Researchers found the yoga program led to decreases in the anxiety levels of study participants and increased their self-reported quality of life. Yoga participants also reported other benefits: 54% said they were better able to sleep even with ongoing disruptions such as gunfire, helicopters and generators; 37% reported feeling more calm; 26% reported other physical benefits; and 11% said they experienced reduced frustration and anger or better anger management.
Seventy deployed military personnel at the Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq, took part in the study. The participants were divided into control and yoga therapy groups, and their anxiety levels were measured using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Quality of Life Survey.
The sensory-enhanced hatha yoga treatment was scheduled in 75-minute classes, seven days a week, for three weeks. Participants in the treatment group were to attend a minimum of two classes a week and a total of nine during the entire study period. Classes were taught by certified yoga instructor U.S. Air Force Maj. Jon H. Greuel, MHR, RYT, the study's principal investigator, who rigidly followed the "Yoga Warrior Lesson Plan" co-created by Carolyn C. Stoller, OTR/L, MS, RYT, and Lucy S. Cimini, RYT, founding director of Yoga Warriors International. This plan included initial centering, pranayama techniques, asanas, meditation and final relaxation, designed to enhance proprioceptive input and deep touch pressure, and calm breathing and the nervous system. Props such as straps and wooden blocks were used to increase proprioceptive input and deep touch pressure. Zen meditation music was used to decrease distraction from gunfire, generators and helicopters during classes. Military personnel in the control group did not attend any yoga classes during the study.
For state anxiety, the yoga treatment group showed a mean decrease of 8.23 compared with the control group, who reported a mean increase of 1.38. Similar results were found for trait anxiety, with the yoga group showing a mean decrease of 6.86, and the control group a mean increase of 1.21. Yoga participants also showed significantly greater improvement on 16 of the 18 factors in the Quality of Life Survey than control participants.
According to the researchers, study results validate the use of sensory-enhanced hatha yoga by occupational therapists to help reduce hyperarousal and improve self-regulation in adults. They also point out the treatment shows promise in addressing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder before they turn into full-blown PTSD, and proactive use may prevent the onset of PTSD-associated occupational dysfunction.
(Source: todayinot.com)
1 comment:
Amazing blog posted.
Post a Comment