Mindful Yoga-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Simple Postures and Practices to Help Clients Achieve Emotional Balance

322 Pages·2016·4.73 MB·English

by  Timothy Gordon

“As yoga and mindfulness practices take root in
Western soil, they’re coming into conversation with the
insights and techniques of contemporary psychology.
This interaction is modifying both traditions in
innumerable ways, and this book is helping to shape
that conversation. In different ways, both modern
psychology and ancient yoga seek to wake us up from
the habits that block us from living lives that matter.
This practical book helps us find our footing again.”
—Michael Stone, author of The Inner Tradition of
Yoga
“This book offers an enlightening perspective on
acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) using
compassion and yoga principles. The exercises are both
simple and empowering at the same time, allowing for a
deep connection with clients’ experiences. This book is
the essence of what it means to have an experiential
practice.”
—Janina Scarlet, PhD, clinical psychologist at the
Center for Stress and Anxiety Management,
author of Superhero Therapy, and recipient of the
Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award for
developing Superhero Therapy
“Yoga plus ACT—how can you possibly ask for a better
combination to help you become more flexible as a
person? Well, you could ask for such a book to be
written by Timothy Gordon and Jessica Borushok.
Superb! This book is better than Tantric sex!”
—D.J. Moran, PhD, BCBA-D, Pickslyde Consulting
“This is a great book for mental health practitioners,
yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and people who want to
empower their health on all levels. The content is
treated respectfully, and it offers guidelines and tips for
people coming at it from various realms of practice.
Highly accessible, organized, and at times humorous,
the diversity of application and interest makes this a
compelling read. There are so many practical,
experience-based opportunities to apply the mindful
yoga-based acceptance and commitment therapy
(MYACT) protocol to improve one’s own life, as well as
the lives of clients/students!”
—Erin Byron, MA, registered psychotherapist, and
author of Yoga for the Creative Soul
“Whether you are a mental health care or yoga
professional, Mindful YogaBased Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy is a unique, balanced blend of
wisdom and valuable tools, for and from, both these
fields. A great asset as a practical guide in professional
trainings or continued education programs, while
remaining equally accessible as a step-by-step guide for
one’s own personal use.”
—Helene Couvrette, C-IAYT, E-RYT500,
president of MISTY - Montreal International
Symposium on Therapeutic Yoga; and founder
H~OM Yoga Health Center
“Going way beyond a mere illness model, the authors
bring the reader into intimate contact with the science
of liberation at the heart of yoga, dharma, and ACT. This
is a book for everybody and every body!”
—Dennis Tirch, founder of The Center for
Compassion Focused Therapy, associate clinical
professor at Mount Sinai, and coauthor of The ACT
Practitioner’s Guide to the Science of Compassion
“This book is immediately accessible and practical for
blending yoga and ACT. Doing the work as outlined will
bring the reader into a deeply felt understanding of ACT.
It’s such a brilliant move to blend yoga and ACT, you’ll
wonder why you didn’t think of it. It’s also a reader-
friendly exploration of the common roots of contextual
behavioral science and yoga philosophy and practice.”
—Joanne Steinwachs, LCSW, licensed clinical
social worker in private practice, and peer-
reviewed ACT trainer
“This book is a brilliant contribution not only to the
contextual behavioral science literature, but also to the
acknowledgement that there are other forms, besides
language, to address human struggles. The authors did
an incredible job integrating ACT, yoga practices, and a
rounded approach to general well-being into a very
creative, unique, and step-by-step process. This is
certainly a timely book when we have failed to
acknowledge the role of our body in our general well-
being, and within the field of empirically supported
treatments. This book will help all clinicians to expand a
repertoire of interventions when working with all clients.
A highly recommended book, whether you practice yoga
or not!”
—Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, coauthor of Mind
and Emotions, and author of Parenting a Troubled
Teen and Escaping the Emotional Rollercoaster

Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in
regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the
publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other
professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services
of a competent professional should be sought.
In consideration of evolving American English usage standards, and reflecting a
commitment to equity for all genders, “they,” “them,” and other similar
pronouns are used to denote singular persons.
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Copyright © 2019 by Timothy Gordon, Jessica Borushok, and Steve Ferrell
Context Press
An imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
Cover design by Amy Shoup
Interior design by Michele Waters-Kermes
Acquired by Elizabeth Hollis-Hansen
Edited by James Lainsbury
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file
For Michael Stone: Yours is a light that will never go out.
—TG, JB, SF
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Understanding Human Suffering
Part 1: Seeing the Other Side
Chapter 2: ACT Through the Life Map
Chapter 3: What You Need to Know to Teach Yoga
Part 2: The MYACT Protocol
Session One: Dharana
Session Two: Samskara
Session Three: Dhyana
Session Four: Karma
Session Five: Svarupa
Session Six: Vipassana
Session Seven: Karuna
Session Eight: Samadhi
Part 3: Adaptations and Troubleshooting
Chapter 4: Weaving MYACT into Individual Therapy Sessions
Chapter 5: Scope of Practice Considerations for Non-Mental-
Health Professionals
Epilogue
Continuing Your Journey with MYACT
References
Index
Introduction
Yoga is an ancient practice more than three thousand years
old, and recently it has been the subject of significant
empirical research, with good findings, especially for people
who suffer from anxiety, stress, chronic pain, or depression.
Even people suffering from severe mental health problems,
such as schizophrenia, can benefit from this practice.
However, health care professionals have been slow to adopt
yogic practices, while yoga teachers who want to use yoga to
help mental health populations are uncertain of which yogic
practices and processes actually work. Adding to the
confusion, the yoga community comprises a large range of
styles, practices, and even spiritual or theoretical ideas,
which makes learning the best practices challenging, to say
the least. As a result, there is an understandable distance
between the everyday evidence-based best practices of
clinical health care professionals and yoga practitioners.
While there is a plethora of empirical support suggesting
yoga can benefit mental health issues, researchers have
placed little focus on understanding the specific yoga
processes and practices that work. For example, research
studies rarely distinguish what type of yoga is being looked at
or which specific breathing techniques, mindfulness
directions, or asanas (structural poses) account for any
benefits, let alone do they incorporate mediational analysis to
isolate the effective components of yoga. This has led to a
cacophony of theories, opinions, and anecdotes about yoga
with little grounding in science. And, frankly, this approach is