Trauma takes many forms. Active duty military personnel can be victims of all sorts of trauma, from violence on the battlefield to sexual trauma. The effects of those traumas can be carried with them for a lifetime, negatively affecting sleep, causing depression and anxiety, and causing sufferers to not feel at home in their bodies.
Childhood trauma can come from physical or sexual abuse, neglect, bullying, and a host of other adverse events. And when children experience trauma, they don’t have the skills to process the trauma or even ask for help in dealing with issues.
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Trauma
Adults can experience trauma from the sudden death of a loved one, a relationship breakup, humiliation, disappointment, violence, or injuries.
And trauma causes people to exhibit hyperarousal, be hypervigilant, and have issues processing sensations. When you relive unresolved trauma, your nervous system can overload. This causes your body to create stress. And we all know what stress does to the body and mind. You’ll have sleeping issues, anxiety, depression, and health issues such as chronic pain. You may feel numb, and you may feel guilty. You won’t feel safe whether you’re a child or an adult. You’ll lose the trust of people. You may exhibit anger and mood swings. You may also have problems concentrating. But you must know that these reactions are all completely normal.
Trauma can stay with you for a short amount of time, or you may suffer from it for years. And, if you have prolonged trauma, and your nervous system gets “stuck,” you may have PTSD.
Trauma can cause a person to isolate themselves. You may feel too afraid to be around people, but being alone will most likely make you feel worse. Trauma can also cause a person not to be able to self-regulate their nervous system. You will be experiencing many negative thoughts and feelings and won’t know how to process them.
There are ways to move from feelings of trauma, but it can take work. Mindful breathing techniques and yoga practice can successfully help trauma survivors regain their confidence and start living their lives again. Movement is said to be beneficial to helping people who have experienced trauma. Mindful breathing can help tackle stress and anxiety. When you can’t concentrate, are leaning on alcohol, can’t sleep due to nightmares, suffer fear, and are avoiding people and situations, it might be time to seek help with your trauma.
What Is Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy?
Yoga practitioners pioneered trauma-informed yoga therapy to allow yoga clients to feel comfortable in their bodies, tackle ruminating over their trauma, and improve their self-regulation. This type of yoga can heal and empower people who have experienced trauma and lead better lives. It is a specialized yoga. You shouldn’t just jump into it, but study and perhaps take a certification course before working with people affected by trauma.
As we said above, research has shown that trauma can cause people to suffer hypervigilance, hyperarousal, and lack of ability to feel calm. It’s not just their minds that suffer, but their bodies as well. Trauma-informed yoga will allow people to understand the physical changes happening in their bodies because of their traumatic experiences and help them release tension, decrease fear, and learn to manage sensations. The practice will empower people, letting them live more in control of their lives. For instance, a yoga teacher may ask the student: “If you’d like to, raise your arms,” instead of ordering them to raise their arms. The student will be entirely in control of their own body.
Suppose you’re questioning whether trauma-informed yoga works. In that case, the National Institutes of Health has conducted a study finding that individuals with complex trauma who practice yoga show a marked improvement.
If you’d like to learn more about trauma-informed yoga, check out the classes listed below. We researched the best programs for practitioners who want to learn more about and teach trauma-informed yoga. Lastly, we offer some tips for learning about and helping people via trauma-informed yoga. So, read on. It’s an important subject, and you’ll learn a lot of helpful information to aid your yoga students.
The 2 Best Sites to Pursue Your Certification in Trauma Informed Yoga Online in 2024
Teaching yoga to those who have experienced trauma is a brave and admirable role. Teenagers who have witnessed and been victims of trauma need intervention to stay on a safe path in life. So many active-duty military personnel and veterans have experienced trauma in their military careers. They desperately need understanding practitioners to help them attain peace and calmness in their lives. It’s a niche place in the yoga world, but there are some fantastic teacher training courses to help you on your way to aid anyone with trauma. Check out the programs below to receive certification in trauma-informed yoga.
1. My Vinyasa Practice: Trauma-Informed Yoga Certification
My Vinyasa Practice’s online 40-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga Training can be finished in as little as four weeks.
Students will learn:
- How to hold space in trauma-informed settings
- How to set up expectations for practice and protocols
- How to ground and set compassionate boundaries before and after class
- How to deepen your practice through experiential learning methods
Yoga teachers can access the class from anywhere in the world. All they need is an internet connection. “Create a safe and projection-free container for exploration through yoga for clients and students.” Once students finish the program and become certified, they can join My Vinyasa Practice as a paid mentor teacher.
The class is perfect for therapists, medical professionals, and yoga teachers who are in contact with people affected by trauma. Also, the class would be helpful for yoga practitioners who want to deepen and inform their yoga practice.
For a My Vinyasa Practice review, check out that article.
2. The Whole Health Project: Trauma-Aware Facilitation Training
The 10-hour Trauma Aware Facilitation Training The Whole Health Project caters to individuals in the wellness industry who hold supportive roles, such as teachers, healers, and coaches. This comprehensive training is designed to equip participants with the skills to create a safer and more inclusive environment for their students or clients.
Regardless of your intention to work specifically with traumatized individuals, it is inevitable that you will encounter students with unresolved trauma in your professional spaces as a practitioner.
In collaboration with Clinical Psychologist Lic. Begoña Garcia registered with Yoga Alliance (YACEP); this training consists of three parts and offers an accessible and easily understandable introduction to the intricate and expansive subject of trauma.
This course covers various topics, including:
- Defining trauma and understanding its impact on the mind and body
- Identifying the manifestations of trauma and developing the ability to recognize them
- Exploring the relationship between stress and how yoga can affect the nervous system
- Understanding the trauma spectrum and acquiring strategies for managing emotional challenges
- Establishing a foundational comprehension of developmental stages and their relationship to trauma
- Cultivating safe and inclusive spaces
- Recognizing power dynamics and setting healthy boundaries
- Navigating consent and appropriate physical touch
- Developing trauma-aware language
- Providing emotional first aid for clients who may be triggered
In today’s world, yoga teachers, coaches, and healers must approach their work with a trauma-aware perspective. This enhances your competence and compassion as a space holder and ensures that your students and clients feel acknowledged, understood, and validated in their experiences with you. Moreover, this approach grants you a competitive edge in the modern economy.
Sign up for their Trauma Aware Yin Yoga Teacher Training, Meditation Teacher Training, or Breath Coach Training to receive an even more significant discount on all three trainings.
Practitioner Bundles:
- The Breath & Yin Yoga
- The Meditation & Yin Yoga
- The Meditation & Breath
- The Meditation, Breath & Yin Yoga
Final Tips When Beginning Your Trauma Informed Yoga Training
When you begin training in trauma-informed yoga, you’ll have to deprogram your mind of some of the practices you usually conduct when teaching a typical yoga class. As you’re studying trauma-informed yoga, you’ll need to remind yourself to:
- Stop commanding and instead invite people into a pose
- Not use hands-on assists
- Do the yoga poses along with the class
- Keep the poses gentle
- Ask your class to focus on their breathing and sensation
- Remind the class to avoid self-judgement
Wrapping up
Teaching yoga classes to those affected by trauma requires more training than your starting 200-hour yoga teacher certification. If you’d like to work with such a specialized population, you must understand what it’s like to suffer from trauma and how it affects the body. Hypervigilance can cause high levels of stress in the body, which can affect sleep and cause depression and anxiety. You’ll need to learn to guide students through breathing exercises and teach them to feel comfortable in their skin.
So, check out the three courses we listed above. They’ll not only give you the basis you need to help people who have faced trauma in their lives. They will provide you with continuing education credits with Yoga Alliance, showing clients you’re always learning.
And, if you’d like to see trauma-informed yoga in action, take a peek at the two YouTube videos we’ve listed. They’ll show you some techniques you’ll learn in your training. It will also help to look at the tips we’ve recorded to aid you in studying for a trauma-informed yoga teacher training certification.
Trauma-informed yoga teacher training is a serious subject, and bringing your teachings into the community will be rewarding. You’ll have the insight to guide and change the lives of your students. Make that move today!
