Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.), SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing

History of Flow in SomaVeda Thai Yoga System

History of Flow in SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga System

The Spanish invaded the Philippines, which is over 7107 islands. Over a period of 100 years, they completely conquered the islands. They apparently killed more than half of the people. During that time, they had their conversion to Christianity. They forbade all expressions of traditional culture like medicine, martial arts, and so on. It was a class 1 felony to practice. For 330 years, from 1565 to 1898, if you were a Filipino and did a traditional healing art like Hilot, which is the equivalent the Thai Yoga, or Escrima/ Kali or similar we learn here or if someone ratted you out (because there were bounties on healers), you could go to prison, be tortured or put to death.

“ By 1583, the Spanish laws, under the Royal Decree of King Philip II, were imposed upon the islands. All forms of martial arts were completely outlawed and the carrying of any bladed weapons was forbidden. Kalis, Silat and Kuntaw and other forms of martial arts were banned and not permitted to be practiced.”   [ http://www.ksk-fma.net/History/philippine_history.html ]

This also pertained to traditional dancing, traditional music…in other words you had to learn how to play Spanish music and could not play traditional music on traditional instruments. “You are not Filipino anymore. You’re Spanish”.

The Filipinos went, “ok, you got the swords, you got the guns, you got the canons, you’re going to shoot me if I don’t nod my head so yeah, what you said. Okay, I’m Spanish and not Filipino. I don’t know any healing. I don’t know anything.”

The arts were practiced in secret. This might have been a typical scenario as described to me by Guro Unangtagpagturo and Arnis Lastra Maharlika Master Jorge Lastra on one of his trips visiting my school : According to Jorge For over 300 years, when the moon was full, little groups would find their way to a farm, which they found through a trail of “breadcrumbs” There might have been  a little piece of fabric tied to a tree here or a piece of fruit with a chunk cut out of it. Once at the farm, they would practice by moonlight.

Now they’d only have about a day or maybe two because there were rules against travel – you weren’t free to travel and couldn’t go far from your village without permission from whoever was the local authority. Traveling was enough to get you thrown in jail or tortured. Everything they were practicing was technically illegal for 480 years because it was all considered traditional culture.

They practiced not just the healing arts but the music and martial arts like this under the Spanish rule.

So they only have a day or so. So here I am.  I’m a teacher right? You just snuck out of your village, traveled through the bush for long distances. We are not going to use light because if we have people and bright lights, that will attract attention. The neighbors will turn us in because there are bounties.

We get together under the moonlight and practice for just a day or two – not so long that anyone will be missed or that someone might show up by accident and surprise or discover us.

Over these centuries, there was developed a concept of how to impart a lot of information very fast that a person can take with them, go back to their homes and villages, and practice it and open it up like a flower blooming. In other words, you get a little bit from the teacher and then go home and practice. You practice and get instruction until you can set up a little place to teach in secret.

My teacher Guro Leo T. Gaje Jr. was one of the first generation of Filipino that could practice out in the open legally. That was after the Second World War in the 1950s. They could practice in public without having to have a permit, a license and no one had to worry about going to jail because they were do traditional healing arts.

What they worked out was this concept called “flow.” That’s where my concept of flow comes from. It comes from Jorge Lastra, Leo T. Gaje Jr. (Pekiti Tersia) and Deonisio Kinyeti, it comes from Flora Villobrea. And Danny Inosanto.

The first person that taught it to me in detail was Danny Inosanto. He said, ‘I can teach you a flow, a sequence of movements that you do. Don’t try to do it right. I’ll show you the right way to do it but don’t try to do it right. Just get the flow down. Then go home and practice repetitively. What will happen is that the flow will teach you how to do it.’

I came from a school in Thailand where the average student was in the school for four to seven years. I’m teaching in the USA where the average student can’t tolerate me for a weekend. I’m just saying, ‘how am I going to get those two together?”

When I first started teaching, I tried to do it the way I was taught. You would move into my house and train with me for four years and we ca practice all day and all night and nooo! ahhh!

After a couple weeks or whatever people would jus t leave. They couldn’t do it. They couldn’t make those commitments and certainly not if they didn’t even know what it was. This brought me to develop a level system. I came up with this idea from my Philippine teachers, that the best way to teach the most information in the shortest time was do the same way that the Hurimentados in the Philippines had practiced their Hilot sacred healing arts for over 380 years. You get together for a short time; you learn the flows or vinyasa – which is the Philippine word just like in Sanskrit. That’s because before the Spanish, what was the culture of the Philippines like? It was a mixed and diverse culture. It was part of the Majipayat Empire of India being the southern most outpost of the great Indian culture-the magahad kingdom.  The Filipino Island culture was called Maharlika. Because of the Indian and Vedic influence,  some of the words are very similar like chakra, vinyasa, etc. The southern Islands such as Mindinao because of their proximity to Indonesia were heavily influenced by the culture of Islam and eventually became Moslem.  Of course the Spanish Catholic Christian culture was not  any more tolerant of this than they were any other variants of native  indigenous culture anywhere else in the Philipines or South America.

I started doing flow after training with Danny and that’s what brings us to where we are today.

I know you’ve been to a lot of other classes, which are technique focused. They give you a technique and you practice that repetitively until you get it down and then you go on to the next. If you’re lucky, toward the end of whatever you’re doing you put it together.

How do you get from one technique to the other is not important or emphasized. You could take a cigarette break from one to the next and it wouldn’t be a big issue, as long as you do things in the right sequence.

Our flow is like that. It is a fine science of how to give you a lot of information in a really short period of time that by the time you leave class you will have the flow and sequence of that that you can practice at home. The gift box of the benefits of that flow will come later only if you practice. That’s another sad part. This art requires practice. If you don’t practice, you don’t get to dance. You wont get the treasure because it is only as a result of practice.

I say 300 is the magic number for each flow. Once you get about 300 in, something just clicks in your head.

Those of you who have been practicing and doing this for a little bit, don’t you see that there’s a point where one day something is just different?

Having done this so many times, we can predict when that will happen based on how much you actually pratice. You may get 30 repetitions in before we’re done. Kudos to you! That’s if you don’t start and stop. You’ll get more if you flow. You’ll get less if you don’t. You’ll see. There will be a big shift once you knock it out 30 times.

It will seem like yesterday I was struggling and all of a sudden today it’s like I’m a different person doing this.  It will seem like a miracle to you but it’s a miracle I told you was going to happen.

SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies are a spiritual, energetic and competency based therapeutic healing system or Spiritual Medicine (See: What is SomaVeda™?). In the SomaVeda™ system there are over 1000 different therapeutic postures used commonly. SomaVeda™ is a complete holistic system on Natural Medicine.

For info and live courses with Aachan Anthony James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.), SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing

SAO NONG to DAK KHA Safety and Transition

SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga and Thai Massage Mastery emphasizes the role and importance of transitions and flow.

Whats the best way to move from Sao Nong to Dak Kha safely? Let’s start by looking at the transition from Sao Nong, to Dak Kha, (Ardhis Supta Virasana – Bent Inward Knee position). There is so much information and possibility to do some great things here it’s worth spending a little time looking at the details and breaking it down a bit. Please use this article to help follow along the video I have included here.

Technically, the idea is to simply go from Sao Nong to Dak Kha, bent inward knee. We do a transition on the way. Push up with both hands, left hand on the inside leg and then nice and easy flatten the thigh, flat like a table top. Now I’ll adjust because he’s little bit flexible before I come up. I want his heel close to his buttocks. The heel moving close to the bottom is what puts this position under tension like a spring. Once I have tension on the position…I’m not trying to turn him over, I just want this flat, I start small and fast rocking. When I feel the bounce I grow into it until I have a full body rock.

This transitional position is so beautiful and helpful for people who have sciatica, disc impingement of L4, L5, and fluid issues with the knee itself. There is no strain on the knee in this position. Every time I’m bouncing, I’m flexing the sacral-illial bridge (SI) open and closed. That makes this a sacral pump. The hardest thing in the world when you have L4, L5 and SI impingement is to get circulation in there. The area is not exactly in the line of much direct circulation and can be quite stagnant. If I biopsied it, it would be like an oxygen wasteland.  Anything that can get a pumping motion in the SI joint is hugely valuable. This happens to be one of the most productive techniques for that.

An effect of the rocking is that you notice the clients whole body is moving. I bounce and rock the leg but the nose is going ‘wobbly wobbly’. That means that the rocking is full body. We know that when doing manual lymph drainage and lymphatic facilitation that bouncing, shaking, rocking and jostling are the most productive techniques that we can do along with vibration and percussion.

When doing the rocking, the rhythm has to start small and fast. Don’t go too slow because it becomes a push rather than a pump. The first purpose is for the sacral pump. Then you grow it and get bigger and bigger in the rocking motion. Now we have not only the benefit of the sacral pump, but we have a hip and Piriformis release. Why is the flex and release of the Piriformis important? In many people the sciatic nerve is under the Piriformis so when it is in spasm under the gluteous muscle, it causes a direct impingement on the sciatic nerve. If it is just a little bit it simply causes weakness in the leg.

When you are more restricted or resistant on one leg than the other, there is a high probability of sciatic impingement which causes the knee to not be strong and affects balance.

Some people say, ‘oh if you cant balance or have a balance issue its because you are not practicing enough’.  In this case, you cant balance because you may have nerve impingement. There is a term for this called ‘Hunter’s Canal, Functional Toe Drop, Knee Drop’ – there is a whole list of names for this. That’s before you get to pain. Pain goes on a continuom from slight to crippling pain. It can be so severe that you feel like, ‘please someone hand me a gun so I can end the agony’. It’s hard to describe that kind of pain unless you’ve been in it. People will chip their teeth while grinding them when that pain is so great.

This is a beautiful release for that. The secondary benefit is in the motion of the abdomen. 80% of the superficial lymph nodes are in the groin, abdomen, breast and chest. Anything that rocks and vibrates those areas has a high probability to facilitate the lymph.

It is a simple technique. In passing, you might not get how cool and valuable this is.

What do I do from here?

I’m going to move the leg into position for Dak Kha. The problem is that this distance between the heel and buttocks has to stay the same.  The back of the heel needs to be tght to the buttocks. You can’t open up the leg or allow the foot to float out as you bring the client out of the position. Remember, I said that there is a martial influence in every technique? If I want to destroy your knee on purpose say in a wrestling or grappling match and I had your knee crossed over, all I’d do is turn you over and extend the heel at the same time. That would break and or tear the medial collateral ligament.

Now that I know that, I want to make sure I do not martially attack my client as I transition them from one healthy position to another.

How do I keep from damaging his knee as I do so?

1.    Keep the heel tight to the bottom
2.    The knee has to stay low as it comes across – horizontal like moving around a clock face

Why? If you raise the knee, you almost always extend the heel away from the glutes. To clean it up, just tuck it in and he’s got nice support here.

As you do the asanas and transitions you learn to recognize bail out postures and movements. I want to correct and shut off his exit and correct the bailout before he tries to get away. When his straightened leg gets tense and starts to turn, I bring it back and give it a rock. Now, he starts to settle in and his hip drops into the posture.

From here I do the four primary steps in Dak Kha, TEST, PALM HIT, STRETCH.

1.    Test for range of motion
2.    Palm press down the thigh
3.    Hit as in percuss with two hand hacking
4.    Stretch as in drive the knee as close to the floor as possible with awareness and gentleness (appropriate to the range of motion)

From here do a clean release.

To emphasize the safety on the release, the top of the knee has to go straight up. Any other direction puts a twist in the knee. The thing about the knee joint is that it is very strong, unless you push it from the side. Then you are finished. It doesn’t take much in torsion. You know how many pounds of pressure of torsion it takes to destroy the medial collateral ligament? It takes only 8 pounds of pressure on a one inch area give or take…that’s like a bag and a half of flour.

You have power. You have to constantly remember to use your powers for good. Of course I can generate more than 8 pounds of pressure in torsion so I need to make sure that I don’t. If possible as I release the leg I don’t want ANY rotation on the knee.

There cant be any rotation going it or coming out.

This isolates the quadriceps and the Psoas. It bridges the low back. If you twist the leg as you bring it out, it may cause or exacerbate an injury.

To bring the knee straight up, get under the knee and grasp the foot and pull the heel strongly up under the knee. If it looks anything else under than this, it is not safe.

Following the above recommendations will support your safe practice and that your following the Yoga Ahimsa principle of “At the least do no harm” as you move through this elegant transition.

From the Dak Kha position we then transition to the Dak Wu Kao or Pigeon Pose.

For more information on Dak Kha transitions Click Here!

When done correctly and safely the Dak Kha Yoga Therapy Asana is a perfect method of bringing Energy, Attention, Consciousness and Breath to the body of our client.  Dak Kha is balancing to the Doshas and is a traditional way to share or impart love as a moving prayer for the healing and welfare of our client.

Always include Therapeutic Puja or Prayer

In order  to create a spiritual space in which to heal and  frame of mind to maximize the contact and experience we are sharing with the client, we incorporate Puja (Therapeutic Prayer) before and after we  do a hand reflexology session.

SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies are a spiritual, energetic and competency based therapeutic healing system or Spiritual Medicine (See: What is SomaVeda™?). In the SomaVeda™ system there are over 1000 different therapeutic postures used commonly. SomaVeda™ is a complete holistic system on Natural Medicine.

For a Bio, info and live courses with Anthony James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga on the Southern or Royal Method

by Dr. Anthony B. James DM(P), ND, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.),SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing.

First of all, Sawat Dee Krap. Hello. Welcome to the Ayurvedic Thai Yoga class where we study the Southern or Royal Method.

This method that we are practicing today is probably the one that I have practiced the most and the longest because it was the original method that was introduced to me by Phaa Khruu Samaii Mesaman at the Buddhai Sawan Institute, Nonkgam Thailand and later at Ayurved Vidyalai, Wat Po under Grand Master Phaa Khruu Men, Master Boonsorn Kitnywan (Nuad  Phan Boran Thai), Khruu Moh Vilapong Sidtisapong  and Anantasuk School under Aachan Anantasuk, These my first trainings in traditional Thai medicine. These trainings form the basis for our practice of the royal method.

Part of what that means is in real life, aside from the fact that it’s the method that’s done to the king or the members of the royal family is that there’s a certain comportment almost to the point of ritualistic maintenance in posture and alignment that’s actually quite recognizable and quite dogmatic, just like you can tell the difference between classical ballet aka the Bolshoi Ballet Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Martha Graham Choreographed Appalachian Spring. Even if you didn’t really know the difference, if you saw them, you’d go, ‘hhm that’s different’. That’s not the same. It’s still dancing, ‘same, same but different’. As far as dancing goes, it’s way different. Bolshoi style vs. Grahm style, big difference.

SomaVeda™ Ayurvedic Thai yoga, the royal method, the southern method is as uniquely identifiable as this in traditional Thai medicine. Part of it is because we have all of these little ‘this is the way you move from here to there’. The transitions themselves are actually identifiable. All the different Thai styles that we practice don’t have all these recognizable transitions. There are some styles where they have very little or no emphasis on transitions, but their techniques are very simple. Their Vinyasa are very few. In the southern method, we have about 25 different vinyasas. We are supposed to look a certain way while we do it. My teacher even coached me on ‘where are you eyes’. In other words, there were points in the technique where you are supposed to look over your shoulder and nod your head or you are supposed to clap your hands and take a breath before you move. We say it’s kind of ritualistic right?

One of the things that are interesting about the Southern or Royal Method is that the formality and presence of the person in presentation is so strict and that this is also the way we guarantee there is no injury. In the past, in fact up until about the early 1800s for a lay person, who is not a direct family member of the king of Thailand, and not a blood relative accidentally bumped into or touched the ‘royal’ person, you and your whole family could or would be put to death…There was a practice of summary execution. There were men who followed the king with big swords just to make sure that if someone accidentally bumped…in fact, if he was in a public place, you were not allowed to raise your head and look at him in the eyes. That was considered disrespectful and a personal offense to the dignified or royal person. The practice of formal prostration or chaonai  as it is called in the Thai language was formally abolished by King Chulalongkorn in 1873 as he wished to abolish all “acts of submission” which he believed caused hardship to his people.

According to an article posted by Rhett A. Butler on Mongabay.Com, “The king was considered chakkraphat, the Sanskrit-Pali term for the “wheel-rolling” universal prince who through his adherence to the law made all the world revolve around him. As the Hindu god Shiva was “lord of the universe,” the Thai king also became by analogy “lord of the land,” distinguished in his appearance and bearing from his subjects. According to the elaborate court etiquette, even a special language, Phasa Ratchasap, was used to communicate with or about royalty.”

The Thai King was considered devaraja “(Sanskrit for “divine king”), the king ultimately came to be recognized as the earthly incarnation of Shiva and became the object of a politico-religious cult officiated over by a corps of royal Brahmans who were part of the Buddhist court retinue. In the Buddhist context, the devaraja was a bodhisattva (an enlightened being who, out of compassion, foregoes nirvana in order to aid others).”

Thailand had formal laws based on this up until the 1870s. In common practice the deference to the King and Royal family continues to the present day although this is changing. With so much emphasis on ritual around looking at, communicating with or physically touching the “Royal Person”, what do you do when you have a Royal family member who gets sick? The doctor is not family. The therapist, the midwife, they are not family. What do you do? You have back pain or even a migraine? You have to create a special dispensation for the people who would be allowed to touch the king or other royal person. It would have to be a special category of persons that are identified as those who can touch the king.

So a certain amount of ritualistic procedures were called for. The ritual observances and ceremonial aspects of what was actually required to lay hands on the King and royal persons and the actual physical, spiritual medicine developed to treat them became the basis of what we call the Southern or Royal methods and the schools that have developed and practiced them.

It doesn’t mean you can just rustle their feathers. You cant just go up to them and go, ‘hey! Look what I can do!” and mess up their hair. It doesn’t mean that you can just any way. The way was, that if you were going to work on the king or other royal person, there was a ritual. How you approached the mat was very specific to the king. You do your Wai Khruu (ritual of paying respect… the chaonoi), Wai to the King, Wai to the Buddha, and then Wai to your teacher who would be standing right there watching. Then you would start working. From that moment to the last moment when you exited the mat, you kept your head bowed and never looked at the king again. Everything is under ritual and protocol.

Our style is descendent from that style. We were those guys. In moving around, that’s why it’s not just like ‘well just whip it over there’ any old way you want. I have studied many styles. There are variations on how you can do movements in traditional schools. In the royal method there was no variation because there was only ONE correct way to touch the king. Any other way might get your head chopped off.

The SomaVeda™ System offers Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy based training programs from 200 hours to over 5000 hours. If your considering a career in Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy and or Natural Medicine consider our SMOCH, PMA Accredited programs. SV advanced students and graduates may qualify for Ecclesiastical/ Pastoral Medical Licensing in every state.

For info and live courses with Aachan James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Nine Steps to Work with Negative
Thoughts

by Dr. Anthony James DM(P), ND, MD(AM) ©2012

The SomaVeda™ System offers in depth understanding of Human Evolutionary Psychology.

As a human species, we are wrought with negative emotions, behaviors and physical states as evidenced in the war-torn world of relationships, ravaged lands and misguided communities we live in today. So what do we do? Because negative thinking is a natural part of the “Human Biological Stress Adaptive Transformational Machine’s” way of being, we must make dedicated and conscious efforts to not be helpless in front of it. We need a plan. Otherwise, we constantly allow negative thoughts to run wild in our heads, like leaves in a dark wind blown this way and that.

The key word above is “allow” our negative thoughts to run wild. This is both a pro and a con. The bad news is that we give space to the continuous liturgy of negative thoughts. Because of their consistency and constancy we believe them to be inevitable and true. This is a misconception. The good news is that because we “allow” them to remain and become the causative factors for depression, fear, anger, and anxiety, we can also “UN-allow” them or replace and substitute other kinds of thinking for them.

So what’s the plan? Here are nine basic principles to follow on a regular basis to work with negative thinking:

1) Ask your self, “Self, do you want to be happy or sad?”

As conscious beings we want to understand that thoughts come from the mind. The mind is an organ just like any other organ. It generates thoughts mechanically and constantly just like the other organs (read Candace Pert’s, PhD., “The Molecules of Emotions”). Most thinking is unconscious and mechanical and can be considered white noise. Thoughts come and go without effort, direction and are usually unrelated to circumstances of life or our actual being. For example, they might be a result of communication from the lining of the stomach stating whether it’s full, empty or a bit too acidic.

When we “give in” to negative thoughts and mindsets, we make a choice to do so. When we notice we are thinking negatively and do not make efforts to control, overcome or detach from them, we choose to submit to them and to the attitudes that reflect their dominance. When we don’t make efforts or make feeble and inconsistent attempts to control or direct them, we set ourselves up to be victims of them. The longer we hold onto, wallow in, and allow the thoughts to continue, the less control we have over their effects until no outside agency or person can help us. Outside help might prove a short intermission, but we always come back to the patterns and habits we practice most.

If we actually want to be happy, we must make efforts every day to choose to good thoughts and to develop good thought habits. Think good thoughts on purpose even when you don’t feel like it. Think good thoughts especially when you don’t feel like it.

The positive elevating emotional experience is on the other side of the generation of a more positive thought life. We cannot wait to work on our thoughts contingent on feeling positive or motivated to do so. That may come later. Observe your thoughts as they arise, literally from the beginning. When you see the negative thoughts remember to ask yourself, “do I want to be happy or sad? Do I want to be angry or depressed? Do I want to be fearful or anxious?” If the answer is no, then right then is the time to let go or to begin the conscious effort of substitution of the positive for the negative. Once you let them take over, there is a negative self-reinforcing momentum of thought, which can take place, where every similar negative thought you have ever had in your life reinforces and justifies it. You can be in charge of your thoughts. Ask your self again, “do you want to be happy or sad?”

2) Don’t justify negative thoughts

We love negative thinking patterns and the individual negative thoughts themselves. We nurture them and hold them dearly as we come to realize either consciously or unconsciously that they define us and give us our character and personality. They create space around us. To a great extent, they define the manifestation of our public persona and personality. They are such constant companions that we rely on them to act as buffers between our inner selves and the outer world so we don’t have to busy ourselves with the whole “paying attention” part of life. Our inner negative thoughts are reflexive and give us reaction in real time to almost everything that happens. The problem is that the reactions and reflexes are skewed, twisted and negative! We are the source of our own self-fulfilling negative karma. Our negative thoughts contribute to all of the other negativities within us and generate together negative emotional states and negative behaviors, which in their own way support further negative consequences to the karma we generate for our selves and for others.

Instead of justifying and defending negative and especially repetitive negative thoughts we must see the thought loops we are tangled up in and start to see the negative thoughts for what they are, unreal and not supportive of living a life with intention and of well-being. We need to consider the power of not acknowledging negativity and allow the thoughts to move on and let go of them. They are not valuable.  In fact they may be perfect impediments to having new and more positive thinking.

3) Let go of attachment to thoughts

See thoughts on the screen of your mind like clouds crossing the sky. They come and go and constantly shift and change. Sometimes they appear to be more real than others. Some are closer and some are further away, but they are always transient. Your true mind is not the clouds. It is the tableau in the background; the clear blue sky we sometimes see peeking between the clouds. This is one of the teachings of meditation in Vipassana, Samatha, and Tratak. Find the still quiet place where there is no thought, yet there is fullness of being. Learn and practice meditation. There are so many types and schools both traditional and modern. If they teach you the art of controlling the mind and finding the between, transition and empty places, that’s a good thing. Those inner spaces by definition are not negative.

4) Spend time with positive people

In the Calssical Indian Ayurveda text, the Charaka Samhita, there is a reference that states in order to balance Kapha Dosha; you need to spend time in the company of agreeable men and women. The primary negative characterization or fault of imbalance in Kapha (Prakruti/Humour or Body Type in Ayurveda) is called the defilement of “ignorance.” Sometimes the very best way to break a descent into ignorant, negative and or disagreeable states is to physically get up and move to a more positive place, in the company of more positive people. Simply trying to work through our issues mentally does not work because we are trying to use the part of us causing the problem to fix it! You cannot use a broken or faulty tool to fix the problem the broken faulty tool caused. You have to introduce another element. Call it “distraction therapy”. Since most thoughts are impermanent, sometimes even what seem to be the most negative ones will go away if you can change your focus for a few minutes. Often having fun or simply placing your self in the middle of people enjoying life and sharing joy can do this. Joy is powerful medicine.

5) Spend less time with negative people

Negative thinking is not only self-reflective and looping, but can also be reflective of a common mind-set of the people you’re with. Others help to reinforce the negative mental loops. If you’re in the company of people constantly expressing negative thoughts, words and deeds, peer pressure alone will persuade you to copy and mimic the group’s (or person’s) negativity. Run for the hills! Get out of there if you want a happy thought life. By this I literally mean change your physical location. For example, Jimmy Buffet sings, “changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes”. I read it to mean changes in latitudes can support changes in attitudes. When you find your self with someone constantly expressing negativity, ask your self “Why am I here with this person?” Ask your self, “what can I do right now to change the track of conversation or the direction on to a more positive one?” There is no elevation based on climbing on top of the faults of others. We cannot make ourselves better by making others bad. You are not a helpless victim of other people’s negative thoughts. Simply move away from them.

6) Don’t waste time not working on your self

What are you doing? My mother used to say, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. She was right! Nature ‘abhors’ a vacuum. If you don’t work on your self every day by doing something to elevate and bring realization to your life, then your ego (false personality or unconscious mechanical expression of unresolved negative emotion and thought patterns) will drive you. If you can define a person as a “Human Biological Stress-Adaptive Transformational Machine”, then consider that mal-adaptation to internal and external stress is how we became the poster children of negativity and expression of negative emotions.

You might also consider that you can organize positive stress to become the origination of new and future ways of being within your self, which are entirely different than those you experience today. How much of your typical day do you spend collecting ammo for inner negativity? Ask your self, “What do I watch? What do I read? Who do I listen to everyday?” If you were to determine a percentage of your average daily negative input to positive from external sources what would that percentage be? 100% to 0%? 90/10? 80/20? Rightfully use your mind for a moment. If you are a stress-adaptive organism (organized system), then what stresses are you consciously adapting too? Is it any wonder you feel helpless in front of your negative thoughts?

7) Think positive thoughts on purpose

“If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” If you can’t think a single positive thought, then think someone else’s. Genius, right? This is one of the values of having a small library of uplifting, inspiring, positive books, sacred literature, poems, mantra and songs, art, and sculpture. If you’re stuck in a negative thought loop, then reset the programming with some Mantra medicine. Memorize mantras, poems, and wise sayings. Create a repertoire of positive archetypal thoughts and sentiments to draw on when in need.

Being locked into a train of negative thinking is the “valley of death” and leads to despair. The “Lord’s Prayer” and the Metta Sutra are both antidotes for negative thoughts. Repeat either or both as often as necessary. “What if I have to do this all the time to stay positive,” you might ask. So be it! Some sacred traditions say one of the tools or techniques of enlightenment is to pray without ceasing. As long as the fire of negativity smolders, then keep pouring on the water. When the negative thoughts move on and release you from their repetitive burdens, continue your self-work and efforts. How about working on negative emotions?

8) Don’t think anything you would not say in front of people

Whenever you see a train of repetitive thoughts about a specific person or group, ask your self, would you share those thoughts or actually say them face to face with that person? Then ask your self, would the consequence of saying those thoughts/words be positive or negative? If the answer is negative, then check those thoughts. If you hear yourself actually expressing those negative thoughts in words, then check you behavior. At the least find the control to the mouth and close the lips until your able to make progress with the thoughts. Simply expressing negative thoughts or as we like to say “venting” is creating karma. People tend to respond to our negative expressions and that can cause damage. The Tibetans are famous for saying that karma results from all three: thought, action and deed. To restore equilibrium and reduce harmful causation or like my old Vipassana teacher, venerable Aachan Chaa used to say, “thinking right is a precursor to being right”.

9) Move into the heart space

The mind organ quantifies, calculates, weighs and measures, recognizes patterns, compares and contrasts, critiques pros and cons and imagines. The heart is a different organ and has a different center of influence. The heart is concerned with connection, transformation, movement and emotional realizations. It is the seat of our conscience, our emotional realizations of truth and the feelings of connection that stem from them. When the heart sees from essence, it realizes the true nature of things, situations and of others in a less critical way. The heart knows that we all struggle, we are all finding our way, and we all want and need love. When we look at others and the situations of life from the perspective of the heart, we bond with them and experience more of a sense of oneness and common experience with less or no judgment and criticism. The mind of the heart is empathetic and compassionate. When we see our own lives and those of others through empathy, negativity barriers and boundaries dissolve

SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga and Thai Massage incorporates elements of mindfulness, gentle rocking, deep stretching and rhythmic compression and focus to create a singular healing experience.

The SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies life and livelihood is about securing the necessities of Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity for ourselves and all mankind. It is a way of working that’s as good for the person doing it as for those receiving. This work does not cause you harm and makes you stronger and healthier the longer you do it. This is unlike other forms of “healing” which may cause repetitive stress and occupational disability the longer you do them.  You can be completely yourself in every way while you do this work. SomaVeda™ is a genuine spiritually based healing system preparing practitioners for real life clinical practice.

If your interested in learning more about Ayurveda Yoga Therapy based Science and Healing while developing a Thai Yoga practice visit us today!

Next available Start Dates: January, March, June and September of 2012 Click Here for Schedule!

Email or call the office directly  (706) 358-8646

We have Scholarship! To learn how you can receive this training with a tuition scholarship or at greatly reduced tuition Click Here!

Accreditations and Professional Recognitions:


ITTA is an Accredited Educational Institute with the PMA (Pastoral Medical Association)
ITTA is a recognized Provider School of Naturopathic Education with the ANCB (American Naturopathic Certification Board)
ITTA is an NCBTMB Approved Provider for Massage and Massage Therapy Continuing Education.
For a complete list of  ITTA/ Thai Yoga Center Accreditations, Recognitions and Afiliations Please Click Here!

Visit us on the web at ThaiYogaCenter.Com

While visiting our website sign up for our Newsletter to receive 2 free E-books and Mp3! Click Here to Sign Up!

ITTA, Inc. / The Thai Yoga Center
4715 Bruton Rd. Plant City, Florida 33565
(706) 358-8646

Love Yoga?  Looking for a new ethical career path?  Consider SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga Therapy, Ayurveda and Natural Medicine!

ITTA/ The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute for Natural Medicine are hosting amazing professional certification programs and courses to help prepare you for a successful career in holistic therapies based on Ayurveda, Thai Yoga, Yoga Therapy and Natural Medicine. Our programs are authentic, original, traditional, medically supervised and spiritually based. Practicing what we call “The Practical Expression of Loving Kindness” is good for your life, your family and friends and the planet as well. The only tools you need are your hands and heart!

Earn a Doctorate in Natural Medicine specializing in Ayurveda/ Thai Yoga/ Yoga Therapy and or Doctor of Naturopathy Diploma and Degree. We have course and diploma paths to fit your lifestyle, schedule and budget.

Basically, What is SomaVeda™?

SomaVeda is a system of sustainable, vitalistic therapeutics that integrates the art and science of both ancient and modern worldwide traditions of healing founded by Aachan, Dr. Anthony James DM(P), ND, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.), SMOKH the first western master teacher of Traditional Thai Yoga Therapy and Thai Massage outside of Thailand. SomaVeda incorporates principles of Thai Ayurveda, Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy as well as Biblical/ Spiritual principles of Natural Medicine. SomaVeda offers a process engaging healing and life with elegance and fines, sophistication and flow. The aim of SomaVeda™ is to heal, educate and serve. We emphasize prevention and right living to reduce or eliminate the necessity for medicine and therapy and provide state of the art natural therapeutic programs when necessary.

SomaVeda™ offers several amazing certification and program paths for you to choose from:  

Entry Level:

1) The SomaVeda™ Certified Thai Yoga Practitioner Program (CTP1,2 ,3 ) (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced). All new students start in the CTP1 program #1. All CTP’s offer CE hours, National Certification and are PMA Accredited. All of our teachers are experience and certified with the highest teacher training standards in SomaVeda and Thai Yoga Therapy. We are the oldest, original Thai Yoga and Thai Massage based program in North America and we have set the highest standards in the industry for over 30 years. Our founder Aachan, Dr. Anthony James DM(P), ND, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.) actually wrote and published the very first book in the English language on Thai Massage in 1983 (Nuat Thai, Traditional Thai Medical Massage: Meta Journal Press) CTP1 Graduates now eligible for PMA Fast Track Commission. You do NOT need a Massage or Massage Therapy License to practice SomaVeda Thai Yoga and or Ayurveda legally in the US.  Our “Commission” is valid in all 50 states and offers the student or basic practitioner the widest scope of practice.
 Click Here for CTP Details!

What do we learn in a CTP?

A CTP is an average 27 day, 200 hour residential intensive training and certification program. Beginner students receive exhaustive in-class instruction and daily practice in SomaVeda Thai Yoga System. The CTP1 is divided up into 5 modules plus an amazing array of breakout and support classes. All five level’s of the SomaVeda Basic Practitioner program are included. Fundamentals of Thai Yoga: Level One, Ayurvedic Thai Yoga: Level Two, Nuad Boran, Northern Style Thai Yoga: Level Three, Lines Wheels, Points, Energy Anatomy of Thai Massage: Level Four, Clinical Application and Development of Specific programs for Clients based on Vedic Assessments and Guidelines: Level Five

As if that’s not enough! During the CtP students receive additional instruction in up to 11 additional SomaVeda treatment methods and basics such as Vedic principles of nutrition, SomaVeda approaches to Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stress as well as Occupational and Chronic conditions such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Migraines, Back Pain, Soft Tissue Disorders. We also explore in detail Vedic and Natural Medicine approaches to emotional and mental illness using safe, non-invasive and non-coercive approaches.

Expert  Level:

2) The SomaVeda Certified Teacher Training Program (TCP): Bring the most profound and diverse system of spiritually based healing to your community. Opportunities for our graduate SomaVeda teachers are growing world wide. Bring your practice mastery to it’s highest level, help introduce the world to a practical Yoga Therapy and Vedic Medical System as well as make a right livelihood all at the same time. All SomaVeda Certified Teachers complete a rigorous 1200 hour program under the personal supervision and guided expertise of our Master Level Doctors and Teaching Staff.

Click Here for TCP Details!

Expert Level Eligible for Medical Licensing:

3) The SomaVeda™ Holistic Health Provider Ayurveda / Practitioner of Natural Medicine Ayurveda Diploma Course (HHPA, PNMA): A 2595 clock hour intensive, clinical focused education in Ayurveda, Thai Yoga, Natural Medicine. Learn how to develop a fully functioning clinical office offering natural and medical services from Thai Yoga to Nutritional counseling. Learn effective methodologies for treating chronic and acute diseases and the science behind them in a medically supervised environment and school. Our courses are US and Internationally recognized and are accredited. Graduates with the HHPA/ PNMA Diploma qualify for allied medical licensing. Click Here for HHPA/ PNMA Details!

Doctoral Level, Eligible for Medical Licensing:

4) The SomaVeda™ Doctor of Natural Medicine (Ayurveda), ND/ DNM:   Diploma Program offers a sophisticated education in Ayurveda based Natural Medicine. This diploma program is PMA accredited and graduates are eligible for appropriate Medical Licensing. Click Here for DNMA/ ND Degree Details!

5) Coming Soon! Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM): Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology

ITTA International Training Opportunities

1) Thailand Training Programs from 30 hours to over 500!  ThailandStudyTours.Com Travel, Tour and Training in Thailand!

2) Kerala, India Training Programs from one to 3 months! IndiaStudyTours.Com Intensive Ayurveda, Pancha Karma and Classical Indian Pharmacopea, Ayurvedic Cooking and Hatha Yoga.

3) Nevis West, Indies: Courses and Clinical Internships in of the worlds largest Medical Centers entirely devoted to Natural and Alternative Medical Practices! (Advanced graduates Only)

4) Quito, Ecuador! Courses and Clinical Internships at our new sister Holistic Medical Center and Clinic (Advanced graduates Only)

Where do you begin?

All new students begin in the CTP program.

It’s only 200 hours and gives you a solid working foundation and competency to begin your practice the day after graduation! If your serious minded about becoming a SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga Teacher, Hatha Yoga Teacher, Licensed Practitioner of Natural Medicine Ayurveda and or a Licensed Doctor of Natural Medicine Ayurveda,  we can help you choose the best program for your needs and life.

ThaiYogaCenter.Com

SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga and Thai Massage incorporates elements of mindfulness, gentle rocking, deep stretching and rhythmic compression and focus to create a singular healing experience.

The SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies life and livelihood is about securing the necessities of Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity for ourselves and all mankind. It is a way of working that’s as good for the person doing it as for those receiving. This work does not cause you harm and makes you stronger and healthier the longer you do it. This is unlike other forms of “healing” which may cause repetitive stress and occupational disability the longer you do them.  You can be completely yourself in every way while you do this work. SomaVeda™ is a genuine spiritually based healing system preparing practitioners for real life clinical practice.

If your interested in learning more about Ayurveda Yoga Therapy based Science and Healing while developing a Thai Yoga practice visit us today!

Next available Start Dates: March, April (Thailand Only), June, September, November (Thailand Only) of 2012:  Click Here for Schedule!

Email or call the office directly  (706) 358-8646

We have Scholarship! To learn how you can receive this training with a tuition scholarship or at greatly reduced tuition Click Here!

Thai Yoga Center/ ITTA Accreditation’s and Professional Recognitions:


ITTA is an Accredited Educational Institute with the PMA (Pastoral Medical Association)
ITTA is a recognized Provider School of Naturopathic Education with the ANCB (American Naturopathic Certification Board)
ITTA is an NCBTMB Approved Provider for Massage and Massage Therapy Continuing Education.
We practice transparency! All of our school and staff approvals, recognitions, licenses and accreditation’s are available and verifiable. For a complete list of  ITTA/ Thai Yoga Center / Teaching Staff Accreditation’s, Recognitions and Affiliations Please Click Here!

Visit us on the web at ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Visit us on FaceBook at Learn Thai Yoga

While visiting our website sign up for our Newsletter to receive 2 free E-books and Mp3! Click Here to Sign Up!

ITTA, Inc. / The Thai Yoga Center
4715 Bruton Rd. Plant City, Florida 33565
(706) 358-8646

In a Season of War, Work to Cease the War Within

by Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing. We live in a polluted world, full of disease, sickness and death.  War is the ultimate environmental pollution. The effects are insidious, immediate, catastrophic, acute and have become long lasting and chronic. War is both a symptom of complete inner imbalance and a cause of long term negative emotional issues that span generations.

It’s not enough to work and live for general health and wellness. Our medicine has to address the primary diseases that concern us, our clients and our patients. By delving inside, we can find solutions to the external problems that so often take over our health and our lives.

The ultimate origins of our inclinations towards mass murder and war are both ignorance of our own mechanical nature and our lack of effort and practice to bring knowledge, character and balance to our selves and our environment. We simply do not work on ourselves in any long term, practical and meaningful way.  As a result, we are not in harmony with either ourselves, each other, or our environment.

War and political machinations of coercion, power and violence on a global scale are no different than the subtle yet catastrophic violence we see in the home or sometimes in our own heads.  On the large scale, war is justified because of its grandeur and patriotism. Within ourselves, we justify our own lack of consciousness and love and then extrapolate and eventually dictate what amounts to harm to others. On an increasing scale, when everyone of us does this, it amounts to an entire world that is involved in conflict and conflagration.

What then do we do?

A SomaVeda principle to apply when dealing with any acute or chronic condition is called “Proximal and Distal”. Proximal means to work as close to the issue as possible or directly on it without making it worse. Proximal is palliative and addresses the immediate chronic condition. Distal means to find the original underlying causes and correct them, thus removing both the genesis of the issue and the propagation of possibility for recurrence of the issue in the future. In other words, “it’s about curing before occurring”.

We can translate this principle to our own lives. Start working on yourself today. Make a commitment to learn how your inner workings. Make a commitment to begin working on the expression of your own inner issues and “demons”. Be forgiving to yourself and to those around you. Drop offenses like hot cakes and forgive quickly as if your life depended on it because it does and it will. Release and hold no negative accounts against any person and practice a healing art or discipline of some kind; no matter if just for your self or for one other person.

When you intentionally express love, care and consideration over time something has the possibility of changing for the better. In a moment of genuine expression of compassion you are contributing less to the chaos of the world and instead creating peace. Chaos on the inside equals chaos on the outside. Peace on the inside equals peace on the outside. The chaos of the world relates to what the Thai’s say: Murnkan, mai murnkan = “Same, same but different”. The way to save the world begins by learning how to love yourself. Step one towards learning how to love your self is to obtain and maintain a self!

In this season of peace and giving, let’s work hard on ourselves for the benefit of humanity.

The political sentiments of the following video have no affiliation with the Thai Yoga Center.

The American War-Machine, A Lesson in Blowback, and The Greatest Speech Ever Written.

The SomaVeda™ System offers Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy based training programs from 200 hours to over 5000 hours. If your considering a career in Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy and or Natural Medicine consider our PMA Accredited programs. SV advanced students and graduates may qualify for Medical Licensing in every state.

For info and live courses with Aachan James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.), SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing

Therapeutic value and practical applications of SomaVeda Thai Yoga: Dak Kha / Ardhis Supta Virasana (Bent Inward Knee position)

In Thai Yoga Therapy, the Dak Kha asana (facilitated Ardhis Supta Virasana) isolates and bring energy, attention, consciousness, breath and pressure to the knee and thigh and hip unilaterally, one side at a time. It restores the alignment of physical and energetic structures of the hips, pelvis, knee, low back, and abdomen. It restores and brings balancing energy to Chakra, Sen Lines, Meridians, Lom and Wind Gates. Like all Thai Yoga postures, Dak Kha facilitates further integration of mind, body and spirit. Because of the way this particular posture can capture the client’s attention, it is considered a “Spirit calling” asana or one that “Calls the spirit home”.

Be very cautious and careful when positioning the knee.  Positioning is critical in not exacerbating preexisting knee injuries.

As a therapist, it is necessary to always assume that client has a preexisting knee injury and proceed with both confidence and caution. In general, clients consistently put their therapists on a need-to-know basis for their medical history including traumas, injury and any previous surgeries. One of the reasons is because they do not think the information is pertinent to any of their given complaints or it is repressed as they have forgotten about it.  As is common to so many past injuries and trauma, the memory is tied to certain positions, postures and even particular points on the body. It is not accessible until pressure or attention is brought to bear on that angle, position, posture, body part, line, point, tissue etc.

Preexisting injuries should always be a consideration for therapists to keep in mind whether the are disclosed or not.

The Slow Slow Way is The Best!

As a therapist and doctor myself, I assume clients have issues or undisclosed injuries or histories of trauma in the following places until proven otherwise: knee, posterior leg and hamstring, trapezius and/or shoulder joints, chest, breast, torso, pelvis, adductors and groin muscles.  When I bring the client into thai yoga postures, I use a multistep and supported methodology to do so based on the previous assumption. My Grand Master Teacher Phaa Khruu Samaii always used to say  “Thả mạn cĥā cĥā pĕn wiṭhī thī dī thīsud” “The slow, slow way is the best.”  Being methodical, precise, slow and sensitive in delivery of therapeutic postures will ensure that we do not make undisclosed preexisting injuries worse. With this in mind, be careful not to proceed with apprehension. Clients can have keen senses and when they sense that the therapist is nervous or overly cautious they will tense up even more, which might do the exact thing you were trying to avoid: exacerbation of injury or strain. As a therapist, it is just as important to be strong and confident of every position you take your client into.  Once I determine the body can safely sustain the movement, I no longer baby-sit, I go right to it. I take the client right into the postural angles and pressures that would be appropriate for a healthy person.

Safety factors for executing Dak Kha include:

• The heel on the targeted side has to remain as close as possible to the glutes on the same side. Make a mental note of how close you can safely position the heel and then keep it that close throughout the entire range of motion for Dak Kha.

• Raise up and bring your thigh firmly against the knee and then gradually drop down into a sitting position taking the knee with you when testing their range of motion. This insures that the client’s knee is also being supported underneath all the way through the downward range of motion.

• As you take the knee towards the floor, do not allow it to cross over the opposite leg. Instead, move the leg slightly away from the center line.

Now do the four-step procedure:

1.  Test for range of motion by lowering their knee until you feel strong resistance

2.  Palm press the upper outer leg line with the outside hand, fingers facing down away from the groin (Sen Ittha or Sen Pinghala)

3.  Hit or use percussion on the line

4.  Stretch the leg as far as is comfortable or within the reasonable tolerance of the client and release cleanly

To release cleanly means to bring the knee straight up at the same time as you pull the foot up and under the knee. This way there is no twist or torque on the medial knee as you move from this posture to the next.

Facilitation of the breath is vital as you move through this posture. Not only does it facilitate the free flow of the prana, by emphasizing the breath we also engage the pelvis, abdomen and ribcage extending the effects of the posture and engaging more of the whole person.

Therapeutic Benefits:

This position lengthens and therapeutically benefits the following structures both hard and soft tissue: knee, hip and pelvis and specifically the quadriceps rectus femoris, vastus lateralis externus, vastus intermedius (internalis), vastus medialus (internus), sartorius, tensor faciae latae, biceps femoris, semitendonosis, semimembranous, vastii, tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, gemelli, obturator internus (rotation of femur), gracilis, psoas and pectinous because of the extension of the hip as well as the previously mentioned Sen Lines and the first, second and third chakras. It is an excellent position from which to work the anterior leg Lom or Marma. Additional benefits include: low back alignment, reduction of low back and sciatic nerve pain, and reduction of referred groin pain from trigger points on the front back or side of the leg.

Accessible from this asana are several Reflex Center points (Lom):

Indicator or alarm point for Uterine Center (VIB37- Feng Shih (GB31) in females indicating lymphatic congestion of the uterus. In men a contraction or tightening indicates lymphatic congestion in the prostrate.

{Courtesy p. 85, Palpation Procedural Manual: Prof. Dr. Charles McWilliams ™2006-2011}

Indicator or alarm point for Colitus or Spastic Constipation: Anterior VIB24 (AhShi Point). In fact the entire length of the anterior thigh can be reflexed for digestive and assimilative issues from cecum to colon.

{Courtesy p. 88, Palpation Procedural Manual: Prof. Dr. Charles McWilliams ™2006-2011}

Indicator or alarm point for Atonic Constipation: Anterior VIA14- Chu-liao (GB29) (AhShi Point). Additional indications are lower limb numbness or pain, to reduce fever, diseases of the hip joint and periarticular soft tissues, leg pain, orchitus, nephritus, cystitis and appendicitis.

{Courtesy p. 92, Palpation Procedural Manual: Prof. Dr. Charles McWilliams ™2006-2011}

Indicator or alarm point for Sciatic Neuritis (VIB20- AhShi Point). Additional indications are Lower limb paralysis, post polio symptoms and low back, neck and knee pain.

{Courtesy p. 128, Palpation Procedural Manual: Prof. Dr. Charles McWilliams ™2006-2011}

This position is a primary meridian stretch and release for the stomach and gall bladder.

Always include Therapeutic Puja or Prayer

In order  to create a spiritual space in which to heal and  frame of mind to maximize the contact and experience we are sharing with the client, we incorporate Puja (Therapeutic Prayer) before and after we  do a hand reflexology session.

SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies are a spiritual, energetic and competency based therapeutic healing system or Spiritual Medicine (See: What is SomaVeda™?). In the SomaVeda™ system there are over 1000 different therapeutic postures used commonly. SomaVeda™ is a complete holistic system on Natural Medicine.

For info and live courses with Aachan James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

by Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing

Assistant Editor: Lydia Smith

SomaVeda Reishi Hand Yoga and Chi Gung

This is an introductory course on the basics of SomaVeda Reishi Hand Yoga and Chi Gung presented by Aachan, Dr. James during a live class at The Thai Yoga Center in Plant City, Florida.

SomaVeda Reishi is a simple and sophisticated self-yoga practice that has many benefits. The practice begins with either the Wai Khruu (paying respect) or with Chi Gung warm-ups. This particular sequence begins with basic Chi Gung energy gathering and balancing exercises or movements that support the flow of energy in all of the meridians and respective organs. The same movements also bring energy, attention, consciousness, breath and pressure to the Chakras and the major Lom or Wind Gates located in all of the major joints of the body. These movements counter the effects of aging and loss of vitality. They loosen the entire shoulder girdle passing benefits down the arms to the elbows and wrist and finger joints. This sequence is therapeutic for repetitive stress issues and syndromes of the hands, wrist and shoulders such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tennis Elbow and Frozen Shoulder to name a few.

This basic Hand Yoga Vinyasa can be done comfortably in ten or fifteen minutes as a solo practice. It’s a great adjunct to any Hatha Yoga practice or as a warm up for other practices or conditioning including before a healing session.

1) Kidney Pump: The kidney pump is perhaps the most ancient of Chi development exercises and has been practiced in similar form for thousands of years.

Stand a little wider than hip width apart with slightly bent knees. Begin by swinging the arms from side to side allowing them to impact the sides and mid-back of the body over the kidneys. This is stimulating to the kidneys and begins to emphasize the breath. Drop down into your stance and allow yourself to be grounded while freely swing the arms twenty or more times to both sides. Be sure to keep your eyes open.

2) Macrocosmic breath and Arm Swing: The macrocosmic orbit is the energy circuit that connects heaven and earth into our bodies. Make big arm circles in your bent knee stance. Exhale as your arms move down and forward making the largest circle you can without straining and then inhale as you raise your arms up the back side reaching up as high as you can extending the fingers throughout the full circular motion. Go slow enough that you can do a four-count breath with each exhale and inhale. Do ten big circles in each direction. Keep your hands shoulder width apart or wider in front and try to bring them closer together in the back. When you reverse direction also reverse the breath. Breathe in as you raise your arms to the front and exhale as you drop them in the back.

 3) Garuda Arm Swing: Garuda was Rama’s friend and steed in the myth Ramayana and was a great winged creature, very common in Thai symbology. Garuda is a protector and generally depicted with his great wings out stretched. This motion is a vigorous and powerful Kriya generating breath power (Wei Chi) while opening the microcosmic orbit channel, which travels through the heart out to the fingertips.

Start with the arms crossed left over right and swing out and away keeping the height of the arms up at least at shoulder height (higher is better). Swing out, keeping the hands open and fingers extended. When you reach the end of the motion and feel the springing tension in the arms and shoulders then bring the arms back together, however this time bring them into position right arm over left. Repeat with a big breath, inhale as you swing out and exhale vigorously as the arms come back together. Repeat at least ten times. Keep your intensity modest until your arms and shoulders warm up properly.

Assume the Chi Stance with the heels out and the toes in. The knees bent inward till they lock to provide a stable base for the hand yoga sequence.

4) Reishi Hand Positions 1- 4

A) Inward Wrist Lock (Flexion/Lateral Rotation)

B) Elbow Squeeze (Adduction of Shoulder and Wrist Flexion)

C) Outward Wrist Lock (Shoulder Adduction, Forearm Pronation, Wrist Flexion and Medial Rotation)

D) Tan Sau/ Palm Up Fold Down (Shoulder Adduction and Wrist Extension)

 5) Extended Finger Circles 5 times each way

 6) Closed finger/Fist Circles 5 times each way

 7) Tight Fist/Exploding Fingers: Alternate a tight fist for five count and then extend the fingers outward as if they were exploding, as hard as you can for five count. Alternate between the two motions at least five times. It is very important here to do both the squeeze and the extension as hard as you can.

 8) Loose finger Shake or Flap

 9) Clap three times. Keep your hand and fingers loose and not rigid. When you clap make it pop!

 10) Tadasana and Energy Ball: Assume Tadasana or Mountain pose with the arms parallel to the floor, the hands relaxed, and the fingers extended. The hands are approximately shoulder width apart or slightly closer. Keep them at least six inches apart as you flex and discern or find the borders of a ball of energy between your hands.

Close your eyes breath naturally and gently flex your hands back and forth looking for a feeling of pressure or springiness. Once you identify this feeling of something solid between your hands visualize it as clearly as you can for five breaths.

11) Drop your arms slowly and allow your fingers to point downwards and project into the floor. Visualize the Golden Thread of energy and light coming down from heaven into the crown of your head and passing through your body to the center of the earth. Feel how the energy from your body flowing through your hands and fingers extends into the earth. Bring awareness to how grounded you are as you sink into your stance. Take five breaths in this standing meditative posture.

Take a minute to do a general survey before you begin moving to note any body sensations, thoughts or feelings before transitioning into your next practice or ending the session.

SomaVeda Reishi Hand Yoga is easy to do and a suitable adjunct practice for your daily wellness routine or program.

SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies are a spiritual, energetic and competency based therapeutic healing system or Spiritual Medicine (See: What is SomaVeda™?). In the SomaVeda™ system there are over 1000 different therapeutic postures used commonly. SomaVeda™ is a complete holistic system on Natural Medicine.

For info and live courses with Aachan James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Grand Opening of SMOKH’s Primary Care Clinic and teaching Facility for the Poor and Needy  in Loma Linda Ecuador October 13th, 2011.

&

Dr. J Receives Honors and Degree at Loma Linda.

ITTA Inc./ Thai Yoga Center (Plant City, Fl. USA) and Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH in cooperation and support with the Sovereign Medical Order of the Knights of Hope (SMOKH), and PanAmerican School of Natural Medicine (Nevis, West Indies) are pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the Loma Linda Primary Care Clinic and Teaching Facility.

The Loma Linda facility was organized under the SMOKH Rural Health – Clinic Recovery Program for Primary Care [Frugal Plant and Mineral Medicines for the Common People] Project. Click Here for Specific Details.

A 3 day seminary followed attended by medical doctors and students of Instituto Misael Acosta Solis, members of COLEGIO DE MEDICOS NATUROPATAS Y ALTERNATIVOS DEL ECUADOR, the Escuela Superior Politecnica del Chimborazo ESPOCH [School of Medicine], and Cooperativa de Naturopatia PODER DE VIDA.

We are pleased to inform our Spiritual Protector, H.E. Monseñor Basilius of the Ordem de Sao Tiago Apóstolo of Brasil
[http://www.cristaosorientais.no.comunidades.net/], Christened the opening.

Dr. J with H.E. Monseñor Basilius

Loma Linda Primary Care Center is located in Santo Domingo De Las Tsachila, Ecuador. Loma Linda is unique in that the full medical and clinical services are spiritually based natural medicine! The natural medicine treatments and services are accompanied by sophisticated and complete clinical medical assessments and lab services.

The seminary also included a field trip to the Tsachila de Los Colorados village, where participants learned of their customs and uses of herbs. A firm bond and affiliation was established.

The group of dedicated individuals brought together by Honorable, Doctor Charles McWilliams, SMOKH to create this amazing opportunity to bring Natural Medicine and Primary Health Care to Santo Domingo, Ecuador and the Tsachila Native/ Tribal people is commendable and should be an example of what a small dedicated group can do to improve the health and life of rural and under privileged people around the world.

Click Here for Photo Gallery of Loma Linda Primary Care Center’s Grand Opening!

Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH Receives Degree and Honors at Loma Linda!

In recognition for his life work bringing spiritually based healing systems of  Ayurveda, Thai Yoga, Thai Massage and Natural Medicine to the world. In recognition of his contribution to the founding of the Loma Linda Primary Care Center and Medical Training Facility for spiritually based Natural Medicine. Dr. James is the first Ayurveda and Thai Yoga Aachan and Master teacher to be so honored.

1) Received the “Doctor of Pastoral Humanitarian Care, Honoris Causa” from Pontifice Instituto de Ciencias Humanas y Religiosas (Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, Ecuador) School Presidente: Dr. Aloao Pereira de Siba.

2) Received the “Fraternidad y Derechos Humanos” from the Order Honorifica De La Santa Cruz Del Oriente  presented by Mons. Mar Basilius Adao Pereira, Grand Master.

3) Received the recognition and title “Monsignor, Chaplain of Holiness” from the Order Honorifica De La Santa Cruz Del Oriente  presented by Mons. Mar Basilius Adao Pereira, Grand Master.

SomaVeda Thai Yoga Introduced to Ecuador!

By invitation Dr. J will be presenting the art and sciences of Ayurveda and SomaVeda Thai Yoga Therapy to the following Medical Centers as visiting faculty and Professor of Natural Medicine in Ecuador in 2012.

1) COLEGIO DE MEDICOS NATUROPATAS Y ALTERNATIVOS DEL ECUADOR, the Escuela Superior Politecnica del Chimborazo ESPOCH [School of Medicine], and Cooperativa de Naturopatia PODER DE VIDA. ESPOCH is the largest State Accredited Medical School in Ecuador with over 20,000 students enrolled. US based students will be eligible to participate in the incredible program.

2)  Instituto Misael Acosta Solis, members of COLEGIO DE MEDICOS NATUROPATAS Y ALTERNATIVOS DEL ECUADOR

Dr. J will now be visiting Medical Professor bringing SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga Therapy and Natural Medicine by invitation to Loma Linda

SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies are a spiritual, energetic and competency based therapeutic healing system or Spiritual Medicine (See: What is SomaVeda™?). In the SomaVeda™ system there are over 1000 different therapeutic postures used commonly. SomaVeda™ is a complete holistic system on Natural Medicine.

For info and live courses with Aachan James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com

SomaVeda Thai Yoga Ardis Salabhasana Half Locust for Low Back and Abdominal

by Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH

Director of Education at The Thai Yoga Center and The SomaVeda™ Institute of Natural Healing

In SomaVeda’s prone position, the facilitated Ardis Salabhasana or Half Locust Lift is a great release for both the low back and abdomen. By release we mean the posture balances the energetic, pranic, physical, mental and emotional aspects of the person.

Yoga Nadi affected are primarily the sen lines Kalathari, Sumana, as well as Sen Ittha and Pinghala depending on which side in emphasized. One interesting note is that because of this sen line emphasis we can expect the facilitated Locust lift to beneficially affect the respiratory and digestive process. In classical Thai Yoga, indications are based on the path of the line of Prana or vital life force. Any physical, mental or emotional concern that could be located on or near a sen line (Yoga Prana Nadi) would indicate that line was out of balance.

The unilateral emphasis of doing each side independently supports the traditional assessment model of having sessions focused primarily on one side of the body. This traditional assessment states that all disorders were first described as male or female or right or left side imbalances. This is similar to the idea in Traditional Chinese Medicine of defining illnesses as yin or yang and then applying a balancing strategy or protocol.

Part 1 Demo

This Yoga Therapy asana directly addresses proper alignment of the pelvis and sacrum with the low back vertebrae of L4 and L5. It elongates the psoas-diaphramatic-complex of the anterior leg and torso from the knee to the sternum. The Psoas-Diaphramatic Complex is the synergistic musculature running from the knee to the rib cage including the quadriceps, rectus abdominus, the psoas (illiacus/ illiopsoas) , quadratus lumboram and the diaphram. We include in the complex all the little supportive and synergistic stuctures such as the inner and deep adductors which are also included in function of the complex.  The facilitated asana is both unilateral and asymmetrical and helps bring corrective energy to improper alignments of the entire pelvic grid in the front, back, and side.

The beauty part in the Half Locust lift is that it is very difficult to target these structures to self release on your own. The reason being typical as a difference between the practice of Hatha Yoga and Isolated stretching being that in order to lift the left on your own you first have to contract the spinal and para spinal muscles of the back.  You also contract the legs and supporting abdominal structures creating antagonistic muscle tension required for the lifting of the leg. This is specifically antagonistic to the process of releasing the anterior lines and structures!

One of the great values in Yoga Therapy is that there is little or no antagonistic muscle tension created in the doing or facilitating of the therapeutic asana themselves!

This position brings emphasis to the soft tissue areas of the low back and the Bladder Meridian. Half locust by definition is a backbend. Like all supported backbends, it facilitates the release of the anterior para-spinal muscles. Spasm in the anterior para-spinal muscles can refer trigger point pain directly into the low back (either side) in the sacral/gluteal area, which can create a classic sciatic pain pattern. It can also refer pain higher up in the mid and upper back. Supported Locust brings oxygen to ischemic muscles, which reduces spasm and the resultant referral pain. Reducing spasm in and of itself will allow greater range of motion.

It is very important that the therapist use proper body mechanics and postural alignment to avoid strain injuries especially when working with larger, heavier clients. Lifting mechanics need to be stressed more in American and western clients as the average person is overweight and so many are clinically obese. Don’t sacrifice your back to lift a client beyond your ability to maintain proper body mechanics. If you can’t lift properly then skip this technique and move on!

Part 2 Demo

This technique is performed by SomaVeda Thai Yoga Aachan, Dr. James at the Thai Yoga Center in Plant City, FL.

SomaVeda™ Integrated Traditional Therapies are a spiritual, energetic and competency based therapeutic healing system or Spiritual Medicine (See: What is SomaVeda™?). In the SomaVeda™ system there are over 1000 different therapeutic postures used commonly. SomaVeda™ is a complete holistic system on Natural Medicine.

The SomaVeda™ System offers Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy based training programs from 200 hours to over 5000 hours. If your considering a career in Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy and or Natural Medicine consider our PMA Accredited programs. SV advanced students and graduates may qualify for Medical Licensing in every state.

For info and live courses with Aachan James at the Thai Yoga Center, visit ThaiYogaCenter.Com