ELLEN FEIN,
LCSW, CTY AND
E-RYT500
Ellen works with individuals
and groups drawing on both
mind-body tools and yoga
therapy. She is a Senior Faculty
member at the Center for
Mind-Body Medicine and
Faculty at American Viniyoga
Institute. Ellen runs workshops
& retreats, and mentors
professionals. Her areas of
expertise include chronic and
life-threatening conditions as
well as pain management and
end-of-life care.
ELLEN FEIN
WWW.BREATHE2CHANGE.COM/
[email protected]
JENNIFER SZYMASZEK PHOTOGRAPHY
Towards the end, when Michael was in that pre-death
state that often alters consciousness, he had funny
dreams. He told me there was a soup kitchen where
he was going and my grandmother worked there.
She was a classic Jewish “feed you” kind of person.
It was perfect that she was there for him.
Three years after Michael’s death, I was diagnosed
with leukemia.
Part of my treatment was stem cell transplant. The
transplant center offered yoga classes. Yoga had
helped me through my traumatic grieving process,
but this wasn’t like any yoga I knew. I was feeling
horrible; I was on steroids; and my mind was agitated.
But during that class hour, I settled into a quiet place.
It was remarkable. Nothing else, including drugs,
could make that happen for me. I didn’t know what
this yoga was but I thought, ‘If I live through this, I
am going to find out.’
The class was called Viniyoga. I made arrangements
to spend five consecutive days studying with Gary
Kraftsow, the Director of the American Viniyoga
Institute in Santa Monica. He spent those five days
getting to know me in what I now understand is
a typical yoga therapy assessment. He wanted to
know about my external and internal structure, my
physiology, my philosophy of life, and how I used my
mind. I went home with a practice unlike anything
I had expected. That was my first exposure to yoga
therapy. I was already offering cancer coaching
services and wanted to add Viniyoga to my cancer
coaching repertoire so I took every course Gary
offered and became a certified yoga therapist. Yoga
therapy is designed to instill balance on every level–
physiological, mental, emotional and spiritual.
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