Military & VeteransThere may not be definitive quantitative data to support the efficacy of yoga for military members, especially those with PTSD, but there is a lot of research and experiential evidence that shows that yoga can make a significant difference in the healing process. Yoga helps to calm the central nervous system, so after even practicing a short time, people with PTSD may start to sleep better, feel less trauma-related physical pain, and experience a greater sense of quietude.
Marty Yura is a yoga teacher and co-owner of Vista Yoga. A veteran with a Masters in Psychology, he served as a psychologist in the military for five years. He now teaches yoga to civilians as well as to veterans with PTSD and other physical and mental health conditions through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program.
For information about PTSD, please visit The Treatment Hub.
There may not be a lot of quantitative data to support the efficacy of yoga in this population, although I think there’s a lot of research and the research has gotten public exposure that yoga is not a bad thing. That there is something to it. And depending on who you follow, it has a sufficiently substantive endorsement that it does make a difference. PTSD and the relationship with the trauma in the body and in the nervous system is pretty clear. And since yoga works so much on the nervous system in releasing and calming the nervous system and breathing through your nose and calming it, engaging the vagus nerve — so many different aspects, that those things are documented. There’s no question about that.
So I think the more that people can be exposed to that dimension of yoga, where they’ll feel the difference, where they might sleep better, where the chronic regular discomforts in their bodies can be diminished — and people do anecdotally report, because I’ll always ask how do you feel after the last day or a couple of days — and people invariably, some people report they slept better, their backs didn’t hurt as much. Not the empirical data, but I really have no question. I mean, I trust the process. I trust the - I trust yoga, and I trust what I’ve seen myself for so many people over all these years.
BrainLine is powered in part by Wounded Warrior Project to honor and empower post-9/11 injured service members, veterans, and their families.
About the author: Marty Yura, MA
Marty Yura is a yoga teacher and co-owner of Vista Yoga. A veteran with a Masters in Psychology, he served as a psychologist in the military for five years. He now teaches yoga to civilians as well as to veterans with PTSD and other physical and mental health conditions through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program.
