Yoga Beginner: When she was 14, Janna Leyde’s father got into a close deadly car accident that changed her family’s life. The accident resulted in traumatic brain damage that influenced her father emotionally and physically. What followed were years atypical of the normal American family life, characterized by her father’s fraught and trauma with the challenges of recovery.
“What I realized thinking back, was that my dad really didn’t realize how much the trauma had limited him and changed him,” shares Leyde. “I wanted to assist him change that.”
And she did --- through yoga
Leyde, a trained yoga instructor, found how yoga can radically transform a man—witnessing the advantages in her own life as she practiced. “I adapted better, I was in a better place mentally and emotionally.”
She asked her father if she could show him. After receiving skeptical approval from her father’s doctors—and her father’s own instability—she started to practice yoga with him.
“The first time we did it was a surprise to my father,” shares Leyde. “He was suddenly aware of his body.
“What I’ve discovered is that when you go through trauma, your brain and body disconnect and a lot of times when people have brain PTSD or injury, they still think of themselves as the individual they were before the injury,” says Leyde. “Yoga assembles the connection back together.
“Over some time with that practice, simply getting on his moving, breathing, mat, he was physically getting in better shape -- Yoga Newton. In the meantime, he was likewise developing a better attention span, being more compassionate, less impulsive.
“Through practice, my dad had a better understanding of his injury and this assisted him so much. These simple poses were helping him like nothing else can.”
In 2013, Leyde published He Never Liked Cake, a book that chronicles her dad’s injury, how it influenced their lives and his journey to recovery. The experience pushed Leyde to work with others who suffer from TBI and PTSD—and her continuing work with veterans.
A year ago, Leyde piloted a program with the Wounded Warrior Project—an organization that has supported over 75,000 injured veterans who have served since September 11, 2011—that urges veterans to practice yoga for 8 weeks. Those who attended experienced change that they have not been able to accomplish with traditional approaches.
“The members shared different stories,” says Leyde. “They rest better, they feel better and some have said they don’t need the medications they have been taking. They have distinctive experiences but all of them have to do with improving their quality of life. Which is impactful?”
Emerging research demonstrates scientific support that similar therapies such as yoga provide significant health advantages for patients with PTSD and those with brain injuries. The Veterans Health Administration is starting to implement more programs that embrace different approaches.
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