CPD03 Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training: Compassion based Yoga Therapy (Online)

Any experience of fear and/or pain that doesn’t have the support it needs to be digested and integrated into the flow of our developing brains.

This definition encourages us to look into the neural and interpersonal aspects of experience for an understanding of how we become traumatized rather than toward the nature of the experience itself or a list of symptoms. We might consider the embedding of trauma to be a rupture in the inherent process integration of our ongoing experience, with healing arising through the initiation of and experience of repair so that the journey toward integration can follow its natural course.

Badenoch, 2017, pp.40-41

The Role of Yoga Therapy in Trauma-Informed Care

In terms of yoga’s personal contribution to the mental wellness of people who experience trauma and other psychological conditions, yoga therapy is increasingly recognised as a valuable complementary approach for supporting emotional wellbeing, self-awareness, and embodied healing.

The Boston Trauma Center director, Bessel van der Kolk, states:
‘We had better results with yoga in people with chronic PTSD than any medication that I or anybody else had ever studied,’ he says. ‘That, of course, is pretty interesting and exciting, and not so good news for psychiatry, because psychiatrists are unlikely to transform themselves into yoga instructors. But is yoga helpful? Absolutely.’

Understanding Trauma Through Yoga, Meditation and Neuroscience

Trauma is a prevalent sociological and health concern. Adverse childhood experiences, inadequate support, disrupted compassionate connection, and experiences that impact our ability to feel safe, significant, or connected can influence wellbeing in profound ways.

Individuals seek support through a variety of approaches, including therapy, yoga, meditation, and other complementary practices. As yoga and meditation teachers, our role is to create safe and supportive environments while promoting greater awareness, connection, and wellbeing.

Developing a trauma-informed approach requires understanding trauma from multiple perspectives, including the neurobiology of trauma, interpersonal relationships, the role of the practitioner, and the application of mindful movement, breath practices, and meditation techniques.

Trauma-Informed Yoga Teaching and Embodied Awareness

By becoming more trauma-informed in your teaching, you will develop an understanding of how to support students not only through their emotional and physical experiences but also in reconnecting with a sense of choice, agency, and ownership of their own bodies.

It is now recognised that trauma can have profound effects on the body, nervous system, brain, and physiological processes. According to the ancient yoga sutras, our body, posture, and expression reflect the history of our lived experience and the influences that precede us. Both traditional yoga philosophy and contemporary science explore the relationship between experience, embodiment, and wellbeing.

Yoga Therapy Techniques for Trauma Awareness

In this course, we will use traditional yoga therapy techniques to explore how grief, shock, and trauma can affect the nervous system, mind, muscles, organs, fascia, and embodied awareness.

Through practices involving breath, movement, mindfulness, and meditation, participants will learn approaches that encourage presence within the body and support a greater sense of freedom, awareness, and connection in the present moment.

Breathing together, moving together, and cultivating conscious connection with trusted others can support the process of reconnecting with ourselves and our lived experience.

Trauma-Informed Yoga & Meditation Intensive

This intensive is designed to support yoga teachers, meditation teachers, and therapists in developing more trauma-informed approaches to their teaching and professional practice.

Participants will explore:

• The neurobiology of trauma and its relationship with the body and mind
• Trauma-informed approaches to yoga, meditation, and breath practices
• The role of safety, connection, and choice in teaching environments
• Embodied awareness and the mind-body relationship
• Traditional yoga therapy practices for supporting wellbeing

Please note that this course is not a qualification or certification to provide trauma therapy or trauma treatment. The practices and theories discussed and taught are intended to support trauma-informed teaching approaches and are not intended as interventions for those who have experienced trauma.