Antonio Sausys MA CMT RYT - Yoga for Grief Relief : Simple Practices for Transforming Your Grieving Mind and Body

Antonio Sausys, MA, IGT, CMT, RYT, is a somatic psychotherapist and yoga instructor specializing in one-on-one yoga therapy for people with chronic and acute medical conditions, as well as emotional imbalance. He studied with yoga masters and teachers such as Indra Devi, Swami Maitreyananda, and Larry Payne. He has continued his professional development with training in integrative grief therapy with Lyn Prashant, foot reflexology, Swedish therapeutic massage, and Reiki. Antonio teaches and lectures periodically at the University of California, Berkeley; at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. He is a member of the World Yoga Council, the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. He is the founder and executive director of Yoga for Healththe International Yoga Therapy Conference, and television host for YogiViews. For more information, visit yogaforgriefrelief.com.

The author thanks his freelance editor, Elliott Vogel, for his creative assistance on Yoga for Grief Relief. Vogel is a freelance writer and editor. A student of yoga for over ten years, Vogels journey studying the philosophy and practice of yoga originated under the tutelage of the books author, Antonio Sausys. He currently resides in Mill Valley, CA.

Foreword writer Lyn Prashant, PhD, FT, IGT, SYVC, is a somatic thanatologist, certified grief counselor, massage therapist, yoga instructor, author, and international presenter. She is the director and founder of Degriefing (Integrative Grief Therapy) and the Institute of Somatic Thanatology.

Losing a loved one to death pushes us into a series of feelings, beliefs, and behaviors that we try strongly to resist. These are painful and scary, and we fear that these experiences of our brokenness may never end. Antonio Sausys has taken [my] tasks of mourning and shows how the simple practices of yoga can help us fulfill these tasks and bring us the re-integration and relief that we seek. Practicing the wisdom of this ancient mind-body discipline can help the mourner begin to integrate [his or her] experiences after loss and to re-establish a sense of wholeness.

J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP, author of Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy and Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies

Provides in-depth understanding of psychosomatic aspects of grief and guides us through somatopsychic methods of yoga that empower us to regain our health, inner peace, and happiness.

Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, chairman of ICYER at Ananda Ashram, Pondicherry, India, and honorary international advisor to the International Association of Yoga Therapists, USA, and various Gitananda yoga associations worldwide

With compassion and clarity, Antonio Sausys brings dignity to the grieving process as he guides you, step-by-step, through loss to transformation and rebirth. Herein lies an important road map for the difficult rite of passage that we all must face at some point in our lives.

Anodea Judith, PhD, author of Wheels of Life: Eastern Body, Western Mind

In this book, Antonio shows us his skillfulness as a master teacher and skilled yoga therapist who offers us practical and accessible tools to meet the natural process of grieving. His years of experience in working with grief through his personal life and work with students shines through in this very pragmatic manual for how to heal through grief, not by leaving grief behind, but by moving all the way through it with love, kindness, and compassion for ourselves, and for what we have lost.

Richard Miller, PhD, psychologist, meditation teacher of nondualism, and author of The iRest Program for Healing PTSD and Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga

A loving approach to transforming grief and loss. Antonios work is East-West wisdom at its finest.

Larry Payne, PhD, founder of Samata International Yoga and Health Institute; coauthor of Yoga for Dummies and Yoga Rx and the Business of Teaching Yoga; and director at Yoga Therapy Rx and Prime of Life Yoga

The heart of yoga is here in Antonio Sausys Yoga for Grief Relief. Sausys understands grief firsthand, as well as yogas capacity to help us heal from the inside out. Trust Sausys deeply intuitive, compassionate, and authoritative voice as he helps you release the bodily effects of grief, guides changes in your perception, and opens you to greater self-awareness. I fully endorse this practice and this book!

Amy Weintraub, founding director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute and author of Yoga for Depression and Yoga Skills for Therapists

Publishers 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.

Excerpts from Tirukural from WEAVERS WISDOM by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, copyright 1999 Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Reprinted by permission of Himalayan Academy.

Physical Anatomy and the Psychic Chakras (chart) from A CHAKRA & KUNDALINI WORKBOOK by Jonn Mumford, copyright 1994 Jonn Mumford. Reprinted by permission of Llewellyn Publications.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2014 by Antonio Sausys

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

http://www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup; Text design by Tracy Marie Carlson; Acquired by Jess OBrien; Edited by Marisa Solis; With the creative assitance of Elliott Vogel

All Rights Reserved

ePub ISBN: 9781608828203

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

This book is dedicated to my mother, Olga Themis Marun Avisap, who, even in her passing, gave me more tools than I can comprehend to become the professional I am today. By taking me lovingly by the hand, as we pierced together through difficulties in life, she prepared me for the transformation of the grief her loss left behind into who I am today.

Her trust in me encouraged me to take on this journey; her respect for discipline gave me grounds for persevering when in doubt. I am aware she died concerned about not seeing me become the man she formed. The unstoppable force of her teachings is a testament to how, while I did lose her physical presence, she will forever be weaved into the tapestry of my heart.

Wherever you are, Mom, in whatever way you can see me, here it is. Thank you, again!