National Yoga Therapy Presentation

People with mental and/or substance use disorders typically die years earlier than the general population.

My sister, D'Arcy, died at the age of thirty.
I believe that, because I practice Yoga and meditation,
I survived.

I have been accepted as a presenter at the Alternatives Conference 2015 in Memphis, Tennessee, October 14-18. 

I am appealing for donations to fund my presence at this conference.  

Conference production is federally funded SAMHSA, The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Agency, part of The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

SAMHSA's mission is "to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities."

SAMHSA has mandated that public health agencies nationwide integrate proactive and holistic recovery interventions, such as Yoga-based practices, led by peers in recovery.

I am a peer in recovery. 

I am also a  Certified Ananda® Yoga Therapist .

I am a researcher, teacher, sister, gardener and friend living with bipolar disorder, in recovery.

I have been invited to this conference to introduce Yoga-based practices and meditation as therapeutic interventions for anxiety relief
to leaders in healthcare:
policy makers,
pharmaceutical representatives,
mental health advocates and others.


Presenters must pay to attend. Please participate in helping me to achieve the goal of educating the nation's behavioral health leaders on relaxation, breathing and attention training. 


Therapeutic, Yoga-based interventions complement these federal mandates:
(1) wellness and empowerment 
(2) prevention services 
(3) treatment and support services and
(4) surveillance, research, and evaluation.

I have been guaranteed a 75-minute slot to teach trauma-informed Restorative Yoga, Yoga nidra, therapeutic breath and meditation to attendees.

I have also applied to lead two 90-minute caucases to present current, relevant, evidence-based research and the biology behind mindful breath and movement in small groups. This may add three more hours to my forum, if my proposals are accepted.

I live in a remote region of California.
Two days of travel will be required.
I will forfeit one week of income from my small, private Yoga therapy practice to attend this extraordinary event.
The cost of conference registration, airfare, hotel accomodations, meals and transportation must be covered. I would also like to visit Graceland.

The response to this, my first, GoFundMe campaign has been enormous.  I am encouraged and grateful. I have adjusted my goal to include the cost of purchasing a  laptop computer. To be able to create PowerPoint presentations to plainly illustrate the science behind why Yoga-based practices are effective will improve my reach and credibility as an educator.

Please contribute to make the world a better, more compassionate place - and to make simple recovery tools accessible to those suffering the most: our community with mental health issues and our community struggling with addiction. They are, often, the same people. They are, often, ourselves.

Yoga-based interventions work. 

Breath, movement and relaxation are strong, instant, long-term and affordable medicines that relieve anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress, mood disorders, anger, insomnia, compulsive behaviors, chronic pain and lifestyle illnesses.
It takes a generation for research to hit the streets. 
We must begin to educate now.
I am willing to be a grateful pioneer!

Thank you so much for supporting this accomplishment!

AUM

www.brookewestyoga.com