INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THERAPY – No. 20 (2010) 15

The Yoga Tradition Perspective

Looking Back, Looking Forward Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Eleanor Criswell, PhD President, International Association of Yoga Therapists

I have been on the IAYT board for five years, and I am Yoga knowledge and experiences in their other classes. The currently serving as president for a one-year term. Twenty students learned skills they could use in every aspect of their years ago, I was teaching a course called Psychology of Yoga lives, and many students reported to me that Yoga contin- (PSY 352) at Sonoma State University. I created the course ued to be important in their lives many years after. Some of in 1969 when I was first hired by the psychology depart- them even went on to careers in Yoga teaching. ment. When I arrived on campus, the chair of the depart- About fourteen years ago, Joseph LePage, the founder of ment asked me, “If you could teach anything you wanted, Integrative Yoga Therapy, became a master’s student in the what would you like to teach?” “The psychology of Yoga,” psychology department at Sonoma State University. As part I replied. “Okay. Do it,” he said. And I did. Since then, I of his work there, he proposed a master’s program in Yoga have taught Yoga psychology to thousands of students; at and mind-body health. We accepted his proposal. I was chair one point, there were 300 students in the course. of the department at that time, and I agreed to serve as com- The Psychology of Yoga class was structured using mittee chair for the 16 students who were then accepted into ’s Yoga and the eight limbs of . It the Sonoma State University Special Sessions Psychology included , , , , , Master’s Program emphasizing Yoga and mind-body health. concentration, , and unification. Research from There were 500 applicants for the program. These were won- psychology, psychophysiology, and anatomy/kinesiology was derful students who used LePage’s Integrative Yoga Therapy woven in to support the philosophy and practices of Yoga. training program as the core of their studies. It was the first Information was taught in an experiential manner, and stu- master’s program of its kind. It was not possible to continue dents were encouraged to develop a personal Yoga practice. the program at Sonoma State University for various reasons. We had films and guest lecturers, including visiting , I look forward to the development of university-based pro- such as Swami Vishnudevananda and Bajan. Swami grams at all levels in the future. This will be a natural process Satchitananda, Ram Das, and Swami Muktananda spoke on as Yoga becomes more established in Western society. campus and students from the class attended. Many gurus During my time on the IAYT board, I have experienced visited the San Francisco Bay Area over the years because of the association growing in membership, coming together at the large population interested in Eastern traditions. its conferences for several years, increasing communication Information about the student outcomes from the class between the Yoga traditions, encouraging the comprehen- were informally gathered from their personal Yoga journals, sive training of Yoga therapists, and fostering research in the comments during classroom discussions, and comments to psychological and medical applications of Yoga as it sup- me privately during class or during office hours. During the ports the practice of Yoga therapy. The journal has grown semester, students reported greater physical flexibility, more into a very solid, peer-reviewed publication. This field is at a relaxation, decreased anxiety, better sleep and health, greater wonderful point in its development. concentration, better mood, and other benefits. Other pro- What I see changing most is the coming together of fessors reported to me how the students were using their the membership to facilitate the growth of the field. It is an 16 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010)

exponential growth. We are all working on this together. I We need to continue to look at how we effectively train appreciate the way members from different Yoga lineages Yoga therapists in the different traditions. I would like to see honor the contributions of the different traditions. It is more Yoga and Yoga therapy graduate programs with an ap- working with, and learning from, other non-yogic disci- preciation for the vast content that is contained in the Yoga plines in a very responsible fashion. It wants to work coop- tradition. As we bring Yoga and Yoga therapy into university eratively with other healing traditions. It wants to become settings, it becomes possible to include the vast resources of a respected healing modality without losing the essence of the university experience. Yoga in the process. At this point, Yoga and Yoga programs are enjoying Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 What I see in the future is the continued growth of considerable publicity. Later on, after the great current the field. As it grows, it will confront regulatory agencies media interest flags, we will need to continue to educate the and forces within society. I would like to see IAYT and the public as to the benefits of Yoga and Yoga therapy. Yoga and member schools develop education and practice standards Yoga therapy research will help with that, but the findings for the field. This is a very complex issue, in part because need to be communicated widely. are also teaching IAYT is an international organization. We are part of a their healthcare professionals about the positive changes in global movement, and at the same time, local issues need psychology and physiology brought about by Yoga practice. to be considered. Our current standards committee has two For example, when a patient comes in having healed at a representatives from outside the United States, and I would more rapid rate than might be expected, the healthcare pro- like to see increased communication between nations about fessional wants to know how that happened. Those obser- their Yoga programs and findings. Standards need to be vations change the attitudes and recommendations of the broadly conceived so that the essence of the different ap- health professional or healthcare system. proaches to Yoga therapy are included and appreciated. Humanity needs so much healing at this time. Yoga can I would also like to see continued growth in Yoga and play a big role in fostering that healing. Yoga ethical princi- Yoga therapy research. We need continued exploration of ples need to inform everything that we do, individually and the claims and findings of Yoga, and we need studies that are as an organization. It will take all of us working together. specifically devoted to understanding the dynamics of Yoga What better way to do it than in the light of Yoga? therapy. We need outcome studies. We need to look at what supports and improves the Yoga therapy process. Direct correspondence to [email protected]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010) 13

The Yoga Tradition Perspective

Down the Road: Yoga Therapy in the Future Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 , PhD, PT IAYT Advisory Council; President, California Yoga Teachers Association

One of my favorite quotes states: Planning is absolutely We also need to be willing to work with all other health necessary and completely impossible. Clearly, planning or professionals in ways that simultaneously show our compe­ predicting the future of such a new American profession tence in our own field and our respect for what they do. as Yoga therapy is a difficult task. But it is made easier by Moving toward collegiality with other healthcare practi­ thinking of this prediction in a new way. tioners will support better outcomes for our clients. Instead of guessing what might happen in the future, One translation of the firstsutra of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras another approach is to become clear about our intentions. is “now Yoga is shared.” The paradox of Yoga is that its value What do we, as a profession and community, want to create increases as we give it away. When we share with others what in the next twenty years of Yoga therapy? we have learned, especially with newer teachers, there is more The first goal is to continue educating ourselves about joy and health in the world. We need to establish and nurture how to apply Yoga techniques in a therapeutic manner. We a system for passing on what we have learned. have just begun to integrate what we have learned from Partly we do this through this journal and through our own teachers with direct connections to the source of Yoga. There books. But more than that, we need to support and encourage is much more to understand and to learn. We need both the younger teachers as they gain experience first in teaching, and traditional teachings of as well as the modern teach­ then as they mature, in learning to apply Yoga techniques in a ings of science. So much is being learned about the plasticity therapeutic manner. I like to consistently find ways to include of the brain, for example, that we can use in our work with newer teachers as assistants in trainings and workshops so we clients. We need to remain open to all the different tech­ can grow together as a community of learners. This is a way niques that can be of help. I feel I can give back just a small part of all the gifts that the Next, we need to continue to meet as a community at practice and teaching of Yoga have given me. conferences and online to offer each other our experiences If we do all of this with consistency and , and to question dispassionately what we have learned in our the future of Yoga therapy will be beyond what we can ever work. This is critically important; being together to discuss imagine or predict. and challenge each other in a friendly way is a rich breeding ground for all of us. Direct correspondence to [email protected]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010) 11

The Yoga Tradition Perspective

When Did Yoga Therapy Become a “Field?” Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, PhD IAYT Advisory Council; Ram Das Center for Medicine & Humanology, Espanola, NM

The day before I started to write this article I sat with the healthcare field” or “teaching Yoga to people eleven other Yoga teachers, each representing a member with… (name the condition).” He felt that until there is school of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, adequate research on the application of Yoga practice to sup- each a steward of their Yogic lineage and tradition, each a port health outcomes, it is not appropriate to call what we ­pioneer in bringing Yoga as a therapy into Western medicine. do “therapy” or “therapeutic.” We met as a standards committee intended to create mini- Other Yoga teachers were in a similar situation, with mum requirements for Yoga therapist training. Under the students who had identifiable conditions and for whom a skillful facilitation of Dan Seitz and John Kepner, we sorted regular Yoga class did not serve. We found each other. Larry through such concepts as scope of practice, knowledge base, Payne knew Richard Miller; I knew Larry, who introduced clinical experience requirements, and core competencies— me to Sherry Brourman, who influenced my work with the areas few of us considered when our first Yoga student with lymphatic system. Lisa Walford was teaching people with a health condition came to class. What a difference twenty HIV; so was I. Eric Small was down the road from me, years makes! teaching Yoga to people with MS. Most of us taught special- When I was trained as a teacher in ty populations: just people with cardiovascular conditions, 1971, the focus was on teaching healthy people. Sure, just people with back pain, just women with breast , people came to class to increase their flexibility and energy, just people with depression. to reduce stress or improve sleep, but these were not con- Through the centuries Yoga has been taught and practiced sidered people with health conditions. Fifteen years later, as a way for healthy people to reach their excellence. Even students came to my class on La Cienega Boulevard in Los though there are Yogic texts on the therapeutic applications of Angeles with fevers that had no known cause. Many had Yoga, it is not historically a therapeutic method or interven- orange fungus growing in the creases of their skin or long tion. Fortunately, most of us had a lineage, a Yogic tradition white filaments growing from their tongue. They were in we followed with a living teacher who guided our work. late-stage HIV disease. This was out of my realm; I had no We helped each other connect with physicians and al- medical background and had no idea how or even what to lied health professionals, supported each other with mar- teach these students. Fortunately, my spiritual teacher Yogi keting and outreach, made connections to participate in lived in the same city and was available to train me professional conferences. We formed a tribe of sorts. to teach Kundalini Yoga to people with health conditions. Defining what Yoga therapy is and what a Yoga thera- Though I did not recognize it at the time, nor label it so, it pist does? Who had time for that? I don’t recall that we even was under his direct guidance that I moved from being a used these terms in 1986. For many of us, it was more than “Yoga teacher” to becoming a “Yoga therapist.” enough to address what was in front of us. In my own situa- Yogi Bhajan did not use the terms “Yoga therapy” or tion, new medical information about HIV and the immune “Yoga therapist” and encouraged us not to use this lan- system came out almost daily, requiring me to constantly guage. We call what we do “bringing Kundalini Yoga into learn more and modify how, what, and even where (hos- 12 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010)

pital, hospice, home) I taught. Students died almost every Yoga therapists, not just Yoga teachers who can teach week. It was messy, chaotic, enormously demanding, and to specialty populations. changing fast. This is a field? From this evolution, neither Yoga therapy nor Western After a few years of this, it started to dawn on us that medicine is the same. Over the past twenty years, Western med- something bigger was happening than just us teaching Yoga icine has influenced the delivery of our Yoga therapy programs to people with a health condition. Larry hosted a training and how we work with clients. In turn, we are influencing by A.G. Mohan at Meadowlark. From this we got a glimpse Western medicine. There is more widespread acknowledge- of our range and impact and began to put language to what ment of the contribution the practice of Yoga brings to health, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 we were doing: We were pioneers in the West for the thera- and the ability of the body/mind/spirit to restore health. In peutic application of Yoga. addition, popular books such as Yoga as Medicine by Timothy Larry and Richard got reflective, and one day in 1989, McCall, MD, and Meditation as Medicine by Singh Larry called to tell me they were forming the International Khalsa, MD, have brought the practice of Yoga and the Yogic Association of Yoga Therapists. Would I like to be a charter way of living as a therapy to a broader audience. member? Absolutely. Now our tribe had a name and a home. Today, the International Association of Yoga Therapists Were we a field yet? Probably, or at least getting close. holds conferences to bring together Yoga therapy practi- We started training other Yoga teachers to do what- tioners and researchers. We are working to create a unified ever it is we did, and we began to expand what we professional identity. We are creating standards and guide- offered. My work with the immune system and HIV lines for the training of a safe, effective practitioner of Yoga disease led to courses on the practice of Yoga for people therapy. Faculty qualifications, regulation of the field? Areas with cancer, for chronic pain, for grief recovery, for we did not dream of twenty years ago are now essential ele- support during major life change. This led to work with ments of the conversation. people with depression, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, The conversation continues and expands. What do you and metabolic conditions. By 2004, we knew we had to want to contribute toward the future in the next twenty years? offer training not in specialty conditions, but in —dare I say it—the field of Yoga therapy. We need to train Direct correspondence to [email protected]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010) 9

The Yoga Tradition Perspective

A Dream Realized Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Larry Payne Co-Founder, International Association of Yoga Therapists Director, Yoga Therapy RX, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA

As the International Journal of Yoga Therapy celebrates its Our immersion in the individualized, therapeutic, and twentieth anniversary, I pause and take note of all that has holistic approach practiced by Desikachar, and the work happened over the past three decades and relish that sub- of his organization, the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram lime feeling of satisfaction one gets from seeing one’s dream (KYM), a teaching center and clinic in keeping with the later being realized. teachings of his father, the late Sri T.Krishnamacharya, was My personal journey with Yoga began in the early 1970s. a real eye-opener. Here was a Yoga therapy clinic that medi- A friend persuaded me to attend a Yoga class to remedy the cal doctors and psychologists referred their patients to. Yoga stress-related back pain I was experiencing as a consequence was an integral component of the treatment plan for people of my high-pressure career as an advertising executive. I was struggling with chronic medical problems such as diabetes, not your typical “Yoga type,” having come from an athletic youngsters demonstrating problem behaviors, and even background that stressed competitive team sports. However, stressed-out execs (like I used to be) who needed to learn how my reward for venturing outside my comfort zone was im- to better handle the job-related stress in their lives. mediate. The pain relief and overall sense of well-being that That was my vision in cofounding the International blanketed me following that first final relaxation stayed with Association of Yoga Therapists with Richard Miller. Our me for hours. Ultimately, it led me to reevaluate my life and brain child had its roots in Unity in Yoga, an organization find a new path and career, which included cofounding the cofounded by the late Sri Swami Satchidananda and International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). Jyoti Vernon with the aim to bring together Yoga teachers I traveled to Europe and throughout India to seek out and schools to learn from one another and advance the field Yoga teachers and explore this new world that had opened of Yoga. At the time, I was assistant director and Richard up to me. Ultimately, I met the man who was to become my Miller was a charter member of Unity in Yoga. Our dream teacher, T.K.V. Desikachar. I was inspired by his approach was to create and build an organization that would help of teaching to the whole person and adjusting the postures grow a profession through which Yoga therapy would find to fit the person. If I had benefitted from his guidance from its way into the mainstream of integrative medicine. With the start of my Yoga journey, I would have been spared the my marketing and organizational skills, I took the lead with serious knee injury and surgery that resulted from my naive the association, and Richard published the journal. Lilias attempts to attain a perfect lotus. Folan was the honorary president. Our carefully selected It was during my second trip to India to study with charter board of directors included many of the best and Desikachar that fellow student Richard Miller, PhD, and the brightest in the Yoga world at that time, many of whom I hatched the idea of founding an international organi- were also participants in Unity in Yoga, as well as physicians zation to bring together under one umbrella the various and practitioners in a wide range of treatment modalities. individuals and schools that were taking Yoga to its next After its first decade, internationally renowned Yoga level: Yoga therapy. scholar, , PhD, shepherded the association 10 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010)

and its journal through its second phase, taking it under the And just where are we as a profession? Growing and wing of the Yoga Research and Education Center (YREC), thriving. IAYT’s educational standards committee is tasked which he founded, until its third and current stage, under with the responsibility of ensuring that Yoga therapists are the inspired leadership of the executive director, John provided the necessary background and understanding Kepner, MA, MBA, and Kelly McGonigal, PhD, the jour- to perform competently and skillfully in the field. Well nal’s editor-in-chief. A more detailed history of both IAYT over fifty Yoga therapist training schools are listed on the and IJYT are available on the IAYT website. IAYT website, with many more applications pending. Yoga When I describe this history in the introductory session Therapy Rx at Loyola Marymount University, the universi- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 of my program (which I conduct one- ty-based Yoga therapist training program I cofounded and on-one, as it was passed on to me by my teacher), the fact codirect with my colleagues , PhD, that IAYT’s history is a virtual Who’s Who in contemporary Rick Morris, DC, Richard Usatine, MD, and David Allen, Yoga is not lost on me, although they are my longtime col- MD, will no doubt soon be joined by other university-based leagues and friends. programs currently under development. Twenty years later, the dream that gave rise to IAYT is What do I see as our next steps? My dream is to see happening! Through the dedicated work of all involved, we the continuing evolution and broadening of our profession, are witnessing the elevation of the status of Yoga and Yoga where licensed professionals in a broad array of practice therapy. Major universities and other institutions, including areas see the benefit of teaming up with Yoga therapists to the National Institutes of Health, now invest in research to enhance the treatment of their patients, and even see the learn how and when Yoga can help. Yoga studies have taken benefit of becoming trained in Yoga therapy themselves as their place not only in this peer-reviewed journal, but across part of their comprehensive training. Many of you who are the medical literature. The SYTAR conference provides an reading this and other articles in this twentieth anniversary opportunity for researchers and therapists to share find- issue may be new to the field of Yoga therapy. To you, my ings, learn from one another, and contribute to the health new colleagues, I say, “Welcome,” and let’s continue sup- and wellness literature. Enter the words “Yoga therapy” in porting and growing our profession together. Google Scholar, and you will find more than 30,000 hits. How far we have come! Direct correspondence to [email protected]. 6 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010)

The Yoga Tradition Perspective

In the Beginning, In the Present Moment, In the Future Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Richard Miller, PhD Co-Founder, International Association of Yoga Therapists Integrative Restoration Institute, San Rafael, CA

Beginnings entertained the perennial inquiry: “Who am I?” “What am I?” “Why am I? “What is all of this?” In 1970, I began living an odyssey steeped in grace that has carried me these past 40 years. I’ve had the good for- Early Visions tune to mentor with experts in the fields of psychotherapy, Judeo-Christianity, Taoism, , Yoga, and Western, Then, in November 1979, while preparing a trip to Chinese, and Ayurvedic medicine. Along the way I’ve stud- Taiwan for advanced studies in Chinese medicine, I re- ied pre-med, obtained my MA in inter-disciplinary edu- ceived a personal invitation from T.K.V. Desikachar to study cation and my license as a marriage and family therapist, Yoga in (at that time called Madras), India. Two completed my PhD and licensing as a clinical psychologist, months later I was in residence at the Theosophical Society schooled in Chinese medicine and practiced acupuncture in (TS) in Adyar, riding my bicycle to twice-daily meetings a free clinic in India, and studied with a mentor from the Far with Desikachar, studying the therapeutic application of East who helped me integrate Eastern and Western psycho- Yoga from the ancient perspectives of , Patañjali, spiritual perspectives. I’ve spent a year of Sundays traveling , and . with a Presbyterian minister; sat Zen, , and Yoga It was during this first sojourn to Chennai that I struck retreats; and met with a Japanese priest who quietly whis- up what has become a lifetime friendship with my spiritual pered in my ear, “You drink a lot of tea.” brother, Larry Payne, who was at the time taking classes at In the early years, I joined Yogananda’s Self-Realization the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram while on his world Fellowship and studied the Yoga teachings of Swami tour researching alternative healing modalities. As we walked Satchitananda, (who used to fly me the TS grounds by the Bay of Bengal, we began hatching to L.A. to teach classes when he’d go on vacation), Swami plans to create an organization dedicated to exploring the Bua, and B.K.S. Iyengar. I founded the non-profit Marin art and therapy, a field that was just blossom- School of Yoga, taught Yoga throughout North America and ing in the West. We envisioned an organization that would in Europe, and immersed myself in the nondual teachings foster community among Yoga teachers while supporting a of Advaita, J. Krishnamurti, Da Free John, and others. And professional organization that would bring credibility to the through grace, I was able to spend 15 years with my spiritual burgeoning field of Yoga therapy. mentor, Jean Klein, before he passed in 1998. Throughout the ’70s, I encountered hundreds of stu- Over the years, I have read countless Western and dents who loved practicing Yoga, but who brought with Eastern medical texts and journals and every esoteric book them physical and psychological distresses that I was unpre- on Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, Existentialism, Yoga, pared to address through my initial training as a Yoga teach- Advaita, and nondualism I was able to lay my hands on. er. Although my studies in Eastern and Western medicine With every step, my spiritual journey in Yoga deepened as I provided me with tools with which to help my students, it PERSPECTIVE 7

was my years of tutelage with Desikachar that afforded me Western medical practitioners and researchers held what was real-time mentoring in the therapeutic application of Yoga. available from the East in low regard. My desire from the Under his guidance, I examined case studies that ranged from very first issue was to counter this lack by publishing a pro- healing acute and chronic injuries to addressing deep-seated fessional journal that would stimulate, develop, and foster psychological issues, utilizing principles drawn from the an- high standards of education and research within the Yoga cient texts of the Yoga Rahasya, Pradipika, Siva community and among Yoga teachers and Western medical and Gerunda , and the Siva Svarodaya, and from practitioners and researchers. the teachings of Samkhya, Patanjali, Vedic chanting, , When I passed on the baton as editor in 1997, Yoga Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 meditation, and Ayurveda. My studies over the years, as well was in full bloom, Yoga research was beginning to gain in- as my interactions with Larry and other like-minded Yoga terest and respect, and IAYT was moving into adolescence. teachers, brought forward my desire to create a professional Since then a succession of editors has stewarded my vision journal that I envisioned would bring these principles, and forward, including Steve Kleinman, Georg Feuerstein, and more, to my peers in the Yoga community. now Kelly McGonigal. I’ve been delighted to witness the journal thrive into adulthood and become a peer-reviewed and respected professional journal under the watchful lead- ership of Kelly, John Kepner, and the board of directors. Since handing over the reins, I’ve gone on to develop the nonprofit Integrative Restoration Institute, which is dedicated to disseminating the teachings and research on Yoga and nondualism with various populations and is- sues, including compassionate care, PTSD, homelessness, chemical dependency, chronic pain and sleep issues, and self-esteem and emotional/cognitive intelligence in college students and preschool children. Looking Forward

Photo 1. IAYT co-founders Richard Miller (bottom row, cen- While I’m delighted to be part of the thriving field of ter) and Larry Payne (top row, far right) at Colgate University Yoga in general, and Yoga therapy and research specifically, in 1983. I am dismayed by the general tone I see developing in the public sector with respect to the field of Yoga and Yoga So, in 1983, while studying with Desikachar during a therapy. As Yoga has gained popularity, I’m concerned that two-week intensive at Colgate University (see picture), Larry it’s being slowly severed from its spiritual roots. The general and I formalized our plans to cofound the International public has come to view Yoga as , with its spiritual Association of Yoga Therapy (IAYT), with Larry as presi- underpinnings nowhere in sight. Somewhere along the way, dent in charge of operations and I as vice president in charge the eightfold path is being lost. Why is it these days that of creating and editing the professional journal of IAYT. when Yoga practitioners become interested in meditation, Founding the journal completed my long-time dream of they have to look outside their Yoga community for classes? creating a professional periodical dedicated to Yoga therapy I’m constantly dismayed by conversations on airplanes when in which teachers, students, and researchers could find - asked what brings me to my destination. When I reply, “I’m cles integrating the fields of Eastern and Western Medicine, teaching a Yoga retreat,” I’m met with, “You know, I need research, and the multifaceted disciplines of Yoga. to get to the gym myself more often.” When I respond that I’m teaching a meditation retreat, I’m met with, “You know, IAYT Journal I need to learn to relax, too.” Something’s terribly wrong when Yoga equals exercise and meditation equals relaxation. In 1986, when the first issue of the IAYT journal de- I fear the same is becoming true for “Yoga therapy.” Yoga, buted, Yoga was just beginning to boom in popularity. But which is a system of education that fosters self-understand- research, and courses in the West pertaining to the thera- ing and eliminates suffering, is being advertised more and peutic application of Yoga, were basically nonexistent, and more as a system akin to allopathic medicine, where symp- 8 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY – No. 20 (2010)

toms are addressed but the underlying causes of suffering go As Yoga penetrates ever more deeply into Western cul- unaddressed. ture, IAYT holds a sacred responsibility, as do each of us, to As we enter the next twenty years of IAYT, I wish to cultivate, embody, and convey a deep spiritual understanding challenge my peers and myself to raise the standards of how to each student we work with. I hope one day in the not-too- we convey the meaning of Yoga and Yoga therapy, lest we distant future to be sitting on an airplane and when asked fall prey to our own viparyaya-vikalpa—the worst form of where I’m traveling and I say, “To teach a Yoga retreat,” that misperception, where we think we know what we’re doing, the person sitting next to me responds by engaging me in an when in fact we’re operating from unsound knowledge. As intimate conversation sharing their spiritual heritage, where I Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article-pdf/20/1/6/2388387/ijyt_20_1_t2726841j3733763.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 I go about teaching, I want every Yoga teacher and Yoga can smile inside and affirm that finally in the West, Yoga and therapist I train to be well-grounded in the underpinnings Yoga therapy equal the end of suffering and the awakening of Yoga, which include Samkhya, Patanjali, and the path of of love in action. meditation that resolves suffering by revealing our inherent interconnectedness. I want us, as a community, to be knowl- Direct correspondence to 900 Fifth Avenue, Suite 203, San edgeable, experienced, and comfortable in our understand- Rafael, CA 94901. Telephone: 415-456-3909. Email: ing of the spiritual heritage that informs Yoga. [email protected].

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