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I. Universal Wellbeing Skills in 10 Domains
1. HABIT & CHANGE
Wellbeing Skills
- Patterns and shifts
- yoga and ayurveda view
- principle of adaptation—use it or lose it
- The whole person
- willpower, energy, resistance, effort
- stress vs challenge, safety, resilience, coping, allostasis
- curiosity, exploration, play, new vs familiar
- The environment
- supports for new patterns
- triggers for old patterns
- The journey
- steps—small steps and large steps
- less vs more in time and complexity
- lapses, trying again vs trying differently, commitment
- conviction, insight, growing vs changing
- The goal
- personal meaning of change, value system, intrinsic and extrinsic reward
- acceptance, engagement and letting go
Traditional Frameworks
- vṛtti, samskāra
- hetu, phala, āśraya, ālambana
- guṇa, doṣa, prakṛti
- śraddhā, vīrya, prajñā, vrata
- tapas, svādhyāya, īśvara-praṇidhāna
2. AWARENESS
Wellbeing Skills
- Categories, practices, and stages of directed attention
- mindfulness, absorption, contemplation
- stages of progressive absorption
- Awareness for holistic transformation
- monitoring
- focus
- insight
- goal-setting
- Managing the quality of awareness
- energy and dullness, effort and relaxation
- steadiness, entrainment
- focused vs. expansive
- emotions, positive and negative
- path over time
- Objects or experiences of focus: body, breath, senses, emotions, abstractions, self
- Awareness and the three guṇas of yoga
- as the foundation of all experiences
- as supports and barriers to attention
- as variables in the quality of awareness
- Practicing mindfulness
- cautions, challenges, recommendations
- mindfulness of breath, body, senses, thoughts and emotions
- Practicing absorption
- in sound, mantra, speech
- in light, images
- in breath and body sensation
- in positive emotions
- in peace, stillness
Traditional Frameworks
- bhāva
- dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi
- smṛti-sādhana
- prajñā
- vikalpa, vitarka, vicāra
- grahītā, grahaṇā, grāhya
Modern Science
- Neuroscience of the self, including
- emergence and purpose of self-construct
- nerve signaling, neural networks, artificial intelligence
- theories of consciousness
- top-down monitoring and feedback systems
- Neurobiology of attention, including
- mindfulness, absorption
- flow states, DMN, TPN
- mystic and alternative consciousness states
3. FEELING
Wellbeing Skills
- Understanding emotion, valence, energy, guṇa-s, kleśa-s
- Winding down from high energy: body, breath, senses
- Activating from low energy: body, breath, senses
- Deep rest and recovery
- Desire, contentment, inner restfulness
- Anger, letting go, peace
- Fear, strength, support, transcendence
- Ego, identity, self and other
- Sadness, grief, navigating loss
- Safety, control, choice
- Gratitude, joy, compassion, friendliness, love
- Exploring emotion, body-mind connection, and behavior
- Physical sensation visualizations
Traditional Frameworks
- 3 guṇa-s, bhāva
- kleśa-s
- prasupta, tanu, vicchinna, udāra
- maitrī, karuṇā, mudita, upekṣā, santoṣa
- pravṛtti, nivṛtti, nirveda, vairāgya
- rasa theory of drama
Modern Science
- Pathways of sensation, interoception
- Stress response
- sympathetic, activation, mobilization, responses
- parasympathetic, relaxation, immobilization responses
- polyvagal theory, heart rate variability
- window of tolerance, resilience
4. WORDS & THOUGHTS
Wellbeing Skills
- Cognition through words
- concepts and abstractions
- inner dialogue and life story
- Watching over speech and thoughts
- Managing thoughts
- principles for managing negative thoughts
- principles for positive thoughts, intentions, affirmations
- Supportive words
- identifying strengths and support
- speaking to strengths and supports
- Safe words
- Positive words
- Ethical words
Traditional Frameworks
- pramāṇa, viparyaya, vikalpa, smṛti
- parā, paśyantī, madhyamā, vaikarī
- mantra as words
Modern Science
- Cognitive therapy
- Motivational interviewing
- Trauma sensitive language
5. MOVEMENT
Wellbeing Skills
- Skills of moving well: learning path, application
- pain-management as needed
- awareness & exploration
- relaxation, release
- mobilization, easing movement
- stability, control
- strength, endurance
- range of movement, stretching
- alignment for safe and effective force transmission and loading
- balance, gait
- agility, speed and responsiveness
- coordination, increasing complexity
- positive emotion and supportive dialogue toward the body
- breathing to support moving well
- play, intrinsic reward
- Exercises for each of these regions to develop important movement skills, with a holistic focus
- low back
- mid & upper back
- neck
- shoulders
- elbow, wrist, hand
- sacrum
- hip
- knee
- ankle, foot
- Practices combining multiple movement skills for a region and across regions
- Guidelines for safety
- Decision pathways for working with each body region by skill
- Modifying common asanas for skill development
Traditional Frameworks
- purpose of asana in classical yoga
- sthira, sukha
- prayatna, śaithilya
- ananta-samāpatti
- krama, vinyāsa, pratikriyā
- asana names and Sanskrit
- common traditional asanas
Modern Science
- Tissues of the locomotor system: fascia, cartilage, bones, muscles, ligaments, joints, nerves
- Global organization of movement
- tension, compression, tensegrity and integration
- prediction, feedback, neural control
- development of movement
- Science of key locomotor skills
- basics of exercise physiology
- strength training
- stretching and range of movement
- stabilization and tracking
- alignment
- balance and gait
6. BREATHING
Wellbeing Skills
- Breath awareness
- observing the breath
- natural breath
- regulating the breath
- Effort of breathing
- decreasing effort—ease and relaxation
- increasing effort—energy and arousal
- deep and shallow breathing
- Physical patterns of breathing and their uses
- abdomen
- lower ribs
- upper chest
- back
- Breath and body movement
- Slowing the breath
- Fast breathing
- Cultivating the inhalation: movement, position, touch, visualization, sound, sequencing
- Cultivating the exhalation: movement, position, touch, visualization, sound, sequencing
- Breath suspension, stepped breathing, breathing ratios
- Ujjāyī breathing
- Breath as a connector
- subtle body or inner body experience with the breath
- changing emotional content
- changing sensation content
- Breath and sound: working with breath using vocalization, mantra, chanting
- Bandha-s: jalandhara, mula, uddīyāna
- Pranayamas of hatha yoga
- ujjāyī, anuloma-ujjāyī, viloma- ujjāyī, pratiloma- ujjāyī
- laharī, naḍīśodhana
- naḍīśodhana
- bhastrikā, kaphālabhāti
- bhrāmarī
- sūryabhedana, candrabhedana
- śītalī, śītkārī
Traditional Frameworks
- Pranayama and ayurveda
- doṣa, agni, vāyu
- heating, cooling, drying, nourishing
- prāṇa, 5 prāṇa-s
- nāḍī, iḍā, piṅgalā, suṣumnā
- cakra
- deśa, kāla, saṁkhyā, dīrgha, sūkṣma
- sama-vṛtti, viṣama-vṛtti, vaikarī, vairambha
Modern Science
- Functional anatomy of the respiratory system
- Functional anatomy of breathing cycle
- Physiology of respiration, including:
- control of breathing
- gas exchange and transport
- energy generation
- metabolic impact, acid-base balance
- hyperventilation and hypoventilation
- Visceral regulation, stress response, and breathing
- interoception, homeostasis, autonomic nervous system
- vagal tone, heart rate variability, regulation through breath
- connections based on polyvagal theory
7. SENSES & LIFESTYLE
Wellbeing Skills
- Importance of personalizing lifestyle
- Daily routine and rituals of lifestyle
- Sleep management
- Balancing work, play, rest
- Stages of life
- The environment and seasons
- The eyes and vision
- The ears, what we hear
Traditional Frameworks
- dinacarya
- ṛtucarya
- hīna-, ati-, mithyā-yoga
- prajñāparādha
- pratyāhāra
Modern Science
- Physiology of sleep
- Anatomy, physiology, neurology of vision
- Anatomy, physiology, neurology of hearing
8. NUTRITION
Wellbeing Skills
- Understanding relationship to food and hunger (nourishment, craving, coping)
- Charting diet and eating patterns
- Cultivating beneficial relationships to food
- Fasting, its relevance, safety
Modern Science
- Anatomy and physiology of digestion, assimilation, metabolism
- Importance of the gut, microbiome, and its connections to health
- Overview of nutrients, theories of diet
Traditional Frameworks
- Ayurvedic foundations of metabolism (doṣa, agni, dhātu, mala)
- Ayurvedic approach to personalizing diet (prakṛti, time, environment)
- Rituals of healthful eating (mantra-s, prāṇa, agni)
9. RELATIONSHIP
Wellbeing Skills
- Role of connection in wellbeing
- Navigating relationships with a holistic approach
- Common archetypes: parent-child, spouse, friend, teacher-student, therapist-client etc.
- Ethics and boundaries
- Real-life case studies of relationships
Traditional Frameworks
- types of sambandha
- adhyāsa
- yama-s
10. LIFE MEANING
Wellbeing Skills
- Choice, acceptance, control, letting go
- Life purpose, achievement, connection to that greater than ourselves
- Spirituality, divine, devotion
- End of life, transitions
Traditional Frameworks
- dharma, jñāna, virāga, aiśvarya
- dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa
- īśvara praṇidhāna
- karma, jñāna, bhakti yoga
- pravṛtti, nivṛtti
- theory of karma
II. Traditional Frameworks (Common to all domains)
- 3 guṇa-s (sattva, rajas, tamas)
- 3 doṣa-s (vāta, pitta, kapha)
- bhāva
- prakṛti
- theory of qualities and functions
- theory of causation (kāraṇa—sākṣāt, paramparā, upādāna, nimitta)
III. Modern Science (Common to all domains)
- Immune system
- role and functioning of the immune system
- inflammation, cell damage and repair
- Endocrine system
- important hormones and control of vital functions
- Cardiovascular system
- anatomy and physiology of the heart and blood vessels
- blood pressure regulation
- Autonomic nervous system
IV. Disorder-Based Guidelines
- Common to all diagnoses
- mapping presentations based on diagnoses to self-care and wellbeing domains and skills
- taking a holistic approach
- safety, scope of practice, and need for referral
- connecting with traditional frameworks
- Chronic pain
- pain science: biology, pathways, etiology, classifications
- risk and referral, pain measures, evaluation for self-care
- Locomotor disorders
- lumbar spine (chronic low back pain, disc herniation, sciatica, facet joint dysfunction, hyperlordosis, spondylolisthesis)
- thoracic spine (hyperkyphosis, stiffness, facet joint dysfunction)
- cervical spine (head forward alignment, disc herniation, nerve compression)
- scoliosis
- osteoporosis
- shoulder (impingement, rotator cuff tears, instability)
- elbow, hand (epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome)
- sacroiliac pain and dysfunction
- hip (fracture, alignment, soft tissue imbalances)
- knee (IT band, meniscal tears, ligament strains)
- dropped arches, hallux valgus
- Neurological disorders
- stroke
- Parkinson’s disease
- dementia, Alzheimer’s disease
- Sleep disorders
- Autoimmune disorders
- multiple sclerosis
- autoimmune arthritis (rheumatoid, psoriatic)
- Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
- Thyroid disorders
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Obesity
- Diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndromes
- Cancer (pathology, diagnosis, journey of the patient, treatments, common types)
- Respiratory disorders
- allergies
- sinusitis
- asthma
- COPD
- cystic fibrosis
- Cardiovascular disease
- atherosclerosis
- ischemic heart disease
- high blood pressure
- heart failure
- arrhythmias
- deep vein thrombosis
- Digestive disorders
- irritable bowel syndrome
- gastritis, ulcers
- malabsorption
- diaphragmatic hernia
- constipation, loose stools, irregular digestion
- Menstrual disorders, menopause
- Pregnancy and women’s health in yoga
- Aging
- Eye disorders
- Hearing loss, tinnitus
- Chronic kidney disease, dialysis
- Trauma, PTSD, anxiety spectrum
- Depression spectrum
- Addictions
- Schizophrenia
- ADHD
- Autism
Guidance for Teachers & Therapists
- Assessing the client.
- Designing practices for different needs.
- Delivering skills in multiple ways.
- Language, communication, and therapeutic relationship.
- Safety and contraindications.
- Case studies and mentoring.