Trauma Healing Yoga

When we hear the word “trauma,” we often think of the worst moments of our lives—the ones that haunt us and make it harder to navigate through life. However, even minor incidents can leave deep wounds. Trauma healing yoga can be a powerful tool to help you heal from trauma. Trauma-informed yoga, also known as trauma-sensitive yoga, provides an approach that acknowledges the unique needs of individuals dealing with trauma, offering a safe space to explore and heal.

What is Trauma-Informed Yoga?

Experiencing trauma can make it difficult to understand and articulate your feelings. Your body and brain might struggle to process everything, leading to muscle tension and mental overload. In an effort to protect yourself, you might either shut down or lash out. Trauma doesn’t have to stem from a major event; it can be something gradual and insidious that slowly seeps in, leaving you feeling uneasy without knowing why.

Trauma healing yoga focuses on helping you become more aware of what’s happening in your body. Instead of taking you back to the source of your pain, it aims to help you release built-up emotions, stress, and tension. Trauma can disrupt the pathways in your brain, making it hard to verbalise your experiences. By reconnecting these pathways, trauma healing yoga paves the way for healing.

How Trauma-Informed Yoga Differs from Traditional Yoga

Trauma-informed yoga practices differ from traditional yoga in several ways. In trauma-sensitive yoga sessions, teachers are aware that participants may be living with trauma and will offer options to make students feel less vulnerable. For example, instead of asking students to close their eyes, a teacher might encourage them to lower their eyes or look down, eliminating distractions without causing discomfort.

In a group yoga therapy session, the focus is on creating a safe and non-threatening environment. Students won't be asked to sit in a circle, as this can feel uncomfortable or even threatening. The emphasis is on becoming aware of your body and physical sensations without judgment. Teachers will offer constant reassurance, a variety of options, and be mindful of positions that could make participants feel vulnerable. They also avoid walking around the room or touching anyone to respect personal space.

The Role of Yin Yoga in Trauma Healing

Yin yoga, with its gentle and slow-paced practice, is particularly effective in trauma healing yoga. Yin yoga involves holding poses for longer periods combined with breath, which helps to release deep-seated tension in the connective tissues. This practice encourages mindfulness and introspection, allowing individuals to tune into their bodies and sensations. By creating a calm and supportive environment, yin yoga helps participants feel safe and nurtured as they work through their trauma.

Trauma-informed yin yoga is based on a particular understanding of trauma. It emphasises the impact of trauma on the mind-body system rather than viewing mental states in isolation from the physical body. In this practice, we approach healing the body, mind, and spirit simultaneously. Studies have shown that trauma-informed yin yoga can be as effective, if not more so, than traditional therapies such as talk therapy.

Emotions can be stored not only in the mind but also in the physical body. Trauma-informed yin yoga sequences help individuals release trapped emotions from the body, easing the tension they place on the mind. Traumatic events involve “inescapable shock,” which includes threats to physical survival or psycho-emotional integrity experienced in circumstances that prevent safe escape.

Balancing an Unregulated Nervous System

If we do not process and release the sense of shock experienced throughout the body-mind system, we may remain stuck in a state of severe physiological and psycho-emotional disequilibrium. Through yin yoga, we utilise time, space, peace, and the release of yin yoga sequences to heal the nervous system. When you release the body, you release the mind, and vice versa.

Staying in a state of hyper or hypo-arousal due to past traumas can leave us on high alert or disconnected from the world. This can manifest as depression, lack of energy, or a disconnection from life. Trauma healing yoga encourages the discharge of incomplete nervous system responses, helping individuals achieve balance and comfort. The practice involves long holds and gentle postures that allow emotions to arise, be observed, and then released.

Benefits of Trauma-Informed Yoga

Trauma-informed yoga offers numerous benefits, including:

Reducing Symptoms of PTSD: Research has shown that trauma-informed yoga can significantly reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its effects can be comparable to well-established psychological and medicinal methods.

Slowing Down and Focusing on the Present: Trauma can send your brain into overdrive, making it difficult to relax. Trauma healing yoga helps you focus on the present moment, recognise what’s happening in your body, and control your breath, which can greatly affect your mood.

Feeling More Connected and Balanced: Trauma healing yoga is practised in a safe space with teachers or therapists who respect your boundaries. It helps you rebuild mind/body connections, release tension from the body and understand the sensations you’re experiencing, so you no longer feel like a stranger in your own body.

Getting Started with Trauma-Informed Yoga

If you’re interested in trauma healing yoga, it’s important to find an instructor who is certified in trauma-informed yoga. However, there’s no guaranteed way to know if a class is right for you until you try it. Consider attending a few sessions to see how you feel. You can contact yoga studios in your area or search online for trauma-informed yoga professionals. Additionally, a mental health professional might be able to provide referrals.

Trauma healing yoga offers a gentle, supportive approach to overcoming trauma. By integrating mindful movement and breathwork, you can begin to heal and reconnect with yourself in a safe and nurturing environment.