Amanda Gonzalez sits in perfect posture waiting for her class to settle into position. Gonzalez, yoga instructor at Yoga Bliss on Highland Road, soothingly tells her students to root themselves to the Earth with their palms facing upward. Then the class “Om’s” together in harmony, its voices resonating throughout the building. The “Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Yoga in the Treatment of Eating Disorders” study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health on Nov. 3, found practicing yoga can help people who suffer from eating disorders, like anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.”Those with a disorder, whether it’s bulimia or overeating, [have] a strong disconnect with their body and what their body needs,” said Janene Grovesky, yoga instructor at the Anahata Yoga Center at Tres Bien on Perkins Road. “Yoga allows the person to become a whole person. They’re not just the disorder — they’re not just their body.”Grovesky said the movements and poses allow people to go deeper into themselves by relaxing and connecting to their own energy.The study tested 50 adolescents from ages 11 to 16 who had been hospitalized for their eating disorders. The patients were put into two groups, and one group received the usual treatment, while the other group received the same treatment plus two hours of yoga classes a week with a certified yoga instructor.The study found the group who practiced yoga in addition to treatment showed more improvement on tests of eating disorder behaviors and thoughts than the group that did not practice yoga. The study also found the group that did not practice yoga relapsed back into eating disorder behaviors more often than the yoga group.The researchers said patients’ preoccupation with food was reduced by focusing on yoga poses.”Activities such as meditation and yoga are often helpful in reducing stress and coping with emotional experiences,” Rachel Stokes, LSU Student Health Center clinical psychologist, said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille.Stokes said the usual eating disorder treatments include participation in therapy, nutrition counseling and medical treatment.”Eating disorders develop for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to biological predisposition, society and media influences on body image, early family relationship difficulties and athletic pressure to maintain a certain body size,” she said. “Other triggers for disordered eating may include depression and anxiety.”Kimberly Matsko, owner of Yoga Bliss, said she teaches a yoga class for troubled teenagers and has seen how it has helped them mentally.Matsko said she sees how tense and stressed the students are at the beginning of the class. She said their breathing patterns are short and shallow. The students start the controlled breathing exercises and become naturally relaxed when the class begins.”The poses help you focus more and slow down your thoughts,” Matsko said. “You let go of the past and the future and focus on the moment. You can tell [the students] are more at peace [when they leave].”Grovesky said yoga is not an exercise but a philosophy of living.Matsko said a person would have to intensely practice three to five times a week to lose weight through yoga. Matsko said it was safe because the participants in the study practiced only two hours a week.Gonzalez said you develop self-awareness while practicing the different poses.”It’s a great way to — whatever disorder you have — to practice yoga and make you aware of where things are out of balance,” Gonzalez said. “Yoga alone can’t help, but self-awareness can. We want to bring ourselves and our environment back to harmony.”—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]