The Eight Limbs of Yoga can be Maintained in a Veteran Friendly Yoga Program

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may occur after a traumatic event and has deleterious effects on individuals, including decreased quality of life and function. Yoga is an intervention that may help with the management of PTSD symptoms, however yoga interventions in research studies frequently only include postures and breathwork, not all eight limbs of yoga.

The aims of this qualitative study was to examine whether participants with PTSD in a group yoga program discussed the benefits of yoga in a way that represented the eight limbs of yoga, when answering questions about their experience of the yoga program.

Qualitative data were collected after participants completed a 16-week yoga intervention. Qualitative data were collected via survey, reviewed, coded, and categorized into themes representing each of the eight limbs of yoga.

Overall, 108 people were randomized to the yoga intervention and 67 individuals completed the intervention and follow up questions used in these analyses. The mean age of the 67 participants in this study was 52.4 years (±12.0), the majority were male (70.2%), and most had combat-related trauma (62.7%). All eight limbs of yoga were represented in the data, including each of the five yamas and niyamas, even though the yoga intervention did not explicitly include Sanskrit terms, definitions, or education about yoga philosophy or the eight limbs of yoga.

Results may indicate that yoga, even when only including postures, breathwork, intentions, and relaxation/meditation, may still address all of the yamas, niyamas, and the other eight limbs of yoga.