What is Trauma Informed Yoga?
Trauma-informed yoga is a gentle, supportive approach to movement that honors the impact trauma can have on the body, mind, and nervous system.
Rather than focusing on perfect poses or performance, it centers choice, consent, and body awareness, creating a space where you’re invited to move at your own pace, stay connected to what feels safe, and rebuild trust in your body over time.
Abby Albright, a trauma informed yoga therapist
It’s not about “fixing” anything. It’s about offering your body the care, attunement, and autonomy it may not have had before.
As an EMDR therapist and certified yoga teacher, I blend the two to meet you where you are at. Want to learn more about my journey with yoga? Read it here!
What do trauma-informed yoga classes look and feel like?
Choice: Options Abound
Throughout class, I offer options for different postures.
Advancing in your yoga practice isn’t at all about what forms your body can take and “how far you can go” in a posture. Instead, advancing your practice is so much more about attunement to your breath and your body – and how you honor those needs.
In my classes there is no hierarchy of places to be in a posture - no place of going “further”.
Instead, all options are good options.
And the best option for you is the one you choose based on what your body and breath are indicating to you.
Yoga practices can include breathwork.
Some people find breathwork dysregulating. I offer multiple options when engaging in breathwork, beyond just “focus on the breath”.
I often encourage grounding into something concrete and tangible in your immediate environment, which can feel safer and more tolerable. This might sound like an invitation to notice colors in your space, to feel textures around you, or to listen to the sounds outside or the sound of my voice.
Ultimately, in my classes, you get to choose what is right for you.
I have found in my own practice that when I consistently get offered choices and when I check in with myself to make the appropriate one for me, I grow and I heal.
Sometimes I don’t make the appropriate choice for me and that’s cool, too, because it’s good information and I learn from it.
Voice: Consent and Boundaries
If we ever have the opportunity to practice in person together, I only offer hands-on assists with very clear consent.
Anything other than a clear yes, is a no, and therefore your space and boundaries are completely yours and respected.
How can trauma-informed yoga near me help me heal?
Good Trauma-Informed Yoga is in large part informed by Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges. Without getting into the weeds of the science, (but if you want to, head here to read a blog I wrote) this is where so much of our current nervous-system regulation knowledge comes from.
Over time, yoga can provide you the tools to help you get grounded in the here-and-now.
Trauma informed yoga classes can support your healing
When you’re able to notice the here-and-now with more regularity, your yoga practice can more clearly reveal your nervous system state to you.
From there, you can engage in a practice that supports up-regulating or down-regulating your system, as needed.
To get real world with this, here are some examples of how I’ve used this practice for nervous system regulation (again side note: this did not happen overnight by any stretch (pun intended), this took a lot of time).
Feeling Depleted (Hypoarousal/Dorsal Vagal)
One day I’m feeling lethargic, fatigued, and fuzzy.
I notice the early signs of this in my body from lots of time getting tuned into what’s actually going on in there, and then I have the choice and space to decide - what do I want to do with this?
I have every right to stay in it, but I decide instead, you know what might feel nice: getting some movement going like a brief moment in down dog or, if I don’t want to leave my chair, I stretch my arms high to the sky.
This movement brings me up a few notches on my ladder allowing me to feel more awake - even if for just a moment.
Feeling Anxious (Hyperarousal/Sympathetic)
On the flip side, the next day I’m feeling on edge, my thoughts are racing, and I’m tense as ever.
I notice these early signs and I decide: you know what might be supportive?
Laying on the ground and feeling all points of contact with the earth. And because it's in my practice, I take a few deep diaphragmatic breaths, which slows down my thinking. I then decide to squeeze all my muscles briefly to feel into that tension for just a moment, and then, on an exhale, -whoosh I release it. This practice brings me down the ladder just a bit more, taking me out of non-stop thinking and a bit more into the here-and-now and maybe even in my body.
Feeling Good (Ventral Vagal)
My practice often allows me to notice the good, to see the glimmers in a given moment.
Not to bypass distress or challenge and certainly not to “just look on the brightside”.
But instead, when I do notice a glimmer, I can mentally note it, and beyond mentally noting it, I may even take a more expansive breath to savor the glimmer and let the glimmer glow and grow.
A lot of the work we can do together, through trauma-informed yoga therapy, is just this.
First we build capacity to slow down, find presence, and notice what’s going on in the here-and-now.
From that place we can build awareness of our nervous systems' unique patterns. All the while, we can build out our own toolkit of practices for regulation. We don’t have to think too hard about this, which is nice.
Yoga isn’t about thinking, thinking, thinking our way through healing.
It’s a dance, a collaboration.
Showing up to practice in a space that is contained and trauma-informed can be the way.
If you’re interested in learning more about taking trauma-informed yoga classes with me, head here.
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