by ilse alfonsiYoga originated in northern India over 5,000 years ago, and forms one of the six schools of philosophy in Hinduism. There are nineteen different kinds of yoga, and each branch has its own path to spiritual enlightenment and true acceptance of ourselves. Yoga has also found a place within psychology (Feuerstein, 2013). Yoga psychology aims to transform people, helping them to reach a state of enlightenment. In this way, it is similar to modern psychology as both apply their own understanding to the real world. In clinical psychology and the study of mental health in particular, psychologists use knowledge gained through research to achieve the proper functioning of people within society by understanding, and treatment of, mental issues. However, whilst modern clinical psychology aims to free people from issues such as depression or anxiety through understanding the causes and possible treatments of mental ill health, yoga psychology aims to liberate people as a whole, allowing them to find meaning and peace in their life. Many yogic texts themselves reference the importance of mental health (Vorkapic, 2016). Different concepts used within modern psychology do not actually stem from contemporary ideas, but from ancient wisdom. However, whilst modern psychologists make use of words as a form of treatment – through talk therapy – yoga is focused on using physical practice to deal with one’s mental health struggles. The most common mental health problem yoga psychology deals with is the lack of meaning in one’s life. This feeling could be a result of depression, the loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. Yoga teaches acceptance of one’s feelings without comparing them to others and helps people to recognise what has happened in the past so that they can let it go. Both within modern psychological therapies and the ancient practice of yoga, one of the main goals is to make people more open to new experiences and change. Novotney (2009) further describes the benefits of yoga to modern psychology, including reducing stress, relieving anxiety, depression, insomnia, and strengthening social attachments. Researchers are also seeing the benefit of using yoga, or yoga-based treatments such as breathing exercises, to help military personnel with PTSD. On top of this, yoga can be practised privately (as therapy) and outside of sessions with a therapist, which many people are not able to afford. The mind-body meld, which yoga encourages, increases an individual’s awareness of how their mind and body are linked, which can, in turn, decrease issues such as extreme stress. It does this by influencing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which directs the body's rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations, and the levels of the stress hormone Cortisol. The social aspect of yoga can also reduce loneliness, as moving in synchronicity with others creates a sense of belonging and collectivism. Van der Kolk (2014) explored the benefits of yoga by considering the body’s biological processes and how this affects our mental state. He explains that the memory of feeling helpless is often stored as muscle tension e.g. in the back, head, and limbs in accident victims, or in the rectum or vagina of victims of sexual abuse. Van der Kolk recognised that yogis are able to find balance and acceptance within themselves and thus saw the potential of yoga as a treatment method in modern psychology. In collaboration with Jim Hopper, he helped to introduce yoga into psychology in 1998, when they were studying heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is the measure of the time variation between each heartbeat and is a fluctuation in heart rate as a response to breathing. A good HRV is a sign of well-being and means that a person effectively deals with stress. This can be linked to the breathwork (prānāyāma) done in yoga. Yogic breathwork can help people to regulate their breathing and ultimately help them to respond better to stress. Poor coherence between heart rate and breathing can make people susceptible to problems including depression and PTSD Knowing this, van der Kolk measured yoga’s effects on psychological functioning on women who had severe trauma histories and had gone to therapy for years with no improvement. Half of the women did sessions of yoga whilst the other half undertook a form of psychotherapy. All participants had their HRV measured during the sessions, and the researcher found that yoga significantly improved problems caused by PTSD, whilst eight weeks of psychotherapy did not. As such, van der Kolk’s work evolved from looking at whether yoga can positively change our HRV to aiding traumatised people. His research revealed that yoga is an effective method to connect with one’s inner world and learn to look after one’s body. Whilst trauma creates the sensation that you are hopelessly stuck with no way out, yoga aids in teaching that all feelings come and go. When put into a challenging pose (asana) it may create a sense of defeat. Yet, when the instructor tells you to focus on areas of tension and that the pose will be held for a certain amount of breaths, it signifies that there is an end to the discomfort, in turn building resilience to physical and emotional distress in life. This awareness that experiences are not permanent allows one to effectively change one's perspective of oneself. References
Feuerstein, G. (2013). The Psychology of Yoga: Integrating Eastern and Western Approaches for Understanding the Mind. https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Y1eDAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=the+psychology+of+yoga&ots=jsfkRmbaoF&sig=fW0u1wN4hWk3KVGQxN3yDem3kgI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Novotney, A. (2009). Yoga as a practice tool. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/11/yoga Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma. United Kingdom: Penguin. Vorkapic, C.F. (2016). Yoga and mental health: A dialogue between ancient wisdom and modern psychology. International Journal of Yoga, 9(1), 67-71. Doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4103%2F0973-6131.17172
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