Our Best Defense

“The time is right for yoga teachers as well as yoga therapists to see themselves as part of the healthcare system.”

 -Dr. Jim Gordon, leading doctor on former President Clinton’s White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy in 2010.

On Monday nights, Alissa Catiis runs a yoga group at the Womencare Counseling center in Chicago for trauma survivors.  Through stretching movements and calming poses like child’s pose and mountain pose, the four women in the 60 minute class practice mindfulness techniques together, and find relief.

“We focus on being aware of our own body. For example in forward fold, we try to focus on how the body feels, the hamstrings for instance. This can be very difficult for trauma survivors because they are disconnected from their body,” she said.

People with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome are frustrated that conventional medicine doesn’t bring about the relief they hoped, but are finding benefits of yoga therapy.

 Francine Kelley, a psychotherapist at the Center for Contextual Change in Chicago, specializes in working with trauma survivors, says yoga is becoming an important treatment for trauma survivors. 

“It’s really useful to understand, no matter what symptoms PTSD or trauma causes, bringing mindfulness into the present, having them in their body right now, right here is tremendously helpful, ” she said. “They get nervous really easily and are hyper vigilant. Yoga helps with this.”

PTSD can develop in anyone after a terrifying or life-threatening event, whether it’s a physical or sexual assault, war, natural disaster, or even car accident.  PTSD is a complex anxiety disorder that displays myriad symptoms of depression, aggression and emotional detachment. 

Often, doctors prescribe various antidepressant medications, including Paxil, Seroquel, and Klonopin. 

According to Paul Huljich, a psychological researcher and author, "Taking of these drugs without exploring other healthier, more holistic alternatives is extremely dangerous in the long term.  These drugs only offer a band aid to the time bomb waiting to go off at any second."

Yoga can make a big difference, recent research suggests. A study published last year with the Trauma Center in Brookline, Mass. found that a group of patients who completed a 10-week yoga program showed significantly more improvement in PTSD symptoms than a similar group who had the same number of group therapy sessions. The study reported that yoga can improve heart-rate variability and tension reduction, key indicators of a person’s ability to calm oneself.

The physical activeness of yoga and connection between the breath and mind can be a powerful tool. “When people can access their core strength and body strength this can create sense of psychological strength,” Kelley says.

Corinne Peterson is a registered yoga therapist in Evanston, Ill. “So much of trauma is about reliving the past and the fear of the future,” says Peterson.  “One of the things yoga does is really ground people in their bodies. When you’re in the body you aren’t dwelling in the past or the future.”

This is key because our bodies remember trauma—it’s not just a brain thing, says Dr. Bezel Van der Kolk, an internationally recognized leader in the field of psychological trauma and medical director of the Trauma Center. 

After a traumatic event, the small almond-shaped amygdala in the back of the brain controls our fight or flight response. This survival structure activates to get us to safety.

“It’s suppose to calm down afterwards, but in situations of trauma [PTSD] it’s always active. Everything is scary all the time. You [believe that you] could get attacked at anytime,” explains Peterson.

“Yoga is a mindful practice, the body and the mind and breath together. It rewires the brain and calms the fight or flight response,” she added.

Corinne Peterson utilizes breath work as a successful tool for her patients. Sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat in her office, she explains one success story.

Corinne Peterson's office in Evanston, Ill. Photo by Shirley Coenen

Corinne Peterson's certified yoga therapist, in her office. Photo by Shirley Coenen

Sign in Corinne Peterson's office. Photo by Shirley Coenen

“One thing that was really helpful for a trauma patient of mine was recording some mindful breathing practices for him on his long train rides to work,” the therapist said.  “Things such as, feel the sensations, where are your hands, where are you feet, notice your breath. That really made the difference for him.”

Catiss, who is both a psychotherapist and a yoga teacher says her class is “an addition, it’s not a replacement for talk therapy. “So all the women in my group has a primary therapist as well.”

She also says that the yoga therapy has been successful in helping heal her patients. She measures the success with a feedback survey and speaks with their main talk therapist about their experience.

“I honestly can’t see a future without it [Yoga therapy]. Therapists need tools that can empower clients,” states Kelley.

“Yoga does this, gives them something to deal with their issues. They are no longer victims of their trauma. They have agency.”

By: Shirley Coenen