How Yoga Can Be A Catalyst for Healing and Discovering Our Truth

I can sing the praises of yoga and what it has done for me all day long. Not only has it been instrumental in my healing process, but it has also introduced me to other healing modalities that have been equally important in my journey.

But before I get into my own personal healing process with yoga, I want to dive into what the data says.

We’ve all heard anecdotal evidence supporting the idea of yoga's capacity for healing. There are countless stories from people who talk about how it has impacted them and helped them heal.

 But there are also numerous studies regarding the healing power of yoga, including the therapeutic effects of yoga, how yoga impacts brain health, how it's beneficial for people with PTSD and complex PTSD, and how it benefits children, among other areas. I shared some of what was found in these studies below, so let’s take a look.

**Disclaimer: Before we look at the studies, I think it’s important to mention that despite the data showing the benefits of this practice, the information I share here is not meant to imply or assume that this works for everyone. Every person’s needs are different and what may benefit one person may not benefit another, so if you have any condition that causes you to question whether yoga would be of benefit, you are encouraged to talk to your professional care provider.

Therapeutic Effects of Yoga

First, let's look at an article from the National Library of Medicine titled “Exploring the Therapeutic Effects of Yoga and its Ability to Increase Quality of Life” (Source: PubMed, PMCID: PMC3193654). The results from the research included in the article show that not only does yoga help with muscular strength and flexibility, but it also helps “improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.”

One point that the article makes for the case of yoga is it “should be considered a complementary therapy or alternative method for medical therapy in the treatment of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders”. It goes on to mention how a consistent yoga practice helps with depression by increasing serotonin, the “happy chemical”, as well as lowering monamine oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down important brain chemicals and reduces cortisol, a stress hormone. (For frame of reference, if you’ve ever heard of the class of anti-depressants called MAOI’s, they work by inhibiting the activity of monamine oxidase.)

Regarding anxiety, the article mentions how yoga calms down the sympathetic area of the hypothalamus, which controls the body's response to stress. This in turn, helps the body handle stress better. In addition, yoga can produce a “physiological state opposite to that of the flight-or-fight stress response”. By interrupting this stress response, it can help to bring a sense of balance and connection between the mind and body.

 Yoga can also reduce activity in brain areas responsible for fear, aggression, and rage, while activating the pleasure centers in the brain, leading to feelings of happiness and peace. This results in “lower anxiety, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and cardiac output in students practicing yoga and meditation.”

Yoga also has been shown to “create a greater sense of well-being, increase feelings of relaxation, improve self-confidence and body image, improve efficiency, better interpersonal relationships, increases attentiveness, lower irritability, and encourage an optimistic outlook on life”, and “is recognized as a form of mind-body medicine that integrates an individual's physical, mental, and spiritual components to improve health, particularly stress-related illnesses.” 

Pretty cool stuff, huh?

Brain Health and Yoga

Another article titled, “Yoga Effects on Brain Health: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature” (Source: PubMed, PMCID: PMC6971819) discusses yoga's effects on brain health.

In this article, not only does it also mention how it helps with anxiety, depression and overall mental health as discussed in the previous article, but it also discusses how studies are offering “promising early evidence that behavioral interventions like yoga may help mitigate age-related and neurodegenerative declines.”

In the studies covered in this article, it was discovered that “yoga practitioners exhibited greater cortical thickness, gray matter volume, and gray matter density than non-practitioners in various regions of the brain”, and “a positive relationship was observed between the years of yoga practice and gray matter volume in several areas.” (Gray matter is responsible for processing information and is vital for behavior and day-to-day functioning.)

More specifically, the article mentions how “yoga practitioners showed greater cortical thickness in the left prefrontal cortex, associated with working memory, cognitive control, positive goals, and emotions. The volume of the left hippocampus, a subcortical structure crucial for memory, was significantly greater among yoga practitioners compared to non-practitioners with similar physical activity levels.” This suggests that while general exercise is also beneficial to brain health, yoga in particular helps the brain in ways that go beyond other forms of exercise.

Trauma-Sensitive Yoga

Next, let's look at some of the research around trauma-sensitive yoga. In the article, “Trauma Sensitive Yoga as a Complimentary Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis” (Source: PubMed, PMCID: PMC5404814), “findings demonstrated that trauma-sensitive yoga's emphasis on mindful movement and interoceptive awareness” (AKA being aware of your body’s internal feelings/sensations and what you are experiencing) is helpful in regulating emotions in states of arousal, cultivating safety in feeling different emotions, and cultivating a sense of safety and comfort in the body. This can be particularly helpful for those who may have trouble with connecting with their emotions and bodily sensations and what is being felt/experienced.

In addition, the article states that “participants reported benefits in their lives on and off the yoga mat, such as the power to make choices, develop strong connections, accept and appreciate themselves, and cultivate a sense of calm and internal balance.”

This is huge because trauma often involves a loss of control and safety. Trauma-sensitive yoga helps individuals regain these crucial aspects, which can be incredibly powerful in the process in emotional healing.

Yoga for Children

Lastly, let’s talk about the benefits of children practicing yoga. In an article by the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health titled, “Yoga for Health: What the Science Says”, it discusses how yoga “can help children learn to self-regulate, focus on the task at hand, and handle problems peacefully.”

For example, the article mentions how a study in 2019 showed that “5-year-old kindergartners doing yoga twice a week in school in place of standard physical education showed less inattention and hyperactivity and completed a task faster than 5-year-olds doing physical education or no exercise.”

Another example comes from a 2015 systematic review of 16 studies regarding yoga interventions for anxiety among children and adolescents which concluded that “nearly all studies included in the review indicated reduced anxiety following a yoga intervention”, although it was also mentioned that “further research is needed to enhance the ability to generalize and apply yoga to reduce anxiety.”

Personal Experience and Integration

So, now that we’ve looked at the data, I’d like to talk a bit about my own personal experience.

For me, yoga has been a key part of my healing journey. Had it not been for my yoga practice that began over a decade ago, I would not be where I am today.

What’s widely emphasized about the yoga practice (particularly in the west) involves the physical element of it - what you see in your standard group class at your gym or yoga studio. And don’t get me wrong, as a somatic coach and yoga teacher, I am a HUGE advocate of connecting to the body and the physical benefits of the practice.

But what I also notice is that there seems to be an overemphasis on how a pose looks and what is happening externally.

What I feel is less emphasized – and just as valuable – is the mental, emotional, and philosophical aspects of the practice, as well as how a pose feels and what’s happening internally.

It is the connection and integration of the whole self – mind and body – through the physical, as well as the mental, emotional and philosophical aspects of yoga that has allowed me to heal in ways I would have never thought possible, and it has been through the integration of mind and body through yoga that has led me to other modalities that have been equally instrumental in my healing journey.

For example, concepts such as Svadhaya (Self-study) led me to root cause work, trauma-informed care, nervous system regulation and somatic healing. This helped me recognize the protective patterns I've developed over my life and understand why I adopted these behaviors. It revealed how these patterns caused me to abandon my true self, affected my physical and mental health, impacted my relationships, and added to my suffering.

The practice of Satya (truthfulness) illuminated the parts of my life where I wasn't living my truth.

The teachings of the chakras encouraged me to find ways to cultivate safety in my journey of self-discovery, allow me to genuinely feel my emotions, become empowered to break free from the patterns that kept me from my truth, cultivate self-compassion throughout the process & build the confidence to reclaim my voice, trust myself more, and connect deeply with my purpose and truth.

The combination of yoga and the many other modalities I’ve acquired throughout my journey have helped me peel away layers of conditioning, patterns, habits, and trauma to get closer to my core truth. It truly has been, and continues to be, a “journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”

For me, incorporating yoga with these other practices has been transformative. It has improved my relationships, communication, and overall well-being. It’s a lifelong journey, but the effort is worth it.

The data supports yoga's capacity for healing, and I hope that sharing this info along with my own experience inspires more people to give it a try. There are many resources available online, so if you haven’t yet tried yoga, I encourage you to explore it. It changed my life, and it might just change yours too.

-Franchesca 

PS – If you’re interested in learning more about my work as a somatic coach and how I can support you, let’s chat. I currently offer 1:1 coaching as well as my 12-week group program Truth Embodied that will be starting up in September. Book a complimentary call to learn more about how I can support you.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3193654/ - Exploring the Therapeutic Effects of Yoga and its Ability to Increase Quality of Life

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6971819/ - Yoga Effects on Brain Health: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5404814/ - Trauma Sensitive Yoga as a Complementary Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36332328/ - The Experience of Yoga for Persons with Complex Interpersonal Trauma: A Phenomenological Approach

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25004196/ - Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/providers/digest/yoga-for-health-science - Yoga for Health: What the Science Says

Photo Cred: Erik Brolin