Trauma-informed Yoga

Photo by Junseong Lee on Unsplash‍ ‍

“Heyam duhkham-anagatam” translates as “practicing yoga reduces suffering”.

Patanjali sutra – 11:16 

Patanjali is considered by many to be the father of modern yoga.  He was certainly the first to record and codify the philosophy and practice of ashtanga yoga, and left us the spiritual text of the Sutras.

The beautiful spiritual practice of yoga, when related to our health, whether physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual, is primarily ‘salutogenic’. This term was coined by sociologist Aaron Antonovsky as an approach to health that focuses on the factors that promote and support health and well-being, rather than focusing on the causes of disease.  

When we consider a trauma-informed approach to yoga, the underlying principles of a salutogenic approach remain unchanged. However, we must additionally address the pathogenic features of those suffering from trauma.

Human beings have a highly adapted nervous system that helps us to coordinate body functions, process information from the environment, and enable thought and movement.  When we experience trauma, the nervous system moves in to a ‘defensive mode’ and if we get stuck here, problems can result on all these levels.

As we know, trauma can be physical or psychological, short- or long-lasting, simple or complicated. One straightforward definition of trauma is ‘the emotional response to a distressing or overwhelming event that is beyond a person's ability to cope, resulting in negative impacts on mental and physical wellbeing’. Whilst the impact of physical trauma is often clearly seen, the psychological impact can be less evident, and even more so psychosomatic manifestation that may be unconsciously connected to the trauma experienced. As the memories of the traumatic event are stored in the deep tissues of the body and can manifest in a variety of ways, many symptoms across the physical, psychological and psychosomatic symptoms are accessible to a grounded yoga practice.

When we take a trauma-informed approach to teaching yoga, it is best practice to both learn and then apply the knowledge about the nervous system with the help of the Polyvagal Theory (ref. Stephen Porge), which in summary teaches that the nervous system isn't a simple "on/off" system but has three interconnected parts that lead to different responses to safety and threat: the Ventral Vagal Complex (social connection) or the most adaptive, the Sympathetic Nervous System ("fight or flight"), and the Dorsal Vagal Complex ("freeze or shutdown") which are the most primitive responses.  Practically applying this theory can help us develop a nurturing environment for our yoga classes, understand our own nervous system, grow in our practice of svadhyaya (the 4th niyama, meaning self-study), and provide practices that can dilute many of the harmful effects of trauma on the body.  

The nervous system controls our musculoskeletal system.  The  6 basic movements of the body: yield, push, reach, grasp, pull and surrender that we have learned in childhood and continue to use from birth to  death are affected by traumatic experiences.  In yoga we can explore these and improve mindfully the movements and also the corresponding deficiencies within the ‘push/pull’ and the yielding/surrendering’ in our relationships. Gently exploring these movements through yoga, can help us understand and  explore the meaning of choice in our lives and the power of change through yoga.

Hari Om

Bridget Hamill