Yoga instructor. Yoga practitioner. Trauma survivor. I am all of those. I came to yoga out of curiosity, not because anyone told me it might help. I have forged my own way through my healing journey, with lots of help along the way. One of the tools I’ve used to support my recovery is yoga. I didn’t actually know it would help. The work and the effect has been organic. Research is showing that yoga can be used successfully as one element of a healing journey through trauma. (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/trauma-informed-yoga)
Statistics Canada tells us that two thirds of our Canadian population has experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives. Exposure to a transportation accident (31%) was the most common type of potentially traumatic event, followed by physical assault (18%), life-threatening illness or injury (17%), natural disasters (15%), and unwanted sexual experiences other than sexual assaults (15%). Other types of events were quite rare, such as being held in captivity (1%) or having caused serious injury, harm, or death to someone else (2%)… Around one in six women (16%) report having been exposed to sexual assault. (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/240527/dq240527b-eng.htm)
Yoga can be a gentle meditative form of stress release and physical activity, but the way it is taught matters. People come to yoga for many different reasons. Often, it is to work on flexibility or balance, other times it is to manage chronic pain, to get more physically fit, or to reduce stress. And while yoga can be a tool to support healing from trauma, there are certain aspects or ways of teaching yoga that can be harmful to a trauma survivor.
Certain yoga asana (poses) can be emotionally uncomfortable and triggering for someone who has survived trauma. This is dependent on the individual, and while poses such as Happy Baby, Downward Dog, Puppy pose, and Child’s pose can be culprits, this is unique to each person.
Some pranayama techniques (breathing practices), can pull a trauma survivor back into a moment of painful memories. For example, Bhastrika (Bellows) pranayama involves forceful exhales and inhales, and Kapalabhati (Skull Shining) pranayama, uses forceful exhales and passive inhales. Both of these breathing techniques can result in light headedness if not done correctly, or practiced for too long at one time. For a trauma survivor who has experienced physical or sexual assault, the heaviness of the breath may be destabilizing.
As they start out in the practice of yoga, some trauma survivors are not ready for the mind-body-spirit connection that the practice nurtures. Having held oneself at arm’s length, often for many years, it can be overwhelming to find and feel that connection. The quietness, and drawing inward of the attention that calls one to feel sensations in the body, to notice the state of the mind, and to realize the emotions associated with the moment may feel too intense. Rather than relaxation and peace, the fight – flight or freeze response is engaged.
Physical assists have been a big part of yoga instruction. There are courses that teachers can take on how to physically adjust yoga practitioners. Lots of people prefer not to be touched by others. Trauma survivors can be very sensitive to physical touch. Instead of nurturing a calm and blissful state, the instructor who physically adjusts a student can, unwittingly, create discomfort and fear.
Trauma-informed yoga, is not designed to take you back to the source of your pain. Its purpose is to help you become more aware of what’s going on in your body. Once you can begin to tap into feelings and sensations as they arise in your body, you can work on releasing built-up emotions, stress and tension. This process can take a long time.
It is important for yoga instructors to be aware that at any point in time, they may have a student in their class who has experienced trauma. It is even possible the student may not be aware of that piece in their history. Therefore, instructors can be proactive and more fully inclusive by:
- Providing various options and the choice to opt out of a pose or practice.
- Holding space as a teacher with a non-judgemental mindset
- Guide with words and demonstration rather than physical assistance
- Ask permission before touching.
Keeping the first yama, ahimsa, as the fundamental basis for teaching others is the most important ethic to embody: Always “do not harm”.
MSH Yoga 