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YOGA TO HEAL TRAUMA
Soothing Poses Calm the Nervous System
by Marlaina Donato
Getting on the yoga mat can be a powerful stress-buster that lowers blood pressure and excessive cortisol, but yoga can offer an added boon for those living with the lasting effects of traumatic events. Trauma-informed yoga (also called trauma-sensitive yoga) is a promising therapeutic branch of the yogic system designed to quell the body’s programmed “fight-or-flight” responses.
Founded on yoga, psychology and neurobiology principles, the approach is in harmony with the ancient yogic concept of samskaras, or memories imprinted on our cellular consciousness. People from many walks of life can benefit from trauma-sensitive yoga including bullied teens, women rebounding from abuse and anyone impacted by pandemic turmoil. Research published in the journal Military Medicine in 2018 reports that U.S. veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that participated in a one-hour vinyasa-style yoga session for six weeks showed significantly lowered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as well as less insomnia, depression and anxiety.
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Yoga performed with trauma sensitivity can pick up where talk therapy leaves off, targeting the amygdala, the danger detector in the brain, and the vagus nerve that runs from the brain to the abdomen, which plays a vital role in processing trauma. “Somatic processing and treatment methodologies like yoga are now being used to help repair and rebuild distressed nervous systems, which in turn helps the brain integrate and ‘file’ distressing memories,” says Beth Shaw, founder of YogaFit Training Systems Worldwide, the largest yoga teacher training school in North America, and the author of Healing Trauma with Yoga: Go From Surviving to Thriving with MindBody Techniques. The Fort Lauderdale-based yoga therapist and entrepreneur highlights the body’s role in trauma and stress. “The brain rewires itself around the traumatic event and memories stored in the tissues throughout the body. Yoga can help to free those memories, alleviating troubling emotions and thought patterns, as well as chronic somatic tension and hypervigilance.” Shaw draws upon new psychological and neurological discoveries, including polyvagal theory, that help explain the full impact of trauma and most importantly, how and why yoga helps to lessen these impacts.
Trauma-informed yoga keeps the nervous system in mind, excluding poses and breathing techniques that might provoke a sense of vulnerability or overstimulation. Trained teachers adhere to non-touch assistance methods and often opt for well-lit studios to avoid a possible triggering atmosphere.
A trauma-informed yoga teacher knows the inner workings of the nervous system,” explains Mandy Eubanks, a trauma-trained yoga educator and certified yoga instructor in Tulsa. “We have respect for the variety of responses that our clients have to yoga, meditation and breathwork practices. For example, we understand deep breathing will be calming to one person and agitating to another. We normalize clients’ responses and work with them to find an effective technique for that individual.” Teachers with specialized training and access to props can also support people on a yoga journey that are limited physically. Eubanks emphasizes, “Yoga truly is for everyone and every body.”
Lisa Danylchuk, the Oakland-based author of Yoga for Trauma Recovery: Theory, Philosophy, and Practice, underscores that in a trauma-informed environment, everything a teacher instructs is an offering or invitation. “This is important because people who have endured trauma have often not had a say over what happens to their bodies. A good trauma-informed class cultivates somatic and psychological resources, and focuses, above all, on cultivating a sense of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual safety.” The founder of The Center for Yoga and Trauma Recovery believes it’s important to be responsive to individual needs. “Trauma affects so many different individuals and groups of people and in such a variety of ways that it is impossible to give one prescription. Some people might benefit from a weekly, 60- to 90-minute vinyasa-style class. Others might benefit from a short, five-minute daily restorative practice.”
Shaw also stresses a tailored approach. “How one wishes to practice is up to the individual, but I suggest a combination of both one-on-one instruction and class format. If someone is in the throes of trauma, they will need a private session to start.”
Eubanks adds the importance of consistency. “In my experience, it is about finding which yoga practices work best for the client and then encouraging them to find time to practice every day. Yoga for PTSD is not a one-and-done deal. It takes time, effort and belief in oneself.”
Marlaina Donato is a body-mind-spirit author and recording artist. Connect at AutumnEmbersMusic.com.
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Fifty million Americans, or just over 20 percent of the population, experience some form of chronic pain. According to recent studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience chronic pain. Approximately 8 percent of adults have high-impact chronic pain and most (84 percent) of high-impact chronic pain patients are unable to work outside of the home. Chronic pain is the number one cause of disability and disease burden globally. The 2021 Health Wellness and Lifestyle Expo team wanted to learn about Integrative Medicine/Pain Management and went straight to the source, Exclusive Healthcare Partner, Stamford Health, and Dr. Marc E. Brodsky, MD, MBA, MPH of the SHMG-Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness.
What does Stamford Health offer with regard to Integrative Medicine/Pain Management departments?
The Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness (CIMW) is a medical subspecialty group of Stamford Health. The non-opioid pain management service accounts for the majority of patients seen at CIMW. Most patients with pain are seen for myofascial neck pain and associated symptoms to include headache. Other conditions include low back pain, osteoarthritis, neuropathy, fibromyalgia, occupationrelated overuse injuries such as from sports and performing arts, and autoimmune-related and cancer-related pain conditions. Over the past year, we have provided care for pain and other functional symptoms like fatigue in “long haulers” who have recovered from COVID.
How do healthcare providers work with their patients to address individual needs and healthcare philosophies such as alternative medicine versus conventional medicine?
Our Integrative Medicine approach incorporates safe and evidence-based therapies to complement standard care. We partner with our patients in their care and emphasize lifestyle aspects such as exercise, diet, sleep, finding joy in life and stress reduction behaviors. Patients’ specific pain conditions and their preferences direct drug and non-drug options.
What are some non-pharmaceutical therapies for pain management?
The patient evaluation begins with a thorough history and a hands-on physical exam
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which may identify trigger points in the muscles. Our therapies for pain include lifestyle behaviors, mind-body stress reduction and non-opioid pain management.
Anti-inflammatory foods may include elements of Mediterranean cuisine; avoiding processed foods, restricting added sugar and considering an elimination trial of gluten and dairy; and consideration of dietary supplements such as turmeric and ginger, which have chemical properties similar to over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain relievers without the potentially adverse effects on the digestive system and kidneys. Other lifestyle suggestions are exercise such as walking for 30 minutes, five days a week per CDC guidelines and sleep hygiene, which may include a referral to check for a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea and advising standard of care of stimulus control, sleep restriction and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia per American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Mind-body stress reduction interventions include instruction in common sense, no side-effect, self-care techniques to reduce anxiety which may contribute to pain conditions. Non-opioid pain management addresses often overlooked muscle knots which contribute to pain conditions with trigger point injections and acupuncture. We also instruct patients on how to perform self-care acupressure and gain selfefficacy with strategies that they may use on their own to ease their pain symptoms. For instance, over-the-counter topical capsaicin, made from hot peppers, may alleviate pain by a complex cascade of events after binding with nerves in the area of the pain.
While a patient undergoes pain management therapies, how do doctors monitor drug intake and signs of addiction and depression?
In general, we ask our new patients to follow up each one to two weeks for four visits and spread out appointments as they improve. At each visit, the physicians at CIMW collaborate with their patients to agree on treatment goals, set realistic expectations and evaluate efficacy of treatments. Throughout the therapeutic process, physicians monitor for complicating factors such as problems related to medications or procedures, psychological contributors or a more serious underlying condition.
Exhibitors at this year’s Health Wellness & Lifestyle Expo, held September 11 and 12, include integrative medicine/pain management professionals, products and services, including Cassena Care at Stamford and Cassena Care at Norwalk, Bemer Group, Cefaly Technology, Evolution Physical Therapy and Fitness, Restore Hyper Wellness, Salerno Wellness, Select Physical Therapy, The Vital Stretch, Upper Cervical Chiropractic of NY and the Vein Institute. Attendees can learn from the experts, explore pain management therapies and get their life back.
For a complete list of sponsors and exhibitors and more information about the HWL EXPO 2021, visit HWL-Expos.com. Location: Harbor Point Boardwalk, 1 Harbor Point Rd, Stamford. See Passport for Life event program, page 21.
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