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A majority of U.S. adults experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which are potentially traumatic events taking place before the age of 18. These include forms of abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, community violence, and discrimination.
Studies have found a relationship between exposure to ACEs and negative, long-term and detrimental, mental and physical health consequences, such as mental health disorders, social challenges, and chronic diseases and premature mortality. Specifically, the more ACEs a person is exposed to, the more health problems they typically have.
As a psychologist, I’m interested in exploring methods of healing. During the development of my own recent study, I became particularly curious about finding a holistic method that targets ACEs, mentally and physically. As a practitioner and teacher of Yoga, I felt that Yoga, a practice that cultivates the union of the mind and body, may be promising, and the research I came across supported this. Yoga has been found to improve the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and physical strength and mobility, in addition to treating mental health conditions, including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, and trauma.
Holistic methods of healing, like Yoga, were understudied in relation to ACEs, so I took on the task and had in-depth interviews with a dozen, culturally diverse adults across the world with what’s known to be a significant number ACEs (4+ ACEs), who were also regular practitioners of Yoga (practiced at least once per week for at least 6 months, with varied types of Yoga practice, including Hatha and Vinyasa). Essentially, I sought to understand the mental and physical impact of Yoga among adults with ACEs. After a process of transcribing and coding the recorded interviews, 4 main themes emerged from the data:
- Healing from trauma-related symptoms
- Integrating mind and body
- Offering corrective experiences
- Providing a nonverbal healing process
To clarify, individuals in the study described how components of Yoga, including meditation, or dhyana, acceptance, and physical awareness, repaired their past behavioral patterns of avoidance, and a sense of detachment they had previously felt from their bodies. They described both a physically and psychologically healthy shift from denying their emotional experiences to accepting them with non-judgment. Yoga also restored a connection these individuals had lost with their bodies through trauma, improving their ability to recognize and tend to their bodies’ needs.
Participants also explained that in engaging with their mind and body simultaneously, they integrated “fragmented” pieces of themselves, creating a feeling of “wholeness.” These individuals also described physical relief, and a sense of agency, belonging, self-worth, and compassion from Yoga that counterbalanced their previous poor health, and lack of self-worth and control, anger, shame, self-doubt, and loneliness. Lastly, and profoundly, many of them spoke to the way in which Yoga can uniquely access feelings stored in the body, ones that cannot be articulated through the limitations of language. In sum, Yoga proved to be a promising approach in healing holistically from ACEs.
This research has implications for Yoga practice and therapy. Some individuals who participated in the study emphasized how a trauma-sensitive approach to Yoga was especially healing for them. Trauma-sensitive Yoga, also known as trauma-informed Yoga, shares common elements with traditional Yoga, including physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation, but is tailored for individuals who have experienced trauma, with a focus on safety and empowerment. These participants described benefitting from being offered with choices, in an invitatory language, in their Yoga class, and practicing in an environment that is welcoming, safe, and predictable. Teachers of Yoga may consider utilizing these approaches to enhance the Yoga experience for students, as we know that many have experienced ACEs.
In therapy, it may be worth exploring the integration of Yoga with traditional talk therapy, not only to address the mental and physical effects of ACEs, but to become in touch with the feelings that exist beyond words. It will be important for the therapist in this situation to consider ethics and obtain Yoga training, and be able to debrief the Yoga experience, integrating it into the therapy process. With a better understanding of the impact of ACEs, and the ways that Yoga can mitigate this, I hope that the holistic and therapeutic effects of Yoga can be further realized.
Recommended resources:
1. Trauma Center for Trauma Sensitive Yoga
2. Center for Trauma and Embodiment at Justice Resource Institute
3. Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body by David Emerson and Elizabeth Hopper, PhD
4. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van Der Kolk, MD
About the Author:
Ida Taghavi, PhD is a NYC-based licensed clinical psychologist and certified Yoga teacher, providing evidence-based and culturally-sensitive integrative psychotherapy to individuals and couples in New York and California. She earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed her doctoral training at New York University School of Medicine – Bellevue Hospital Center.
