What to Expect From a Trauma-Informed Yoga Practice Space

This article talks about what we can expect from a trauma-informed yoga practice space. A trauma-informed yoga practice is an important part of healing, honouring dignity in growth, and finding a new connection and relationship with our body.

Yoga and somatic practices can support healing and growth from individual and collective trauma by normalising our body’s responses to trauma, building our self confidence to make choices that support our well being, and giving space for slowly connecting to our internal sensations.

Many experts and practitioners have contributed to our understanding of trauma and our nervous system, creating a clear picture that our body needs to be a focus of trauma healing.[1] If we consider a trauma-informed yoga practice space through the lens of Polyvagal Theory, PVT,[2] it is both a self regulating and coregulating space. We learn practices and movements that support our individual capacity to actively engage in our well being, and the community of the yoga class does this work together.

A trauma-informed yoga practice space has specific qualities and elements. The instructor should be trained and experienced in offering a trauma-informed practice. Just labeling a practice as safe or trauma-informed does not make it so.

In my view, there are two areas of focus that should guide a trauma-informed yoga practice space. One is about how the practice can support growth and healing, and the other is related to the qualities of a trauma-informed yoga practice, which include the skills and approach of the instructor.

Ways that a trauma-informed yoga practice can support growth and healing

While a trauma-informed yoga practice supports healing, it is not a therapy or counselling space. A trauma-informed yoga practice can support participants to:

Make healthy choices with awareness: choice is often something that was removed or not possible at the time of our trauma experiences. Healing includes being able to make choices for ourselves that support our well being.

Trauma-informed yoga is a good place to practise making choices with our body. We might decide not to lift our arms in a pose, or choose to pause and breathe rather than continue a movement. Deciding to use yoga props or choosing where we put our yoga mat in the room are moments of choice.

Set boundaries with clarity and ease: as we become more aware of what poses and movements work well for us, we can make more choices and practise saying no with more ease.

We might say, “no, thank you,” to the instructor who offers a verbal cue or offers to get a prop for us. The instructor might offer a cross legged seated pose, and we might decide to sit with our legs straight.

Practising making choices and setting boundaries in a trauma-informed yoga space supports us in reclaiming our agency. It can help us practise making choices and setting boundaries outside of the yoga space.

Connect with our body: in a trauma-informed yoga practice, we should hear encouragement from the instructor to notice our internal sensations while we breathe, do a pose, or move. There should also be acknowledgement that this might not be easy to do. Short moments of noticing are valuable.

The mainstream yoga notion of “being in your body” is not always accessible. With trauma, we may have learned to disconnect from our body to keep ourselves safe. Trauma-informed yoga can be a space where we slowly practise befriending our body.

Qualities of a trauma-informed yoga practice

Here are some important qualities of a trauma-informed approach:

• Transparency: The instructor should be clear about what is going to happen during the practice, the types of cues or guidance they will give, and that there will be options to modify poses or movements.

• Choice: It should be clear to the participants that they have the right to choose not to do a pose or movement if it does not feel comfortable or safe. Participants can choose to pause or rest at any time. Also, participants should not feel that they are forced to be still or meditate. If they want to move a little or sway, this is welcome.

• Psychological safety: The instructor should prioritise the participants’ well being. The class is for the participants, not for the instructor to fulfil their idea of a perfect class. Cues and directions should be clear and offer choice without making demands on the participants.

• Language: Trained instructors are aware of words and phrases that can be harmful or triggering. They use language that is invitational rather than directive.

• Awareness of positionality and bias: The instructor should be aware that we all have conscious and unconscious biases. The instructor’s own background and experience can impact the space and how they show up. Participants should feel welcome regardless of their lived experience, cultural background, ethnicity, age, body size, or gender.

• Dignity: A trauma-informed space is a non-shaming space where the practice is offered with compassion. Participants should feel comfortable practising as they are able, without trying to please the instructor or fit into an idealised image of yoga.

• Consent: A trauma-informed yoga practice often does not include any hands on adjustments. Any verbal suggestions or guidance offered by the instructor require consent each time.

• Atmosphere: A trauma-informed yoga space is sensitive to potential distractions or irritants, such as dim lighting, overly bright lighting, scents such as incense, candles, music, external noises, and access to the door.

In conclusion, a yoga practitioner offering a trauma-informed yoga space should be working with the yoga principle of ahimsa, a practice of not creating harm toward self and others.

Overall, a trauma-informed yoga practice supports participants in feeling safer in and with their own body. The only thing that should be normalised in a trauma-informed space is that there is no “normal” body to strive for. Yoga can be an important part of healing and growth.

Read more from Monique Newton