I’m a big believer in the practice of yoga as the ultimate healer.
Like many of you, I’ve been through some trauma in my life. And, while I won’t go into detail, I know I gravitated to yoga at a young age for a reason---because I needed to get rid of some of the “issues in my tissues.”
And I still work on that every day.
My daily yoga practice has no doubt washed away a lot of pain from the past. Nowadays, I use both yoga and meditation to wade through the often murky waters of a life fully lived.
And I’m always relieve, and inspired, when I run across a scientific study that further validates my faith in yoga.
According to this Journal of Clinical Psychiatry study, more than 10 million American women have survived interpersonal violence at one point or another. And among those 10 million, roughly one-third have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
You see, you don’t live on an island.
Getting back to the study: One of the many issues with healing PTSD through “therapy” is that current treatments have their limitations---namely, when it comes to problems in affect and impulse regulation.
But what could yoga do for such a problem?
What about mindfulness?
My guess is, quite a lot.
Which is why I wanted to share the aforementioned study’s findings. Researchers address sixty-four women, all who suffer from treatment-resistant PTSD. Half were treated with a trauma-informed yoga class, while the other half took part in a women’s health education class. Each participating woman received an hour of treatment per week, for 10 weeks.
Yoga Helps Relieve PTSD
The study’s findings are, in my opinion, rather phenomenal.
More than 50% of yoga group participants were symptom-free. On the other hand, only 21% of control group subjects finished sans PTSD symptoms.
And all of this after a mere 10-week program!
Imagine what more time could do.
In Conlcusion
Researchers conclude yoga, like mindfulness, helps us PTSD sufferers tolerate the feelings and sensations---both mental and physical---that come with the disorder.
When healing PTSD symptomatology via yoga and meditation, it’s important to find a good teacher, and a course of study that suits you.
- Aimee Hughes
