Stress and trauma is overwhelming because it permeates every layer of our being. Having a deeper understanding of what those layers are can help us start the healing process toward post traumatic growth. Today our work IN is an introduction to  a series of episodes on the koshas that can guide us along that path to resilience.

What makes trauma release yoga different from every other kind of yoga?

They say comparison is the thief of joy but it can also be an excellent guide post. Today we’re going to take a deep dive into the differences between traditional yoga and trauma release yoga. Our work IN today will hopefully empower you on your own real world resilience journey.

I want to start by saying I believe literally everything we do can be approached from a yogic perspective. We don’t have to be on a mat to practice yoga but most people even today believe that yoga is only stretching. Our challenge as instructors is to hide our eye rolls, and refrain from saying something cryptic  like “You know nothing, John Snow” and simply lead by example. Hopefully with a little grace. 

Grief and stress are part of the human condition. We don’t need to live very long before we experience either one. What’s interesting is the recovery process for each can be remarkably similar. Chronic long term stress can feel remarkably like grief. Our Work IN today is a look at how we can use the 5 stages of grief as a framework to better understand and conquer chronic stress for long term resilience.

In my own trauma release process using trauma release exercise there was a lot of grief that came out. It was the strangest sensation to feel sadness in my bones.

Yoga retreats sound so nice. Full disclosure, I’ve never been on a retreat per say and I have all the excuses to prove it. I’ve done yoga teacher training that lasted a week but I’ve never had the time to take away from my family, my job for anything like that that didn’t have some purpose to it. Shoot I can barely bring myself to take time off on holidays with my family. But I understand the appeal. I like the idea that you completely step out of your everyday life to rest and repair, recharge, maybe learn something new or simply take a full time out. I sometimes fantasize about running away like that. That seems like an awfully big privilege if I’m honest. And what is the point if nothing changes about the life you come home to?

Today our work IN is all about how to use retreats in intentional, mindful ways for practical, long lasting stress relief and resilience and an opportunity to try one without the big time and money commitment.

What we don’t want is to become locked into a past version of ourselves that is limited by that past experience. Today I want to focus on the way traumatic events both big T and little t can shape our physical, mental and emotional health and become part of our subconscious identity, an identity pathology, and lock us into the past. So today our Work IN is a conversation about how this happens and how we can start to detangle ourselves from the fixed mindset social sci op of identity pathology by first rediscovering who we really are and then redefining ourselves on our own terms.

Today I'm so excited to bring you a very special interview with my trainer and mentor, Donna Phillips. Donna has over 30 years of experience in the health care, wellness and medical industries. She has degrees in exercise physiology, business and holds advanced certifications in both yoga and pilates. She's an outstanding teacher. But what makes her really unique, and why I wanted to introduce her to you today, is that she also happens to be a trauma release exercise certification trainer.

She is passionate about bringing trauma release exercise to the world as a way to safely self regulate stress tension and trauma. We're going to learn a little bit more about what trauma release exercise is, what it does for the body, how it can help us connect and reestablish a friendly relationship within ourselves and safely down regulate the nervous system, so that we can really experience our lives to the fullest.