For thousands of years hand mudras have been used in India for healing, storytelling, emotional expression, and to evoke and convey elevated spiritual states. For the first time, the elaborate system of mudras-as applied in yoga and Indian dance-has been organized into a comprehensive, fully-indexed and cross-referenced format that allows readers access to this still esoteric body of knowledge.

Mudras of India presents over 200 photographed hand mudras each with detailed instructions on technique, application, health and spiritual benefits and historical background. The authors have extensively researched the usage of mudras and their significance in the larger context of Indian spiritual systems, and taken painstaking efforts to ensure each mudra is rendered with correct Sanskrit name, transliteration and translation to English. A new chapter that comprehensively lists the benefits of hand mudras, covering major health concerns as well spiritual and psycho-energetic categories, has been added for the paperback edition.

The book will appeal to spiritual seekers, students and teachers of yoga and Indian Dance, scholars and lay people, and anyone interested in the rich cultural heritage of Indian mudras, and the transformative effects of these powerful hand gestures.

Highly Commended in the 2018 British Medical Association Book Awards

What is the difference between fear and excitement and how can you tell them apart? How do the mind and body make emotions? When can anxiety be good? This science-based graphic book addresses these questions and more, revealing just how strange anxiety is, but also how to unravel its mysteries and relieve its effects.

Understanding how anxiety is created by our nervous system trying to protect us, and how our fight-or-flight mechanisms can get stuck, can significantly lessen the fear experienced during anxiety attacks. In this guide, anxiety is explained in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format with tips and strategies to relieve its symptoms, and change the mind's habits for a more positive outlook.

Nei Gong has been a well-kept secret within the Daoist sects of China for centuries. Based upon the original teachings of the great sage Laozi, it has only ever been taught to close students of the masters chosen as the heads of the ancient orders.

This book provides a breakdown of the entire Nei Gong process, and explains in plain English the philosophy which underpins Nei Gong practice, and which is based on the original teachings of the ancient Daoist priests. The methodology of Sung breathing, an advanced meditative practice which has until now been reserved for 'inner-door' students is described, and the book contains an entire set of Qigong exercises accompanied by instructional photographs and drawings.

This book will be of interest to all practitioners of Qi Gong, martial arts and meditation, and will be a rewarding read for anyone interested in Eastern philosophy.

Why can salamanders grow new legs, and young children grow new finger tips, but adult humans can't regenerate? What is the electricity that flows through the human body? Is it the same thing that the Chinese call Qi? If so, what does Chinese medicine know, that western medicine ignores?

Dan Keown's highly accessible, witty, and original book shows how western medicine validates the theories of Chinese medicine, and how Chinese medicine explains the mysteries of the body that western medicine largely ignores. He explains the generative force of embryology, how the hearts of two people in love (or in scientific terms quantum entanglement') truly beat as one, how a cheating heart is also an ill heart (which is why men are twice as likely to die of a sudden heart attack with their mistress than with their wife), how neural crest cells determine our lifespan, and why Proust's madeleines evoked the memories they did...

The book shows how the theories of western and Chinese medicine support each other, and how the integrated theory enlarges our understanding of how bodies work on every level. Full of good stories and surprising details, Dan Keown's book is essential reading for anyone who has ever wanted to know how the body really works.

To work with Al Huang is to learn to move with wind and water... in the course of everyday life... a truly superior and gifted teacher who works upon others as the sun and rain upon plants.'

- From the foreword by Alan Watts, one of the great writers of Comparative Philosophy and Religion and Taoist and Zen literature.

First published in 1973, this all time classic of Tai Ji literature remains as fresh and illuminating today as when it was first published. Written with true passion and eloquence, the book richly conveys the subtle yet profound principles underlying Tai Ji. Movement, stillness, joyfulness, and the ability to live in the moment are the threads running through the text, as well as the humor and compassion to acknowledge the impossibility of human perfection. Containing the original foreword by Alan Watts, the book is illustrated with beautiful calligraphy by the author, and photographs by Si Chi Ko, one of China's National Treasures.

This timeless masterpiece is essential reading for anybody interested in Taoism, Tai Ji, or the Tao philosophy of Living Our Own Tao, and the author is a wonderful, dramatic, and inspiring presence throughout the book.

This book explores food, nutrition, and dietary recommendations from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approach. 'Modern Chinese Medicine Food Cures' helps both practitioners and their patients navigate a landscape saturated with conflicting dietary advice. This book is a tool to allow practitioners to meet people where they are so they can help them. It is also accessible enough for patients to use it for their own self-care and dietary adjustments.

Dr. Melissa Carr provides a modern approach to nutrition that is based on TCM's rich history of using food therapy to personalize health and wellness. She outlines how TCM can systematically assess an individual's health, as well as ways it evaluates how specific foods can impact our bodies. Readers are offered a self-assessment tool to help understand the five elements for TCM diagnosis and the application of nutritional suggestions by element.

The basics and key elements of Western nutritional advice are also included, as is a handy reference of food recommendations for common symptoms and illnesses, while focusing on foods and herbs that are familiar and generally easily accessible to Western readers.

The use of Mudras, or yoga of the hands, has been recognised for centuries as a simple yet effective healing tool, known to prevent and cure illnesses and bring about spiritual regeneration. This book examines Mudras, and teaches how regular practice can rejuvenate your body and mind and transform your everyday life.

Covering all you need to know about performing Mudras, this insightful and informative book will enable you to gain an understanding of a form of yoga that has already helped thousands of people. Clear illustrations explain exactly how to use Mudras, and chapters explore everything from the use of Mudras in dance and martial arts to diet and the practice of visualisation. Further sections look at how combining Mudras with positive colours and music can improve your wellbeing. They take minutes to perform, and can be done almost anywhere at any time, yet the effects are hugely beneficial.

This book is a must for anyone who wants to unlock their spirituality and change their daily lives. Mudras are believed to be the key to spiritual and mental wellbeing, and will radically enhance every aspect of your existence.

One-to-one yoga teaching is a great way to ensure that every client is practicing yoga safely while reducing risks that may cause them unintentional harm. Through the process of co-creation, yoga teachers can move beyond the development of one-time class practices into the development of tailored yoga practice programs that can truly meet their clients where they are and take them where they want to go - on and off of the mat.

Blending the science of shared decision-making with an evidence-informed approach to health intervention design, this book offers yoga teachers and other movement professionals a simple, systemic and strategic process for co-creating a yoga practice program on and off the mat. Interviewing, assessment, and choreography strategies provide a wealth of options for better understanding clients' current needs and strengths and future possibilities. Behavior and lifestyle change and strategic planning processes offer a step-by-step method for developing a kosha-based practice program that keeps clients on track to their optimal health, wellness and well-being.

Answering questions such as 'how can I change my pain experience?', 'what is pain?', and 'how do nerves work?', this short research-based graphic book reveals just how strange pain is and explains how understanding it is often the key to relieving its effects.

Studies show that understanding how pain is created and maintained by the nervous system can significantly lessen the pain you experience. The narrator in this original, gently humorous book explains pain in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format and reveals how to change the mind's habits to transform pain.

Why can't we tickle ourselves?

How can slow touch convey more powerful emotions than fast touch?

How does touch shape our perception of the world?

The latest addition to the Really Strange series, this science-based graphic comic addresses these questions and more, revealing the complexity of touch and exploring its power and limits. Used positively, touch can change pain and trauma, communicate compassion and love and generate social bonding. Get it wrong and it can be abusive and terrifying.
Touch helps us feel real. Knowledge comes through our body as we engage with space and with others. Before we have language, our concepts are formed as we meet a world full of edges and textures. Touch is Really Strange celebrates the power of inward touch (interoception) and looks at how we can use skilful contact to promote feelings of joy, connection and vitality.

Presenting ways in which Restorative Yoga can contribute to healing emotional wounds, this book invites yoga teachers, therapists and practitioners to consider the psychological impact of ethnic and race-based stress and trauma. It aids in the process of uncovering, examining, and healing one's own emotional wounds and offers insight into avoiding wounding or re-wounding others.

The book describes how race-based traumatic stress differs from PTSD and why a more targeted approach to treatment is necessary, as well as what can trigger it. It also considers the implications of an increasingly racially and ethnically diverse and global yoga community, as well as the importance of creating conscious yoga communities of support and connection, where issues of race and ethnicity are discussed openly, non-defensively and constructively.

By providing a therapeutic structure that assists those directly and indirectly impacted by ethnic and race-based stress and trauma, Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma provides valuable tools for aiding in the processing of stressful experiences and in trauma recovery.

Long Covid symptoms can often leave people feeling incredibly fatigued and stressed, and conventional yoga practice may not be suitable for their needs or ability. This practice-based guide addresses the symptoms of Long Covid and fatigue directly and offers adapted techniques to help yoga therapists and health professionals work with clients struggling with their symptoms.
Beginning with an initial theoretical explanation of the science behind Long Covid, each subsequent chapter focusses on different elements of this condition and offers scripted practices that professionals may read aloud or adapt as needed. Themes include a trauma-informed approach to stress, breathing techniques, how to rest, making a kind connection to the body, pacing vs moving, the five pranas, and working with the chakras to increase energy. Each section maintains a focus on helping clients reduce and better manage their symptoms in order to heal, with one chapter dedicated entirely to supporting children with Long Covid.
This guide is an imperative resource for health professionals and yoga therapists on how to guide students struggling with Long Covid and fatigue symptoms in a way that won't exacerbate their conditions.

This essential manual meets the increasing need for yoga teachers to be trauma-informed and trauma-responsive, and aware of how poses, breathwork, and meditation can impact the body. In detailing all aspects of trauma as it relates to yoga teaching, this guide lays a strong foundation in fostering trust and building authentic connections with students safely and confidently.

Yoga teachers will benefit from a number of yoga practices for self-regulation, self-determination, and agency, as well as guidance on polyvagal theory, communication, setting boundaries, and yoga teacher self-care. It also includes a de-escalation protocol for in-session trauma responses and how to cultivate a trauma-informed teaching environment.

Written by an internationally renowned author duo, this is a universal resource for yoga teachers looking to empower themselves and their clients from all demographics and in all settings.

Providing a decolonial, action-focused account of Yoga philosophy, this practical work from Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, pioneering scholar in the field of Indian moral philosophy, focuses on the South Asian tradition to explore what Yoga was like prior to colonization. It challenges teachers and trainees to reflect on the impact of Western colonialism on Yoga as well as understand Yoga as the original decolonial practice in a way that is accessible.

Each chapter takes the reader through a journey of sources and traditions, beginning with an investigation into the colonial -Platonic and Aristotelian- approaches to pedagogy in colonized yoga spaces, through contrary, ancient philosophies of South Asia, such as Jainism, Buddhism, Sankhya, and various forms of Vedanta, to sources of Yoga, including the Upanisads, Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika. With discussions of the precolonial philosophy of Yoga, its relationship to social justice, and modern postural yoga's relationship with colonial trauma, this is a comprehensive guide for any yoga teacher or trainee to activate and synergize their practice. Supplementary online resources bring the text to life, making this the perfect text for yoga teacher trainings.

This pioneering guide is the first of its kind to integrate the FUN(R) program with the brainbody therapies known as EMDR, Brainspotting, and Yoga Nidra. It provides clear guidance on how to safely use therapeutic tools and self-regulation exercises for clinicians and individuals impacted by trauma, addiction, anxiety, grief, family dysfunction, and stress. It offers a comprehensive toolbox of strategies and techniques to use during therapy sessions or on your own.
The science behind each modality and approach is explained in detail along with how they can be applied to maximize self-care care and enhance the therapeutic relationship. Techniques include case conceptualization, the use of mental imagery, directing attention to sensations in the body, focused eye movements and positions, and many more.
Dr Shafer draws on her extensive, internationally recognised and evidence-based research in this accessible and innovative book. Clinicians will be able to diversify their scope of practice and further aid their clients' healing through the integrative potential of The FUN(TM) Program, EMDR, Brainspotting, and Yoga Nidra.

Going beyond the practical technicalities, this in-depth manual delves into the founding principles and philosophy of Shiatsu on a technical, cultural, energetic, and conceptual level.
Split into three parts and based on two decades of international experience, Ivan Bel first returns to the basic technical principles of Shiatsu, then explores the complexities of the person-centred mind/body theory behind the practice, and gradually expands into the philosophical elements of natural health.

Concepts and questions that are often excluded from practical Shiatsu resources are carefully explained, including inner cleaning and purification, linking energy, and the impact an individual's environment can have on their health. Enriched with case studies and comprehensive yet accessible language, this is ideal for both Shiatsu students and practitioners.

In exploring the 'why' as well as the 'how', this must-have resource allows teachers and students to expand their knowledge and awareness for a more complete and flexible understanding of this ancient discipline.

Consent is not the absence of 'NO', it is an enthusiastic YES!!

While seemingly straightforward, Tia and Bryony hadn't considered this subject too seriously until it comes up in conversation with their friends and they realise just how important it is.

Following the sexual assault of a classmate, a group of teenage girls find themselves discussing the term consent, what it actually means for them in their current relationships, and how they act and make decisions with peer influence. Joined by their male friends who offer another perspective, this rich graphic novel uncovers the need for more informed conversations with young people around consent and healthy relationships. Accompanying the graphics are sexual health resources for students and teachers, which make this a perfect tool for broaching the subject with teens.

Here is a comprehensive and practical guide to using the Five Element model in your daily life in ways that can improve your physical health, foster mental ease and clarity, create more emotional balance, and bring you closer to spirit.

Having introduced the philosophical and practical principles of the Five Elements, the author invites you to 'live the book', immersing yourself in the many aspects of each Element during its corresponding season. He offers a range of methods of doing this, including activities such as movement, cooking, gardening, journaling, visualisation, meditation, dialogue and self-acupressure. In working with each Element, he explores the three levels or expressions of human life - the physical (structures, organs, tissues and systems), the psycho-emotional (thoughts, beliefs, self-images, emotions and reactions), and the spirit.

Detailed information is provided on each Element's specific attributes, associations, resonances and gifts, and anatomical illustrations are included for further guidance. An invaluable reference book for practitioners and students of Chinese Medicine who hope to become better practitioners to others, the book also provides the means to become a practitioner to yourself.

Too many of us hold our physical, mental and emotional pain within our bodies, where it slows energy, manifests as tension and can have a damaging impact upon our health. In his new book, Noah Karrasch shows that wellbeing and healing come from the detangling of blocked emotions and the restoration of the free flow of energy through the body.

Written for bodywork and manual therapy practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines, as well as other healers who want to expand their skills, this generously illustrated book explains how and where emotions and static energy are held in the body, and how they can be released and rebalanced in therapies that challenge bodymindcore awareness. It includes many new ideas and techniques: useful conversation starters to help practitioners encourage clients to self-identify their challenges, detailed explanations of myofascial release techniques and self-reflective exercises designed to first help the practitioner truly understand the process for him or herself, through his or her own body, in order to become a more empathetic and effective therapist.

This important book will enable bodywork and manual therapy practitioners to work more confidently, and more intuitively, with their clients.