non-injury, non-harming) is the highest principle of Yoga. By practicing ahimsa during EasyGentle Yoga, you will learn to honor the limitations of the body. Through continuous practice, those limitations will be diminished.

Lesson 26 - Easy- Gentle Yoga I B 13:55 Exercises 13 through 25 Lesson 27 - Easy- Gentle Yoga I C 05:03 Exercises 26 through 29 Lesson 28 - Easy- Gentle Yoga I D 05:43 Exercises 30 through 32 Lesson 29 - Easy- Gentle Yoga Part II Introduction 04:49 Because this sequence of exercises requires that we firmly support the upper body with the lower body in positions that require twisting and bending, we must always remember ahimsa (non-injury, non-harming). It is important to honor the body’s current threshold of pain––not disrespect it––and then slowly, gently retreat from that area of discomfort. The more consistently we practice, the more flexible the body will become.

Lesson 30 - Easy- Gentle Yoga II A 10:32 Exercise 1 Lesson 31 - Easy- Gentle Yoga II B 10:05 Exercises 2 through 4 Lesson 32 - Easy- Gentle Yoga II C 11:41 Exercises 5 through 7 Lesson 33 - Easy- Gentle Yoga Floor Postures I 02:44 Cat and Cow, Kegel Exercise Lesson 34 - Easy- Gentle Yoga Floor Postures II Swimming Exercise 02:07

Lesson 36 - Deepest Driving Desire 08:38 •What is your deepest driving desire?

•What are the obstacles that inhibit the fulfillment of your desire?

•What are the solutions that ensure the fulfillment of your desire?

Understanding the two wings of Yoga: Abhyasa (continuous practice) and Vairagya (detachment, non-attachment) Lesson 37 - Contemplation, Repentance and Prayer 11:10 These three practices will provide you a “pre-battle intelligence briefing” that prepares you to act skillfully and rewardingly in all relationships.

Lesson 38 - God Centered Prayer 04:59 As spiritual food for thought, we offer you this sample of a God-centered prayer. It can be helpful for the spiritually minded, agnostics and even atheists.

Closing Comments 06:12 A few final thoughts to inspire your meditation and Easy-Gentle Yoga practice.

Comprehensive Meditation and Easy-Gentle Yoga™ Running time: 5 1/2 hours. Cost: $295.

With the purchase of AMI’s new online video course you will receive a FREE ebook of Leonard’s award-winning The Heart and Science of Yoga™. This encyclopedic text, endorsed by medical pioneers Dr. Oz, Dean Ornish MD, Bernie Siegel MD and Larry Dossey MD, will greatly enhance your experience of the video course. The ebook is compatible with all major browsers, tablets and phones.

For more information and to purchase AMI’s new online video course, Comprehensive Meditation and EasyGentle Yoga, call (518) 674-8714 or visit our website at americanmeditation.org.

Computer Distance Learning

Lesson 35 - Easy- Gentle Yoga Conclusion 02:12 Final recommendations on how to incorporate these exercises into your daily life.

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SACRED JOURNEY Living Purposefully & Dying Gracefully See page 4 for details on this important course

A Personal Note to Physicians from Linda Johnsen Dear Doc, We thought yogis were turbaned snake charmers who, instead of going to work like responsible people, sat around contemplating their navels. It was 1970, and for most of us the idea that there was anything useful we could learn from the primitive and superstitious East was completely ridiculous.

Then the future teacher of Leonard and Jennness Perlmutter arrived from India.

This swami had been invited to the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, where scientists performed a series of groundbreaking experiments which shattered the Western medical paradigm. Under strict laboratory protocols, Swami Rama of the Himalayas demonstrated that merely by focusing his mind he could regulate his heart rate, brain waves, and body temperature— that his autonomic nervous system was under his conscious control. Until 1970, we didn’t believe that was possible.

Since then, thousands of research studies have confirmed the medical and psychological benefits of meditation, yoga exercises and diaphragmatic breathing. The dietary regimen recommended by India’s Yoga scientists, as well as stress reduction techniques they pioneered, have helped to dramatically reduce heart disease.

When I was manager of a holistic medical clinic back in the 1970s, there were still conservative medical personnel who resisted the flood of new treatment modalities pouring in from the East. Now, however, no one can remain unimpressed by all the good news we’ve learned about the efficacy of Yoga Science. Today, in 2014, you, Dear Doc, can dramatically reduce or eliminate

physician burnout and give your patients more opportunities to heal. How? By employing and teaching time-tested Yoga principles and techniques that can lessen stress, enhance the immune system, reduce or even eliminate sole reliance on medication, and vastly improve quality of life.

Leonard Perlmutter and The American Meditation Institute have created a revolutionary 30 hour CME conference—endorsed by the AMA as well as by leading researchers like Dean Ornish, MD, Mehmet Oz, MD and Larry Dossey, MD—that can help you incorporate these life enhancing modalities into your everyday life and medical practice. Right now you have patients who are eager to take responsibility for their health, who are zealously searching for alternatives that can keep them active and mentally clear into old age. With the tools you’ll gain in this conference you can take better care of yourself and can offer a host of new therapeutic options to your patients.

Yoga Science was honed over millennia by brilliant women and men who exhaustively explored the healing potentials of the mind/body complex. Regardless of your specialty, I urge you to attend the upcoming Heart and Science of Yoga™ CME conference. Once you’ve personally experienced the therapeutic value of Yoga as a science, I’m certain your confidence and compassion will motivate you to more completely integrate this relevant medical wisdom into your life and work––so that 21st century medicine can better serve both the patient, and you, the physician.

Linda Johnsen, M.S. is the award winning author of Lost Masters: The Sages of Ancient Greece.

It’s not too late!

AMI Summer Retreat The Heart & Science of Yoga

July 18-20 americanmeditation.org

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American Meditation Institute’s Yoga of Medicine Program

6th Annual Retreat: Physicians • RNs • NPs • PAs • Psychologists Comprehensive Training in Yoga Science as

Holistic Mind/Body Medicine For Clinical and Personal Application (30 CMEs)

The Heart and Science of Yoga

TM

Meditation • Mantra Science • Diaphragmatic Breathing • Yoga Psychology • Mind Function Optimization Chakras • Easy-Gentle Yoga • Lymph System Detox • Nutrition • Functional Medicine • Ayurvedic Medicine • Epigenomics

NOVEMBER 5-9, 2014 PHYSICIAN ACCREDITATION (30 CMEs) This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of Albany Medical College and The American Meditation Institute. Albany Medical College is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Self-Care For Healthy Living

The Albany Medical College designates this Live activity for a maximum of 30 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Albany Medical College

Lenox, Massachusetts

The only 4-Diamond Resort in the Berkshires

Space is LIMITED

Please Register EARLY!

Leonard Perlmutter, AMI Founder • Susan Lord MD • Beth Netter MD • Rosy Mann BAMS Mark Pettus MD • Kathie Swift MS RDN • Jenness Cortez Perlmutter, AMI Founder REGISTER ONLINE:

americanmeditation.org/cme •

Tel. (518) 674-8714

Curriculum Endorsed by: Mehmet Oz MD, Dean Ornish MD, Larry Dossey MD and Bernie Siegel MD

You are not a Prisoner!

By Mark Pettus, M.D. It has long been thought that the genes inherited from your parents and the risks of diseases for which they code are ultimately what you end up with, for better or for worse.

There is nothing you or I can do about the cards we have been dealt . . . or is there?

The burgeoning field of epigenomics is suggesting that while you cannot do much about the cards you are dealt, you can do a lot about how you play your hand.

Your Book of Life, as I like to refer to DNA, essentially holds the blueprint for how every cell, tissue, organ, and system in your body operates. Although one can inherit a disease over which you have no capacity to influence Genome Project researchers have never discovered a single “bad” gene for the vast majority of chronic complex diseases like heart disease. Instead, it appears we have scores of thousands of ‘typos” in our Book of Life that can be translated into multiple possible outcomes.

The genome is the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism. An epigenome means “above the gene.”

It consists of chemical compounds that modify, or mark, the gene in a way that tells it what to do, where to do it and when to do it.

The marks, which are not part of the DNA itself, can be passed on from cell to cell as cells divide, and from one generation to the next. In effect, our genes have many “on” and “off” switches that determine which patterns of gene expression manifest. What seems to determine whether these switches are in the “on” position or “off” position is the “environmental inputs” in one’s life (perhaps from before conception-forward) that are in a dynamic relationship with your Book of Life. These environmental inputs include: the foods you eat, the amount of movement you engage in, how you interpret and

respond to stress in your life, the quality of your sleep, environmental toxin exposure, love and social connection, meaning in your life, work, recreation and medications.

The nature of these lifelong complex relationships and lifestyle choices will determine how the parental typos you inherited ultimately get expressed. This is a radically different understanding with respect to our potential to change the ways our genes express themselves. As it turns out, our epigenome is an imprinted (and very changeable) memory of the environmental inputs of our parent’s lives before us and our lives since birth.

While we recognize that many diseases like heart disease run in families (as do the risk factors for heart disease like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol), what has not previously been understood is the extent to which these predispositions can be altered.

In other words, while your genes may load the gun, it is the environmental inputs that “tag” your epigenome and ultimately determine whether the trigger gets pulled or not.

From the perspective of Yoga Science as self-care, this is a game changer. The message is clear: You are not a prisoner of your DNA! The relationship between your Book of Life and your environmental inputs and lifestyle choices can profoundly transform your biology throughout life. And in the end, your biology becomes your biography.

This fascinating science now begs the question: How will the chapters in your Book of Life that are waiting to be written going to manifest. You are the author, the ultimate healer of yourself, and without question the daily practice of meditation, diaphragmatic breathing and gentle yoga provide supremely powerful tools in taking the bullets out of a loaded gun.

MARK PETTUS, MD will lecture on “Epigenomics, Inflammation and Allostatic Load” at AMI’s 6th Annual Physicians’ Retreat November 5-9, 2014 at the Cranwell Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts.

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American Meditation Institute Self-Care for Healthy Living Tel. 518.674.8714 • americanmeditation.org 60 Garner Road, Averill Park, NY 12018

“Have you tried turning off your conscious mind and then turning it back on again?”

© Paul Noth/The New Yorker Collection