Many American soldiers are returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems, the unseen and sometimes forgotten wounds of combat. Statistics show that as many as 17 percent of combat troops show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder that can develop after experiencing life-threatening events. People affected by PTSD tend to startle easily, have problems expressing intimacy, become irritable, aggressive, and, in some cases, increasingly suicidal and/or violent. Some soldiers with PTSD can’t sleep, have nightmares when they do fall asleep, and fly into seemingly unprovoked rages. They struggle with emotional hypersensitivity, acute stress, and depression—which can strain their relationships with family and loved ones.

Treatment has traditionally been talk therapy in combination with antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. Nontraditional treatments have included hypnosis, meditation, and music and animal therapy—and now yoga nidra, a practice that uses meditation and breathing exercises to help patients release self-destructive patterns, thoughts, and emotions.

Richard Miller, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and director of the Center of Timeless Being in Sebastopol, Calif., developed a yoga nidra protocol that he calls Integrative Restoration or iRest for the military to test at Walter Reed Hospital. In the course of the study, seven active-duty soldiers with PTSD experienced a reduction in their clinical symptoms of PTSD and were able to sleep better and felt less depressed after 12 weeks of yoga nidra.

“They felt more comfortable with situations that they couldn't control, which paradoxically resulted in their feeling more control over their lives,” Miller says. During the study sessions, soldiers went though a brief check-in and then were helped to develop a clear intention for their desire to heal. “We also helped them build an inner resource they could fall back into when they become overwhelmed with anxiety, fear, or flashbacks,” Miller says. After this initial phase soldiers were instructed in an in-depth practice where they were taught how to mentally scan their body and become aware of sensory feedback as a way of helping them regain access to sensations and feelings they suppressed as a result of trauma.

Difficult emotions and cognitions and images relating to their traumatic experiences were then investigated to help them learn how to handle both positive and negative emotions, thoughts, and images. “We help them learn how not to be overwhelmed by what they are experiencing,” he says. “We also help them regain an inner experience of joy and happiness, which they may have lost access to as a result of their prior trauma.” According to soldiers enrolled in the study, the method is working: “I still feel mortal and limited, but I’m also feeling more relaxed. I don’t feel like I have to be a superhero anymore,” says one. Another commented, “I feel like I’m experiencing life… not just living it. I’m tuning into my surroundings more and don’t feel so separate.” And a third soldier who has come to rely on the relaxing effects of the process puts it bluntly, “I don’t ever want to stop practicing yoga nidra.”

The positive results of this first study have prompted the military to propose new studies that would include a larger sample of soldiers as well as a control group to obtain more precise conclusions.