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ACEs are traumatic life events occurring during childhood that can have negative effects. Common mental disorders that are diagnosed in childhood are attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavior disorders, anxiety and depression. The associations between ACEs and such problems in children have not been significantly examined. There are protective factors that can help reduce the effects of exposure to ACEs that have not been fully explored. The purpose of this research study was to examine: 1) the prevalence of mental health outcomes in children; 2) the associations between ACEs, resilience and mental health outcomes; and 3) the role of resiliency as a moderating variable between ACEs and mental health outcomes. A secondary data analysis utilizing data from the 2018 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) was used to examine the proposed aims. The study population consisted of children between the ages of 3 and 17. Chi-square analyses were utilized, and logistic regression models were constructed. Weighted prevalence estimates were calculated. 8.6%, 6.9%, 8.0% and 3.7% currently had ADHD, behavioral disorders, anxiety and depression. The prevalence of each disorder was higher for older age, Whites, public insurance, single parent homes or homes without parents, caregivers with mental health problems and non-users of medical home. Children exposed to 4 or more ACEs had greater odds of ADHD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]= 2.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.52-2.72), behavioral disorders (aOR: 2.47; CI: 1.81-3.37), anxiety (aOR: 2.66; CI: 2.00-3.53) and the strongest relationship was seen with depression (aOR: 4.53; CI: 3.13-6.54). Individual resilience, family resilience and community resilience were associated with decreased odds of mental health outcomes and the strongest relationship was seen with individual resilience. There were significant interactions between exposure to ACEs and child resilience for ADHD (aOR: 0.14; CI: 0.08-0.23), current behavioral disorders (aOR: 0.10; CI: 0.06-0.16), anxiety and (aOR: 0.21; CI: 0.13-0.35) depression (aOR: 0.24; CI: 0.13-0.43) as well as significant interactions between ACE exposure and community resilience for depression (aOR: 0.25; CI: 0.10-0.61). The findings of this research have implications for the improvement of mental health diagnosis, promotion of resilient measures and future research.

No description available.

Recently the magnitude of the mental health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been emerging. Reports of anxiety or depression related to COVID-19 have been on the rise globally. Individuals have been living in a perpetual state of the unknown for over two years. Fear of the virus, sickness of oneself or family/friends and social isolation have taken a toll. According to the WHO, anxiety and depression have gone up 25% in the last year (2022). The effects of a rising mental health crisis will be drastic on top of the deaths and sickness related to COVID-19. While governments have recognized the importance of funding mental health services, the follow through is often lacking or the potential solutions are heavily geared towards pharmaceutical medications. This thesis is two pronged, including a review of the relevant literature with regard to COVID-19, mental health and yoga, as well as the findings of a six-week Eco-Yoga Therapy Program for Mental Health related to COVID-19. case report argues for an integrative solution focused on promoting health and wellness including both yoga therapy and nature or eco therapy. A six week program was designed for those experiencing anxiety or depression related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The thesis reports on the findings of the case series of three post-Covid females of different nationalities living in Spain, Belize and New Zealand, with co-morbidities including high blood pressure (HBP), hypothyroidism and post-partum. The clients successfully completed an integrative program based on yoga and eco-therapy. It involved a series of pranayama (breathing), asana (physical postures), dinacharya (lifestyle choices) and dhyana (meditation) techniques, along with practices tailored to each client based on their specific needs. Clients reported improvements in anxiety levels and stress management due to the practices, in particular the asana (physical postures) and pranayama (breathing practices). They felt an increased ability to calm the mind while being in nature. The approach to wellness focuses on our bodies own innate capacity to heal, as opposed to focusing on medical solutions to the virus and treatment once sickness has already manifested. Again, the emphasis is on strengthening the bodies natural immunity through yoga and nature, which reduces inflammation and stimulates the vagus nerve, both of which have been found to improve mental health and decrease the chances of disease.

The focus of this thesis is to explore “the inner spiritual architecture” (prāṇa, nāḍī, cakra) through the lens of the pañcamayakośa model concerning raising kuṇḍalinī. We will discuss how the components of the “spiritual architecture” are directly influenced by four select techniques (mula bandhā uḍḍīyāna bandhā, jālandhara bandhā, and mahabandā). These are known as bandhās/mudras, which are specific to The Medieval Transformation for raising kuṇḍalinī. Our focus will explore the mechanics of the bandhās and the recorded, effects. The thesis’s secondary focus is cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Under the traditional lens of the pañcamayakośa model, a comparison will be made between the movement of CSF and the recorded movement kuṇḍalinī when engaging mula bandhā uḍḍīyāna bandhā, jālandhara bandhā, and mahabandā. We will also consider the benefits associated with well-regulated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow and compare them to the traditional benefits gained with the practice of raising kuṇḍalinī. Finally, our discussion will shift to parallels between a negative kuṇḍalinī experience and irregular CSF flow and an anecdotal account of irregular CSF flow. The conclusion will show how understanding the philosophy and techniques of raising kundalini under the lens of the pañcamayakośa model can provide unique insights regarding function, flow and manipulation of CSF health.

I opted to write a memoir about my personal experiences in yoga, rather than a traditional research-based thesis. A key distinction between memoir and autobiography or auto-ethnography is that it’s not linear—much like my yoga journey. Often, experiences, particularly around healing emotional trauma, are more circular in nature, perhaps even more of a spiral. According to Carl Jung, “The spiral in psychology means that when you make a spiral you always come over the same point where you have been before, but never really the same, it is above or below, inside, outside, so it means growth.” (Jung 5, p. 21). In his book Why Therapy Works: Using Our Minds to Change Our Brains, Louis Cozolino, PhD explains that coherent narratives, such as Joseph Campbell’s “the hero’s journey”, are an important part of psychotherapy and provide a way for individuals to make sense of and heal from complex trauma. To illustrate this point, I will be employing the Jungian-inspired “heroine’s journey” model developed my Maureen Murdock, PhD—a similar framework to the “hero’s journey” but through a feminist lens. Personal narrative can also be a form of (svādhyāya) self-study. I chose to organize my eventual memoir into three sections: Divine, Liberated, and Love. On their own, each word represents a crucial part of my yoga journey: Divine represents my invitation to the practice through isolated mystical experiences; Liberated represents the therapeutic benefits that kept me coming back to the mat, as well as my initiation into the depths of my shadow work and ultimately individuation from my saṃskāras, or “conscious our unconscious patterns of though, communication, and behaviors” (Yoga Therapy Foundations, Tools, and Practice 2021, p. 285); and Love represents my integration, a union of the paradoxical nature of divinity and individuality. Combined, the phrase “Divine Liberated Love” has taken my initial intention of integration to a much deeper level, helping me to remember who I truly am and what matters to me.

This paper looks at the correlation between creativity and the spiritual path by comparing contemplative practices to creative ones. By looking at sitting meditation as it’s practiced in the Buddhist lineage and paralleling it with creative writing practices, we can see how each cultivates a similar mental space. This paper explores key factors that differentiate each practice and its desired goal, while also looking at things that make them similar. Each practice uses certain parts of the brain resulting in corresponding experiences happening at varying stages. I discuss the lead into meditative states by incorporating both ancient and modern perspectives. The discussion around meditative and creative states is further contextualized with an analysis of flow states, and cultural impacts. Both practices transmute experience into something else. In creativity this takes the full scope of human emotion and experience and turns it into art. In meditation this is done through assessing and releasing karmic accretions. I also discuss the creative impulse and how it mirrors the meditator’s desire for liberation. By contextualizing both practices I argue, creativity is a spiritual process and spirituality in turn requires a certain level of creativity.