I would honestly like to help devise teaching techniques to utilize when dealing with sufferers of ED & PTSD, but truthfully I don’t think empathy and compassion are things you can teach and even if you had catch phrases to hand out – they would be just that, insincere and inauthentic.
I am not sure you can teach someone how to empathize with a survivor of rape, someone dealing with PTSD or an ED – they can sympathize surely, but empathy is a whole different level of understanding that accompanies having gone through similar sets of circumstances.
The best advice I can give is to be sincere in concern, to wear appropriate clothing (this was stressed in my own teacher training through the temple as a way to follow Brahmacharya but in dealing with a student with ED I find it even more important not to wear clothing that draws too much attention to the body), and to keep in a yogic context and teach the importance of the yamas (with Shaucha being more for the teachers than the students since that one could aggravate students with ED):
1. Ahimsa :Nonviolence. Abstinence from injury, harmlessness, the not causing of pain to any living creature in thought, word, or deed at any time. This is the main yama and all others serve to support this one.
2. Kshama : patience, releasing time, functioning in the now.
3. Dhriti : steadfastness, overcoming non-perseverance, fear, and indecision; seeing each task through to completion.
4. Daya : compassion; conquering callous, cruel and insensitive feelings toward all beings.
5. Arjava : honesty, straightforwardness, renouncing deception and wrongdoing.
6. Shaucha : purity, avoidance of impurity in body, mind and speech. (Note: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras list Shaucha as the first of the Niyamas.)
As a student of yoga who has an eating disorder most of my growth came through Svadyaya (self study), and meeting yoga instructors who were more like myself in body type – I really can not stress that enough. Many of the yoga teachers I have met are former dancers, gymnasts, marathon runners, etc. and within this group there are also those who are constantly on a cleanse or fast (which for the average individual is not a big deal), but to a student with an eating disorder this is not healthy. Yoga can easily become a way to move the negative energy of an eating disorder into a more socially acceptable form especially when you look at Hot Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga and Power Yoga – all forms in which people tend to say “I’m addicted to yoga”. Historically with Ashtanga yoga (as Manju Pattahbi Jois pointed out during teacher training) individuals used Uddiyana to stimulate appetite suppression and then performed a four hour or more series of yoga in areas where food was sparse. It is easy to see that these techniques could then be used to help aid self-starvation. Hot Yoga often times mimics the conditions of heat stroke and heat exhaustion, which both involve a large loss of fluids, loss of appetite and weight.
I was lucky enough to meet a group of women practicing and teaching yoga locally who were “real”. They did not put on a show of being yogic or being “yoga teachers”. There was no pretense with them. As far as I could tell they were not looking to have their own DVDs made, or be on the cover of a trendy yoga magazine. They were comfortable with who they were and made me feel comfortable too. We moved slowly through practice, aware of our thoughts,bodies and actions- this is a key to yoga.
Yoga is about removing addictions. Practice does not happen because of a lack of control over actions, it comes about because of dedication and awareness of yoga. Practicing for any other reasons, is not truly creating a yoga practice, though it may over time lead to one.
I have helped students who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and those with ED. We have worked on breathing techniques to help lower stress, mind body techniques to help become aware of the body in a healthier context and asanas to help release tension. Although I do not provide my services free of charge, I would never turn down the opportunity to help someone because they could not afford my time, there is always a way to work through difficulties – another great yogic lesson.
May 27th, 2009 | Tags: Eating Disorder, PTSD | Category: Daily Post, Fitness, Hatha Yoga, Health, Karma Yoga, Teaching, yoga therapy | Leave a comment
