When one thinks of yoga, war is not what comes to mind. In fact the absence of war makes much more sense for the general idea of what yoga is, inner peace and spirituality, or so that's what a non-yogic might conclude. What if one where to look at it with a different perspective however, why does one do yoga in the first place and what exactly are the benefits?
War has been around for as long as Yoga, and with war comes many obstacles that haunt military personal and their families. World War 1 brought something that the population had not seen before, then un-explained, accruing attention to symptoms of trauma. Returning veterans were claiming to have un-controllable anger and sleep problems... they were re living their traumatic events. It was not until World War 2 that the “American Psychiatric Association” developed its initial “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”. First calling these traumatic symptoms things like “gross stress reaction”. In the Vietnam War the DSM was revised and reprinted as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD as we know it today.
This anxiety disorder is caused by the experience involving the threat of injury or death. Ways to “combat” PTSD are “desensitization” which calls for the individual to remember traumatic events and express ones feelings about the situation, Support groups, and medicines that act on the nervous system to reduce anxiety and other symptoms are also used. In the recent years however, new cutting edge treatments have emerged which involve the use of art, Dance music and Yoga. (hopper, 18)
Psychiatrist and author, Dr Janis Carter conducted two years of pilot studies and private psychiatric practices using yoga as augmentation to standard psychiatric treatment and some interesting results arose. The individuals or “subjects” if you will that were tested were mostly Vietnam War Veterans, all male, suffering from PTSD with a focus on depression. (Carter, abstract).
In week one a low dose of Iyengar Yoga was administered. Iyengar Yoga which by using many props is meant to help integrate the body, mind and spirit. Results showed symptoms that were resistant to change though. Insomnia was the biggest one, largely due to the back bends that were required of the participants that resulted in back pain. The anger issues still remained as well. Pranayama Yoga was introduced at this time. Pranayama Yoga focuses largely on the breath, all the way from quite breathing to deep breathing exercises, though insufficient testing was done at this stage.
As time moved on the yoga class moved from Inyeger studios to a one week session taught by an instructor but also a psychiatrist. Which was formatted as a group psychotherapy, allowing the individuals to share feedback with one another. Methods of alternate nostril breathing and chest to belly breathing started to be integrated more and more, Pranayama was becoming a very important key to creating positive results.
In the following weeks “considerable improvement in sleep, especially initial insomnia and restless disturbed sleep” was arising. (Carter, discussion) If participants woke up at night they were taught techniques to execute to help calm the anxiety. Pranayama techniques were spontaneously applied for anger management and “road rage” fits at this time to.
After 6 weeks Carter states that yoga is an effective adjunct to psychiatric treatment for depression and PTSD. There seemed to be specific poses that gave a better outcome for depression, and resulted in better sleep, better anger management, less medication and a better quality of life.
Various mechanisms can also be postulated for the benefits including diversion and distraction, self-efficacy, master, social interaction, aerobic fitness, monoamines, endorphins and hermogenesis. (carter, 10)
If these results aren't enough, other people who have experiences in traumatic events resulting in PTSD like in the book “Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body, by Elizabeth Hopper, claims to seeing improvements in Yoga treatments justified.
Hopper states in the book that she has seen various kinds of body interventions work dramatically but none more so than the physical practices of yoga. Saying that “it's part of an ancient system meant to precisely address human suffering, and particularly address it in to body, where it lives.” (Hopper) Also seeing the results of yoga healing the tormented effects of trauma, maybe this can be accredited to where Yoga came from, the Yogis.
Yogis believed in two sources or roots of physical suffering which are; greed, addiction and craving. The other is aversion like fear, terror, avoidance, anger etc. Basically, yoga is built on a base that if learned, can turn off the controls of these symptoms, and start to re-establish feelings of well being.
Up to 50 percent of returning National Guard and Reservists, 38 percent of Soldiers an 31 Percent of Marines report to have mental health problems, according to various surveys. (Stanley & Jha 2009) These type of mental health issues also had a major effect on suicide rates. Because of this a program called CSF which focuses on the development of health including the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and family has been slowly developing in the military. In conjunction with that, numerous yoga and yoga nidra (yogic sleep) programs specifically tailored to the needs of the military personnel and veterans have also been appearingg in places of the Army, Naval and VA Hospitals, at yoga centers and even military bases. At first these programs where only seeing Vietnam era veterans but in the recent years have been seeing much younger individuals due to the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. A great thing about the program is it was founded by veterans who discovered the power of mind-body tools in their own healing and battles with PTSD, and utilizing their experiences and benefits of yoga with other veterans.
“Through my own experience with PTSD, I sought different healing modalities over a decade. I discovered that some holistic practices worked and others didn't. By offering access to such services and educational workshops within one program, we give veterans an opportunity to explore healing avenues that work for them in a safe environment without having to search for it on their own. The benefit of offering different modalities increases the level of support, creates a sense of community and promotes self-care, a concept that isn't cultivated in the military. (Lynch)
Another yoga program involving meditation techniques that is geared toward military personal is; Warrior Mind Training or WMT. This program was first introduced into military bases in 2005, By providing training to over 3,500 active duty and reserve service members and veterans. Due to that number of training, it has been able to expand to over 11 military installations and veterans centers. Participants have reported that the training has “helped them handle stressful situations, sleep better, feel more positive, feel calmer and feel they have more self-control.”
It's great that these programs are being offered to Veterans in the states but what about the current service members that are still over-seas fighting our wars? In Camp Adder, Iraq, Spc. David Kocian is teaching yoga to troops, stating that “once you cross that threshold into my room, its yoga world.” Kocian states that with the stresses of combat we can not even begin to fathom what its like to overcome something like PTSD but because of this program people who took part in Kocians class come up to him saying that the class was great and that “they'll be coming back”. The popularity of the classes being that the soldier can forget about the problems at hand, forget about the pain and forget about what you just did and what you will be doing in the future, but what makes him feel great is knowing that he can provide this service to them.
Los Angeles times also covered a story on “Yoga in Combat Boots.” talking about an article in Fit Yoga magazine. Here we will find Military members with no yoga mats and no special clothing, just cammies and combat boots. At first only attracting Military personal for yogas benefits of stamina, flexibility and metal focus which is a great start, and slowly growing to love the practice itself. If going back to the statistics of military members returning home with problems like PTSD, then attacking the problem before it begins is the logical conclusion. By having the abilities of knowing yoga and overcoming the stresses of trying to learn a new language called yoga, returning military members from over-seas combat can dive right in.
The mind is an important and powerful tool, in yoga the mind is just as important and powerful. If yoga was used to cope with the stress of war then maybe these next few years when more and more service members become diagnosed with some form of PTSD, just maybe the future won't be so bleak for them. As Thich Nhat Hahn says in 1926 around the time when PTSD was first becoming more prominent in our society, “Veterans are the light at the tip of the candle, illuminating the way for the whole nation. If veterans can achieve awareness, transformation, understanding and peace, they can share with the rest of society the realities of war. And they can teach us how to make peace with ourselves and each other, so we never have to use violence to resolve conflicts again.” Maybe yoga can't end wars but it can certainly end battles by reducing the severity of PTSD symptoms and enhancing the recoveries from the invisible, emotional wounds of war. Instead of turning to drugs, alcohol and in many cases...suicide, these veterans can turn to something that helps the individual connect to their mind and their body where they once hated their own skin can now accept it and move forward.
Hopefully in the years to come, and as our lifestyles become more accepting to changes, veterans can turn to these organizations who are reaching out to help. If yoga truly can be an healthy, clean alternative to the common medicines in treating PTSD then it doesn't hurt to try. There may always be another war and for some the war will never end... but it can become a little more bearable.
Referances:
Kiefer, D. (2011, 3, 08). The Health Benefits of Yoga. WebMD, 6.
Official Site of Yoga Vidya Gurkul. Yoga Point, 2010.
A.D.A.M Medicial encycolpedia. (3,5,11). Post-traumatic stress disorder. PubMed Health.
Carter, J. (2003). Therapy with Yoga. 11
Conant, E. (2006, 11, 24). Yoga in Combat Boots. Los Angeles Times. 1
Sharma, G. (2011) Synergistic Approach of Applied Phsiology & Yoga to Combat Life Style Diseases. Internet scientific publications.
Hopper, E. (2011). Reclaiming your body. Overcoming Trauma through Yoga. 22.
Miller, G. (2011, 7, 29).The Invisible Wounds of War. News Focus.
Yd. (2009, 5, 28). Class to troops in Iraq. YogaDork.
Archer, S. (2010). Healing Wounded Warriors. Idea, Fitness Journel.
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