Events

Below are workshops, therapy groups and classes I’ve held in the past to give you an idea of the range of events I conduct. Interested in having one of these events in your area? Contact me and let’s talk about it.

 

Yoga and Resilience: The Skills of Thriving
This workshop explores the rich toolbox of the yogic tradition for self-regulation, emotional resilience, positive mind states and overall fully-alive living!

 

Buddha Mind, Yoga Body, Inner Fire: Balance, Stability & Energy
Yoga and Buddhism sprouted from the same seeds of spiritual practice in northern India. This workshop provides brief historical context and present-day understanding of the rich lineage of these two sister traditions. We’ll explore how to understand and use practices from both paths for a clearer mind, emotional resilience and mystical exploration. No yoga or meditation experience necessary!

 

Taming Demons: Yoga & the Urban Nervous System: monthly series class@ Samara Yoga, Davis Square, Somerville
This series of classes focuses on the practice of yoga for self-mastery of the nervous system. It may be especially relevant for people experiencing anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction or stress. A primary focus of this class is developing what yogis call ‘witness consciousness’: A subtle but powerful shift in the way we relate to experience- especially difficult emotions- centered on opening to these demons rather than fearing and fighting them. No previous yoga experience required.

 

Buddha Mind for Anxiety and Stress Group
In this group, members learn and practice the key concepts and practices of secular Buddhist psychology and meditation, to better respond to anxiety and residues of traumatic events. This tradition teaches we can live with more comfort and enjoyment in the body/mind, and less fear and conflict, by learning to change the ways we habitually respond to difficult moments. The result is a growing, self-sustaining set of skills to cultivate greater personal freedom. No previous meditation experience required.

 

Mindfulness-Based Adult Therapy Group
In this therapy group, members learn the concepts and practices of Buddhist psychology and meditation and how to apply them to life challenges in a supportive peer group. Members share struggles, give and receive support and constructive feedback, and learn to hold their experience within the framework of the Buddhist tradition. The group’s intention is increased resilience for living fully alive in an often challenging world, less controlled by thoughts and emotions.

 

Minding the Body: Using Yoga & Meditation in Clinical Practice
Boston University School of Social Work, Professional Education Program

 

Increasingly, therapists are seeing the value of eastern contemplative practices in clinical work- but they aren’t always confident about how best to wade in. For many of our clients, the world from the neck down is opaque, confusing or threatening. The wisdom traditions of yoga and meditation developed to help us better navigate and manage our private, subjective experience- our thoughts, feelings and urges. This workshop will explore the benefits, practicalities and pitfalls of applying these methodologies in therapy. We will review the conceptual, cognitive, breath-based and physical practices of these sister traditions, and how to apply them. The goal is a hands-on suite of skills for self-regulation and thriving. The workshop combines didactic and experiential learning, with time for questions and discussion.

 

Spring Meditation Retreat: Urban Mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation is an age-old practice which produces research-proven results. Along with important health benefits, it’s a path to reducing mental suffering and finding a sense of well-being inside ourselves, despite our life challenges. This day-long retreat is a unique opportunity to learn and practice mindfulness in a relaxed small-group setting, in a tranquil setting amidst the energy of city, to support integration of mindfulness in the urban lifestyle. The day includes sitting and walking meditation; yogic breathwork for mental stability; gentle yoga; information on applying the practices to stress, anxiety, and other mental challenges. Tea, healthy snacks and a silent vegetarian lunch will be provided.

 

Buddha Mind,Yoga Body: Deepening Your Practice for Self-Mastery
Coolidge Yoga, Brookline, MA.

 

Yoga and meditation grew from the same ancient seeds but developed in different directions. Yet they compliment each other powerfully. When yoga students integrate the two, it’s a major step forward to deepen their practice. Beyond physical strength, the student begins to cultivate true self-mastery, steadiness and integration. Combined, they offer powerful tools to align our actions with our most important values.

 

This workshop offers participants an accessible introduction to understand and practice these sister traditions, with a focus on integration of mind and body. We’ll explore skills of breathing, posture and attention for handling stress, anxiety and other challenges with resilience. Partly didactic, and highly experiential, this unique workshop will provide participants with a practical set of tools for cultivating new, healthier patterns, expanding their practice and connecting to the true self. Recommended minimum of 3 months yoga practice.

 

Self-Leadership: Yogic Breathing for Stress, Anxiety & ADHD
North Shore Medical Center, Salem, MA

 

This continuing education workshop will present an overview of self-regulation techniques in the tradition of Yogic breathwork, and how they apply to challenges in the nervous system such as anxiety, stress and ADHD. For medical and mental health professionals.

 

Fall Urban Mindfulness Meditation Retreat in Cambridge, MA
Mindfulness meditation is an age-old practice which produces research-proven results. Along with important health benefits, it’s a path to reducing mental suffering and finding a sense of well-being inside ourselves, despite our life challenges. This day-long retreat is a unique opportunity to learn and practice mindfulness in a relaxed small-group setting, in a tranquil setting amidst the energy of city, to support integration of mindfulness in the urban lifestyle. The day includes sitting and walking meditation; yogic breathwork for mental stability; gentle yoga; information on applying the practices to stress, anxiety, and other mental challenges. Tea, healthy snacks and a silent vegetarian lunch will be provided.

 

Buddha Mind,Yoga Body: Practices for Stability and Resilience
Yoga and meditation grew from the same ancient seeds but developed in different directions. Yet they compliment each other powerfully. When yoga students integrate the two, it’s a major step forward to deepen their practice. Beyond physical strength, the student begins to cultivate true self-mastery, steadiness and integration. Combined, they offer powerful tools to align our actions with our most important values.

 

This workshop offers participants an accessible introduction to understand and practice these sister traditions, with a focus on integration of mind and body. We’ll explore skills of breathing, posture and attention for handling stress, anxiety and other challenges with resilience. Partly didactic, and highly experiential, this unique workshop will provide participants with a practical set of tools for cultivating new, healthier patterns, expanding their practice and connecting to the true self. Recommended minimum of 3 months yoga practice.

 

Meditation & Self-Leadership in Clinical Practice
Boston College School of Social Work

 

This CEU course for clinicians presents the nuts and bolts of meditation in therapeutic applications, including for concentration, stress management, insight and overall self-regulation. Appropriate for psychologists, social workers and other care providers. No meditation experience required. Register thru BCSSW Continuing Education department.

 

Yogic Breathwork for Self-Leadership workshops
Samara Yoga, Davis Sq., Somerville, MA

 

This workshop examines the rich practices or Pranayam, or yogic breathwork, as a path to self-knowledge, self-mastery, spirituality (for some) and being one fully-alive cat. Yoga students can learn how to practice pranayam to deepen their yoga experience and better manage life challenges both internal and external.  Didactic and experiential, this course teaches specific breathwork practices, their purpose, and how to apply them in yoga and meditation.

 

Clinical Yoga: Self-Regulation, Without Spandex
Massachusetts NASW Symposium

 

This presentation at the bi-annual professional Social Work symposium is part of the exciting wave of change sweeping the therapy world- the realization that psychotherapy doesn’t just happen from the neck up. Doug will discuss practical, simple applications of yoga in the therapy office for managing anxiety, trauma symptoms, depression, addiction and other life challenges.  The workshop will include both didactic information and experiential learning.

 

The Deeper Practices: Asana as Psychological Ritual
Samara Yoga, Davis Square, Somerville, MA

Centuries before yoga became a fitness craze, it had a very different purpose: It was a spiritual tradition for freeing oneself from limiting patterns and facing one’s demons. Much of this tradition is no longer practiced. This workshop will explore the early roots of posture practice, and it’s relevance today for deepening one’s experience in yoga. We’ll place yoga in a surprising historical context, and learn lesser-known practices of pranayam and awakening prana, for a deeply personal,  psychologically rich,  and energetically powerful yoga experience.

 

Appropriate for beginning to advanced students, and people in the helping professions.

 

Integrating Yoga in Therapeutic Settings: Workshop, Experiential and Q & A
More and more graduate students, therapists, and other mental health professionals are wondering: How can yoga be used in clinical work with clients? I have been using yoga and meditation in clinical work for more than 10 years.  This day-long gathering is a chance to ask questions and brain-pick about how to integrate yoga into your clinical practice in psychotherapy, agency, hospital, or other setting. We’ll begin the day with a full Kripalu Yoga class for experiential learning of what a psychologically-oriented yoga experience can look like. We’ll then explore my experience of the practicalities, hiccups, risks, benefits and delights of integrating yoga into the therapeutic setting. The format will be open for all to ask questions and dig into the practicalities of yoga in therapy.

 

Buddha Mind Anxiety & Trauma Skills Practice Group
Buddhism offers many robust, practical and down-to-earth tools for handling difficult emotions and mental states. This group will focus on learning and practicing the concepts and skills of Buddhist psychology, combined with breath practices drawn from yoga. It’s a great way to start or strengthen a meditation practice at home, and build confidence in how to use meditation and yogic breath to manage anxiety and trauma symptoms, and live with more ease.

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The BioDynamics of Trauma: Yoga Skills Group
Many people suffering from the residue of trauma are intimidated by or frightened of how the body, and mind, reacts. This group is meant to empower trauma survivors to better understand, tolerate and re-program the symptoms of trauma in body and mind. Partly didactic and partly experiential, this office-based group will employ the self-regulation methods from the yoga tradition- very different from fitness-based yoga. No experience with yoga required. Basic physical wellness and clearance by treatment providers and PCP suggested. Suitable for family members of trauma survivors and health care providers as well.

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Yoga for Stress Management @ the MIT Sloan School of Management
This series of yoga and meditation classes, an ongoing collaboration with the Sloan School, is part of the school’s innovative response to help students cultivate self-care and manage stress. The classes are presented during finals week.

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Taming Demons Yoga: monthly series class@ Samara Yoga, Davis Square, Somerville
This series of classes focuses on the practice of yoga for self-mastery of the nervous system. It may be especially relevant for people experiencing anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction or stress. A primary focus of this class is developing what yogis call ‘witness consciousness’: A subtle but powerful shift in the way we relate to experience- especially difficult emotions- centered on opening to these demons rather than fearing and fighting them. No previous yoga experience required.

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The Rational Mind & The Animal Body: Training & Support Group for Therapists
This monthly training and support program for therapists and other helping professionals teaches concrete clinical applications of yoga and meditation for the therapeutic setting. Both didactic and experiential in method, these groups will support conceptual learning and the development of a personal yoga and/or meditation practice as a rich resource for work with clients. The foundation of this program is the early roots of yoga in spirituality and healing rituals, much different from fitness-oriented yoga dominant today. We’ll explore yoga as a path of self-mastery, learning how to apply it as a practical and powerful tool in clinical work, as well as in our own self-exploration. Appropriate for helping professionals and others interested to deepen their understanding of yoga as transformational process. Basic familiarity with yoga and level of fitness suggested.

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The Positive Psychology of Yoga: Clinical applications for self-regulation and resilience: A Professional Education workshop at Boston University School of SW
This workshop explores yoga in its original form: A methodology for self-mastery, focused on cultivating optimal mind and body states. From this perspective, yoga is a Positive Psychology, and arguably the only truly holistic one.  It offers countless applications for today’s clinician interested in expanding their toolbox to include simple, practical cognitive and somatic practices to help clients cultivate stability, wellness, efficacy and inner freedom. This unconventional workshop will interweave didactic teaching with experiential learning, encouraging clinicians to explore the power of clinical work based both in the conceptual and their own direct inner experience.

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The Positive Psychology of Yoga: Practices for Resilience and Well-being
This yoga workshop will present an overview of yoga as a methodology for creating patterns that support resilience and wellness in body, mind and nervous system. We will delve into the depths of lesser-known yoga practices, and learn how they can be used by today’s practitioner to cultivate optimal mind/body states and work more skillfully with challenges such as anxiety, stress, depression, addiction and trauma. Suitable for yoga students and health care providers.

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The Original Positive Psychology: The Roots of Yoga in Self-Regulation and Resilience
Part of the Partners Hospital group professional staff training series, this workshop will present the self-regulation potential of the yoga and meditation wisdom traditions for application in psychiatric settings. More health care organizations are seeing the power of holistic treatments, and yoga-based methodologies are increasingly part of this new wave of interventions. Little understood in its original form, yoga offers practical, simple and powerful skills and practices for clinicians and clients alike for growing positive patterns of resilience, well-being and full aliveness.

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Urban Mindfulness: Finding the Buddha in the City
Mindfulness meditation is an age-old practice which produces research-proven results. Along with important health benefits, it’s a path to reducing mental suffering and finding a sense of well-being inside ourselves, despite our life challenges. This day-long retreat is a unique opportunity to learn and practice mindfulness in a relaxed small-group setting, in a tranquil setting amidst the energy of city, to support integration of mindfulness in the urban lifestyle. The day includes sitting and walking meditation; yogic breathwork for mental stability; gentle yoga; information on applying the practices to stress, anxiety, and other mental challenges.