Yoga to Support Recovery
What is Yoga to Support Recovery?
Recovery and Yoga go hand-in-hand.
The generally accepted story is that the 12 steps came to AA via the Oxford Group of the Theosophical Society, who developed them by systematizing Yogic teachings of India.
Compare the Serenity Prayer:
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."
With this quote describing 3 of the Niyamas (personal observances; tapas, svadhyaya, isvarapranidhana) taught in Yogic Philosophy:
“Breath (and thus yoga) is the great teacher of tapas, svadhyaya, isvarapranidhana. Tapas refers to that which you can change; isvarapranidhana relates to the stuff you can’t change; svadhyaya refers to self-reflection, the introspection that allows us to distinguish one from the other.” - Leslie Kaminoff (author & yoga educator)
A Closer Look at the 12 Steps & The Yamas (social ethics) & Niyamas (personal observances):
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. - Ishvara Prandihana (surrender to the higher power)
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. - Ishvara Prandihana (surrender to the higher power)
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God. - Ishvara Pranidhana (surrender to the higher power)
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. - Svadhyaya (self-study), Satya (dedicated to truth and integrity)
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. - Satya (dedicated to truth and integrity), Saucha (simplicity and continual refinement)
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. - Ishvara Pranidhana (surrender to the higher power), Saucha (simplicity and continual refinement)
Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. - Ishvara Pranidhana (surrender to the higher power), Saucha (simplicity and continual refinement)
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. - Ahimsa (reverence, love, and compassion for all), Satya (dedicated to truth and integrity), Saucha (simplicity and continual refinement)
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. - Ahimsa (reverence, love, and compassion for all), Satya (dedicated to truth and integrity), Asteya (abiding in generosity and honesty), Saucha (simplicity and continual refinement), Tapas (transformation)
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. - Svadhyaya (self-study), Satya (dedicated to truth and integrity), Saucha (simplicity and continual refinement), Ahimsa (reverence, love, and compassion for all)
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out. - Pratyahara (sense withdrawal) → Dharana (concentration) → Dhyana (meditation), Ishvara Prandidhana (surrender to the higher power)
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. - All Yamas & Niyamas
Trauma & Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
Trauma can play a significant role in one’s development of a substance use disorder. The relationship between PTSD and substance use is often underdiagnosed, resulting in mis-diagnosis and failure to treat both SUD and PTSD. Thus, the need for trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment modalities in centers for treatment of SUDs is crucial.
Let’s review two models of addiction. The Self Medication Model asserts that one turns to substance use to regulate one’s emotions. The Disease Model asserts that changes in the brain play an intrinsic role in addiction. Yoga has a direct effect on both emotional regulation and the neurobiology of the brain.
A person who has survived a lifetime of trauma has shown to have diminished (or completely shut down) areas of the brain. Practicing interoception allows the participant to have an increased ability to consciously become aware, acknowledge, and respond to an aversive experience instead of automatically reacting with adverse behavior (such as substance use). Interoception is one of the major components of Trauma Center, Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY).
Yoga, the Brain, & SUD
Many of the same parts of the brain are damaged as a result of chronic stress (complex trauma) and drug and alcohol abuse. Body-based, bottom up approaches (such as yoga) restore functioning to these parts of the brain. Providing an opportunity for the regions of the brain involved in language, executive functioning, decision making, emotional regulation, memory, and impulse control to heal and regain functioning before talk therapy and education is implemented may be far more effective.
The brain is incapable of processing information in a healthy manner until a sense of balance has been restored. Yoga allows the body to slow down, lower heart rate and blood pressure, slow respiration, and begin processes of restoration that can only happen while the body is in a state of rest.
With trauma sensitive yoga, the survivor is able to first, establish safety, and second, notice the bodily sensations that arise in the present moment. With time and practice, the brain can be reconditioned. It can learn to interpret information for what it is instead of reacting with maladaptive behavior.
While a survivor may have learned to live in a state of survival, a regular yoga practice can condition the survivor to live in a state of balance.
Yoga allows the practitioner to experience being in their body in the present moment, which lets them establish a foundation of safety. Once a survivor has established safety, they may begin to re-evaluate cognitive-behavioral processes, thought patterns, and biases. Once brain structures have been restored, they are able to translate experience and memory into language (van der Kolk, 2014). This can be worked through with a licensed counselor, but it cannot effectively take place if one is stuck in survival mode.
Yoga can induce dopamine homeostasis, or, balanced dopamine production (Miller et al. 2015). This is crucial given that most drugs hijack the reward system, in which dopamine is a key player in. After continued use, the brain stops producing these neurotransmitters effectively on their own, the person becomes unable to find pleasure through normal activities, and they will use to experience relief from withdrawal (NIDA, 2020).
Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT), utilizes drugs that block the neurotransmitter dopamine, involvement with one-size-fits-all 12-step programs, and counseling (Miller et al. 2015). These methods have merit, however, conventional therapies have not been able to alter the outcome of these disorders. As many as 90% of participants end up returning to treatment, indicating a veritable need for adjunctive, alternate evidence-based treatment modalities (Behere, Muralidharan, Benegal, 2009, Miller et al., 2015).
Healing with Yoga
van der Kolk (2014) discusses how trauma survivors (and substance users) become masters of dissociation, experts at avoidance, adept at cutting off their feelings and emotions. While these strategies were once necessary for survival, over time, one loses the ability to become aware of what is happening inside their own bodies.
It is through our senses that we engage with the world around us. We cannot live in the world if we have severed our connection with it. If we are constantly trying to ignore our own body, we are cutting off our own experience of being human.
The practice of yoga, and the cultivation of mind-body awareness, allows a survivor and a user to approach their bodies with a sense of curiosity. This process teaches them that sensations are temporary, thus teaching them how to sit with their sensations and how to create new patterns of action.
In TCTSY, one is repeatedly offered choices, as well as welcomed to change, modify, or make their way out of a shape at any time, for any reason. This returns a sense of control to the survivor.
TCTSY fosters the regulation of one’s emotions and nervous system by cultivating a sense of awareness of their body’s sensations. With this awareness, they can respond to their body’s needs.
The practice of yoga is meant to be sustained for a lifetime, so this practice can continue to support the person beyond treatment, which typically only lasts for 60-90 days (brain functioning in the addicted person is affected for months and years post-abstinence).
Yoga has shown to be effective for people who have not found relief from their symptoms even after years of conventional, talk-based therapies (van der Kolk, 2014). This practice requires little to no equipment, is cost-effective, and can be done in the privacy of one’s own home, or, within the container of community.
Benefits
Increases in some brain structures (gray matter volume, density, and cortical thickness) in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. Decreases in other structures (amygdala), which may explain why the yoga practitioner experiences reduced perceived stress. (Gothe, Hayes, Temali, & Damoiseaux, 2018).
Improved connectivity between neural networks in the brain, specifically the Default Mode Network, and areas involved in self-monitoring, and cognitive control (Aalast et al., 2020).
Reduced perceived stress as well as levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (Vedamurthachar et al., 2006, Saoji, 2016). Many substance users report stress being the reason that they cannot quit, or their reason for relapsing.
Reduced anxiety, increased general health and wellbeing (Bir S. et al., 2008, Bock et al., 2012).
Improved cognition and positive emotions (ie., empathy, compassion, and self-regulation) (Saoji, 2016).
Decreased anger, depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure (van der Kolk, 2014).
Restored functioning of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) (van der Kolk, 2014).
Improved relationship with one’s body (van der Kolk, 2014).
Where are sessions held?
Serenity Roots Yoga & Wellness Center, 8950 Lavelle Rd. Athens, OH, 45701
Or, online through Zoom. If an online session is needed, schedule as normal and call/text 740-586-4181 or email traumasensitiveyogaproject@gmail.com to let me know it is an online session.
I can also travel locally with no additional pay, or out of town with pay, if needed.
What if I need a time that isn't listed?
If you need a time that isn't listed, feel free to call/text 740-586-4181 or email traumasensitiveyogaproject@gmail.com and we can work something out.
What can I expect after signing up?
After signing up, you'll be emailed a questionnaire. It is optional, but the more information I have, the better I am able to design a practice that can best suit your specific needs.
The first session involves a consultation, and then we can begin the practice. Subsequent sessions can be the same or modified as needed.
Disclaimer:
Yoga to Support Recovery is not intended to replace one-on-one treatment with a licensed mental health professional. I am not a clinician and I am unable to diagnose or treat anyone's mental health condition. I can offer tools that may support someone through their own healing journey. Through my own lived experience and formal education, I can say with complete confidence that I have worked tirelessly to offer this from a place that is both empirically informed and experientially validated.
Share this