Trauma Informed Yoga

Healing Through Yoga

All ages welcome.

Yoga used in therapy has been increasingly recognized as an effective method for healing the effects of traumatic experiences on both the body and mind. Informed by the work of trauma experts (including Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., and Peter Levine, Ph.D.), the importance of the mind/body connection has been brought to the forefront of trauma work.

Trauma is anything that overwhelms our capacity to cope and respond, and can leave the person feeling helpless, hopeless, and/or out of control. Trauma can be an isolated event or continuous stressors, creating chronic and complex trauma. Regardless of the type of trauma, anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, relationship stress, and health issues are often the result of unresolved trauma.

These symptoms are caused by the disruption in the person’s nervous system. Individuals have a natural ability to regulate their nervous system to accommodate the normal ups and downs experienced by all humans and are able to stay within their “window of tolerance.” (Siegel, 2010)  However, individuals who have experienced trauma have narrower windows of tolerance and are unable to regulate their nervous system in a way that will allow them to stay within their window.

There are three primary responses to trauma: fight, flight, or freeze.  When someone has experienced trauma, they can often get “stuck” in one of these states, which can lead to chronic symptoms such as hypervigilance or depression.

The goal of a trauma informed yoga practice is to build resiliency and establish greater self-regulation that increases the individual’s window of tolerance. Specific postures and movements can be used to stimulate or deactivate the nervous system, which promotes a person’s ability to self-regulate.

Trauma informed yoga, or yoga used in therapy, is about feeling safe in one’s body so that one can feel stable, have good self-esteem, and engage in healthy relationships. A trauma informed yoga practice is sensitive to the needs of a client with trauma symptoms and offers them tools to feel safe, empowered, and self-regulated.

A misconception of trauma informed yoga, is that it is always a restorative practice. It can be restorative; however, trauma informed yoga can also be a hatha or even a vinyasa based practice. Each individual and their nervous system have their own set of needs. Based on those needs a practice can be tailored to accommodate any client.

Veronica is a registered yoga teacher with 200 hours of training through a Yoga Alliance approved facility. She has also completed two extensive comprehensive trauma informed yoga trainings, and an extended training focusing on hatha, yin, and restorative yoga. These trainings have prepared Veronica to assist clients who are interested in incorporating yoga used in therapy into their healing process.