Somatic and Movement Healing · Yoga

Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

van der Kolk BA, Stone L, West J, et al. · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2014

This randomized controlled trial examined trauma-informed yoga for 64 women with chronic PTSD that had not responded to earlier treatment. Participants attended either a weekly one-hour trauma-informed yoga class or a supportive women's health education class for 10 weeks. In this study, 52% of the yoga group no longer met criteria for PTSD at the end, compared with 21% of the control group. Both groups improved in the first half of treatment, but the yoga group kept its gains while the control group tended to slip back. The authors suggest yoga may help people tolerate body sensations tied to fear and build emotional awareness. A limitation is the modest sample of women only, so results may not generalize to everyone.

Our summaries describe what each study found. They are not medical advice, and the practices at Halcyon are not a treatment for any condition.