YOGA PSYCHOTHERAPY:

THE INTEGRATION OF WESTERN PSYCHOLOGICAL

THEORY AND ANCIENT YOGIC WISDOM

Mariana Caplan, Ph.D.

San Francisco, CA

Adriana Portillo, M.A.

San Francisco, CA

Lynsie Seely, M.A.

San Francisco, CA

ABSTRACT: This article offers a comprehensive perspective on how Western psychological theory
and practice, specifically developments in somatic psychology, can be integrated with the scientific
insights of Yoga in order to produce a more thorough model that seeks to reduce the symptoms of
psychological trauma and promote overall well-being. Toward this goal, the article offers a literature
review that includes trauma studies, neuroscience, mindfulness, and yoga. By integrating these
disciplines, we discover new possibilities for healing psychological trauma in the body through yogic
techniques, including physical postures, meditation, and breathing exercises. The article also introduces
an overview of the Yoga & Psyche Method, a process that allows practitioners to easily experience and
teach this integration to clients and offers five key insights and possibilities that result from this
integration. This synthesis of Eastern philosophy and modern scientific research offers a possibility for
further developments in psychological theory, research, and effective therapeutic treatments.
KEYWORDS: somatic psychology, trauma, yoga, neuroscience, mindfulness.

Psychology is a field in the making. Whereas many of the wisdom traditions

have been developing philosophies and methods to address the great questions
facing humanity for thousands of years, Western psychology is just over a
hundred years old. Globalization, the increasing interest in Eastern traditions
such as Yoga, and significant developments in neuroscience, trauma research,
and somatic psychology, have opened up the doors for a synthesis of Eastern
and Western approaches to well-being that include the treatment of clinical
disorders, as well psychological health and thriving.

This article offers an insight into what the integration of Western psychology
and ancient yogic wisdom might look like. We begin by describing important
findings and developments in somatic psychology, yoga research, breathing
techniques, and mindfulness. The literature review then summarizes current
trauma research in order to illustrate the importance of incorporating the body
and yoga in the treatment of trauma. To conclude, we offer five key insights
and implications of this integration, and consider the important questions and
research directions for further developments in this emergent interdisciplinary

Email: mariana@realspirituality.com

Copyright ’ 2013 Transpersonal Institute

The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2 139

 field. An appendix describing the Yoga & Psyche Method, a process created by
one of the authors of this article, is introduced as an example of a model that
offers a theoretical explanation and a phenomenological experience of the
usefulness of integrating these approaches.

Delving into the vast field of Yoga, one discovers that the physical exercises we
commonly understand as Yoga are but one aspect of a highly refined
philosophy that offers a psychological view of the human being. When we
consider Yoga from this wider perspective, we discover many of the goals of
modern psychology to be complementary with those of Yoga.

The precise origins of Yoga are not known, and even great Yoga scholars differ
vastly on the dates they cite in Yoga’s history. Eliade (1975) suggests that the
first systematized form of Yoga could have been written by Patañjali in his
Yoga Sūtras. There seems to be no consensus of when Patañjali lived and wrote
this classical text, but it is thought to be somewhere between 300 BCE to 500
CE. Feuerstein (1998) dates the writing of the Yoga Sūtras back to the Classical
Age (100 BCE to 500 CE) and suggests that less structured yogic ideas and
practices can be found dating back to the time of the Rig-Veda, which is
thought to be composed before 1900 BCE. Additionally, Bryant (2009) in his
book The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali talks about images of figures in yogic
postures, dating to pre-vedic times (3000 - 1900 BCE) adding that, ‘‘This
evidence suggests that, irrespective of its literary origins, Yoga has been
practiced on the Indian subcontinent for well over four thousand years’’ (p. xx).

Considering that modern psychology is just over a century old, we discovered

that an interdisciplinary approach that bridges this field with Yoga has just
begun to be articulated (Chung & Hyland, 2011). Yoga is a tool for a myriad of
applications, including a reconnection with a deeper sense of self, as it is practiced
by many in the East (Eliade, 1975). Yoga is a wide and complex subject, and for
the purpose of this article, we will only make reference to three (of eight) specific
‘‘limbs’’ or aspects introduced by Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtras: āsana - physical
postures and stretches, prānāyāma - breathwork, and dhyāna - meditation, all of
which are also mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradı̄pikā (Swami Muktibodha-
nanda Saraswati, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, & Swami Svatmarama, 2000).

Welwood (2000) overviews some of the distinctions in social and cultural

factors between East and West—particularly the Indo-Tibetan cultures —
which helps us understand some of the differences in the course of
psychospiritual development between these cultures and points to why
developments in modern psychology are specifically relevant to the Western
practitioner of spiritual traditions. Some of the (generalized) strengths of the
East include strong mother-infant bonding, intact extended families, a life
attuned to the rhythms of the natural world, and maintenance of the sacred at
the center of social life. He suggests that the gift of the West is ‘‘the impetus it
provides to develop an individuated expression of true nature… [which is] the
unique way that each of us can serve as a vehicle for embodying the
suprapersonal wisdom, compassion, and truth of absolute nature’’ (p. 207). In
other words, drawing on the strength of cultural and social factors from both

140 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2

East and West, the sum is greater than each of its parts. For a deeper discussion
and understanding of Eastern perspectives on and practice of Yoga and their
contextual elements see the work of scholars such as Sovatsky1.

A helpful step in integrating the yogic and Western psychological approaches is

to consider the role of somatic psychology. In the West, there is increasing
recognition that body awareness is an essential component to psychological well-
being (Mehling et al., 2011). Somatic psychology has been shown to be effective in
treating symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, psychosomatic issues,
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual abuse, and other forms of trauma
(Berg, Sandahl, & Bullington, 2010; Koemeda-Lutz, Kaschke, Revenstorf,
Scherrmann, Weiss, & Soeder, 2006; Lopez, 2011; Price, 2005; Steckler & Young,
2009). Therapeutic techniques that include the body improve self-regulation,
increase body awareness, reduce dissociation, foster self-care and pain manage-
ment skills, and allow for the body’s innate wisdom to come forth to help complete
impulses that may have been halted during the time of the traumatic event (Lopez,
2011; Price, 2005; Price, McBride, Hyerle, Kivlahan, 2007).

Further building blocks that positively impact our capacity to integrate these
theories and practices are the emerging fields of neuroscience and trauma
research. Both are beginning to reveal a substantial body of research-based
evidence about how trauma resides in the body, brain, and nervous system.
Many of the most effective methods for working with post-traumatic stress
disorder and complex trauma involve body-centered treatments (Emerson &
Hopper, 2011; Lopez, 2011; Ogden, Minton & Paine, 2006; Ogden, Pain, &
Fisher, 2006; Rothschild, 2000; van der Kolk, 1994; van der Kolk, 2006).

In setting out to offer an integration of Yoga and Western psychology,

particularly in light of the findings in somatic psychology, neuroscience, and
trauma research, the authors engaged a thorough review of the literature
related to our topic. We discovered that there is little scholarly material
published on how these topics are integrated. There are papers and books
written on the benefits of physical yoga and meditative practices for health,
happiness, and psychological issues. There are many new and important
studies, too numerous to mention, about the benefits of mindfulness
meditation. However, only a few individuals (Emerson, Sharma, Chaudhry,
& Turner, 2009; Longaker & Tornusciolo, 2003; Spinazzola, Rhodes, Emerson,
Earle, & Monroe, 2011; van der Kolk, 2006) have published on how the Yoga
of the East and the Psychology of the West can inform each other, enhancing
the effectiveness of each to create an integral model seeking to reduce the
effects of psychological trauma. It is our hope that this synthesis and
accompanying method will form a foundation for further research and the
development of practices that support healing from trauma.

SOMATIC PSYCHOLOGY: WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT RELEVANT?

In beginning to articulate a synthesis between Yoga and Western psychology, it

is useful to understand the significance and scope of the developments in

Yoga Psychotherapy 141

 somatic psychology. A philosopher named Thomas Hanna first applied the
term Somatics to the field of psychology in the 1970’s. Hanna wished to merge
the Western split between mind and body and declared that,‘‘ ‘Soma’ does not
mean ‘body’; it means ‘Me, the bodily being’ ’’ (Hanna, 1970, p. 35). Hanna
(1995) later defined somatics as, ‘‘The field which studies the soma: namely the
body as perceived from within the first person perception… the human being
as experienced by himself from the inside’’ (p. 343).

Although somatic psychology has only picked up momentum within the past
decade, its roots date back to the early originators of modern psychology,
including Freud, Ferenczi, Adler, Groddeck, Reich, and Jung (McNeely,
1987). It took the outside view of scholars, some fifty years later, to name this
phenomenon as the single field of somatic education. Summarizing the history
of somatic practices, Eddy (2009) wrote:

Hanna (1985), supported by Don Hanlon Johnson (2004) and Seymour

Kleinman (2004), saw the common features in the ‘‘methods’’ of Gerda and
FM Alexander, Feldenkrais, Gindler, Laban, Mensendieck, Middendorf,
Mézières, Rolf, Todd, and Trager (and their protégés Bartenieff, Rosen, Selver,
Speads, and Sweigard). Each person and their newly formed ‘‘discipline’’ had
people take time to breathe, feel and ‘‘listen to the body,’’ often by beginning
with conscious relaxation on the floor or lying down on a table. (p. 6)

More recent approaches to somatic psychology and body-oriented psycho-

therapy include Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Ogden, Minton, & Paine, 2006),
Somatic Experiencing (Levine, 1997, 2008, 2010), Body-Mind Centering
(Bainbridge Cohen, Nelson, & Nelson, 2003), Somatic Trauma Therapy
(Rothschild, 2000), Hakomi (Kurtz, 1990), Bioenergetics (Lowen, 1994),
Integrative Body Psychotherapy (Rosenberg, Rand, & Asay, 1985), Holotropic
Breathwork (Grof & Grof, 2010), Core Energetics (Pierrakos, 1987), and iRest
(Miller, 2010). These approaches include both the body and mind, creating
specific methods to deal with trauma and self-knowledge.

Within this discipline of somatic psychology, the mind and body are viewed as
an interactive whole where mental and physical symptoms are connected and
are representative of an individual’s whole being. In this way somatic
psychology links psychotherapy with the soma, which allows one to consider
the psychological meaning of symptoms that manifest in the body (Hartley,
2004). The change from doing psychotherapy strictly in the mind to moving it
into the body is a radical shift. Somatic approaches work directly with present
tense phenomena in the body and ‘‘unwind’’ psychological material via the
means of direct experience. Berg et al. (2010) state that becoming more aware
of the connection between bodily symptoms and emotions allows clients to
increase their feeling of control. This approach empowers individuals as
physical symptoms morph into information about their body that they can
then learn to understand and integrate.

Treatment of disorders such as depression, which is increasingly recognized as

a mind-body phenomenon (Steckler & Young, 2009), must include both mind

142 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2

and body for full recovery. Furthermore, Koemeda-Lutz et al. (2006) found
that body therapy treatments significantly improved symptoms of anxiety,
depression, interpersonal problems, and psychosomatic grievances just after six
months. The longer the treatment lasted the greater the improvement, with
benefits remaining for up to two years following treatment (Koemeda-Lutz
et al., 2006).

By understanding the bridge that somatic psychology makes between

psychotherapy and somatic bodywork, we can build a similar bridge between
psychotherapy and Yoga. With an accompanying language and set of
practices, Yoga psychotherapy is an integral framework that has a powerful
impact on cultivating wellness.

YOGA RESEARCH

In the West, the intricacies and depth of Yoga are not widely practiced to its
fullest extent (see endnote1). The Yoga research and literature reviewed here
includes studies of physical yoga, as well as breathwork and meditation; the
latter is often investigated under the term ‘‘mindfulness.’’ The authors do
recognize that due to all the different types of meditation and breathwork
approaches, it is difficult to compare the results and psychological effects of the
various methods (Sedlmeier et al., 2012).

Yoga, including meditation and breathwork, has proven to be effective in

reducing symptoms of several physical and psychological disorders. In a study
done by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM), Yoga, deep breathing, and meditation are in the ten most common
complementary and alternative medicine therapies among adults in 2007
(Barnes, Bloom, & Nahin, 2008). The following sections summarize specific
studies that explore the benefits of different yogic techniques. Given that in the
West some of the terms used for different techniques are interchangeable, some
of the following studies might incorporate more than one of these approaches
(i.e., postures, breathwork, meditation).

Yoga and Stress

Numerous studies have been conducted that demonstrate that the physical
practice of Yoga āsana decreases stress, promoting increased relaxation and
regulation at a psychological and neuromuscular level. In the Harvard Mental
Health Letter (Harvard Health Publications, 2009), an article entitled, ‘‘Yoga
for Anxiety and Depression’’ spoke to the significance of yoga on stress
management:

By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress

response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal—for
example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing

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 respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart
rate variability, an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress more
flexibly. (p. 1)

Some researchers have conducted similar studies using short term yoga
interventions and have found a relationship between Yoga and decreased stress
across many different populations such as young adults (Gard, Brach, Hölzel,
Noggle, Conboy, & Lazar, 2012), older adults, (Bonura & Pargman, 2009),
businessmen and women (Wolever, Bobinet, McCabe, Mackenzie, Fekete,
Kusnick, & Baime, 2012), and patients suffering from chronic illness (Pritchard,
Elison-Bowers, & Birdsall, 2010; Salmon, Santorelli, & Kabat-Zinn, 1998). Yoga
helps to train the body to relax on a muscular level, allowing the stress response
to be more easily managed (Serber, 2000). Brisbon and Lowery (2011) found that
compared to beginners, advanced practitioners of Hatha Yoga displayed lower
levels of stress and increased awareness of being present in the moment.

Yoga also gives individuals a framework for regulating emotions and a space
to practice self-soothing techniques (Harper, 2010). Gootjes, Franken, and Van
Strein (2011) conducted a study that confirmed that yogic meditative practices
help with successful emotion regulation. There is also evidence to suggest that
yoga aids in the development of the self-soothing capacity of traumatized
youth (Spinazzola et al., 2011). Overall, yoga practice has been shown to
support stress management at a level comparable to cognitive behavioral
interventions, helping to increase relaxation and improve emotion regulation
(Granath, 2006). Breathwork has also been found to increase one’s ability to
regulate emotions, in addition to improving heart rate variability by balancing
the interaction between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems (Brown
& Gerbarg, 2009; Holzel, Lazar, Gard, Schuman-Oliver, Vago & Ott, 2011).

Yoga and the Treatment of Clinical Diagnoses

Numerous studies have revealed that Yoga benefits various clinical diagnoses,
as articulated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th
ed.; DSM-5; American Psychological Association, 2013). An example of this is
children with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
for whom a yoga practice has been shown to stabilize emotions, reduce
hyperactivity and impulsivity, increase attention span, feelings of calmness and
confidence, and improve social skills. It also has shown to improve the quality
of the parent-child relationship, sleep patterns, and positively change the
child’s approach to school (Abadi, Madgaonkar, & Venkatesan, 2008;
Harrison, Manocha, & Rubia, 2004; Jensen & Kenny, 2004).

When applied to those with eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia
nervosa, and eating disorders not otherwise specified, yoga has shown to
improve mood, increase physical and emotional awareness, and decrease eating
disorder symptoms. A study conducted by Dale, Mattison, Greening, Galen,
Neace, & Matacin (2009) reported that ‘‘Women’s intense fear of gaining
weight, preoccupation with weight, body dissatisfaction, extreme desire to be

144 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2

thinner, and desire to think about and engage in bouts of binge eating was
reduced’’ (p. 431).

Yoga has also been shown to benefit those with schizophrenia by reducing
psychopathology when paired with standard psychiatric treatment. Studies
have found reduced psychotic symptoms and depression, improved cognition,
enhanced social and occupational functioning, and an increased quality of life
(Bangalore & Varambally, 2012; Duraiswamy, Thirthalli, Nagendra, &
Gangadhar, 2007; Visceglia & Lewis, 2011).

Yoga and Depression

As depression and anxiety are often co-occurring, some findings related to

anxiety are also included in this section. A study conducted by Kinser,
Bourguignon, Whaley, Hausenstein, and Taylor (2013) found that the women
diagnosed with major depressive disorder who were assigned to the yoga
intervention group showed a decrease in depression and experienced less
ruminations, increased feelings of connectedness, and the added benefit of a
new coping method. Forbes (2008) reports that yoga’s ability to calm the
nervous system, foster an awareness of the present moment, and release energy
that has been trapped in the body, aids in the reduction of symptoms
associated with affective disorders.

Studies have shown that the practice of following the breath is a valuable aid in
the treatment of depression and anxiety. Miller (1994) found that yogic,
diaphragmatic breathing increases ego strength, emotional stability, confi-
dence, alertness, and perceived control over one’s environment, as well as
reducing anxiety, depression, phobic behavior, and psychosomatic problems.
Lalande, Bambling, King, and Lowe (2012) studied how the suppression of
inner experiences, possibly triggered by traumatic events, may be linked to
inhibited breathing which in turn may be furthering states of depression and
anxiety. Additionally, a meta-analysis conducted by Baer (2003) suggests that
mindfulness-based interventions may be helpful in the treatment of several
issues including chronic pain, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, patients
with cancer, fibromyalgia or psoriasis all with positive results.

Amy Weintraub (2004) describes in detail various yoga practices that can be used to
treat depression. Her work is grounded in research and based as well on the
experience of healing and managing her own depression through Yoga. In a more
recent effort (Weintraub, 2012) she also illuminates how therapists can learn and
teach a variety of yogic processes—including breath, sound, mudras (hand positions),
imagery, and self-inquiry — to increase the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

Yoga and Well-Being

Yoga also improves the mood of individuals who do not suffer from a
diagnosable disorder and overall offers a practice that promotes general well-

Yoga Psychotherapy 145

 being. In a study by Shapiro (2004) healthy participants recorded the
fluctuations of their mood and emotional states before and after yoga classes.
The results showed that positive moods increased and negative moods decreased
following yoga practice (Shapiro, 2004). A study that assessed yoga practice and
its effect on mood compared to walking found that those who were assigned to
the yoga group reported greater improvements in both mood and anxiety levels
than those in the walking group (Streeter et al. 2010). Yoga practice additionally
promotes greater well-being by increasing body awareness, positive affect, and
satisfaction with life for both men and women, while simultaneously decreasing
objectification of their bodies (Impett, Daubenmier, & Hirschman, 2006).

The ability to be present increases with the practice of yoga, which has a positive
effect on overall well-being. Studies on mindfulness have found how it helps
people increase attention and focus (Lazar, Bush, Gollub, Fricchione, Khalsa, &
Benson 2000). Shelov, Suchday, & Friedberg (2009) found that just eight weeks
of yoga practice significantly increased mindfulness, insightful understanding,
and an open attitude. Meditation can also be useful with deeper issues around
personality and maturity of relatively healthy individuals (Epstein, 1986).
Findings such as these are important in thinking about preventative mental
health, protecting against disorders such as anxiety and depression, and
strengthening the already existing resources that every individual possesses.

Yoga has been shown to relieve suffering during periods of grief and
bereavement. Philbin (2009) wrote, ‘‘The therapeutic process creates a safe and
sacred space for processing sensations, thoughts, and emotions… Grieving
adults who participated in the yoga therapy intervention showed significant
improvements in vitality and positive states and a trend toward improved
satisfaction with life’’ (p. 129). Yoga can also provide a space for connection
and relationship building. Partner yoga can foster deep emotional connection,
healthy boundaries, trust, and a strong sense of self while simultaneously being
in relationship (Swart, 2011).

Looking to neuroscience, studies show that practicing mindfulness increases

positive affect (Davidson et al., 2003) and enhances self-regulation (Holzel et
al., 2011). Certain areas of the brain associated with attention, introspection,
and sensory processing are thicker in participants with extensive meditation
experience compared to those with little to no experience, and the UCLA
Laboratory of Neuroimaging found that the brains of people who practice
meditation are in fact different from those who do not (Holzel et al., 2011;
Lazar et al., 2005; Luders, Kurth, Mayer, Toga, Narr, & Gaser, 2012).

TRAUMA RESEARCH

Trauma and the Body

A significant amount of attention has been paid to the study and treatment
of trauma in the last few decades. The most effective treatments for trauma
often include body-centered methods as these have a direct effect on the

146 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2

physiological and neurological mechanisms that affect the body following a
traumatic event (Emerson & Hopper 2011, Levine, 1997; Ogden, Minton, &
Paine, 2006; Rothschild, 2000; van der Kolk, 2006). We now know that Yoga
also contributes to the health and well-being of both the body and psyche, and
when it is merged with modern psychology, clinicians have a wider array of
tools and greater knowledge from which to draw upon in regards to treating
individuals suffering from trauma. Before offering a synthesis of how these
approaches to psychological transformation work together, it is important to
note some of the significant findings in trauma research.

Trauma is a form of stress. Under normal circumstances stress protects the

human system and promotes growth. However, if the stress response is
maladaptive or becomes chronic, it can lead to psychological and biological
transformations that are harmful (Christopher, 2004; McEwan & Lasley,
2002). Although the stress response is a biological process that naturally occurs
in every individual, trauma manifests in different ways for each unique person
(Christopher, 2004). The event does not necessarily have to be catastrophic, it
can be a seemingly mundane event that directly or indirectly affects the
individual, but what is crucial is how the body reacts to the situation (Levine,
2008). Peter Levine (1997) stated that:

Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the ‘‘triggering’’ event itself. They
stem from the frozen residue of energy that has not been resolved and
discharged; this residue remains trapped in the nervous system where it
can wreak havoc on our bodies and spirits. (p. 19)

Trauma symptoms arise when the arousal cycle cannot be completed, keeping
the individual locked in an aroused state of fear. This traps the traumatized
person in a cycle of fear that affects the entire body, including the mind, the
emotional system, and the neurological system that regulates the body (Levine,
1997). Stephen Porges (Porges, 2001; Prengel, 2011), a professor in the
Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, proposed,
through his polyvagal theory, that in addition to the fight or flight defenses of
the sympathetic nervous system, there is a vagal defense system that causes
immobilization and a newer mammalian development, the myelinated vagus,
which plays a role in self soothing (Prengel, 2011). When treating trauma these
systems are important to note as they are physiological components that can
keep the trauma victim locked in a frozen state and unable to self soothe.

Experiencing trauma puts the individual under great physical and emotional
distress, and the biological changes that happen in the body result in various
forms of symptoms that can show up months or years following the event. It is
the biological alterations that lead to the psychological effects of trauma, which
are often not within control of the individual. A comprehensive literature
review on complex trauma observed in childhood trauma revealed seven areas
of impairment: attachment, biology, affect regulation, dissociation, behavioral
regulation, cognition, and self-concept (Cook et al., 2005). Leading trauma
researcher Bessel A. van der Kolk (2002) wrote:

Yoga Psychotherapy 147

 Once people are traumatized and develop PTSD, their ability to soothe
themselves is compromised. Instead, they tend to rely on actions, such as
fight or flight, or on pathological self-soothing, such as self-mutilation,
binging, starving, or the ingestion of alcohol and drugs, to regulate their
internal balance. (p. 386)

The limbic system, an area of the brain that is associated with emotions and
survival behaviors, is also affected by trauma. The result of this is that the
individual may feel the emotions as if they were a reenactment of the traumatic
event, leading him/her to act irrationally to events that may be irrelevant in the
moment but important during the traumatic event (van der Kolk, 2006).
Emotions can be uncontrollable and overwhelming, becoming the enemy,
turning the individual against his or her self, therefore learning to self-soothe is
essential in healing from trauma (Gallop, 2002). The goal of treating PTSD is
to help the client live safely in the present without being pulled back into the
trauma.

What then, constitutes the major ingredients to effective trauma treatment?

Van der Kolk (2006) suggested it needs to involve, ‘‘(a) learning to tolerate
feelings and sensations by increasing the capacity for interoception; (b)
learning to modulate arousal; and (c) learning that after confrontation with
physical helplessness it is essential to engage in taking effective action’’ (p. 1).
Since trauma is re-enacted in the present through one’s physiological, mental,
and emotional systems, effective therapy includes self-awareness and self-
regulation to bring one back into the present moment (van der Kolk, 2006).

Yoga and Trauma Research

Because trauma treatments often involve body-centered approaches to healing,

a new body of research on the benefits of Yoga on trauma has just begun to
emerge. ‘‘Clinical experience shows that traumatized individuals, as a rule,
have great difficulty attending to their inner sensations and perceptions—when
asked to focus on internal sensations they tend to feel overwhelmed, or deny
having an inner sense of themselves’’ (van der Kolk, 2006, p. 11). The practice
of Yoga is an excellent tool to bridge this gap. Gerbarg & Brown (2011) voiced
some strong points on this topic:

While talk-based and cognitive therapies can be of great benefit, there are
situations in which mind-body approaches, such as yoga, qigong, tai chi,
breathing practices, and meditation can be extremely beneficial and sometimes
necessary for full recovery… Learning how to use the body to speak to the
mind circumvents the prohibition against talking and can be more effective
than relying solely on verbal, cognitive, or intellectual approaches. (p. 199)

Traumatized youth have also benefited from yoga. Spinazzola, Rhodes,

Emerson, Earle, & Monroe (2011) conducted a study with traumatized youth
living in residential treatment homes. The primary goal of the practice was to
provide them with a safe space and structure in which to reconnect with their

148 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2

bodies. The results showed that doing yoga helped to strengthen the youth’s
self-regulating ability (Spinazzola et al., 2011). Another study (Longaker &
Tornusciolo, 2003) implemented yoga as a type of group therapy for severely
traumatized adolescent boys and found that the boys learned how to develop
effective attachments, empathy for others, trust, and a sense of security within
the group. There was improved self-regulation, a foundation for which to build
a stronger sense of self, which allowed for the boys to connect with bodies in a
healthy way promoting a sense of empowerment and responsibility over their
body (p. 80-81).

One week of yoga has proven to reduce fear, anxiety, sadness, and interrupted
sleep in individuals who survived natural disasters, suggesting that yoga may
be useful in managing the negative emotional and somatic-based effects of
these disasters. (Telles, 2007; Telles, Singh, Joshi, & Balkrishna, 2010).
Additionally, yogic breathing can help relieve psychological distress in
individuals that have undergone trauma from such events (Descilo et al., 2010).

Mindfulness techniques help individuals to re-focus on the present, allowing

thoughts and feelings to be experienced without judgment or avoidance
(Follete, Palm, & Pearson, 2006). A study by Lopez (2011) suggested that
techniques that have a mindfulness component allow people suffering from
PTSD to improve self-regulation. Meditation also activates structures involved
in attention and control of the autonomic nervous system (Holzel et al., 2011).

CONCLUSION

Through our review of the major studies exploring yoga (including āsana,
breath control, and meditation), somatic psychology, and trauma, we have
found yoga and psychology to be complementary to each other and that the
integration supports the process of recovering from psychological trauma. In
closing, we propose the following five insights and possibilities for this
integration:

1. The Western psychologist can benefit from the insights of a

comprehensive view of Yoga and how this ancient practice can
complement modern psychological theory and clinical work. Yoga
and yogic techniques have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety by
modulating the stress response and regulating emotions. This improves
one’s ability to self-soothe, supports mindful living, increases feelings
of connectedness, confidence, focus, body awareness, and perceived
control over the environment, and promotes greater well-being and
satisfaction with life. Using some of the key insights Yoga offers to
inform psychology—it particularly lends itself to somatic psychology—
the clinician can begin to use these techniques to complement their
clinical knowledge to benefit their clients without having to engage years
of Yoga studies.
2. As a result of these positive effects of Yoga, the symptoms of a handful
of DSM-5 disorders can be reduced, i.e. ADHD, eating disorders,

Yoga Psychotherapy 149

 schizophrenia, and depression. The positive benefits seem to particularly
address many of the issues associated with PTSD and related
symptomology, including the inability to self soothe and modulate
arousal, fear and dissociation from the body, and persistent stress that
pulls the individual out of the present and into the trauma.
3. The Western practitioner of Yoga can benefit from this integration by
expanding their understanding of Yoga to include a psychological
component. This can allow for a deepening of the practice to focus on
how Yoga can affect one’s sense of self and improve well-being both in
formal yoga practice as well as in daily life. It is not expected that
Western yoga teachers would know how to work psychologically, but by
increasing their understanding of somatic psychology and the sensitive
nature of trauma, they can significantly increase their skill set to
integrate psychological material, or create a psychological frame, for
themselves and their students during yoga practice.
4. Embodiment. There exists the possibility for human beings to become
fully embodied—for the consciousness and intelligence that is
ordinarily associated with the mind, to become awakened throughout
the whole body. The integration of Yoga and psychology supports this
whole body awakening by allowing one to work through their
psychological holding patterns, traumas, and ailments, while also
connecting one to their body and the present moment. This clearing
away of psychological traumas, paired with full body and present
moment awareness, allows one to come into a deeper knowing of
themselves and get in touch with their natural essence that is embodied
in their being. When this happens, radical changes in the phenome-
nological experience take place. The split between thoughts, feelings,
and actions, disappears and more congruence begins to arise, adding a
spiritual dimension to life that includes behaviors, vocation, health,
lifestyle, relationships, and thriving.
5. The integration of Yoga and psychology, in the light of trauma, offers
many opportunities for trauma sensitive yoga techniques, informed by
psychology, to be created, researched, and implemented. The authors
believe that further researcher in this area will strengthen the links
between these three fields of knowledge (yoga, psychology, and trauma),
supporting its application to different populations from prisoners to
youth, medicine, preventative medicine, palliative care, well-being, and
thriving. We offer this foundational article, and following application of
how Yoga and psychotherapy can be integrated for clinical use, as a
wellspring from which others can draw on and further develop.

To conclude, as Yoga becomes increasingly acceptable to mainstream and

scientific communities, it is likely that many opportunities for further research
will become available. As the popularity of neuroscience continues to link
science with psychology and spirituality, we hope it will bridge the perceived
separation between ‘‘mainstream’’ and ‘‘psychological’’ communities with
spiritual traditions. Questions that remain for further study include: Could the
validation of Yoga, that neuroscience and trauma research are providing, make
it possible to include Yoga as a treatment modality in the DSM for PTSD and

150 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2

other anxiety-related disorders? Will the scientific discoveries and developments
that are changing the way humanity lives in the world be able to further integrate
the wisdom of the East and West to allow for an inclusion of not just mind and
body, but of the more spiritual aspects of the soul/psyche too? Will this integration
allow for trauma to be better understood and addressed? We offer this review and
synthesis of the current literature and research in these areas not as a final analysis
but rather as a foundation and springboard for further studies in the field.

Appendix: The Yoga & Psyche Method

One practical application of the integration of yoga and Western psychology,

which would benefit from further research as well as added developments as the
field continues to evolve, is The Yoga & Psyche Method. Developed by one of the
authors of this article, who is a is psychotherapist specializing in psychological
integration on the spiritual path as well as a long-term yoga teacher and
practitioner, The Yoga & Psyche method draws upon 19 years of clinical experience
and Yoga studies, as well as Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing model. Through
this method, clients and students are introduced to the importance of the body in
their psychological healing, and taught to use yogic exercises, breathing, and
meditative practices to unwind trauma and regulate their nervous system.

This method can be taught in a workshop setting where the facilitator teaches,
demonstrates, and guides participants through the steps listed below, followed
by an opportunity to share in dyads, bring questions to the facilitator in a group
setting, and then continue to practice and refine the skills. The steps can also be
applied in the psychotherapy room, with the therapist directly guiding the client
through the process over several weeks or months. The process deepens and
becomes more effective the longer it is practiced. It can be integrated with most
other therapeutic modalities, complementing their efficacy.

The following steps are an outline of the process, which can be adapted and changed
according to the skills of the therapist and needs of the clients or practitioners:

1. Educate the client or group about a) the field of somatic psychology, b) how
Yoga and psychology complement each other, c) trauma and its treatment,
and d) an overview of how the exercise will be experienced in their bodies.
2. Teach client(s) to move awareness from their minds into their bodies by
teaching exercises that create psychological safety and bring in
visualization, yogic breathing, and mindfulness.
3. Once clients have a sense of how to experience their emotional states as
bodily sensations, a process called pendulation or titration (Levine, 1997)
is introduced through which clients learn to move their awareness
between creating a sense of safety in their bodies to briefly (30–60 seconds)
experiencing the sensations associated with traumatic experience and then
moving back to that place of safety in their bodies. This process of pendulation
(Levine, 1997) can be repeated several times for a gradual deepening, and
clients discover they can learn to move back into a sense of safety.

Yoga Psychotherapy 151

 4. The process is then applied to working with specific yoga poses. These
include some general positions understood to allow the release of
tension and even illness, as well as yoga postures that could be holding
deep emotional content.
5. The possibility of receiving physical touch and support in the yoga poses
while releasing traumatic emotions is introduced when appropriate in a
workshop context. Workshop participants learn to provide a safe space in
which to offer this. Clients and workshop participants are always offered
the option of the therapist’s or facilitator’s presence without touch.
6. Clients and/or workshop participants are then redirected to a place of
safety within their bodies and ‘‘complete’’ their process with the
conscious recognition that they can engage with deep, traumatic
material within themselves, and emerge from this with more energy,
joy, and relaxation. This experience facilitates the eventual ability to
digest very difficult emotions and experiences in the moment.
7. The client/participant processes with the therapist/facilitator the
material that emerged.

Once the therapist or facilitator is comfortable with these steps, these practices
can range in length from a short, 5–10 minute individual or group process, to a
45 minute – 1 hour session, including the time for integration and discussion.

This practice is safe as long as the therapist or facilitator keeps the interaction
between the client and their traumatic material in gentle 30–60 section
intervals, instead of longer periods of time, which tend to facilitate catharsis
rather than gradual integration.

It is the hope of the authors that many new methods and practices will continue
to emerge alongside the continued developments in neuroscience, trauma
research, somatic psychology, and Yoga research.

NOTES
1
Although outside the scope of the present article, some researchers—especially Sovatsky– are of the position
that modern psychology is incomplete and operates from a scientia sexualis (science of sexuality) perspective,
thus missing further maturational states that a system operating from ars eroticas (erotic art), such as Kundalini
Yoga, embraces and embodies. This position suggests that modern psychology does not fully comprehend the
depth of yogic phenomena. Furthermore, it is said that asanas exported to US are disconnected from their tantric
traditions and shaped by European practices, such as ballet and gymnastics (Sovatsky, 1998). Norman Sjoman
(1999) stated that modern yoga ‘‘appears to be distinct from the philosophical or textual tradition, and does not
appear to have any basis as a tradition as there is no textual support for the asanas taught and no lineage of
teachers’’ (p. 35). For those who may wish to further explore this matter, please see Singleton, M. (2010), Sjoman,
N.E. (1999), and particularly Sovatsky, S. (1998).

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The Authors

Mariana Caplan, Ph.D., MFT, is a psychotherapist and the author of six books
in the fields of psychology and spirituality, including Eyes Wide Open:
Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path (Sounds True, 2010), Halfway Up
the Mountain: the Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment (Hohm Press,
1999), and The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual
Teacher (Sounds True, 2011). As a psychotherapist, she specializes in using
somatic approaches to therapy to support spiritual practitioners and teachers
of all traditions and religions to heal trauma and thrive, as well as working with
complex spiritual traumas within spiritual communities. She has been an
adjunct professor at The California Institute of Integral Studies in San
Francisco since 2001, as well as teaching extensively at Naropa University,
Sophia University and John F. Kennedy University.

Adriana Portillo, M.A., is an avid meditator with over 15 years of practice and
has a background in management. She earned her degree in Integral
Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and
currently combines her work as a psychotherapist both with children, through
a school based program and with adults through private practice in Berkeley,
California. She is interested in finding creative ways to address trauma at all
levels of existence.

Lynsie Seely, M.A., is a doctoral candidate in the East West Psychology

Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She works as a
marriage and family therapist intern at a private practice and for an agency
working with children on the autism spectrum. Her passion is researching the
relationship between body-based practices/therapies and healing from the
trauma of sexual abuse.

158 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2