Integral healing: the effects of iRest yoga nidra meditation on combat-related PTSD
Loading...
Authors
Stankovic, Lisa
Issue Date
2008
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Psychology
Alternative Title
Abstract
This eight-week Integral mixed-methods research study examined the effects of Integrative Restoration (iRest) Yoga Nidra meditation on the symptoms of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 10 Vietnam veterans and one veteran of the Iraq. iRest is a 10-stage Tantra-based meditation protocol that combines principles of Eastern Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism with those of contemporary Western cognitive-behavioral psychology. The study was framed by Ken Wilber's AQAL Integral theory and John P. Wilson's continuum of 11 types of allostatic self-adaptation to trauma. Data were gathered using four methodological perspectives: objective empiricism, intersubjective ethnography, subjective phenomenology and structuralism. The resulting data sets supported the efficacy of iRest in reducing long-standing negative psychological and physiological symptoms associated with combat-related PTSD, as well as the value of group practice and shared meditative-state resonance in the PTSD healing process. The potential value of expanding current psychological models of PTSD to explicitly incorporate an understanding of the koshas (meditative structures of consciousness) detailed in Eastern contemplative literature is also discussed.