YWI White Paper and Fact Sheet

Deployed Yoga Warriors

Yoga Warriors is an evidence based, pro-active counter to symptoms of Combat Stress and PTSD. 

Highly successful Yoga Warrior programs have validated efficacy in multiple deployed locations.  As a low-cost, low risk physical fitness program that improves resiliency, the method specifically capitalizes on the current acceptance of yoga as a mainstream fitness discipline, bypassing the stigma associated with military mental health programs.

Specifically, the program in Kirkuk, Iraq became part of a published research study, now available the January 2012 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.                                                                           http://ajot.atapress.net/content/66/1/59.full

Yoga Warriors was developed from years of feedback from veterans diagnosed with PTSD.  It integrates concepts of traditional hatha yoga with modern knowledge of the mind/body connection.  Experiencing the anti-anxiety properties of Yoga prior to combat exposure should better prepare military personnel for post-deployment transition. 

Yoga Warriors International (YWI) was founded in 2005 by Lucy Cimini (500RYT) of Central Mass Yoga and Wellness Center in West Boylston, MA.  Yoga Warriors (YW) is a research and teacher training program with a twofold mission: first, to provide evidence based hatha yoga to prevent or alleviate symptoms of combat stress (COSR) or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Second, YW is committed to the comprehensive training of yoga instructors equipped to teach this methodology to veterans and military members.  YW has over 150 teachers around the world.

It is time to deploy Yoga Warrior certified teachers.  Providing classes may be a great low-risk way to prevent self-medication trends associated with post deployment reintegration and PTSD.  There are many civilians working together in deployed environments providing many diverse services.  Yoga Warrior instructors could come from the growing ranks of certified civilian instructors.  When locations are too dangerous, military instructors could become certified and imbedded.  It is time to deploy Yoga Warriors.

Contact:

Lucy Cimini
Yoga Warriors International
c/o Central Mass. Yoga & Wellness
45 Sterling Street, #28, West Boylston, MA 01583
Phone: 508.835.1176
E-Mail: info@yogawarriors.com
Website: www.yogawarriors.com

FACT SHEET: YOGA WARRIORS INTERNATIONAL

Description:            Yoga Warriors International is the first and largest program in the nation for healing combat veterans through yoga. Unlike other yoga disciplines and treatment modalities, Yoga Warriors was designed specifically to help veterans suffering from PTSD.

Components:           Training:  Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT) and mental health professionals undergo a 16-hour training course taught by Central Mass. Yoga & Wellness, certifying them to create their own Yoga Warriors programs. Yoga Warriors is believed to be the only program with active-duty military and combat veterans serving as teachers.

Trainings are held around the country. Certified Yoga Warriors teachers are listed on the Yoga Warriors website (www.yogawarriors.com), and receive a quarterly newsletter with updates on the 100-page manual, industry research, poses, and other news.

Train the Trainer: Yoga Warriors turns carefully selected teachers into teacher trainers. One trainer is active-duty military and one combat veteran is working toward his trainer certification.

Classes for Vets:  Central Mass. Yoga & Wellness hosts its own Yoga Warriors classes at its studio in West Boylston, Mass.

Creator:                  Lucy Cimini, founding director of Central Mass. Yoga & Wellness

Date Founded:        March 2005

Reach:                     Yoga instructors from 29 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Cambodia have undergone Yoga Warriors training. Instructors in countries including Germany, Sweden and England have inquired about the program.

Number of Teachers Trained: 146 between May 2006 and November 2011; 90 of those in 2011

Training Content: Topics covered include starting a Yoga Warriors program, conducting a class for combat veterans with PTSD, the science behind PTSD, reducing triggers in class, what to do if a student experiences a flashback, understanding the combat experience, and appropriate mantras for meditation.

Typical Class:         A Yoga Warriors class may include centering, pranayama (breathing), readings from yoga masters, asanas (postures), meditation and savasana (final relaxation). Carefully selected pranayama exercises promote calming. Carefully chosen asanas balance the nervous system. Positive affirmations (e.g. I am safely in the present) paired with asanas address the autonomic nervous system, increasing relaxation. Setting and even word choice are carefully chosen to promote a sense of safety (e.g. phrases from traditional yoga including “corpse pose” and “surrender” are avoided). Poses that can trigger bad memories are avoided; for example, Supported Child Pose, which reminds some veterans of being in a bunker.

Benefits of Yoga:    -    Lowers state and trait anxiety

-          Improves anger management skills

-          Increases self-calming ability

-          Helps veterans recognize and safely release emotions without judgment

-          Brings veterans back to the present by reconnecting mind to body

Why It Works:       Combat veterans may have experienced very intense periods of terror and trauma. They may get stuck in a constant state of “flight or fight”. When they return home, that fight or flight response may not turn off, making the transition to civilian life difficult.

Yoga can “unfreeze” bad memories or gently unlock rigidly held memories in ways that normal talk therapy might not. The feelings may be too complex for words or the person may find it difficult to talk about their feelings. The speech center of the brain often shuts down during trauma leaving the right brain to record the event in visual images or as other isolated sensory events – they may literally not have the words to speak of the trauma. Encouragement to “talk about it” can start a tailspin of flashbacks, nightmares, and overwhelming anxiety.

Yoga helps reduce hyper-arousal and evoke the relaxation response -- the body’s antidote to the stress response, because it causes the release of neurotransmitters in the body, creating a soothing effect.

Yoga allows veterans to safely express stored emotions such as guilt, shame, anger, sadness and grief so they can better understand, make peace with, and manage those feelings.

Through yoga, the mind is allowed to safely associate the body with pleasant sensations, which is important for traumatized individuals who associate their bodies with unpleasant sensations due to war wounds, rape, etc.

Specific yoga postures provide nurturing and comfort, which is important for veterans with PTSD who have isolated themselves from family members due to a bunker mentality, anger or addiction issues.

PTSD Triggers for Veterans: Sounds including certain music or noises similar to mortar or rocket attacks, smells, tastes, actions, behaviors, sights, stressful events, words (e.g. surrender), news stories on current wars, etc.

Contact:                  Lucy Cimini

Yoga Warriors International

c/o Central Mass. Yoga & Wellness

45 Sterling Street, #28, West Boylston, MA 01583

Phone: 508.835.1176

E-Mail: info@yogawarriors.com

Website: www.yogawarriors.com

• ShareThis