Yoga is effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, but it has also been found to help in the most difficult cases of PTSD, such as suffered by war veterans. In his book, The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk, one of the US's most experienced physicians dealing with emotional trauma, reports on the use of Yoga as a therapy for PTSD. He and his coleagues found that a 10 week program of Yoga practice markedly reduced the symptoms of patients who had failed to respond to any medication or any other treatment. He explains:
Learning how to breathe calmly and remaining in a state of relative physical relaxation, even while accessing painful and horrifying memories, is an essential tool for recovery. When you deliberately take a few slow, deep breaths, you will notice the effects of the parasympathetic brake on your arousal.
Yoga now forms an important part of the treatment program at Kvan der Kolk's Trauma Centre in Boston.
