Consultation

Meet David Shannahoff-Khalsa

David Shannahoff-Khalsa is the Director of The Research Group for Mind-Body Dynamics at UCSD’s BioCircuits Institute, and a member of the UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine. Prior to coming to UCSD in 1994 he spent 23 years at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, first working on the building blocks of the genetic code, and then pioneering novel studies in the neurosciences. He has discovered a novel step in the evolution of the nervous system that gives new insights to mind-body (psychophysiological) states and how to control these states. He has published widely in scientific journals and conducted three clinical trials using Kundalini Yoga meditation techniques for treating obsessive compulsive disorders and OC spectrum disorders, and pioneered the use of whole-head magnetoencephalography brain imaging to study these and other yogic meditation techniques. He has presented and taught Kundalini Yoga Meditation at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meetings 13 times (including 11 full day CME courses) since 2003 for a wide range of psychiatric disorders. He has written four books that include 100+ different meditation techniques and disorder-specific protocols for all of the major psychiatric disorders. His 3 books published by W. W. Norton and Co. include: Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth, 2006; Kundalini Yoga Meditation for Complex Psychiatric Disorders: Techniques Specific for Treating the Psychoses, Personality, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, 2010; Sacred Therapies: The Kundalini Yoga Meditation Handbook for Mental Health, 2012. And Psychophysiological States: The Ultradian Dynamics of Mind-Body Interactions, Academic Press (Elsevier Scientific Publications), 2008.

Selected Articles and Conferences

Accordion Content

Bernardi D, Shannahoff-Khalsa D, Sale J, Wright JA, Fadiga L, and Papo D, (2023) The Time scales of irreversibility in spontaneous brain activity are altered in obsessive compulsive disorder, Frontiers in Psychiatry, Neuroimaging Section, 14:1158404.doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1158404.

Shannahoff-Khalsa D, Fernandes RY, Pereira CAB, March JS, Leckman JF, Golshan S, Vieira MSR, Polanczyk GV, Miguel EC and Shavitt RG (2019) Kundalini Yoga Meditation Versus the Relaxation Response Meditation for Treating Adults With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2019) 10:793. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00793. Free text here

Shannahoff-Khalsa DS, Golshan S, Nasal cycle dominance and hallucinations in an adult schizophrenic female, Psychiatry Research, 226, pp. 289-292, 2015.

Shannahoff-Khalsa D. (2012) Meditation: The Science and the Art. In: V.S. Ramachandran (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, vol. 2, pp. 576-584. Academic Press.

Shannahoff-Khalsa, DS, Selective Unilateral Autonomic Activation: Implications for Psychiatry (a review article), CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine, 12(8), pp. 625-634, Aug 2007.

Shannahoff-Khalsa DS. Patient perspectives: Kundalini yoga meditation techniques for psycho-oncology and as potential therapies for cancer. Integrative Cancer Therapies, 4(1):87-100, 2005.

Shannahoff-Khalsa D, An Introduction to Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques that are Specific for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 10(1), 91-101, 2004.

Shannahoff-Khalsa DS, Kundalini Yoga meditation techniques in the treatment of obsessive compulsive and OC spectrum disorders, Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 3:369-382 (2003) (by invitation).

Shannahoff-Khalsa, DS, Ray LE, Levine, S, Gallen, CC, Schwartz, BJ, Sidorowich, JJ, Randomized Controlled Trial of Yogic Meditation Techniques for Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine, vol 4, no. 12, pp. 34-46, 1999.

Shannahoff-Khalsa, DS, Yogic Techniques are Effective in the Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, In: Eric Hollander & Dan Stein, eds., Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: Diagnosis, Etiology, and Treatment, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, pp. 283-329, 1997.

2014 American Psychiatric Association, 66th Institute on Psychiatric Services, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Anxiety Disorders Including OCD, Depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, San Francisco, California, November 1, 2014.

 

165th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Anxiety Disorders Including OCD, Depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Course 5, May, 5, 2012, Philadelphia.

165th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Schizophrenia, the Personality Disorders, and Autism, Course 19, May, 6, 2012, Philadelphia.

164th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Anxiety Disorders Including OCD, Depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, May 14, 2011, Honolulu.

164th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Schizophrenia, the Personality Disorders, and Autism, May 15, 2011, Honolulu.

163rd Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Anxiety Disorders Including OCD, Depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, May 25, 2010, New Orleans.

163rd Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Schizophrenia, the Personality Disorders, and Autism, May 26, 2010, New Orleans.

161st Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Psychiatric Disorders, May 3, 2008, Washington, DC.

160th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Mental Health, May 20, 2007, San Diego, California.

159th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Mental Health, May 21, 2006, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

158th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, Full Day 6 Hour Accredited CME Course, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Psychiatric Disorders, May 22, 2005, Atlanta, Georgia.

157th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, 90 min workshop, Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques for Psychiatric Disorders, May 5, 2004, New York City, NY
                          
156th Annual Meeting, American Psychiatric Association, OCD Symposium on New Research and Current Strategies for the Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Kundalini Yoga Meditation for the Treatment of OCD, May 21, 2003, San Francisco, CA.

To view or download David S. Shannahoff-Khalsa’s complete curriculum vitae, please click here.

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Yoga Meditation is an ancient technology of the mind that includes approximately 5000 different meditation techniques, that were originally taught by Guru Ram Das and Yogi Bhajan. Many are psychiatric disorder-specific and they have clinically proven therapeutic benefits according to the ancient yogis. The techniques in this system were also used to help people achieve enlightenment, as well as for health purposes, and for the purposes of anti-aging and longevity.

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Shannahoff-Khalsa’s Books

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