What makes trauma release yoga different?
“It’s that culturally acceptable disconnection between mind and body that leads to suffering and grief. It’s not too big of a leap that at some point the body would also start to grieve.”
- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Ep 183
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.
There are many different types of yoga depending on who you ask. Google will tell you 7. Hatha, ashtanga, iyengar, vinyasa, yin, restorative, Kundalini. I found another source that counted eight and included aerial yoga in the list. Then of course there are many different formats beyond those. Like prenatal, power yoga, face yoga, yoga nidra, hot yoga. And now trauma release yoga which we are going to discuss today. Each of these styles have very different lineage and focus within them. In my training I learned that Hatha (Sun/moon Force balance) is an umbrella descriptor that could be applied to several different kinds of yoga. Including ashtanga,vinyasa & iyengar. Ashtanga is vinyasa but vinyasa is not ashtanga. Just like everything people do, we can get really hung up on “rules” about true or “real” yoga.
I want to be clear. I think any and all of these styles (and others not mentioned) when used with intention and mindful, purposeful awareness can be used as a path to wellbeing and trauma release. Some just may be more or less appropriate depending on who you are. I think as instructors we need to be careful about getting sucked into the guru life and the power trip that goes with it. Just like a wheel there are many paths that will get you to the center.
Having said that I’d like to zero in on the generic vinyasa class and how we turn that into a trauma release yoga class.
First we’ll look at 3 areas of similarity and difference and then we’ll go into some details that are specific to trauma release classes.
Intention - evidence of safety
Usually yoga practices begin with a moment of centering, grounding and time for students to set a personal intention or some kind. But there is also an intention that is being set by the instructor or the format of the class itself. For many vinyasa styles offered in the US the underlying intention is to workout the body in some way. To build strength, mobility, stability. To master poses. To master the body. Students can leave these classes feeling calm when really what they are is exhausted which isn’t always the same thing. Sometimes, not always.
The intention behind a class always matters. For trauma release yoga the intention is first to be clear that we are using yoga asana as a way to communicate with the nervous system and give it more evidence of safety. But it’s less about working out and all about working IN. There are several ways that instructors can do that through cuing + communication in specific ways.
Using Directed attention and awareness throughout the class. Basically this looks like one big body scan. With particular emphasis on a practice of curiosity, self compassion and patience from a place of objectivity. (you might say, don’t all instructors do that? Nope not really)
Using freedom phrases to emphasize permission over performance. Freedom phrases are cues that are inclusive rather than directive and are positive and present moment focused.
Guided changes in breath, thought, emotion, muscle tension to change the experience in the body and mind. Finding and practicing giving the body more evidence of safety moment to moment.
Activation - Intensity
Every style of yoga uses the body in some way. Anytime you move, exercise or not, you are activating the nervous system. In a vinyasa style we move on the breath, there is a flow and connection, or at least that is the hope. It can be very challenging to body and mind and often that’s the whole point. The intensity, of course, depends on the class and the instructor. Usually you’ll see multiple levels on a schedule. Beginner, gentle, power, advanced intermediate, etc. And as an instructor, no matter what the schedule says, you can have multiple levels in the same room. Ultimately the intensity of the class is up to each student, realistically sometimes instructors are just trying to offer the most, best, things that they know. Intensity can get pretty high (think scale of 1-10) physically, especially if it’s hot yoga.
The intensity is a major area of difference between typical vinyasa and trauma release yoga. In TRY first of all we recognize intensity in not just the body but mentally and emotionally as well. So we use that same scale of 1-10, apply it to effort physically, mentally and emotionally and then ask students to stay below a 7 and below a 5 when we get to the actual tremor. Does this mean that the asana isn’t challenging? No, not at all. But the purpose is different in activating the body. We are using asana to charge the muscles in ways that don’t overwhelm and exhaust them, because that can be a trigger for the nervous system. We want to find the edge between effort and ease. And have both of those things be true. This is challenging AND I can do it.
This may affect what asanas go into the flow. I have 2 criteria that I use in my classes. The first is structuring the class to move from the ground up through the body and the second is to choose asana and combinations that meet the students energy.
The second part is a little harder perhaps but it’s important as an instructor to be able to read the room and meet students where they are energetically. If you’re not sure how to do this exactly, notice how people come into your class. Are they chatty with you and each other, are they excited to be there, or do they immediately drop into the savasana to wait for class to start? Meet them where they are.
In a trauma release yoga class we aren’t limited to particular asana choices per se, however because this style of yoga is based on the progression towards David Berceli’s neurogenic tremor exercise as well as somatic exercises we want to be sure that the flow moves through the body from the soles of the feet up to the crown of the head. In my classes we focus on the hip flexors, body awareness and opening the heart and use every tool in the toolbox to do that.
Integration - Tremor into final relaxation
I love visiting different vinyasa classes and experiencing the different ways teachers end their classes. Some do elaborate final relaxation. Like this one hot yoga class I attended where that brought cold towels around to everyone and infused the air with aromatherapy. It was heaven. I’ve had everything from scalp massages at the end of class to poetry readings. It’s all amazing. If I’m honest it was the final relaxation that made me want to come back after my first yoga practice. The last 10 minutes (or more) of a yoga practice is for integration. In other words it’s a time to allow the body to fully soak in all the yummyness of what the body just did. We worked the body hard enough that the mind can finally be still. Hopefully.
In terms of what is going on physiologically, what we know now from studies on performance from Andy Galpin is that that time post exercise actually kickstarts recovery at the level of the nervous system.
I know people, instructors even, especially folks in fitness and fitness instructors, that flat out refuse to lie still after a yoga practice let alone any other type of training or exercise. They can’t stand to just lay there. SO they jump up and rush off to their next thing. It’s sad really.
In trauma release yoga the rest is the work. This is where the nervous system builds resilience and we use this time to practice using the tremor and rest to reconnect and rewire our overworked security system. And then we let that experience take us right into a more traditional final relaxation.
During the tremor students practice heightened body awareness and observation, keeping their effort level below a 5, and resting often, stopping the tremor and restarting every so often. What this does is repairs or reestablishes that mind-body relationship and trust that may have been broken over years of overriding threat messages and holding on to deep tension in the body. This practice is best with a certified provider who can help you experiment and guide you through your process. When the body starts shaking it can shake all kinds of things loose from long forgotten memories to bottled up emotions and there will be questions.
This is of course the major difference between any other style or format of yoga and trauma release yoga. Everyone can tremor. And the body can tremor everywhere. In my class design I have found great benefit in also including somatics into my classes. Somatosensory exercises in a yoga context can help untangle and release tension and movement patterns that have been reinforced by the nervous system staying in protection all the time. This is ultimately why we need to offer more evidence of safety to the body, through the body.
This overused,overwhelmed protective response lives in the body. It can lead to chronic pain, inflammation, autoimmune dysregulation, gut issues, anxiety, depression and more. No amount of trying to talk yourself out of it will convince it to let go.
We have to learn to speak the body’s language. Trauma release yoga offers many ways to do that.
Thanks for listening today! If you're looking for ways to handle the effects of stress, physically, mentally and emotionally through the body head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin you’ll find all the show notes for this and other episodes plus lots of free resources. And if you’re in a place where you are ready for more and you live in the Dayton Ohio area I’m taking private clients for trauma informed yoga and trauma release exercise in person and online. So you can book a discovery call and we can have a real life conversation. And of course I’d be ever so grateful if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening.
Thanks again everyone and as always stop working out and start working IN.
This podcast may contain affiliate links. I never recommend anything that I don’t have personal experience with.
All of the links to join our in person retreat are in the show notes at savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin. Thanks for listening today
Thanks for listening today! If you're looking for ways to handle the effects of stress, physically, mentally and emotionally through the body head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin you’ll find all the show notes for this and other episodes plus lots of free resources. And if you’re in a place where you are ready for more and you live in the Dayton Ohio area I’m taking private clients for trauma informed yoga and trauma release exercise in person and online. So you can book a discovery call and we can have a real life conversation. And of course I’d be ever so grateful if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening.
Thanks again everyone and as always stop working out and start working IN.
This podcast may contain affiliate links. I never recommend anything that I don’t have personal experience with.
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a health coach and trauma informed yoga professional bringing real world resilience and healing to main street USA.
I offer trauma release + yoga + wellness education for groups and individuals…regular people like you.
Book a call to learn how I can help.