"Trauma-informed yoga is a general practice of yoga that recognizes people are in pain. In trauma-informed yoga, we really try to have a more holistic sense of who the student is. The student is more than a body." - Una Hildebrandt, Safe Space Yoga Facilitator
Trauma-informed yoga is about being mindful of people's stories. As humans, we all have (or will) experience toxic stress or trauma. Sometimes stress becomes chronic, unrelenting, and inescapable. It overwhelms our capacity to cope. Stress can build up in our body, often becoming toxic, causing health issues like a weakened immune system, high blood pressure, tension headaches, and more. When this happens we refer to this as trauma or toxic stress.
Trauma affects our entire mind-body system.
Our bodies hold onto this story and we don't always have words or language to express it. As a survivor of trauma, it's sometimes difficult to put your experience "into a coherent account - a narrative with a beginning, a middle, and an end," explains Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk. He goes on to share that we create a "cover story" to give some explanation to what we are experiencing. However, we know this is not the full story because our body has so much more to share.
Threatening experiences cause real physiological reactions in our bodies. Our hearts start to race, blood rushes to our larger muscles and our appetite disappears. These very real physical responses are designed to keep us safe and help us prepare for whatever we need to do next - like run away or fight.
However, because of the experiences in our lives, many of us can get stuck in these heightened responses and it's difficult for our bodies to naturally relax. We start walking around always "on guard" for the danger and the disruption to our safety. This can have long-term effects on our bodies leading to chronic pain and illness.
Because trauma lives in the body, we usually need a body-based approach to begin to heal. Yoga has been found to have a number of health benefits, especially in decreasing depression and anxiety and helping people to relieve stress. Trauma-informed yoga brings together brain development, biology, psychology, and the understanding of the unity and intersectionality of the mind and body.
Why Yoga for Trauma?
Yoga helps to build our ability to cope. Through body-based practices, you are able to bring balance to your nervous system. You begin to learn tools to help you calm the overdrive of the sympathetic nervous system (gas pedal) and jumpstart your parasympathetic nervous system (brake).
On our yoga mats, we begin to develop a window of tolerance and our capacity to be in our bodies and feel safe. Through the practice of trauma-informed yoga, we learn tools to help us regulate and manage our discomfort and capacity for joy and exploration.
Because your body begins to move in class, you're able to get your heart rate up and down to help increase your Heart Rate Variability or variation in time between each heartbeat. Harvard has found that "People who have a high HRV may have greater cardiovascular fitness and be more resilient to stress."
Not All Yoga Classes Are Equal
While yoga can be beneficial for our minds and bodies, specialized yoga classes may be more beneficial to heal from trauma. Trauma-informed yoga classes are different from classes at your typical yoga studio. We are mindful of the language we use and the poses we teach. We also see our students as more than just a body on the mat. There's an understanding that each person in our classes has a unique story and experience to share when they are ready. The goal of trauma-informed yoga is to help you feel more safe, comfortable, and empowered in your body.
Class at Vikara Village are different because:
- We offer trauma-informed yoga classes with specially trained yoga teachers
- We bring the studio to you. This means that you can do yoga where you are without having to travel to a fancy studio
- Our teachers have an understanding of:
- What trauma is
- How trauma shows up in the body
- Appropriate language and shapes to teach to avoid triggering students
Safe Space Yoga gives individuals an opportunity to explore yoga with specially trained yoga teachers. Our teachers work with those who have histories of poverty, homelessness, trauma, addiction, and behavioral challenges. Mindful action, like yoga, has been found to be a valuable tool in the healing process. There is evidence that yoga helps with overall well-being, depression, and anxiety.
By integrating trauma-informed yoga into your therapeutic support you can get a more holistic and well-rounded approach to healing and trauma treatment. By incorporating body-based therapeutic options with traditional talk therapy, you can experience changes in the body, while gaining a better understanding of what's going on in the mind. Participants in our classes feel "less antsy" and "more tranquil" after just one Safe Space Yoga session.
To learn more about bringing Safe Space Yoga to your organization, please contact us.