“Yoga doesn’t relax me. In fact, I become more anxious, even panicky, when I try to do it.”
Yoga and trauma therapy share the goal of helping you feel at ease in your body. A yoga practice can be one key element in your healing process, an avenue to help you reclaim your body and overcome the imprint of trauma on your nervous system. Yet yoga might feel deeply distressing to you. It’s not unusual for individuals with childhood trauma histories to avoid yoga. This makes a lot of sense to me.
What are some reasons yoga might feel threatening?
You feel too vulnerable when you are still. If you grew up in a chaotic environment, with your guard up and on alert for danger, the goal of noticing body sensation or relaxing tension may feel unsafe. Or, being still might resemble a freeze state survival strategy from your past. Any method aimed to help your body be calm could feel dangerous.
Some poses trigger you. Certain poses or breathing patterns can be reminders of your trauma, and therefore understandably frightening to you. You may experience intrusive thoughts, panic, or numbness when interference from the past occurs.
Yoga classes in general may feel intrusive. In-person yoga classes can be hot, sweaty, and crowded, all conditions that may be overwhelming to survivors of trauma. Moreover, teachers who offer adjustments (either verbally or physically) may feel intrusive or even violating to you.
Please know that it is possible to develop a safe yoga practice even if the above descriptions are true for you. You can find a yoga practitioner who is trauma-informed and trained to work in a trauma-sensitive way.
Trauma-sensitive yoga includes:
An appreciation that trauma survivors often feel unsafe in their bodies, and that being still may be frightening.
A recognition that because certain poses may be triggering modifications are needed.
A shift in instructor language to convey a focus on student internal felt experience rather than directive language that suggests “correct” form.
An understanding that instructors will not use physical hands-on pose adjustments, instead allowing students to choose how to shift themselves.
A belief that each yoga practitioner must create their own safe environment, whether it is on a mat during class or in an at-home practice.
I am curious and want to learn more about how to incorporate yoga safely.
I would be happy to speak with you! Contact me for a video chat or for referrals to trauma-informed yoga practitioners in the DMV.