{"id":48686,"date":"2017-01-18T16:34:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T22:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=48686"},"modified":"2017-01-18T16:58:30","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T22:58:30","slug":"body-of-life-yoga-as-treatment-for-eating-disorders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/body-of-life-yoga-as-treatment-for-eating-disorders\/","title":{"rendered":"Body of Life: Yoga as Treatment for Eating Disorders"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kathleen McAuliffe<\/strong><\/p>\n

During her 15-year struggle with an eating disorder, Heather Jacoby\u2019s body has been an object of self-hatred.<\/p>\n

But when she began yoga therapy as a part of treatment, her body became a means of self-acceptance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I walked into the yoga studio, I found peace for the first time,\u201d Jacoby said. \u201cYoga teaches me that however I am in that moment, I\u2019m OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have to like everything. I don\u2019t have to be at peace and I can still be OK.\u201d Though she still has bad body image days, Jacoby credits yoga with improving her perception of herself.<\/p>\n

Yoga is emerging as a form of therapy for eating disorders, from anorexia to binge eating, both in treatment centers and standalone facilities in the Chicago area and nationwide. Before starting a yoga program, clients have typically reached advanced stages of recovery and have stabilized their weight.
\n<\/p>\n

Classes focus on mindfulness and breath work instead of nailing precise postures or burning calories. Unlike standard yoga classes, instructors do not manually adjust their students\u2019 postures, nor do they critique students\u2019 form. This enables clients to regain autonomy over their bodies, said yoga therapy instructor Jenny Kreatsoulas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very mindful of my language,\u201d Kreatsoulas added, \u201cI won\u2019t use certain cues, I will never say the word belly or hips or \u2018Shift your hips.\u2019 I don\u2019t teach in a way that is acting for more. Like, \u2018Go higher, go deeper.\u2019 It\u2019s more like, \u2018Let\u2019s breathe. Let the rhythm of breath move your body.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever\u2019s happening through the practitioner is coming from them, not because the teacher is dictating someone at them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instructors, who are often licensed counselors or therapists, are specifically trained to teach clients with eating disorders. During individual debriefings, they stay aware of their students\u2019 mental states and modify sequences accordingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a check-in at the beginning of [class] and at the end,\u201d said Ashley Podzius, an instructor at Rago & Associates, a counseling center in Naperville,\u201d If they\u2019re having a really awful day, I\u2019ll never correct their postures, as long as they are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[My instructor] really individualizes everything depending on what you\u2019re feeling,\u201d Jacoby added. \u201cRecently, I\u2019ve had more struggles being uncomfortable with yoga and she\u2019s really responded to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this supportive environment, clients regain connection with their thoughts and emotions, said Ashley Sheil, site director and yoga specialist at Renfrew Center Charlotte.<\/p>\n

\u201cEating disorders really numb and disconnect you,\u201d she said. \u201cBut with yoga, they start to connect back to their bodies and they notice how their bodies physically feel. They notice when they\u2019re feeling hungry or when they\u2019re feeling sadness, happiness, anxiety and depression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given its relative newness, little research has been conducted on its long-term ability to reduce the risk of relapses. But recent research, including a 2015 study<\/a> by the University of Michigan, has shown promising preliminary results. After completing a yoga therapy program in conjunction with their regular course of treatment, women in partial-hospitalization treatment reported a better ability to maintain an appropriate calorie intake for their weight.<\/p>\n

For some, yoga is medicine. But for those who used exercise to lose weight, it\u2019s a risky reintroduction to their eating issues.<\/p>\n

Although instructors deliberately de-emphasize strength building, clients may set and work toward physical goals, Sheil said. Taken to extremes, this competitive mindset can reinforce the perfectionistic and obsessive mindset thought to underlie eating disorders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be a real competitive aspect to it,\u201d she added. \u201c\u2018How long can I go in a pose? How much strength can I build?\u2019 For someone in the outside world, it\u2019s fine. But for someone with an eating disorder, it can become rigid and competitive. It can become self-defeating and if you keep doing that, you\u2019ll never feel happy with yourself and ultimately, it can be harmful to recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as clients transition from treatment to recovery, from yoga therapy to more physically strenuous classes, they may encounter harmful messaging from teachers and studios that encourage weight loss above all else.<\/p>\n

Clients should not automatically avoid traditional yoga classes, but they should approach potential studios with a healthy skepticism, Sheil said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly want people to reintegrate activity into their lives. But some studios do focus on weight loss and caloric burn,\u201d Sheil said. \u201cWe hope [clients] would choose a studio that\u2019s more focused on being present and practicing increasing function and movement of their bodies and less on how long you can hold a posture, or being thin and limber or weight loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacoby acknowledges that for her, \u201cworkout-focused\u201d classes can trigger negative thoughts about her body. But by staying vigilant of her emotions and body image, she proactively chooses studios that will enhance, not threaten, her recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI purposely do not go to studios like that,\u201d Jacoby said. \u201cI took a couple classes at a studio that\u2019s very workout-focused and I\u2019m very mindful about not going to those classes. It can be triggering, when they\u2019re not telling you to listen to your body. Like hot yoga, I can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The long-term impact of trauma-focused yoga requires more research, and many experts maintain that no one can be fully \u201ccured\u201d from an eating disorder.<\/p>\n

But through yoga, clients can cultivate the coping skills and self-acceptance necessary to combat the daily challenges of life after an eating disorder, Kreatsoulas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use yoga to create coping tools that they can apply to situations in their daily life,\u201d she added, \u201cSo that when they\u2019re confronted with a hard meal or urge to restrict, they can call on their own internal strengths to combat that pull to use the eating disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

With yoga comes healing. (Kathleen McAuliffe\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kathleen McAuliffe During her 15-year struggle with an eating disorder, Heather Jacoby\u2019s body has been an object of self-hatred. But when she began yoga therapy as a part of treatment, her body became a means of self-acceptance. \u201cThe first time I walked into the yoga studio, I found peace for the first time,\u201d Jacoby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":374,"featured_media":48706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nBody of Life: Yoga as Treatment for Eating Disorders - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/body-of-life-yoga-as-treatment-for-eating-disorders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Body of Life: Yoga as Treatment for Eating Disorders - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Kathleen McAuliffe During her 15-year struggle with an eating disorder, Heather Jacoby\u2019s body has been an object of self-hatred. 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