Heart & Corps Yoga

In addition to support groups, PTSD treatment usually involves individual counseling sessions during which the veterans learn to cope with anxiety, manage anger, and relate in healthy ways to other people. Recovery, then, is gradual and ongoing.

Yoga, too, is a process. Every day, every moment, presents the opportunity for practice. Yoga helps those with PTSD because it is not a quick-fix, one-time solution. Even a small taste of yoga’s benefits gives the veterans reason to return to it time and again. And, like yoga, the mind-body connection is at the heart of PTSD.

Soldiers in combat are in a near-constant state of fight-or-flight, an emotional reaction also called the stress response, that prepares the body to fight or flee from a real or imagined threat. During the fight-or-flight response, chemicals such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol are released into the bloodstream. Breathing becomes rapid and shallow. Blood is shunted from the digestive tract to muscles and limbs to give them extra energy for fighting or running. The pupils dilate. Awareness intensifies.