Trauma seems to be a buzzword in yoga and wellness circles lately, with various modalities, from movement and breathwork to chanting and various ceremonies, advertised as trauma healing. However, can trauma be something we can move, breathe, sing or dance out? Of course, it is not that simple. When it comes to something as complex as trauma, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. While a particular asana, breathing pattern, or any other practice or technique might be healing for one person, it can be triggering for another.
Trauma is a fact of life: most of us will experience at least one traumatic event in our lifetime. Some people will be able to process what happened, integrate it and move on. Some will even experience post-traumatic growth, described as a positive transformation following trauma. Others will develop more severe reactions to trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Between the two extremes, there are many shades of grey. Many symptoms that go unrecognised as related to traumatic events - anxiety, depression, sleeping disorders, and somatic disturbances such as IBS, can relate to past trauma. These symptoms can come and go, depending on what is going on in our lives. When acute, people often try to find ways to help themselves, such as starting yoga. In my experience of almost 20 years of teaching, I know that many people start yoga when life gets challenging, and choosing the suitable yoga and the right teacher can make a world of difference. This is where Trauma-Sensitive Yoga comes in.
Emerging research suggests that yoga and mindfulness interventions can help trauma survivors - yoga has many powerful tools for healing and transformation. But, the same tools can be harmful when misused, giving rise to reactions such as emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and dissociation, and causing distress instead of helping. The problem is that most yoga teachers are not trained to know what can be triggering, which practices are more regulating and which less, or how to deal with a student thrown out of balance by something during a class. On the other hand, most trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive teachers (certainly those who studied with Spanda Institute) have studied trauma in more depth, understanding the prevalence, reactions, symptoms, types, etc. They have a good understanding of the neurobiology of stress and trauma responses. They will know how to choose what they teach and how they teach yoga to a specific group or individual, how to adapt certain techniques to make them more trauma-sensitive, how to avoid possible triggers, how to recognise signs of dysregulation, dissociation, flashbacks, etc., and how to help the student regulate again.
It is a common misconception that Trauma-Sensitive or Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher teaches individuals and groups with trauma-related disorder or vulnerable groups, such as war veterans or victims of domestic violence. While this is possible, I encourage my students to get more education (psychotherapy, counselling, psychology) before teaching such classes. Getting certified as Trauma-Sensitive is more about learning how to adapt classes you already teach to the emerging science behind trauma to serve your students better. We now know that most of the people in our yoga class will have suffered at least one traumatic event in their lives and that, when we dive deep into the body/mind, as we do in a typical yoga class, much can come out, often more than one can handle. Before, this was almost celebrated and called "opening" or "spiritual awakening". I know students who have had psychotic breaks during a yoga event and a few who had to be hospitalised. Most thought of it as a positive experience because they were led to believe this was some awakening moment. It might have been, but in most cases, it's not; it's a dissociative or emotional reaction to unprocessed trauma in a space where the facilitator has no idea what to do with it.
My journey to where I am today, somatic psychotherapist, yoga therapist, and a soon-to-be psychologist teaching Trauma-Sensitive Yoga, was inspired by my need to heal, but also by my students. I led a retreat many years ago, which attracted a group of amazing women, most of whom have suffered a recent loss or were at life's crossroads. As one by one started to fall apart, I could only watch, unable to help put them back together. I didn't fool myself; I knew this was not positive - a few tears are regulating; not being able to stop crying is not. Holding space has become another buzzword in yoga circles, but the truth is, not many know what it means or how to hold space when things start to fall apart. I didn’t then. Four months after that retreat, I started my somatic psychotherapy training, which changed the course of my life and my career or calling.
Unfortunately, no rules permit someone to use trauma-healing or similar terms when promoting their events, even if they have no training in this area. I hope this will change, as it did with Yoga Therapy. Until then, if you are a yoga student in a sensitive state of mind, be mindful when choosing classes and events. If you are a yoga teacher or facilitator of wellness events, consider taking a trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive course to better serve your students. There are many courses out there (be mindful of who is teaching it, though; this is not regulated either), but if you want to take one with us, we offer in-person training every year, as well as on-demand online training.
