Treating PTSD with Yoga & Meditation

Bill Daniels Veterans Service Center Volunteers of America CO Supportive Services for Veteran Families (Back Home SSVF) The Bill Daniels Veterans Service Center also hosts multiple partner agencies including legal clinics, VA CRRC, Soldiers Angels, and the Department of Labor Between 2012-2016, SSVF Back Home has assisted 1,258 Veteran households obtain/maintain permanent stable housing across CO

Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE

Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD The Body Keeps the Score Began working with Veterans in July of 1978 Noticed pattern of men experiencing similar symptoms receiving multiple disorders 1980: American Psychiatric Association lobbied by group of Vietnam Veterans Van der Kolk denied grant to research biological traces of traumatic memories

“The act of telling the story doesn’t necessarily alter the automatic physical and hormonal responses of bodies that remain hypervigilant, prepared to be assaulted or violated at any time. For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present. Our search to understand trauma has led us to think differently not only about the structure of the mind but also about the processes by which it heals.” -B. van der Kolk

Stress Hormones Increased cortisol Moves energy to parts of body that need to fight back and away from parts that are not needed at that time Increased adrenaline blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion Increased norepinephrine Increased heart rate, blood pressure, arousal, alertness, hypervigilance Decreased thyroid hormones Also increases heart rate, increased blood pressure, and controls metabolic functions in the body

The Limbic System

The Amygdala: The Smoke Detector Identifies pertinent incoming sensory info If threat detected, signal is sent to the body Responsible for triggering the release of stress hormones

The Hippocampus Relates new incoming sensory information to past experiences and memories Damage to this area causes trauma victims left unable to differentiate what memories are more recent and which ones have occurred in the past Unable to find footing in current timeline

The Thalamus: The Cook Collects sensory info to integrate into auto- biographical memory Acts as filter / gatekeeper Responsible for focus, attention, and concentration Feeling of, “This is what is happening to me right now.”

Prefrontal Cortex: The Watchtower Responsible for deciding what event should involve the amygdala Enables individuals to predict what might happen next Allows us to hover calmly over our thoughts, feelings, and emotions

“As we begin to re-experience a visceral reconnection with the needs of our bodies, there is a brand new capacity to warmly love the self. We experience a new quality of authenticity in our caring, which redirects our attention to our health, our diets, our energy, our time management. This enhanced care for the self arises spontaneously and naturally, not as a response to a “should.” We are able to experience an immediate and intrinsic pleasure in self-care.” - Stephen Cope, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

Your Nervous System on Yoga Heart Rate Variability (HRV): A measure of how well your Central Nervous System is working CNS is divided into 2 branches: Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS)

Ian Cohn 303-505-6263 icohn@voacolorado. org http://www