You’ve heard about the mental health benefits of yoga! You gather up your mat, put on your name brand gear, tie your hair in a messy bun and venture out in hopes of finding the cure-all for the stress and anxiety that is overwhelming your life. You arrive in class only to find yourself discouraged and feeling like a fish-out-water because your downward dog feels more like the “downward spiral” of your self-esteem. I’ve been there! Let’s dispel some of the myths about yoga in our Western culture.
What is yoga?
Yoga is a practice rooted in ancient Hindu philosophy. It was written in one of the oldest texts called the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is written in Sanskrit which is one of the oldest human languages and not commonly used outside of the context of yoga. The Sanskrit meaning of the word yoga is “to join” or “to yoke”. Yoga is a science about the union or joining together of the body, mind and spirit. In the West, we most commonly think of yoga as the bending and moving of the body. This is called “asana”. The Sanskrit word “asana” literally translates as “seat” and is only one part of yoga. The original intention of asana was to be a physical discipline to integrate body, mind and spirit for meditation. In today’s Western world, yoga has become the go-to as a form of exercise, weight loss, and a trendy lifestyle.
Patanjali, an Indian Sage, is considered by many to be the father of modern yoga. He is the author of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Sutra means “thread” and the Yoga Sutras are the thread that connects and holds together the tradition of yoga. An example of the writings of the Yoga Sutras is Yoga Sutra 1.2 yoga citta vriti nirodha; “Yoga is the silencing of the fluctuations of the mind”. Yoga is mindfulness. Yoga is NOT a religious belief system. In fact, in India it is not expected that a Hindu practice yoga. “Yoga does not require a specific belief system and, if we already have one, it is not challenged by yoga”. T.K.V. Desikachar The Heart of Yoga . There are many paths to yoga. A few may be familiar to you like Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Kundalini Yoga.
Asana is one part of yoga, but Patanjali writes about the 8-fold path called ashtanga. This includes: Yamas– ethical standards and integrity. Niyamas– Self-discipline. Asanas– physical postures. Pranayama– breath and breathing exercises. Pratyahara– directing the focus inward, away from the external. Dharana– concentration/mindfulness. Dhyana– meditation or contemplation. Samadhi– bliss, enlightenment, transcendence of self.
What are the benefits of yoga?
Our wellness or personal harmony, as I like to call it, is influenced and affected by our whole being: body, mind and spirit. Our mental health is connected to our physical health, so let’s begin there. Some of the physical benefits of yoga can include improved sleep patterns, lower blood pressure, increased ability to move, improved muscle tone, increase in respiratory function and more energy. Through research, yoga has shown to impact and improve our mental wellbeing. Some of the mental benefits of yoga can include improved attentiveness, ability to focus/concentrate, increase self-compassion, self-esteem & life satisfaction, decreased depression & anxiety, improved mood and clarity and improved body awareness and self-regulation. Yoga has even been shown through research, to benefit trauma survivors in their recovery even more so, or in conjunction with talk therapy. (Trauma Sensitive Yoga: Principles, Practice and Research. Study by David Emerson, Brookline, MA)
What is Trauma Conscious Yoga?
To answer this we must first understand what trauma is. Trauma is an event that involves experiencing, witnessing or learning about an event perceived to be life threatening and/or terrifying and overwhelms our nervous system. The event often encompasses intense fear or terror and leaves us with a sense of helplessness, isolation, lack of control and may contribute to “being stuck” in other circumstances that mimic a threat to our safety. Trauma is stored in fragmented pieces in multiple areas of the brain and body. What is a traumatic experience for one person, may not be traumatic for another because trauma is based on perception.
Trauma stored in the brain and body.
Trauma is stored in the older parts of the brain, limbic and brainstem in a disorganized and disintegrated way, scattered like pieces of a puzzle. When incoming information is terrifying we are overwhelmed with physiological responses like fight or flight, contraction of the gut, the closing of the throat or tightness in the chest. For a trauma survivor, when a situation arises that mirrors past trauma, the neural firing patterns can re-create the traumatic experience-even if it’s not real. In this way, what the brain and body experience is frozen in time. The body of the trauma survivor can experience ongoing sensations of tense muscles, numbness, exhaustion, pain, difficulty being still, neck and shoulder pain, laryngitis, digestive issues & high blood pressure, just to name a few.
The goal of Trauma Conscious Yoga:
The spirit of trauma survivors has been broken and the mind and body are not connected. Our implicit memory (unconscious, disintegrated and without time sequence) becomes the default path for receiving information. Our goal in Trauma Conscious Yoga is to help survivors transform the way information is received; as a cohesive message that includes logic, feelings and healthy beliefs that have a beginning, middle and end. In this way trauma survivors are able to create new neural pathways and re-integrate the body, mind and spirit. Being a trauma survivor myself, often there is a deep distrust of our bodies. My goal is to help support clients in a holistic approach, to connect with their whole being and invite them to have self-compassion realizing they are not damaged or alone. There is hope and the opportunity to thrive as we explore the pathway to healing.
What Trauma Conscious Yoga Looks Like:
Trauma Conscious Yoga as a pathway to healing can be used on a spectrum by health professionals, therapists, yoga instructors and practitioners. It can be as simple as using meditation during a client’s appointment, a workshop on movement or a group yoga class. At the core, it is most important to be trauma informed and respect the practice of The Four “R’s”: Realize the broad impact of trauma and the process of recovery, Recognize the signs and symptoms, Respond by creating/integrating practices and policies and Resist re-traumatization.
Personal Note:
As I continue the life work of walking through my own trauma recovery, I can attest to the deep value in reaching out for support from a variety of professionals who offer varying methods to aid in recovery. Through determination and courage, I have personally sought help from qualified people who have demonstrated unconditional love and given me the tools to continue on the road to wholeness and health. As a certified yoga instructor and Trauma Conscious Yoga teacher, I cannot stress enough the importance that each trauma survivor will have their own experience and their own path to recovery. The scope of yoga as a healing modality is not that of a health-care professional or talk therapist. I encourage anyone who is seeking support to reach out to a variety of practitioners on your healing journey. In the greater scope, there are many ways to be supported and to know that you are not alone. “The wound is the place where the Light enters you” -Rumi