Dissociated1
Silver Member
It's hard to separate the effect on the mind from the body with these Eastern philosophies. I have meditated on and off for 30 plus years but have been getting more and more into Traditional Chinese Medicine since seeing an acupuncturist in 2008 for my scoliosis. I have wanted to start a yoga practice for some time and finally signed up for a weekly class when I retired this past winter as a way for my female alter to get quality time with other women.
It only took one class for me to know yoga was exactly what I have been looking for in my life for a long time. I won’t deny the first few months were really hard; I was so sore it woke me up every night after class and I hurt until the day before it was time to go the next week. But I am certain the rapid psychological changes I have been experiencing these last few months are as much the result of yoga as they are psychodynamic therapy, and the improvements in my flexibility and the decrease in my physical pain has been amazing.
It’s odd our culture has turned a traditionally male practice into something for women. Women do have an extra vertebrae in the curve of their low back so they are generally more flexible than men, but they often lack the upper body strength to perform poses that were designed for the male body. Although my female alter goes to class as a woman, we usually only have 1-2 guys in our classes of 6-8. Yoga is very personal practice and no one blinks an eye at them. I have told most of my male friends I started yoga for my back (albeit they don’t know it is as my female alter) and they all seem impressed I am tackling something they see as very hard instead of razzing me.
I have seen advertisements at our school for the "Yoga Warriors." There are many different kinds of yoga practices from fast paced dance-like aerobics, to deep meditative poses, so it's worth taking the time to find one that is right for you. The positive effects of yoga for PTSD are well documented. I haven’t been on the forum long enough to post hyperlinks but I found an excellent downloadable research article entitled “Clinical Implications of Neuroscience Research in PTSD,” by Bessel A. Van der Kolk, Boston University School of Medicine, The Trauma Center, 2006.
It only took one class for me to know yoga was exactly what I have been looking for in my life for a long time. I won’t deny the first few months were really hard; I was so sore it woke me up every night after class and I hurt until the day before it was time to go the next week. But I am certain the rapid psychological changes I have been experiencing these last few months are as much the result of yoga as they are psychodynamic therapy, and the improvements in my flexibility and the decrease in my physical pain has been amazing.
It’s odd our culture has turned a traditionally male practice into something for women. Women do have an extra vertebrae in the curve of their low back so they are generally more flexible than men, but they often lack the upper body strength to perform poses that were designed for the male body. Although my female alter goes to class as a woman, we usually only have 1-2 guys in our classes of 6-8. Yoga is very personal practice and no one blinks an eye at them. I have told most of my male friends I started yoga for my back (albeit they don’t know it is as my female alter) and they all seem impressed I am tackling something they see as very hard instead of razzing me.
I have seen advertisements at our school for the "Yoga Warriors." There are many different kinds of yoga practices from fast paced dance-like aerobics, to deep meditative poses, so it's worth taking the time to find one that is right for you. The positive effects of yoga for PTSD are well documented. I haven’t been on the forum long enough to post hyperlinks but I found an excellent downloadable research article entitled “Clinical Implications of Neuroscience Research in PTSD,” by Bessel A. Van der Kolk, Boston University School of Medicine, The Trauma Center, 2006.
