Concepts in Yoga-Based Interventions
Pranayama & The Benefits of Breath
Practice:
A Presentation for the MAOT Spring Conference
Allison Sullivan, MS, OTR/L, CAGS, RYT
March 28, 2015
Website: www.allisulli.com
Email: Allison.Sullivan@aic.edu
Twitter: @allisulliotprof
Lesson Objectives
• Identify performance and mental state
benefits of consciously employing a relaxed
breathing pattern
• Identify a variety of conditions that can benefit
from therapeutic breathing practice
• Practice two different breathing exercises that
can be used for different reasons and to
produce different results
About Me: Allison Sullivan, CAGS, MS, OTR/L, RYT
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, American International
College, Springfield, MA
• Teaching responsibilities include courses in the psychosocial aspects of the
development of occupations and fundamentals of occupational therapy
• Research interests in attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities, traumainformed care, public health, sensory modulation & movement-based therapy
Director of Occupational Therapy Services, Sunshine Village, Chicopee, MA
• Occupational Therapist for 21 years
AFAA certified Group Exercise Instructor for 30 years
RYT 200, Sacred Rivers, Glastonbury, CT, 2011
• Studying yoga for past 13 years, teaching yoga for 7 years
• Specialty certifications in trauma-informed yoga instruction, yoga for children w
special needs, and YogaKids
Learning is movement from Moment to Moment
Learning is movement from Moment to Moment”
-Krishnamurti
-Krishnamurti
Pranayama is breath practice. When you breathe, it is an opportunity to learn.
How we think about a situation often influences our experience of it:
• Being worried or anxious can cause increased muscle
tension and inefficient breathing patterns
• Sympathetic nervous system becomes more engaged;
triggers “fight or flight” response
Pranayama Practices Can Create Positive Changes:
Mind-Body-Breath Pattern of Disorder =
Sensory Dysregulation (“Fight or Flight”)
vs
Mind-Body-Breath Pattern of Order =
Sensory Regulation (“Rest and Digest”)
The Good News!
Neural Plasticity!
Where attention goes, neural
firing goes. And where
neurons fire, new
connections can be made.
Siegel, 2007
:
• Mindfulness meditation research has been associated with
increases in Left Hippocampal volume
• Evidence of significant decreases in both state and trait
anxiety in experimental group participants in a veterans’
run and organized yoga and breath practice program in
Central Massachusetts
• In this same study, treatment subjects also showed greater
improvement on 16 out of 18 Quality of Life survey variables, as
compared to the control group
Clinical benefits of breath practice related to Trauma/PTSD:
• Living: Being in the here and
now
• Provides a structure around
the practices of mindfulness
and self-regulation
• Mindfulness, introceptive
awareness
• Building curiosity
• Learning to drop the content of one’s thoughts
• Connectedness to body and somatic states
Other benefits of breath practice related to Trauma/PTSD:
•Changing relationship to body-befriending it
•Affect regulation
•Grounding
•Connection to others
•Centering
•Becoming stronger & more flexible,
physically and emotionally
E. Hopper, Ph.D. Trauma Center at JRI
Because of these benefits, Pranayama can also help alleviate
symptoms of the following conditions:
•Anxiety
•Depression
•Heart Disease
•Hypertension/HBP
•COPD
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthyliving/stress-management/indepth/meditation/art-20045858
• Chronic Pain
• Asthma
• Cancer
• Sleep disorders or
poor quality sleep
Practice YogaKids’ “Take 5” & “Peace Breath”:
Applications to Clinical Practice:
Habit Shaping & Health Promoting
The spirit-mind-body-world is an
integrated, intelligent, sensing & active
system (Capra, 1996)
Human dynamic systems are
embedded in the physical world &
interdependent & interconnected
within it
(Champagne, 2007)
Other Applications to Clinical Practice:
Therapeutic Benefits
Interest in MBSR presents a tremendous opportunity to
help people with a wide variety of health conditions:
• Contribute to vitality, mood and alertness
• Add comfort and control to breathing
• Pain management
• Outlet for Spirituality
• Structured practice for meaningful use of time
• Gain occupational identity as a “meditator”
Applications to OT Practice con’d:
General Safety Guidelines
• Have participants complete a medical history before joining
classes
• Ask permission to partner with their physician so you can seek
guidance in creating a safe and effective MBSR-based
interventions.
• If you are ever uncertain as to whether or not a specific
breath practice is safe, avoid it.
• Observe the safety-first principle—when in doubt, do not do
it.
Ok, I’m interested, so where can I go for advice?
• In 2003, the Trauma Center at JRI launched a pioneering
yoga program to address the needs of its clients and
developed a teaching approach tailored to those with
trauma histories
• In 2007, the Duke University Health System opened its
integrative medicine facility and started The Therapeutic
Yoga for Seniors program
• To provide a skillful framework for teaching yoga to seniors, specific
Principles of Practice were developed, which integrate knowledge gained
from Western medicine with yogic teachings
http://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/3303/280739600012.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1
Resources
Champagne , T. (2003). Sensory Modulation and Environment:
Essential Elements of Occupation . Champagne Conferences &
Consultation: Southampton, MA .
Gallagher, B. and Sabel, R. (2007).Restorative yoga. OT Practice, Vol.12
(21),pp.16-20.
http://www.irest.us/
http://www.jackkornfield.com/
http://www.ashayayoga.com/tag/pranayama/ (Todd Norian)
www.ot-innovations.com The Sensory Modulation Program
www.allisulli.com
~ NAMASTE MEANS: THE LIGHT IN ME HONORS THE LIGHT IN YOU ~
References
1. Capra, F. (1997) The web of life: A new scientific understanding of living systems. New
York: Anchor Books.
2. Champagne, T and Lazzarini, I. (2007). Neuro-Occupation: non-linear dynamic approach to rehabilitation.
Workshop Presentation, Westford, MA, MAOT Conference.
3. Champagne, T. (2010). Sensory modulation and trauma-informed care. Classroom lecture, Springfield, MA:
American International College.
4. Emerson D. (2009). Toward Becoming a Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Teacher: A Best Practices Guide from the Trauma
Center. Brookline, MA: The Trauma Center at JRI.
5. Hopper E.(2010) Trauma Theory and Yoga-Based Interventions for Trauma Survivors. Workshop Presentation,
Boston, MA: The Trauma Center at JRI.
6. Schore, Allan.(2003) Affect dysregulation and disorders of the self. New York: W. W. Norton and Company,
2003.
7. Seigel, D. Mindful brain. New York: WW Norton, 2007.
8. Stoller, C., Gruel, J., Cimini, C., Fowler, M., & Koomar, J. (2012).Effects of sensory enhanced yoga on symptoms
of combat stress in deployed military personnel. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, (66), 59-68.
9. Van der Kolk ,B, McFarlane, Weisaeth. (2006). Traumatic Stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on
mind, body, and society. New York: The Guilford Press
10.Wenig, W. (2003). YogaKids: Educating the whole child through yoga. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang.