Trauma-Informed Yoga for Mental Health: What Exactly Is It?

When it comes to healing from trauma, integrating both the mind and body is essential. One powerful method that combines these two aspects is trauma-informed yoga, AKA trauma-sensitive yoga.

With so many different types of yoga out there, e.g. goat yoga, beer yoga, hot yoga, kundalini yoga and more, it can be overwhelming to find a practice that supports mental health healing. Joanne Spence who draws on experience from decades of social work and teaching yoga describes trauma-informed yoga as a way to offer "...a lens of support that makes space for any potential ways someone could feel or respond to triggers, trying to prevent re-traumatization in every way possible." Well that's great Jamille, but how does that translate? Ah, great question that I will answer by giving you the main themes that a trauma-informed yoga class would have.

According to Spence:

• Use of invitational language

  • "If it feels right for you" or "I invite you to explore this shape by using a prop"

• Creation of a safe and welcoming space

  • Having plenty of space between mats or not having their camera turned on if virtual

• Abiding to clear boundaries

  • No forced sharing, never have to talk about their trauma or their experience in the class

• No physical touch

  • Unless clearly consensual, (with the use of "consent cards") with consent being ongoing

• A normalization of responses that could come up from breathwork or movement

  • "The hips can hold stored trauma and having reactions of anger, fear, or sadness are normal"

• Use of yoga in such a way that increases emotional self-regulation

  • Grounding

  • Centering

  • Specific breath practices

Atira Tan additionally adds:

• Primary emphasis on having an inward orientation or interoception

  • Attending to sensations in the body with nonjudgment

• Emphasis on choice and agency

  • Multiple variations of shapes, modifications, and always the choice not to engage

• Mindfulness

  • Awareness of the present moment, internally and externally

• Slowness

  • Moving at a pace where individuals can notice sensations in their body (without becoming overwhelmed), oftentimes coordinating breath with movement

• The facilitator will:

  • Be emotionally regulated

    • Soft facial expressions

    • Open body language

    • Prosodic (sing-songy) quality of voice

  • Assume everyone has experienced traumas

  • Normalize that people may be overwhelmed, easily triggered, and/or confused

David Emerson (Trauma-Sensitive Yoga):

• Individuals showing up may have found they want more from life

  • Wanting body and breath awareness in a safe environment

• Wise choice of words

  • "Shapes" or "Forms" or even "Postures" but not the word "Pose" as there may be survivors of sexual abuse that had to pose for pictures or other

• Knowing that the individual is the authority about their body

  • Emphasis on how the shape feels in the body vs the outward appearance of the "correct" posture

  • One way of breathing is not necessarily better than another

• Trauma-sensitive yoga takes into account 3 theoretical underpinnings:

  • Trauma Theory

  • Neuroscience

  • Attachment Theory

So I'm curious if the quote "...a lens of support that makes space for any potential ways someone could feel or respond to triggers, trying to prevent re-traumatization in every way possible." makes more sense now? I would also remind any individual seeking out a trauma-informed or trauma-senstive yoga class to simply pay attention to how they feel around the facilitator. If your nervous system feels safe around the facilitator/teacher then keep coming back....if it doesn't, then find another! This seemingly simply act of not returning to a class because it just didn't feel right can be extremely healing in it of itself.

Emerson, D. (2015). Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in therapy: Bringing the body into treatment. W.W. Norton

& Company.

Spence, J. (2021). Trauma-informed yoga: A toolbox for therapists: 47 simple practices to calm, balance,

and restore the nervous system. Pesi Publishing.

Tan, A. (ca. 2021, October-November). 50 hr trauma-informed women's yoga teacher online training.

(Module 1: Trauma-Informed Principles) [Webinar]. Lorraine Taylor Yoga.