Integrative Recovery Therapy is a 12 week program that uses yoga methods such as deep breathing, guided relaxation, gentle yoga movements and meditation as a powerful, and evidence-based treatment for addiction recovery and relapse prevention. We talk with Laura Winslow, who has developed this powerful, innovative treatment method. More info is available at www.yogaforrecovery.net .
Transcript (edited):
HOWARD: Welcome to the CNS Podcast I am Howard La Mere here with Dr. Darryl Inaba, research director for CNS Productions along with our special guest, Laura Winslow, a yoga instructor who has developed a program especially for those in treatment and recovery. Welcome Laura, and Darryl, Ill let you take it over from here.
DARRYL: Im so glad youre here to share what youre doing, what your vision is in terms of integrated recovery therapy, using yoga and other techniques to help people recover from drugs and alcohol. I want to first say this to you, and to let our audience know that you and your colleague, Katherine Reppond are like many in this field, tremendously compassionate, wonderful people who provide complementary therapy. Maybe it should actually be mainstream therapy for any program in the valley. And so youre bringing a whole new way for people to maintain abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Please explain what the integrated recovery therapy, yoga for recovery, is all about.
LAURA: Thank you, Darryl I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today and talk about this unique approach to helping people create a system of self care for themselves because thats really what this is all about. The program is unique in that it includes gentle movement, mindfulness, meditation, stress reduction, body awareness techniques, guided imagery, and deep relaxation to help people reestablish the connection between the mind/body that is destroyed by addiction. These tools help people to focus their minds, become more aware of their thoughts, calm their emotions and rejuvenate their bodies, so its really a complete program for growth. I consider it a very, very effective relapse prevention program and we are able to modify the physical practices and use many forms not just yoga, but also chi gong, which is a much more gentle form to help people who may have some physical limitations. There are many forms of yoga, many which center on the physical body and physical power that in my view are not really appropriate for someone in early recovery. So we use a very gentle approach that is accessible to most people.
DARRYL: Laura, you know what I really admire is your courage, because I know this has been an uphill battle combating some perceptions that yoga is a new religion or something like that, which it is not and also, even some stigma about whats it all about. How have you been able to bring your message forward amidst all of this.
LAURA: Well one of the things that we recognized early on is just what you said – there is a huge misconception about what yoga is. In this country its viewed as a form of physical exercise that many people think requires the ability to twist themselves into a pretzel. One of the things that I talk about in the program, is that theres many facets to yoga and the physical poses are only one part of what yoga has to offer. One of the most profound teachings are the eight limbs of yoga, the first two of which are about ethics. And it begins with looking at our ethics how we treat ourselves and how we treat others in the world. And thats a wonderful foundation for people in recovery. You know, weve had resistance from people saying everything from Im not flexible enough, I cant do yoga to Its against my religion, as you mentioned. Yoga is really a science. Its not a religion. It dates back thousands of years. People who practice yoga are involved with any number of different religious faiths and belief systems and it in no way interferes with ones spiritual or religious path. Its really a path for self-transformation and thats what was set forth when it came to be 2000 years ago and probably before that. Theyve found cave paintings of people doing yoga, and 2000 years ago we had yoga sutras ..so this system has been around for a very long time. Theres a lot of wisdom. The psychology in my view fits perfectly for recovery and I also say to my practitioners, my participants in the program, that humans have been suffering for thousands of years. This is why we need these tools and its not anything new and its certainly not limited to those of us in recovery. You know, life is stressful and we need to learn how to deal with it.
DARRYL: You know, its great that you mention that yoga is a science, its an art and a science because the era were in now is evidence based practices. Everything in drug abuse treatment, in order to qualify for funding, has to be evidence based. And that means that there must be empirical research to establish something that has the scientific evidence to show t it is effective, including how the body chemistry, body brain, body cells are responding to a certain type of therapy in order to qualify it as an effective addiction treatment. It is surprising to me, coming from California, that there was a lot of evidence based empirical research about yoga, about mindfulness meditation, about a lot of practices that you are bringing to clients here that was fully accepted by the federal system, the natural registry of evidence based program and practices. When I came to Oregon I thought it would be a slam dunk and it would just, you know, just be another great thing we can have clients participate in to get healthy only to be slammed with the fact that Oregon had their own registry of evidence based practices and they dont accept some in the federal registry – yoga has not been accepted as a state of Oregon practice, which shows some of that old prejudice and misperception. But what you are saying is yoga was a science before science was invented!
LAURA: (Laughter!)
DARRYL: Thats the whole thing, so now, science is trying to catch up with yoga. Its trying to catch up to show why its been done and why its been effective so long. What do you know about some of the modern day scientific research that makes, at least on a national level, yoga an evidence based practice that maybe we need to more about in Oregon so it can be added to our list of evidence based practices.
LAURA: Well, one thing in particular is that meditation is actually part of the yoga system. It is one of the 8 limbs that I mentioned earlier. So people think of meditation as being something separate, but it really is part of what yoga has to offer. And certainly Jon Kabat-Zinn has done enormous research and brought credibility from the medical community on the effectiveness of mindfulness what he calls, mindfulness based stress reduction. But it is basically using the tools of meditation that yoga has to offer. I believe that is one of the biggest long term studies that have been done. There arent many. Theres a program called, Yoga for Depression a smaller study that showed that yoga increases the GABA levels in the brain, those levels are known to be somewhat deficient in people with depression and, as you know, depression and addiction go hand in hand. So, youre more well versed to talk about GABA than I am, but I do know thats one of the significant benefits yoga provides – it deals with emotional and mental issues as well as the physical. One thing I would like to mention here is that because the federal guidelines have adopted yoga as a mindfulness based practice, the Oregon Access to Recovery program accepts yoga and will pay for yoga for those who are eligible under the Access to Recovery grant and we are an approved provider for that program. So, we are making headway and hopefully now that Salem has recognized yoga as a viable resource – they refer to it as a recovery report service and life skills training program, that may influence other grant monies or other sources of approval at the state level.
DARRYL: Well, thats great to hear because Access to Recovery originates out of the federal government. It is a federal funding program, a voucher program to get access to treatment services, so if were going to accept federal money, weve got to accept the federal registry of acceptable programs. Laura, I did read the study that you mentioned and as our listeners might know from other conversations weve had, GABA is the most prevalent inhibitory neurotransmitter there is. It is involved with the addiction brain pathways and addiction neurochemistry along with dopamine, but more and more focus has been on the GABA and glutamate interaction, giving prominence to certain other neuro chemicals and impacting craving, impacting the ability to control withdrawal symptoms. The study was remarkable in that it showed that yoga and meditation practices with yoga could increase GABA levels 40%, which is incredible because it usually takes eating more protein reach that level. But just a practice can change a person’s chemistry and promote more GABA – it is exciting to know that science is starting to catch up with practices that have been around since before history even began – as your reference to cave drawings confirms – and today more clients and people will accept it. I know just having done one or two yoga classes with you – that you just feel great afterwards! Its hard to explain why, but you just feel fantastic at the end of the session. And one of the things we really try to sell our clients is that recovery – staying abstinent and participating in the activities we suggest they are going to feel great. Because its the fear that theyre never going to feel good again if they give up their alcohol or cocaine or meth or Vicodin, …theyre never going to feel good again in their life. The fact is, theyre going to feel better than they ever felt before they started taking drugs or even while they were taking drugs..thats something to really sell to them. Where you want this to go .what is the mission or the goals? What is integrative recovery therapy and yoga for recovery? Youre definitely on a quest, because youve been doing this pretty much on a volunteer basis since 2000.
LAURA: Actually since 2007
DARRYL: 2007 and how can you keep doing it, or why would you keep doing it, unless you have some hope to accomplish with this.
LAURA: Really my hope is that people can discover that they have, already within them, the means to be happy and to use those means to awaken that inner peace that exists within them. And I thoroughly believe that these practices have the ability to do that. My goal with the integrative recovery program, which is a 12-week program that weaves together recovery themes such as acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude with these practices that help to rebuild the mind/body connection, is to make it available to participants in recovery programs all over the country and for people to understand that once you learn these practices, they are yours to keep. You can practice them on your own forever and so it becomes a lifelong program. And one of the things that I do share with my students are the words of a famous yogi named Swami Sivananda who was responsible for bringing yoga to the west through his disciple, Swami Vishnudevananda, – his last words on his death bed were remember forget. And so, I believe that these practices help people to remember that they are not bad people. The addiction is an illness. Its a disease. Its not that they have the stigma that we talk about with addiction lack of will or you know, all of the other labels that are put on people with his problem – Ive heard some of my students say the thing they got the most out of is that they realized they werent a bad person and they were able to begin to learn to love themselves again. And that to me is the true key to relapse prevention. Because once we develop that will to do what we need to do to manage our disease, just like you talk about the need to manage diabetes or hypertension, then I think people begin to get the idea that they have an obligation to nurture and care for themselves on a daily basis. And I know personally, when I dont do my practice – for whatever reason – my day is a lot more difficult. And so, I do see a huge transformation in how people come into the room and how they leave the room. And I even invite them to do a before and after check look in the mirror, look at your face before and look at it after. And oftentimes they look like theyve had a, you know, a massage just totally relaxed and at ease. The teen girls that I work with oftentimes arrive in a heightened anxious state with some anger situation and they just float out of there at the end of the class. So, I do remind people that even though some of the practices may be a little bit challenging for some people, to focus on how you feel after and remind them how they felt after a big binge usually not too good!
DARRYL: You know, there are a couple of really powerful things you said. One is self-efficacy – clients learn that they can be effective in addressing many of their issues and many of their cravings, many of their needs, by themselves. And its a gift that once they learn these things, like the yoga breath and relaxation techniques, its theirs. They dont have to go to a meeting or come to your yoga class to get that. They can use it in situations and they can remember to use it and thats very helpful. I had actually a client in my day treatment group this week who got trigged, I mean horrendously triggered. He is a cocaine addict and he started just sweating, his face started flushing and he got up and started pacing and said, Im sorry. Im just really So everyone tried to jump in and help. We didnt know what was going to work for him, so I gave him the breathing. You always remind me, DARRYL:, you gotta breathe!, so we did the yoga breaths that you taught, the 4, 7 deep breath and it worked after about the fourth series. He said, You know, I feel so much better now. I think I can sit out the group. So now hes got that as a tool to help him recover. Im an advocate. I think all these things are really effective, but I think the payoff for a lot of us in recovery, our “paycheck” and- I could see it in your as you were describing the program – is seeing the transformation or the awareness that grows in your clients after each class. Ive had many clients stop in to say they just got so much out of the whole yoga series and that theyre transformed. And having that happen and having people realize that they have worth and they have value and they have something thats worth trying to get healthy for I think thats what we call the paycheck and thats what keeps us in this business. So, my hats off to you and I really appreciate you doing what youre doing. I hope we can help realize your mission by encouraging everybody participate in yoga. We might have a better society and less war and things like that!
LAURA: Yes!
DARRYL: ….was there anything that we missed or
LAURA: Well, theres one thing that came to my mind that I would like to share and that is, as you know, in early recovery, oftentimes people do feel very bad when they initially cease using their drug of choice and oftentimes they need to be medically detox and weaned to prevent violent withdrawals, but one of the big benefits of the physical practice is that it does help to kick start the endocrine system to help the bodys own natural feel good hormones and chemicals to begin to be more productive. And so for early recovery, thats a real powerful benefit because it helps get people through that initial, really difficult stage where they feel very uncomfortable and sick. So, I wanted to mention that.
DARRYL: You know, that also correlates to one of the newer findings about people who are in early recovery and who are experiencing a craving reaction, and that is that there are different parts of the brain that react when a person is in craving that can be imaged. One area is the posterior, the anterior, the medial hypothalamus and the cingulate body. Above that, above in the cortex level, the cingulate, the anterior cingulate body and posterior cingulate rather, those parts of the brain are associated with bonding – when for example a person forms a relationship with another person or a relationship with a career or something like that. Addicts have formed a relationship with a molecule, with the drugs that theyre addicted to. So in early recovery and in craving, that area of the brain becomes hyperactive. Actually ..an addict in recovery is in grief. Its like theyve lost their lover. Theyve lost their best friend. Theyve lost something thats vitally important to them. Studies show that because yoga increases GABA levels it helps quiet that area of bonding in the brain. When somebody is in early recovery, it definitely is a vital treatment need that should be mainstreamed as part of our whole addiction treatment system.
LAURA: Yes, and that is a huge benefit that I think is not widely known. We appreciate all the work that you do in educating the world about the brain and addiction.
DARRYL: Well, youre going to help with that now, Laura! Its really wonderful to have you here. Thank you again so much for coming and hanging out with us to talk about all this but its just wonderful to hear what youre doing and hopefully to help spread the word about how this is important in the treatment of addiction. Howard, thanks for listening to us!
HOWARD: Its great Laura because we talk about treatment options quite a bit and we do touch upon dancing and the positive things that people can do, so this is a great example of that. And thanks for your good work.
LAURA: Thank you. And if I can throw one more thing in there .if people want to find out about Access to Recovery, they can contact Shane at Jackson County Human Health, Jackson County, Oregon.
HOWARD: Great! And as ever, if you have comments and questions, feel free to email us through cnsproductions.com. Laura, thanks once again. Darryl, til next time!
DARRYL: Thanks Howard!
HOWARD: That wraps our pod for today. Thanks for visiting the CNS Podcast. Please check back soon for the next in the series and visit our website, www.cnsproductions.com