Trauma informed yoga builds smart bodies and smart kids. Science is telling us that our interoception, our somatosensory sixth sense, is important in being able to focus, learn and recover from all forms of stress. Children who are chronically scared, hungry, tired and neglected will find ways to adapt to those feelings and not in ways that are conducive to learning. The body has an innate intelligence that our current education system ignores in favor of sitting still and staying on task. But if we can harness the developmental connections of movement, memory and emotion we can help our kids calm their nervous system in order to feel safe no matter where they are. And strong, emotionally resilient children grow up to be strong emotionally resilient adults. That’s our Work IN today.

Trauma informed. It sounds good but that term isn’t well understood by the general public and has been diluted by the wellness community by click bait, quick buck certifications. There’s an assumption that because yoga is often recommended for ptsd, chronic pain, anxiety and depression that any and all yoga is trauma informed and that is simply not true. Today on The Work IN we’re taking a look at what being trauma informed means, what it looks like in yoga classes and why it’s something that all fit pros should understand. Today's discussion is going to focus on yoga but it applies across the fitness industry to all formats.

No matter how strong, fit or healthy we all get injuries from time to time. It’s petrifying for fit pros because so many of us are contractors so no work no pay. I don’t know any instructor who hasn’t had to deal with an injury from time to time. Sometimes you have to take time off. But you can take less time off if you know how to teach off the mat. Today on the work IN we’re talking about how to navigate recovery and maybe up our instructor skills along the way.