Welcome to the online companion site to The Whole Mother: Developing Awareness in Service of Postpartum Healing.

Science evolves. There’s no such thing as “settled science.” For this reason, it felt appropriate to post the research that informs this text in a living space, one that can be amended and updated as new research presents. Also—at over 330 pages, the book already ran ahead of publishing expectations! This site contains all the overflow that informs that work, but wasn’t necessary for its function.

Here’s an excerpt from the text, explaining how I view the research that informs my work:

In the online appendix, you’ll find literature reviews of relevant evidence-based contemporary research* supporting yoga therapy tools for each condition, when such research is available. There may not be research that looks specifically at yoga therapy as a treatment modality for Condition X, but there may indeed be research that has examined the component parts, i.e., the effect of mindfulness on Condition X. In some cases (i.e., anemia), no reliable or valid research exists regarding the efficacy of yoga therapy as treatment. Yes, you can google “yoga and anemia” and numerous websites will pop up claiming that a concerted pranayama practice, or triangle pose, will improve hemoglobin levels—but, in the absence of valid, reliable research citations, I’ve opted not to include those claims in this text.

I’ve tried to think each case through. Why would, for example, a certain pranayama technique be said to be associated with a certain outcome? If, given my level of biomedical understanding, I can’t support that claim with at least a valid hypothesis, I have not included it in my protocols. To be sure, there are plenty of areas where therapeutic yoga is effective, and also where no research exists testifying to that fact. I’ve tried to walk that line with care. I want to provide you with evidence for this work while not shoving everything to the side that doesn’t meet double blind randomized control trial standards. I have, as I would suggest you do as well, done my best to assess what efficacy claims are supported by some degree of solid evidence, and have put those forward here.

In her chapter on “Current Research in Yoga Pain” published in the multiple-authored truly excellent text Yoga and Science in Pain Care (2019), Dr. Steffany Moonaz discusses the limitations of research regarding yoga related tools as medicine for pain: “…while there is much conjecture about how or why yoga is effective for pain, evidence is limited regarding the specific mechanisms.” Additionally, as Moonaz reports, specific protocols are rarely published alongside findings, making studies difficult to replicate or compare. “Improving the clarity of reporting as the yoga research expands will also improve the possibility for more evidence-informed practice among yoga therapists” (p.38). Perhaps you will seek to become part of a more robust research community. Both the yoga and biomedical worlds would benefit from your investment.

Please note: In my opinion, “evidence-based” does not only mean randomized control trial and peer reviewed research, the validity of which is often exaggerated. Evidence-based also includes systematic review, case study, among other forms of systematic inquiry, and of course valid and reliable first-person experience. It’s up to the interpreter of the research to discern the validity and reliability of the data and evidence it presents, and vet it accordingly.

I hope the language of this text will encourage you to become research literate. The world needs more discerning yogis who can speak the language of the scientific method. Not all peer reviewed research is good research, and requires discernment to tease the wheat from the chaff. The more comfortable you become combing the paper’s methods sections, the more capable you’ll be in evaluating faulty designs, and therefore suspect findings. Be not afraid of the jargon! Be patient with yourself. Anyone can digest research given the right degree of focus. And who knows—maybe you’ll be inspired to become a yoga-tool researcher yourself!

Use the dropdown menu to find relevant research for each kosha. I recommend doing a search function of the page to take you directly to the information you seek.

Additionally, you’ll find the scales and sample scripts referenced in the text in this drop down menu.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about the information provided—I’m always happy to talk about yoga therapy, and best practices in this most sacred work.

Texts That Have Informed This Work

Below you’ll find a list of texts that I’ve found useful in the crafting of this work, and in my education in general. The list is certainly not representative of the many, many wonderful yoga therapy, women’s and mental health texts that are out there, but will hopefully serve as a jumping off point for your own exploration. And I do hope you will explore! This field is rich with wisdom, and it will serve you as teacher to be a continual student.

This text takes for granted that you, reader, will have experience with yoga as both a series of postures, as well as a healing modality, either as a therapeutic practitioner of yoga therapy, or as a yoga teacher or individual familiar with the benefits of the practice across the physical, breath, energetic, emotional, discernment and bliss realms. Therefore, rather than offer an in-depth explanation of yoga therapy and its philosophical and practical roots, I will instead recommend that you turn to such wonderful texts as that of my colleague Marlysa Sullivan’s Understanding Yoga Therapy. Sullivan and I share the same philosophical foundation, and so her work is an excellent starting place if you’re looking for a deeper dive to facilitate your reading of this text.

Additionally, I really enjoyed Cheri Dostal Ryba’s chapter on the philosophical foundations of yoga therapy in her beautiful 2022 book Pelvic Therapy for the Whole Woman—believe it or not, we came up with our titles totally independently! I’ll refer to her text frequently throughout my own, and consider it a kind of companion book to my own, and therefore suggest that you add it to your library. I love how succinctly, yet fully, Ryba describes the process of yoga therapy as one that “brings people home to themselves by creating a lifestyle that supports consciousness, compassion, and vitality. Embodied practice helps one listen and tend to the small signs of discomfort and dis-ease, as well as savor comfort and peace. This practice shifts our relationship to inevitable hardships and adversity, providing a container for integration to occur” (Ryba, p.45). Take this perspective with you forward as you enjoy the following chapters. As I remind you regularly in the book, practice the practices offered as it is your embodiment of the work—your experience of the hardships that arise, and the transcendence that is possible—that form the basis for your capacity to help your clients become integrated, healed whole mothers.

Recommended Texts

Man’s Search for Meaning (2006), Viktor Frankl

The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother (2016), Heng Ou

Yoga and Science in Pain Care (2019), Edited by Neil Person, Shelly Prosko & Marlysa Sullivan

 The Gift of Therapy (2002), Irvin Yalom

 Yoga for Emotional Balance (2011), Bo Forbes

 Yin Yoga and Mental Health (2022), Tracey Myers Sondik

 Yoga For Times of Change (2022), Nina Zolotow

 Yoga for Depression (2003), Amy Weintrau

 Yoga as Medicine (2007), Timothy McCall

 The Science of Yoga (2019), Ann Swanson

 Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (2004), by Robert M. Sapolsky

 Yoga for Pain Relief (2009), Kelly McGonigal

 Back & Pelvic Girdle Pain in Pregnancy & Postpartum (2009), Deborah B. Riczo

 The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (2004), La Leche League

 Pelvic Yoga Therapy for the Whole Woman: A Professional Guide (2022), Cheri Dostal Ryba

 The Breathing Book (1996), Donna Farhi

 Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit (2000), Donna Farhi

 Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship (2006), Donna Farhi

 Pelvic Liberation (2017), Leslie Howard

 The Female Pelvis (2003), Blandine Calais-Germain

 Breath (2020) James Nestor

 Eastern Body, Western Mind (2004), Anodea Judith

 Mudras for Healing and Transformation (2014), Joseph Le Page & Lilian Aboim

 Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation (2000), John Welwood

The Upanishads (2007), Introduced & Translated by Eknath Easwaran