The American Meditation Institute (AMI) in Averill Park, New York will host Leonard Perlmutter’s 15th annual “Heart and Science of Yoga™” summer intensive retreat July 16-19, 2015. 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 And 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 38 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.
The stress, anxiety, speed and dissatisfaction associated with many aspects of our modern culture, has led individuals from all walks of life and religious traditions to practice meditation in order to reduce their physical, mental and emotional dis-ease. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, everyday lifestyle choices are responsible for 53 percent of all disease. According to 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.
