[Image slideshow at the bottom for a very brief overview]
So you’ve stumbled across a flyer or seen my classes online and thought “maybe this is for me, but what actually IS trauma-informed yoga, and how can it help me?”. The answer is both simple and complex. The simple answer is - yoga taught with a thorough understanding of trauma. The complicated answer is what this blog post answers (as much as is possible in one short blog post!). These will be very brief explanations, so if you are interested in reading more, do pop a comment below and I can provide recommendations. So, here are just some things that TI Yoga can do for you.
Connection vs Disconnection: (Re)discovering presence in the body. Disconnection is the root of a lot of mental health conditions. When we enter fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown, we disconnect - our energy is focused outwards as we search for and deal with danger. When we stay stuck in these nervous system states (as we often do when we have experienced trauma) we stay disconnected. Returning to connection tells our body ‘we’re safe now!’ and allows it to start to calm down.
Agency and autonomy: take back control and choice over your own body. You are always invited to choose how to move your body. All cues are invitational and you are encouraged to always ask your body first before following along. Over time you can start to learn to move with intuition and curiosity. For those of us who might freeze up or shut down in response to conflict, or who perhaps do not feel in control of our bodies and their responses, this practice is incredibly powerful in exploring how it feels to step into control and reclaim your body as yours.
Relational safety: be in a space with a teacher (and fellow students) who will always respect and accept you, and any emotions you are experiencing. My classes are a space where you can learn to open your heart to yourself (and if you like, to others!), to feel held and acknowledged without needing to cover anything up. All your emotions are welcome here, without judgement or shame. Being in relationship with others in a way where all parts of you are welcomed and safe invites coregulation (one of our routes back to safety!). It is through safe relationship that we can begin to heal from relational trauma, and as with all other trauma healing - we start small and work our way up in ways that feel safe. A small group class offers a safe way to connect.
Practising staying with discomfort: start to widen your window of tolerance.
Some poses feel great, with others there is a degree of discomfort. The same goes for emotions: some are nice to be present with, others are almost impossible to sit with. In TI yoga, we start small, exploring ways we can support our bodies or shift our bodies into comfort, and over time begin to explore and experiment with more, staying in a pose for longer, or trying out a harder variation. We might feel shame or frustration rise as we struggle to do a pose, or we might feel our panicky parts rear their heads when we are asked to choose less. We can bit by bit and drop by drop, start to stay present through this, teaching our bodies and our nervous systems that it is safe to experience discomfort, safe to experience difficult emotions, and that we can still stay present in our bodies without entering fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown.
Giving a voice to unloved parts: get in touch with your inner child. We can choose to give a voice to the parts of us that we might up until now have kept locked away. We can explore how our tender inner child might like to move (maybe softly, with lots of support, self hugs, and blankets?), or how our valiant angry inner protectors might choose to move (maybe powerfully, with strength and control?) and let those parts express themselves rather than being shoved down and ignored. When you are in relationship with those parts, you can start to notice more when they are present, and get curious about what they might need.
Exploring new ways of moving and being present in our bodies: move away from postures that keep you stuck. Think power postures! We can begin to introduce new sensations to our bodies through new poses and flows. In the same way that our stress causes our bodies to stiffen and constrict, resulting in physical tension, the reverse is also true. Our brains see physical tension and interpret a threat. A feedback loop is created, our posture becomes habit, and this can result not only in ongoing stress, but also chronic pain, headaches, or other physical manifestations of stress. Exploring movement and poses that we don’t take in our daily lives starts to gently introduce new ways of existing in our bodies, offering us a window out of our stuckness.
Some of these things we can practise on purpose, others are a natural consequence of practising yoga and we don’t even need to think about them. Some we can practise in our own private yoga practice, some we can practise in a group, and others we might need a little more help with. One to one sessions can be really helpful if there is an area you would like to focus on or you feel you could use some support with.
So there are a few things there TI yoga can do for you!
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