A concrete step for dealing with trauma - Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

In my reading on the power of yoga to help heal from trauma, I continually come across Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's name and just read this web interview with him, Four Concrete Steps for Working with Trauma with Bessel van der Kolk, MD and Ruth Buczynski, PhD.

The primacy of the breath in calming and centering is such a core yoga practice, that as he puts it, yoga practitioners have "discovered that there's something they can do to regulate their internal systems."  We live in a culture that celebrates numbing out with substances (now with marijuana legal in Oregon, yet another substance), media and consumerism, so yoga is truly counter-culture in the very best way. 

Below is an excerpt in italics:

Step 1: Start with Self-Regulation Dr. van der Kolk: I would say the foundation of all effective treatments involves some way for people to learn that they can change their arousal system. Before any talking, it’s important to notice that if you get upset, taking 60 breaths, focusing on the out breaths, can calm your brain right down. Attempting some acupressure points or going for a walk can be very calming. 

Dr. Buczynski: So this is learning to modulate arousal? 

Dr. van der Kolk: Yes, and there’s alarmingly little in our mainstream culture to teach that. For example, this was something that kindergarten teachers used to teach, but once you enter the first grade, this whole notion that you can actually make yourself feel calm seems to disappear. Now, there’s this kind of post-alcoholic culture where if you feel bad, you pop something into your mouth to make the feeling go away. “The issue of self-regulation needs to become front and center in the treatment of trauma.” It’s interesting that right now there are about six to ten million people in America who practice yoga, which is sort of a bizarre thing to do - to stand on one foot and bend yourself up into a pretzel. Why do people do that? They’ve discovered that there’s something they can do to regulate their internal systems. So the issue of self-regulation needs to become front and center in the treatment of traumatized people. That’s step number one.