Trauma is not the event or bad thing that happens to you, it's the response that is stored in your body. Trauma is the story that your body remembers about what happened to you, and how it feels to remember it. Dr. Peter Levine, author of Healing Trauma, uses the word to describe "the often debilitating symptoms that many people suffer from in the aftermath of perceived life-threatening or overwhelming experiences." He goes on to say that "trauma is about loss of connection--to ourselves, to our bodies, to our families, and to the world around us." This loss of connection is what I believe therapy and yoga both serve to address and heal.
Often, talk therapy misses the mark when it comes to healing trauma, because we're trying to heal the body primarily through talking about it. When the body and mind have been wounded, the healing must address both. Some trauma-focused therapies such as EMDR, IFS, and Somatic experiencing, to name a few, do a great job and integrate the healing of the whole person. Sometimes these therapies are challenging for people to access.
So what do you do if you're in therapy with a therapist who does not have access to these modalities? What do you do if you can't currently afford therapy, or if the idea of going to work with a therapist feels like too big an ask for you right now? There are MANY pathways to healing.
"Research shows that yoga decreases symptoms of hyperarousal, enhances mindfulness, enhances awareness and acceptance of emotions, improves emotion regulation, reduces avoidance and re-experiencing of symptoms decreases anxiety and depression, and increases resilience (Mitchell et al., 2014)" -Zahabiyah A. Yamasaki, Trauma-informed yoga for survivors of sexual assault
5 benefits of practicing yoga for trauma recovery
1. Yoga can help us reconnect to our bodies.
Trauma is complex, and manifests as a variety of symptoms in the body. In my work with clients with CPTSD, they often report a general disconnect, numbness, dissociation, avoidance in their bodies. These are survival strategies that serve to keep them safe. It's truly incredible to witness the ways that our bodies and nervous systems step in to protect us in times of unimaginable pain. Though we can acknowledge the benefit of these nervous system survival strategies, they can sometimes cause problems in our lives and relationships, and reconnection is a goal of our therapeutic work. The practice of trauma-informed yoga can be instrumental in helping us to approach our bodies with tenderness, compassion, and curiosity.
When we are experiencing immobility and disconnection it can be frightening to move through that space and into a place of mobilization. Often we are scared of the intensity of our emotions and physical sensations when we begin to "come back online" and get in touch with ourselves. Your yoga mat can become an intentional space to move through those often uncomfortable sensations, allowing your nervous system to release the stored energy that is contributing to the disturbing symptoms that you might be experiencing.
2. Yoga practice empowers us to make choices.
Throughout a yoga practice, we are provided with opportunities to make choices. We are invited to breathe, sometimes in specific ways (pranayama). We are invited into postures (asana). We are invited into rest (savasana). In each of these invitations, we have choices to make about whether we will breathe or move in the way we have been invited to. We make choices about how we will move, how we will breathe, whether we will push ourselves to go further, or if we will pull back. We choose to keep our eyes open or to close them.
What drives our intuitive choices? Our perception of safety. Yoga invites us to ask ourselves how we feel in each moment. We are invited to notice our physical sensations and our emotional ones. We're reminded to move from our thoughts to our body sensations over and over again. As we pay attention in this particular way, we begin to build awareness of when we feel safe and when we don't. We then make choices about how to move forward from that place of knowing.
When we notice discomfort in a posture, we might practice asking ourselves, "what is coming up for me?" We then have the opportunity to make a conscious choice to move into a posture that feels more comfortable rather than forcing ourselves to hold an unpleasant experience. We also have the option to stay in the discomfort, noticing what it feels like for the discomfort to peak, and then eventually, to end.
3. Yoga helps us to practice being present in the moment without judgment.
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; in the present moment, without judgment. Yoga is all about mindfulness. There is no such thing as perfection in yoga. The first thing that resonated with me when I started doing yoga was that it's referred to as a practice. You show up for your practice each time with the intention of being present without judgment, without the possibility or expectation of perfection. It's liberating.
What does mindfulness have to do with healing trauma? A trauma response is having a reaction today as though you are still living in the past. Sometimes this looks like being flooded with panic when smelling a familiar scent, feeling overwhelming depression at the same time every year (your body remembers anniversaries of hard things), or fear in certain social situations that feels disproportionate to what’s happening in the moment. Often with my clients, we refer to these types of experiences as "old stuff" that they are remembering in their bodies right now. This reframe helps them to reorient to the present moment. When we are grounded in the present, we're able to create some distance from the memories that are stored as painful emotions and sensations in the body, and move through them with a new perspective. Yoga can be instrumental in this practice.
One of my favorite tools for connecting to the body and learning how to regulate is through breath practice. Breathing is one of our most powerful tools for regulating our nervous system. When we notice our breath, we are present in the moment, because we can't breathe in the future or in the past. However, breath practice can be very activating and even triggering for some. Nothing is one size fits all when it comes to healing. If you've tried breathing techniques or bringing your awareness to your breath and felt activation instead of calming, you're not alone. Challenge yourself to bring curiosity and gentleness to your experience, and seek support. There are so many options for tools and breathing techniques that your nervous system might find more soothing.
4. Yoga offers opportunities to move through our feelings.
As we notice physical sensations or activation in certain postures, it is common to have feelings about those sensations or experiences. We might notice feeling discomfort in a posture, anxiety about how long we are going to be asked to hold a pose, embarrassment when we fall, sadness during a hip opening stretch, or excitement when we do a headstand. Yoga invites us into deep relationship with ourselves. We get to pay attention to our internal world, and as we build awareness of our emotions and thoughts, we have the opportunity to move through them mindfully instead of reacting to them in ways that feel outside of our control.
Bessel Van Der Kolk references yoga practice for healing trauma in his book The Body Keeps the Score, and references that the two most important phrases in both yoga and therapy are "notice that" and "What happens next?" When we start approaching our bodies with curiosity instead of fear, everything shifts. We are empowered to make choices. We are reminded through our yoga practice that sensations rise, and then they fall. Sensation comes, and it goes. Building the lived experience through our practice that all sensation is temporary can shift our perspectives on ourselves.
Our emotions are like tunnels, we have to move through them to get to the other side. Yoga can help us to get unstuck so that we can make our way through the tunnel and feel relief.
5. Yoga practice may result in an increased ability to communicate in therapy (and in life).
As we return to our mats and our practice, we increase our awareness of our thoughts, body sensations and emotions and our ability to move through them. This practice improves our connection to our inner world which in turn helps us learn to communicate about our inner experience.
The vulnerability and embodiment we find in yoga can help us to communicate our insights in therapy, which can help further our healing process, especially if combined with a trauma-focused therapy such as EMDR.
"If you have a comfortable connection with your inner sensations-if you can trust them to give you accurate information-you will feel in charge of your body, your feelings, and yourself." Bessel Van Der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
If you’re ready to begin or continue your personal healing journey, please feel free to contact me for a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we might be a good fit for therapy work together. I’d be honored to be a part of your story.
Additional resources on trauma-informed yoga:
Trauma-Informed Yoga Affirmation Card Deck
I use these cards with clients for affirmation practice as a part of therapy. They are also wonderful companions to your yoga practice, offering reminders of empowerment and choices. I even used these cards when I was giving birth to my daughter last year, as a reminder of my strength, ability to set boundaries, and of the innate power and intuition within me. These are a great tool!
Trauma-Informed Yoga for survivors of sexual assault: Practices for healing and teaching with compassion
This book is a great resource for therapists, yoga teachers, and survivors, alike. It is full of information, tools, and a guide for offering trauma-informed yoga to survivors. Zahabiyah Yamasaki writes in a unique and thoughtful way, and provides gentle reminders for nervous system regulation, throughout. This book is truly a gift.
About the author
Hayli Evans is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) & Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) who specializes trauma and EMDR Therapy.
Hayli uses a trauma-informed, holistic, and collaborative approach to therapy, integrating the body, mind, and spirit into the healing process. She strives to meet each client where they are, tailoring treatment to each person’s unique needs. She works to empower clients to find their voice, connect with their bodies, and heal their nervous system.
She works with each individual to build a supportive therapeutic relationship where they can develop the skills necessary to achieve their goals and improve their overall quality of life.
Hayli is EMDR trained, has achieved her 200-hour yoga teacher certification, and has completed a Transcending Sexual Trauma Through Yoga certification. She is passionate about helping clients to find empowerment in their bodies through breath, mindfulness, and movement throughout the therapeutic process.
Visit Haylievanslmft.com to learn more and request consultation.
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