Teacher
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Gary KraftsowGary Kraftsowthe founder and director of the American Viniyoga Institute, has been a pioneer in the transmission of Yoga for health, healing, and personal transformation for more than 40 years. He began his study of Yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga International in Paris, France, in 1988.
Gary graduated with a B.A. from Colgate University in 1976 and received his master’s degree in psychology and religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. Around that time, he opened the Maui School of Yoga Therapy, and in 1999 he founded the American Viniyoga Institute™, LLC. Since then, he has become a renowned speaker and teacher of the Viniyoga methodology at many conferences and schools nationally and internationally.
Gary has successfully developed the protocol for two National Institutes of Health studies: “Evaluating Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain” and “Yoga Therapy for Generalized Anxiety,” as well as for the “Mind-Body Stress Reduction in the Workplace” clinical trial for the Aetna insurance company.
He is the author of two books published by Penguin, Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation, and the author of four educational DVD’s: Viniyoga Therapy for Low Back, Sacrum and Hips and Viniyoga Therapy for Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders, Viniyoga Therapy for Depression, and Viniyoga Therapy for Anxiety. He has also produced several online workshops: Pranayama Unlocked, Meditation Unlocked, Yoga Therapy for Depression, Yoga Therapy for Better Sleep, Yoga Therapy for Anxietys and Āsana Unlocked.
Yoga and the Autonomic Nervous System: Managing Your Energy 3-Week Course
The stresses and strains of changing circumstances have a direct impact on our physical and mental condition. While much of the focus in contemporary yoga is on how to manage our structure, in this series, we will focus on how to manage the impact of the stress and strains of daily life upon our energy.
Interestingly, a large percentage of pharmaceuticals prescribed for managing symptoms of chronic illness are sympathetic/parasympathetic regulators. The Ancients understood how to use the breath to gain control of and regulate the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) so we will learn how to use breath-centric āsana and prāṇāyāma as functional tools to help you move through life with vitality and relaxation.
In this series, we will:
- Learn the ways of regulating the breath in āsana and prāṇāyāma to impact the ANS.
- Focus on these common symptoms of stress: anxiety and sleeplessness. Learn how to calm sympathetic over-activation, engage parasympathetic response, and promote relaxation and peace.
- Focus on these common symptoms of stress: fatigue and depression. Learn how to activate suppressed sympathetic function, restoring energy and enthusiasm.
Participants will receive links to recordings of the sessions.
Session recordings will be available to participants for streamable viewing until June 10.
Live sessions, on Zoom with Gary, take place on April 14, 21, and 28.
You will receive recordings of all three sessions even if you register after the start date.
This is an online workshop. You’ll need to download Zoom to attend.
Please see your purchase confirmation for the Zoom link.
