Physicians CME Retreat Syracuse NY
for AMI’s New Online Summer Retreat
Healing Begins at Home!
Based on the award-winning book
Easy-Gentle Yoga • Ayurveda • Yoga Psychology
Personal Self-Care Plan • Live Networking Opportunities
For the general public, first-time or experienced meditators,
CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE–CHANGE YOUR EXPERIENCE
AMI’s first-ever online retreat is uniquely designed to offer you a refreshingly new, clearer and kinder perspective on yourself and every personal and professional responsibility you face. Through Leonard Perlmutter’s engaging PowerPoint lectures, instructive practicums, networking opportunities and Q&A, you’ll gain experiential knowledge that will integrate Yoga Science into a dynamic self-care program. As a result of attending this year’s online retreat from the comfort and security of your own home, you’ll own a set of practical tools that can empower you to make conscious, discriminating and reliable choices to enhance your health and well-being, creativity and optimism. Regardless of how challenging the COVID-19 circumstances might feel today, the science of Yoga can help.
A Message About AMI’s Online Summer Retreat
This new kind of online retreat format has been shaped by our desire to provide each participant a meaningful and rewarding retreat experience as they convert their own home into an oasis of learning, healing and introspection.
— Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev)
WHAT YOU’LL RECEIVE
This entire interactive and instructive teaching will be hosted by Leonard Perlmutter, The American Meditation Institute’s founder, renowned philosopher, teacher and award-winning author. A varied, go-at-your-own pace curriculum will include:
- Live Online Lectures on the major components of Yoga Science
- Live Guided AMI Meditation practices
- Live Panel Discussions by AMI Medical Education Committee members
- Diaphragmatic Breathing techniques
- Live Yoga Nidra therapy experience
- Instructive Videos demonstrating:
Easy Gentle Yoga, Diaphragmatic Breathing, Yoga Philosophy, Ayurveda and Prayer - Suggested Daily Activities at your home:
Reading, journaling, mantra walks, AMI Meditation and Easy Gentle Yoga - Daily Afternoon Social Hour to network with other attendees
- Live Q&A with Leonard Perlmutter
- Private Appointments with Leonard during afternoon “office hours”
Regardless of your level of experience, you’re guaranteed to gain practical skills for transformation through inspiring lectures, practices, discussions and self-reflection. Leonard’s experience, clear teaching style and sense of humor will advance your understanding, provide you all the tools you’ll need to ease stress, reduce pain, boost your immune system, heal relationships, enhance your problem-solving ability and find inner peace, happiness and security.
WHAT DOES A RETREAT AT HOME LOOK LIKE?
Live Online Classes & Review
Breathing Practices
Easy-Gentle Yoga
Mantra Walks
Individual Consultations
Virtual Social Hours
Live Guided AMI Meditations
Video & Reading Assignments
Click here to view full agenda
About Leonard Perlmutter
Founder and director of The American Meditation Institute, Leonard is the author of “Transformation,” The Journal of Meditation as Mind/Body Medicine and the award-winning book “The Heart and Science of Yoga®: Self-Care Program for a Happy, Healthy, Joyful Life.” His AMI MEDITATION entry-level course has been accredited by the Albany Medical College, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses and American Nurses Association to receive medical education credit. Leonard has been a student of Yoga Science since 1975 and a direct disciple of mind/body medicine pioneer Swami Rama of the Himalayas.
Herbert Benson, MD of the Harvard Medical School claims that maintaining good health is analogous to building a three-legged stool.
The first leg is Self-Care.
The second leg is Surgery & Medical Procedures.
The third leg is Pharmaceuticals.
Health and well-being is balanced and optimal only when all three legs of the stool are in place. — Herbert Benson, MD
THIS TEACHING PROVIDES PROVEN, LONG-TERM HEALTH BENEFITS
In 2007, AMI conducted a retrospective case study of participants who recently completed Leonard Perlmutter’s AMI MEDITATION course.
The findings were impressive. Tools and practices learned led to positive, reproducible, long-term health-promoting changes:
- Lowered blood pressure
- Lowered heart rate
- Reduced cholesterol levels
- Diminished or extinguished acute and chronic pain
- Weight loss
- Increased breathing capacity
- Increased exercise capacity
- Improved restorative sleep
- Improved energy levels
- Increased creative capacity
- Diminishment of migraine headaches
- Significant reductions in stress and fear
- Elimination of irritable bowel syndrome
- Enhanced happiness and optimism
COURSE COMPONENTS
- An educational body of knowledge for health & healing
- History, philosophy and benefits of meditation
- How to use the mind to make the best choices
- How to access the “super-conscious” mind
- Understanding pain as an agent for healing
- The transformative power of sacrifice
- Increasing energy, will power and creativity
- The power of desire and attention
- Creative actions rather than reactionary responses
- Antidotes for worry, stress and depression
- Systematic procedure for AMI MEDITATION
- How to diminish distractions
- Training one-pointed attention for creativity
- The one-minute meditation
- Using AMI MEDITATION skills throughout the day
- Mantra Science: World’s greatest mantras and how to use thoughts and mantra in the healing process
- How mantra vibrations promote health
- Three sets of Easy-Gentle Yoga stretches & exercises
- Understanding the physiology/anatomy of Easy-Gentle Yoga
- The meaning of prana (life force)
- How breathing irregularities foster dis-ease
- Diaphragmatic breathing for pulmonary health
- Complete (three-part) yogic breath
- Yogic postures for healthy breathing
- Alternate nostril breathing for energy & psychological balance
- How the mind functions for optimal health
- Managing thoughts, desires and emotions
- How to experience freedom from fear
- The power of the present moment
- Channeling the four primitive urges
- Anatomy of your real being
- Building and healing relationships
- Introduction to Ayurveda
- The practical benefit of contemplation
- Creating a personal therapeutic care plan
- Learning to budget your time
- Integrating spiritual beliefs
- The healing power of prayer
- How to keep a meditation practice going and working for you
TAKE-AWAY LEARNING
- Comprehensive overview of how the mind/body medicine of Yoga Science can heal disease, alleviate stress and manage addictions
- A systematic procedure for AMI MEDITATION that develops equanimity, discrimination, will power and creativity
- How Yoga Psychology can produce long-term strategies for healthy lifestyle changes
- The value of incorporating the principles of Ayurvedic medicine and alkaline therapy into healthy eating choices
- Easy-Gentle Yoga exercises for lymph system detox, joints, glands and internal organs
- Learn the physical, mental and emotional healing power of mantra science medicine
How do I create an At-Home Retreat?
- Select a Space. Find a place in your home that is away from the busyness and noisiness of the household. This space should be neat and clutter-free, with good airflow and a comfortable temperature. Experiment ahead of time with where you will sit and where your computer will be placed. Ensure you have a stable straight-backed chair, a blanket and a couple of pillows for your comfort and stability as you meditate and do breathing practices. If you are drawn to a particular spiritual tradition or teacher, you may want a piece of iconography or a photograph in your retreat space throughout the weekend.
Clear Your Schedule. Once you have registered for the retreat, be sure that your schedule is cleared. Give yourself permission to take this important time for yourself – with no guilt. Let family and close friends know you will be away from your phone and computer for those dates. Alerting them will help support you in your total immersion to all that the retreat offers.
- Plan Your Meals. Decide ahead of time what you will eat for each meal and then purchase all necessary groceries in advance. If you’ve been considering a vegetarian diet or perhaps eliminating sugar from your diet, perhaps the retreat weekend would be a good time to experiment and be aware of any differences in the mind/body because of this change.
- Disconnect from Devices. Although this is an online retreat and you will be spending several hours each day on your computer, try to disconnect from all other electronics throughout the weekend – phone, tablet, television. Refrain from checking emails or social media accounts. When you are not forced to be on call for the world, you can begin to be on call for your Self.
- Follow the Itinerary. The schedule of lectures and suggested assignments are provided to help you unwind, recharge and fully experience the retreat.
— KELLEY APPLE
— MEREDITH C.
— NEAL MARTIN
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
All are welcome! This retreat is for first-time or experienced meditators and anyone looking to ease stress, reduce pain and find inner peace, happiness and security.
Physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals taking part in the retreat can receive continuing education credit.
Your mornings and evenings will be structured with live lectures and panel discussions. However, between 11:30 am and 7:00pm ET, you will have the freedom to decide when to complete reading and video lecture assignments. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities, including:
- Participating in a daily “social hour” for networking with other attendees
- Attending a private appointment with Leonard
- Reviewing the meditation and yogic practices you’ve been taught
- Taking a peaceful “mantra walk” in your back yard.
Yes. In the room in which your computer is set up, you’ll need to have a firm, comfortable, slightly cushioned straight-back chair for meditation.
Yes, definitely. It’s important to be in a comfortable, peaceful, uncluttered environment with good air circulation where you can relax, maintain your focus, and practice meditation and diaphragmatic breathing. As much as possible, the room you choose should be away from the busy-ness of everyday life.
Download the Zoom software for free here
Test your audio and camera on Zoom here
Turn off your phone and television. Try not to check your email and social media accounts. Before the retreat, inform family and others of your focus on the retreat, and ask for their support and understanding.
Yes, you’ll have sufficient time for meal prep and eating. Purchase your groceries and pre-plan simple meals ahead of time so you won’t be distracted during the event. As you decide which foods you’ll be eating, take into consideration this question: “Am I going to just eat food I love, or food that loves me and provides my body and mind what they need for an optimal and rewarding experience?”
A written cancellation must be received by Wednesday, July 15, 2020 for a refund to be granted. No refunds will be given after this date. A $150 administrative fee will be deducted from all refunds.
Please call us! We can be reached at (518) 674-8714 or if you’d rather send us a message, there is a blue envelope in the lower right hand corner. Click on it and it will allow you to send us an email. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible – usually within a hour or two.
DISCLOSURE POLICY: The American Meditation Institute (AMI) adheres to all ACCME Essential Areas, Standards and Policies. It is AMI’s policy that those in a position to influence the content of a CME activity (such as planners, faculty, authors and reviewers) disclose all relevant financial relationships with commercial entities. These disclosures will be provided in the activity materials. Additionally, faculty members have been instructed to disclose any limitations of data presented.