Yoga and Meditation Course is Designed to Reduce Stress and Burnout
Educator, philosopher and award-winning author Leonard Perlmutter will teach a new six-session course entitled, “The Heart and Science of Yoga: A Complete Self-Care Program” at The American Meditation Institute April 20 through May 25, 2016. The holistic course curriculum includes mantra meditation, easy-gentle yoga, therapeutic breathing, mind optimization techniques, Ayurvedic medical principles and the power of prayer. While the program is open to the general public, attending physicians will receive 15 CME credits and nurses will receive 15 contact hours.
The program of study will present a comprehensive survey of the historical, philosophical and scientific nature of meditation, yoga and Ayurveda. Leonard Perlmutter, the founder and director of The American Meditation Institute, is the author of The Heart and Science of Yoga: A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom from Fear. Noted medical, pioneer physicians Mehmet Oz MD (Dr. Oz), Dean Ornish MD, Bernie Siegel MD and Larry Dossey MD have endorsed Mr. Perlmutter’s book, which serves as the curriculum for this “Complete Self-Care Program” course.
In 2008, AMI conducted a retrospective case study of participants who previously completed and practiced the material taught in Leonard Perlmutter’s course. The study found that students experienced the following positive, reproducible, long-term health-promoting changes: lowered blood pressure, lowered heart rate, reduced cholesterol levels, decreased chest pain, diminished or extinguished acute and chronic pain, weight loss, increased breathing capacity, increased exercise capacity, improved quality and quantity of sleep, improved energy levels, increased creative capacity, diminishment of migraine headaches, significant reductions in stress and fear, elimination of irritable bowel syndrome, a general sense of happiness and optimism in all facets of life for every participant
According to recent course graduate, Joel M. Kremer, MD, who is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology in Albany, New York, “This teaching has been an enormous benefit in my personal and professional life. I have less stress, more focus, and am able to serve my patients with greater clarity. It becomes surprisingly easy now to recognize the many clinical situations in which patients with somatic manifestations of ‘dis-ease’ could greatly benefit from Yoga Science.”
About the American Meditation Institute
The American Meditation Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization devoted to the teaching and practice of Yoga Science, meditation and its allied disciplines as mind-body medicine. In its holistic approach to wellness, the AMI combines the healing arts of the East with the practicality of modern Western science. The American Meditation Institute offers a wide variety of classes, retreats, and teacher training programs. AMI also publishes “Transformation, a bi-monthly journal of Yoga Science as holistic mind-body medicine. Call 518.674.8714 for a mail or email subscription.
Above is a video by Leonard Perlmutter about The Heart and Science of Yoga.
Leonard Perlmutter is the Founder of the American Meditation Institute
Meditation is not what you think it is. It’s a method of accessing unerring wisdom from the superconscious mind so you can experience a happy, healthy and creatively rewarding life.
-Leonard Perlmutter
Does Spirit Talk to Ordinary People?
By Susan Shumsky, D.D.
Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee.
—Deuteronomy 4:36
It is a rare gift to be called to hear the divine voice. Few people believe that two-way communication with Spirit is feasible. This is indeed atypical. Anyone who even considers this possibility is placed into a unique category of uncommon individuals.
For example, were you raised in a family, religion, or educational institution where you learned that a deity or divine being could speak to you directly? Few people reading these words can answer yes.
Many people believe that an infinite Creator exists. Yet few believe that this Almighty being hears their prayers or answers them. Fewer believe that this divine being is accessible and can talk to them. Exceptional people are willing to allow Spirit to speak to them directly. But only rare, extraordinary individuals act on what the divine voice advises them to do. Do you want to be one of these people? If so, you are indeed unique and uncommon.
We are taught from an early age that when we talk to God it is called “prayer,” but when God talks to us, it is called…”schizophrenia.” If you were to visit a psychiatric office today and report that God or Goddess speaks to you, what would be the reaction? You would be diagnosed with mental illness and walk out with a prescription for psychotropic drugs.
We often read about murderers—even mothers who slaughter their own babies—who claim that voices in their heads told them to commit murder. We hear of cult leaders who believe that God demands that their followers commit suicide. No wonder the widespread belief is that people who claim to hear the divine voice are insane.
We are conditioned to believe that the only people sanctioned to have authentic conversations with God are great prophets, saints, holy men (I emphasize the word men), and other holy beings who lived at least 2,000 years ago in some faraway land. These holy men wrote one book—a book literally written in stone. After that book was written, apparently, God has gone mute—and has not spoken to anyone since. Right? Wrong.
I believe these holy men have not signed an exclusive contract with God. They have no special combination to a padlocked, hallowed safe with elite access. Some religious institutions would have you believe that they own the secret passkey and, without their permission, no one can walk through the doorway to heaven.
Billions of people are resigned to the idea that they cannot experience the divine presence directly—certainly not while they are still breathing. Sadly, such people eagerly await death, when they will enter the glorious gates of paradise and finally catch a glimpse of that presence. They never conceive that they could directly experience God in this body during this lifetime.
The widespread belief is that the Almighty’s blessing and grace are inaccessible without a middleman, such as a pastor, minister, priest, cleric, rabbi, guru, master, shaman, psychic, channeler, counselor, or priestess. Most of these go-betweens have the best of intentions. But, regrettably, either intentionally or unwittingly, some of them become little more than hucksters masked in a veneer of spirituality, hawking their wares to the masses.
Such intermediaries have no incentive to help people hear the divine voice directly. To use an analogy from the world of sales, if their customers were to contact God directly, then these retailers would soon be out of business, for their clients would “cut out the middleman” and “go direct.”
However, it is my experience, and the experience of tens of thousands of people who have used the methods taught in my books or classes, that everyone can hear the divine voice directly, and that it is within them. It is the voice of their own higher self. It is their divine intuition.
The Pearl of Great Price
At the risk of giving away the “pearl of great price”—the most precious secret of the ages—in this article, I will tell you right now how you can hear the divine voice. This gift comes with no strings attached. You will not be required to convert to a religion, join a cult, venerate a guru, empty your bank account, or sacrifice your firstborn child. I will tell you right now how to “go direct.” So here goes—a simple way to listen to the “still small voice” of divine intuition, right here and now, absolutely FREE:
Just sit down in a chair, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, get quiet, still, centered, and balanced within yourself. Continue to take several deep breaths until you attain a state of inner peacefulness. The deep breaths will take you into a deeper meditation. Then breathe normally. Relax into the center of your being.
Next, do something that most people never do during meditation:
ASK.
Herein lies the entire secret: ASK. Ask a question, ask for guidance, ask for inspiration or healing. Then take another deep breath and do what I call the “Do-Nothing Program.” That means, do nothing, nothing, and less than nothing. Then the “still small voice” will speak to you in your heart. In my latest book Awaken Your Divine Intuition, you can learn this do-nothing method, called Divine Revelation®.
So the key to hearing the divine voice is to ASK. The trouble is that we forget to ask. Or we think we cannot or should not ask. We think we are unworthy to ask. Or we believe God is too busy for us and has much more important things to do. Is God too busy for you? Could the Creator be too busy for anyone? If you believe God is too busy to pay attention to you, then you have a very limited idea of what God is.
God could never be too busy. The Almighty is not bound by time, space, or circumstances. God cannot get tired or overworked. God does not only pay attention to “important” people and things. Everyone and everything is important to the Creator. God does not play favorites. God is not available to only a select few so-called “holy” people. God is everywhere present and always available to anyone who asks.
You can learn this do-nothing method, which I call Divine Revelation®, of hearing the voice of God and receiving divine messages effortlessly, clearly, and precisely. The entire premise of Divine Revelation is “Ask, and it shall be given you.” How to attain the requisite state of awareness, how to ask, and how to receive the message clearly are what you will learn in my books.
Some people have one 10-minute spiritual experience, and then spend the rest of their lives talking about it. Dozens of best-selling authors have built their entire careers upon that one time when a divine being appeared or spoke to them. However, Divine Revelation is about experiencing Spirit whenever you want—at will. After you have learned how to hear the divine voice, you will receive spiritual experiences as often as you desire. You can call upon a deity, a divine being, or your higher self, and ask a question, ask for guidance, or ask to experience God, and then receive the answer or experience immediately, whenever you want—day or night. Just ASK.
About the author:
Dr. Susan Shumsky has dedicated her life to helping people take command of their lives in highly effective, powerful, positive ways. She is a best-selling, award-winning author of 13 books, foremost spirituality expert, pioneer in the consciousness field, highly-acclaimed, greatly respected speaker, and has taught spiritual disciplines for nearly 50 years. She studied with enlightened masters in secluded areas, including the Himalayas and the Alps. For 22 years, her mentor was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who was guru of the Beatles and guru of Deepak Chopra. Dr. Shumsky served on Maharishi’s personal staff for 7 years. She founded Divine Revelation®, a technology for contacting the divine presence, hearing and testing the inner voice, and receiving clear divine guidance. Her website is www.drsusan.org.
American Meditation Institute Announces Meditation and Yoga Retreat in New York
The American Meditation Institute (AMI) in Averill Park, New York will host Leonard Perlmutter’s 16th annual “Heart and Science of Yoga®” summer intensive retreat July 14-17, 2016. This CME accredited foundation course for self-care will present an extensive curriculum of Yoga Science as mind/body medicine including topics on meditation, stress and pain management, breathing, easy-gentle yoga, Ayurveda, Yoga psychology, immortality and nutrition. The weekend retreat is designed for first-time or experienced meditators, and offers 18 continuing medical education credits for physicians, nurses and psychologists. Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev), AMI founder, noted educator and author of the award-winning book The Heart and Science of Yoga: A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness & Freedom from Fear will present all course components.
This intensive “Heart and Science of Yoga” course presents a comprehensive training in the world’s most effective holistic mind/body medicine and explains its scientific foundation. Noted physicians Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz MD), Dean Ornish MD, Bernie Siegel MD and Larry Dossey MD have endorsed the curriculum being offered. The American Medical Association, American Nurses Association and the American Psychological Association provide medical accreditation credits for health care practitioners in attendance.
As part of AMI’s “Yoga of Medicine” program, this weekend intensive will include the following areas of study: an easy meditation procedure; a systematic method for harnessing the power of the mind; breathing practices to enhance the immune system; an understanding of the creative benefits of mantra science; Ayurvedic health principles; easy-gentle yoga exercises for joints, glands and internal organs; and the benefits of contemplation and prayer. The entire agenda is designed to encourage active participant interaction by combining engaging lectures, practicums and Q&A; in a concentrated three-day format. Leonard Perlmutter’s 39 years of personal study and teaching will provide all attendees, regardless of the level of experience, a complete set of meditation tools that can relieve stress, reduce pain, boost the immune system, heal relationships, enhance problem solving abilities, and help them experience greater health, happiness, creativity and security.
Meditation master Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev) has taught on the faculties of the New England Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine, the Himalayan Yoga Teachers Association and the College of Saint Rose. He is a disciple of holistic health pioneer Swami Rama of the Himalayas, the Yoga scientist who, in laboratory conditions at the Menninger Institute, demonstrated that blood pressure, heart rate and the autonomic nervous system could be voluntarily controlled. Leonard has presented courses at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Albany Medical College, the Commonwealth Club of California, “The New York Times” Yoga Forum with Dean Ornish, MD, and the United States Military Academy at West Point.
According to Leonard Perlmutter, “Human beings are not merely physical bodies. We are breathing and thinking beings also––living with complex thoughts, desires and emotions. Our individual achievement of optimal health does not begin with a lower health insurance premium. First and foremost, human wellness requires a reliable blueprint for mind/body self-care. With active and discriminating participation in our own health management, we can form a healing partnership with our physicians––and stop working against our own best interests.”
Meditation is the unifying thread throughout all Mr. Perlmutter’s lectures. The word meditation is related to the root word for medical or medicate. It implies a sense of attending to or paying attention to something. Meditation involves an inner attention that is concentrated, quiet and relaxed. Mr. Perlmutter teaches attendees how to consciously let go of their habitual tendencies to think, analyze, solve problems, and dwell on events of the past or concerns for the future. Students learn to slow down their rapid succession of thoughts and feelings, and replace that mental activity with an inner awareness or mindfulness. They learn how to witness and set aside stressful mental processes, such as worrying. Instead, they develop a valuable new skill that facilitates detachment, discrimination, willpower and creativity.
According to Leonard Perlmutter, “Sound decisions concerning a beneficial diet, healthy nutrition, daily exercise, diaphragmatic breathing and lifestyle selection are all much easier to make when the mind is trained through meditation.”
About the American Meditation Institute
The American Meditation Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization devoted to the teaching and practice of Yoga Science, meditation and its allied disciplines as mind/body medicine. In its holistic approach to wellness, AMI combines the healing arts of the East with the practicality of modern Western science. The American Meditation Institute offers a wide variety of classes, retreats, and teacher training programs. AMI also publishes Transformation, a bi-monthly journal of meditation as holistic mind/body medicine.
Incense and Meditation
by Hart Broudy
From the most ancient times, incense has enhanced the spiritual strivings and practices of all faiths. Why this is so has been the subject of ongoing academic studies. It’s been shown that incense affects the limbic area of the brain, affecting mood, and does indeed possess anti-depressant qualities — but this is the tip of the iceberg. What hasn’t been analyzed so concretely (as yet) are its psychic, vibratory effects upon the creative mind.
It’s vitally important to understand what incense can’t do — and not to be gullible regarding any manufacturer’s claim. The mere burning of incense will not bring karmic reward nor any ‘accumulation of merit’. It is naive to think otherwise. The mastery of one’s lower nature and communion with the higher is accomplished solely by ongoing selflessness and perpetual compassion: in other words, forgetting the self to know the Self.
What incense can do, however, is to enhance meditation practice by providing a more ‘sensitive’ environment. According to the writings of the Tibetan Master DK, smell is considered the highest of the purely physical senses, allied with the spiritual sense of discrimination. Consequently, the effects of incense upon the higher consciousness during meditation could prove to be a rich and extremely fascinating New Age study.
Regardless of the mechanics, what we do know is this: the use of incense in meditation can aid in establishing needed tranquility. It can help in the focusing of thought and in doing so, potentially provide a link to one’s higher creative nature. It can help open doors, but like everything else in life, mindfulness is the key — from the lighting of the stick to the placing in the container, to correct breathing and proper meditation procedure. The fact that the meditation area may ‘smell nice’ is in reality, a minor side benefit.
The type of incense used is of prime importance. It’s imperative to stay away from cheap, artificially-colored and perfumed varieties. Since the aroma permeates the senses, it can produce effects both physical and psychic: hence the need for purity. Whether powder, coil or stick, incense should be all-natural and chemical-free, with absolutely no artificial perfumes, coloring or ingredients, and with little-to-moderate smoke. The meditation area should also be adequately ventilated. Incense is an enhancer to meditation — never the focus of it.
Those new to both meditation and incense often prefer mild, fragrant sandalwoods or agarwoods; these scents offer pleasurable aromas and are easy to live with. More experienced meditators may tend toward the more pungent Tibetan and Bhutanese varieties. Generally speaking, Tibetan incense is the stronger and more aromatic of the two. These types of incense do require ‘getting used to’, as they are more complex and intense — and at first can be quite distracting. They are hand-made according to strict, traditional Buddhist teachings passed down over many generations. Scents are many-layered, often difficult to describe. In fact, some say that if one tries to describe a particular scent, one has completely missed the point: words have no place here. Incense is best experienced wordlessly — absorbed, if you will, by the consciousness — and accepted or rejected according to personal preference. It is a very private exercise.
Another consideration for those who are vegetarian: there are two kinds of Tibetan and Bhutanese incense. One is purely vegetarian, using only grasses, plants, flowers, spices, barks and various natural herbal and medicinal ingredients. The other is not, and adds to these ingredients musk and often, scales of pangolin.
So. How does one decide what incense to use and how can one gauge its effects in meditation? Experiment — note what’s happening! If there’s any discomfort — an itching at the back of the throat, a desire to cough, a headache, a sense of unease — then that variety is certainly not for you. But if the aroma welcomes you and ‘becomes part of you’, and lingers like a tantalizing dream, then you may have found something very special.
Incense can enhance meditation practice by helping to create a serene and positive atmosphere. It can thus aid in calming, focusing and concentration upon one’s journey. The rest of the voyage is entirely up to the personal abilities and hard work of the meditator.
About the author:
Hart Broudy is a published writer/poet and graphic designer living in Canada. Having become enthralled by the wonders of Bhutanese and Tibetan incense on various trips to the far east, his wife and he decided to establish an online specialty incense shop, www.incense-traditions.ca. They stock various varieties of high quality incense previously unavailable in North America.
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