Yoga and PTSD
Expanding on a previous discussion post I created, regarding one of the alternative approaches, yoga and mindfulness. Learning about the practice of yoga and its beneficial value to individuals mental health and other psychological stressors has intrigued me over the past few years. Growing up, I was taught the importance of movement and mindfulness but had not always fully appreciated its purpose. For example, my parents always turned to physical activity as a way to de-stress. Even my mom can recall from her childhood, as a pre-teen, going for runs throughout her neighborhood as a way to escape her parental/familial stressors. Interestingly enough, my mom carried this healing method into adulthood. She is now is a yoga and pilates teacher and personal trainer. She has used her training to not only benefit those within a vast range of ages and/or capabilities, but also to a unique group. She specialized in a practice of yoga for veterans in order to help treat/alleviate their symptoms of PTSD. As learned throughout this course and from reading The Body Keeps The Score, “ten weeks of yoga practice markedly reduced the PTSD symptoms of patients who had failed to respond to any medication or to any other treatment”. It is amazing the power that yoga has on mindfulness, movement, creating a connection to ones own body that once seemed foreign to them, being present and in control, calming of the vagus nerve/amygdala, and much more. My mom, throughout my upbringing, has remarked on the benefits of sleep, deep breathing, mindfulness, and nutrition. She often utilized her breathing techniques when feeling nauseous and has also used it to teach me how to avoid fainting when I would be in claustrophobic environments.
In terms of veterans and PTSD, she aimed to provide support and teach them that their body is a safe place that they can trust because a lot of them may feel violated by their own bodies or closed off as a survival skill. She spoke about how important it was to acknowledge that sometimes they may need to leave the session because the class was too palpable and how important the language you use is. They may feel that their bodies have been violated. She aimed to teach them how to down regulate their nervous systems, connect them back to their senses in a way that does not overwhelm or overload their nervous stems, and more. I think, like my previous self, people hold misconceptions on yoga. They may view it as strictly a way to stretch or as not a proper work-out therefore pose the question as “why even bother?” or view meditation as boring. I think proposing more interventions/awareness around why yoga is so beneficial to ones mental health would help create awareness, a safe space for those struggling, or opportunity for those who were skeptical on its other purposes get a chance to explore it. There is now plenty of science to support the fact that nasal breathing, deep breathing, mindfulness, and movement allows the parasympathetic system to be activated or “re-registered”. Mindfulness can help with this too, because “The basic premise of the practice was not only to notice the things that surround you, but also to pay attention, without judgment, to sensations that happen within the body, regardless of how painful they seem. This practice has been shown to help not only with reducing negative thinking and rumination, but also with rebuilding brain structures that are impacted in people who have survived trauma.” (Rousseau, 2022) People who are suffering from PTSD need grounding, and yoga is a practice that IS grounding.
Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 4: Pathways to Recovery: Understanding Approaches to Trauma Treatment. Trauma and Crisis Intervention. MET CJ 720 02. Boston University Metropolitan College.
Van der Kolk: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Reprint ed.). Cloud reader – read.amazon.com. (n.d.). https://read.amazon.com/reader?asin=B00G3L1C2K&ref_=dbs_t_r_kcr