At our Intrepid Spirit Centers, visitors are greeted by Central Park when they enter. No, not the massive, man-made greenery escape in the heart of New York City. Central Park is a multipurpose space that can host meetings, events, and even treatment sessions. One such mode of treatment that Central Park typically hosts is yoga.
Yoga refers to a group of ancient Indian practices/disciplines, which can bring together a person’s physical, mental, and spiritual health. Because yoga connects a person’s physical body with it’s non-physical aspects, it’s an ideal treatment for our service members experiencing symptoms of the invisible wounds of war: traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress (PTS).
One reason that yoga is utilized at our Intrepid Spirit Centers is that it fosters relaxation. Many who have been diagnosed with PTS experience a symptom known as “fight or flight.” The relaxing principles of yoga can help calm the nervous system. Calming the nervous system can help minimize this symptom of PTS.
The calming nature of yoga also addresses stress. That stress-reduction component is one that drives everyday people to the practice of yoga. Feeling that relief of stress for the first time can be a powerful experience, especially in the physical sense. It’s incredible to identify a part of the body that holds stress, such as the jaw or the shoulders, and feel that stress release.
By fostering relaxation and addressing stress, yoga can help manage numerous PTS symptoms. It can help improve sleep and reduce the frequency of nightmares, flashbacks, and panic attacks as well as transform how one handles depression or their responses to their own PTS triggers.
Yoga isn’t something that requires an Intrepid Spirit Center to practice or try. A quick online search can yield thousands of YouTube videos, virtual sessions, and information about the many yoga poses to try at home. Time and time again it’s been proven to help address the symptoms of PTS and can be a powerful component to a patient’s recovery at our Intrepid Spirit Centers.
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Posted on September 7 2020 in Blog