A superb resource that seeks to address multiple root causes of anxiety 2010-06-13

Reviewer: Midwest Book Review

Psychotherapist/yoga teacher Mary NurrieStearns and meditation teacher Rick NurrieStearns present Yoga for Anxiety: Meditations and Practices for Calming the Body and Mind, a guide to using the practice of yoga to relieve stress, improve concentration, control the symptoms of anxiety, and more. Filled with suggested meditations, mindfulness passages, self-inquiry exercises, yoga poses and more, Yoga for Anxiety is accessible to readers of all backgrounds, regardless of personal skill and experience in yoga. Black-and-white photographs illustrating yoga poses enhance this gentle, well-thought-out, easy-to-follow guide. A superb resource that seeks to address multiple root causes of anxiety, in addition to proffering ways to tap into the power of yoga and physical activity as a positive counter-force, Yoga for Anxiety is highly recommended.

a handbook fpr stress reduction 2010-05-10

Reviewer: Lindsay Patterson

Yoga For Anxiety is a warm, easy-to-read, and useful guide to help manage anxiety and live a more peace-filled life. It offers information, examples, and exercises to calm your mind and emotions day by day. The authors combine personal and professional experience, current scientific information, spiritual practices, and useful tools for anyone seeking to live with a greater sense of well-being. I've given it to friends and suggested it to colleagues and patients.I highly recommend it.

Lindsay Patterson, PhD., Clinical Psychologist, Tulsa, Oklahoma

a wonderful how to for calm and lowering anxiety 2010-05-03

Reviewer: Jeanne Erikson

This book is more about anxiety than yoga, but a wonderful blend of the two. As an innovate book, it ranks at the top. It presents clinical information in a readable way, as well as stories about ordinary people using the techniques. Mary and Rick NurrieStearns are grounded in solid knowledge about life, yoga, and anxiety, with a graceful writing style that adds to the pleasure of the read. I would recommend it both for self-help, but also for clinicians working with the anxious client.

Jeanne Erikson, PhD, LCSW

Yoga for Anxiety 2010-05-03

Reviewer: D. millican Wynn

This book is not a how to do Yoga Book, per se. There are hunderds of books on different types of Yoga and how to do yoga. This book is a lovely source of knowledge for anyone who wishes to take care of their physical, mental and spiritual health. It is also for anyone who has experienced anxiety. It is written in a style of loving kindness and by Mary and Rick's examples it teaches you to have compassion and patience with yourself. This book teaches you valuable tools that anyone can use to put themselves in charge of anxiety forever. The idea is that you can take charge of anxiety without medication, or ingesting alcohol or other substances. If this appeals to you, then this is well worth your time and money. This book is for you.

Rick and Mary have done extensive research into the latest findings of Neuroscience. They have explained it in easy to understand language, so you do not need to have a degree in science or biology to understand what is written in their book. A foundation key that Rick and Mary explain is that scientists have found, that the action of repeated firings of neurons changes the wiring of the brain. This simply means you can change your mental wiring by what you think, and how often you think it. This is crucial in understanding what Mary and Rick are teaching in this book. They explain that through the repetition of practice of Yoga techniques, and verbal mantra, the brain has the capacity to incorporate these into a healthy response style for responding to stress and anxiety.

Inorder to deal with fear/anxiety, Rick and Mary's book catogorizes this process of becoming aware of what you are unaware of, into "the five capacities of the mind". This is in keeping with Yoga tradition. 1.) Memory which involves the storing and remembering of information. 2.) Imagination, which represents a creative side, eg. music, art, innovation, humor - but it can also scare you into thinking about "what might be - what could happen". 3.) Perception, your ability to process or take in color in your environment, sounds, flavors, smells and the ability to touch things. 4.) Sense of Identity, another function of our minds, which incorporates our experiences which make up our own story about who we are. Mary points out that these stories are not who you are but they can control how you feel about yourself and keep you stuck in both postive and negative perceptions about yourself and patterns of behavior. 5.) Intelligence, which in the western world refers to IQ, but is explained better by Rick and Mary as wisdom or inner knowing. Mary and Rick's book helps one to use Yoga to recognize the workings of your mind and to become aware of your minds patterns. This new kind of awareness helps you use detachment to gain more wisdom and freedom from past stories and experiences, both negative and postive ones, that have become part of your identity.

Mary and Rick explain how anxiety, phobia and trauma are related to irrational fears. They also help us look at the by product which can take control of our lives which are the needs for certainty and safety. They teach us to analyze our needs for safety. While taking steps to help us feel safer, they offers tools to build up a tolerance for uncertainty as we know life does not offer any of us absolutes.

Mary and Rick introduce meditation, breathe work, silent retreats and yoga practices that anyone can learn and perform in their own home. Mary and Rick's book demonstrates yoga poses that can be practiced for 10-15 minutes at home. Some poses can be utilized in your work environment to help you free your body from anxiety. This book is truly a gift of love to humanity.

I am a practicing psychologist who has been doing therapy with clients since 1988. While I have taught individuals self relaxation, I see this book offering a compulation of tools that are interconnected and that are self healing. This book offers a holistic approach of incorporating tools for a life style change that will result in a new approach to anxiety, as well as dealing with ones own identity and early programing. I am also a certified yoga instructor and find these poses safe and ones that can be self taught.

I would highly recommend this book to clients, students, family and friends. This is the best medicine yet and it does not require ingesting a pill or other substance. It requires a small amount of time and some self discipline, like brushing ones teeth. Pretty soon, you just do it, and you do not think about it. It just is.

Don't let the title fool you! 2010-04-23

Reviewer: P. Kruger

Don't let the title fool you; this book is so much more that it appears at first glance. I was impressed with the depth of the material and references. The practice sequences were most enlightening and resourceful, which helped me to explore old stories about my identity that uniquely revealed undiscovered and unprocessed anxiety that I was holding on to.

This book will help you recognize what anxiety does to you, what the long-term consequences are and how to heal from it and potentially repair the damage it's had on your body, mind and soul. As a Business Advisor, I come in contact daily with so many business owners that are paralyzed with fear, anxiety and doubts. I will be recommending this book to my clients.