What is trauma-informed yoga?
This practice, by a Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor, is envisioned to be gentle and compassionate, respectful, and honoring of emotional, physical, and mental needs specific to individuals who have experiences of trauma. Trauma leaves deep marks within an individual’s body and mind that may lead to disconnection, tension, and chronic emotional pain. Trauma-informed yoga is the opportunity for a safe, non-judgmental space where you can find your body again at your own timing. “Through the use of yoga, I promote rebuilding trust in themselves and allow this healing to come up.
The operative words in Trauma-Informed Yoga are choice and empowerment. You are in charge of your practice-guided to tune into your breath, notice sensations, and move in ways that feel safe and comfortable. The focus of this practice is on helping one feel grounded, supported, and in control; it creates a space for you to explore your body with ease and safety.
Why is Trauma-Informed Yoga Important?
Trauma can leave one feeling disconnected from one’s body, as if one is living in constant survival mode-always ready to fight, flee, or freeze. That is why Trauma-Informed Yoga is so important in helping you gently reconnect with your body and start to release stored tension and trauma. It offers a way to healing sensitive to your experiences, designed not to overwhelm but actually empower you.
Incorporating Trauma-Informed Yoga into one’s daily or weekly practice empowers the participants to better approach stress, anxiety, and emotional triggers in a caring and mindful way. The practice will become a safe container where, little by little, one can rebuild trust in oneself and one’s body, one breath at a time.
Benefits of Trauma-Informed Yoga
Emotional Healing: Trauma-informed yoga will help in releasing emotional tension and trauma stored in the body by fostering emotional resilience and healing.
Empowerment: This practice will empower you to listen to your body’s signals and honor your boundaries, putting you back in the driver’s seat of your own experience.
Grounding and Safety: Learning to be more grounded, fully present, and in tune with the body, therefore anxious and overwhelmed less often. More Effective Stress Management: Trauma-informed yoga teaches you a number of techniques-one of which involves the awareness of breath, movement-that could be useful for everyday application when one feels anxious or stressed.
Increased Body Awareness: It allows deepening of physical sensations awareness, which helps you reconnect to your body in a safe and supported way.
Who does trauma-informed yoga help?
Trauma-informed yoga is a class for anyone who has been traumatized-physically, emotionally, or psychologically-and searches for gentle and compassionate means toward healing. It is best for those feeling disconnected with their bodies, having anxiety, PTSD, emotional triggers, and others working through trauma in therapy. This class is also appropriate for anyone who may feel overwhelmed in traditional yoga classes and is seeking a space that feels more attuned to personal needs.
If you have been carrying emotional weight in your body or are seeking a mindful approach to healing from trauma, then Trauma-Informed Yoga will help you reconnect with your body in a safe, gentle, and non-invasive way. We can create together a practice that nurtures your healing process and brings more balance, peace, and safety into your life.