Understanding Trauma in the Studio: Avoidance and Isolation

The standard run-of-the-mill yoga class is structured in a way that is not always comfortable or accessible for people with trauma in their systems.

To better understand this, let’s look at some of the most common symptoms of trauma, how they can show up in a yoga class, and how you can make simple adjustments to better accommodate your students when teaching a trauma-informed yoga class, private lesson, or workshop.

When a person has trauma in their system, they will often avoid other people and stressful situations (like starting a yoga practice). Trauma can feel stressful in itself, shameful, or burdensome, so isolating can sometimes seem like the easiest way to deal with it. While isolation may seem like the easiest option at the moment, it is not actually a helpful solution for moving through trauma.

Kleshas

The yogic concept of kleshas are translated as the five afflictions, clouded emotions, or destructive emotions. Essentially, kleshas are the things that humans do that cause discomfort and pain to themselves.

Two kleshas that go hand-in-hand are attachment (raga) and aversion (dvesa). When we hold onto something too tight – a job, an idea, relationships, being right, winning – it will lead to discomfort and pain. Alternatively, when we push something away too hard – a person, change, discomfort itself, fear – it will also lead to discomfort and pain.

For example, I might be attached to the comfort of my current routine and in turn may be avoiding change, like starting a yoga practice or meeting new people. By holding onto these, I’m preventing myself from the opportunity of growth, the potential for connection, and the possibility of feeling better in my body by doing yoga. Now instead of potentially increasing joy and decreasing discomfort, I am ensuring my current discomfort stays the same.

Similarly, attachment to isolation – or avoidance of people – will lead to discomfort and pain by nature of the kleshas.

Window of Tolerance

If we look at this from a more scientific approach, we can see the “window of tolerance” – a phrase coined by Dr. Dan Siegel to represent a specific range, or window, of experiences or emotions that a person can reasonably tolerate. In a system with limited or resolved trauma, the window is broad, where a person can readily adapt and respond to stressors as they come up.

When we add trauma to the equation, this window often narrows. So those same stressors that used to be tolerable, say, awkwardness in social situations or being around people at the grocery store, now pushes a person outside of their window of tolerance into hyperarousal (e.g. fight/flight response, hypervigilance, panic attacks, etc.) or hypoarousal (e.g. dissociation, numbing, freeze response, etc.).

The discomfort of being outside the window of tolerance will often encourage people to retreat. When we have trauma in the system and isolate, our window narrows further. When we gather in safe community to walk the path of trauma recovery, we can expand the window of tolerance,

Knowing this, you have the opportunity to create a safe, welcoming environment in your trauma-informed yoga classes.

• Thank people for showing up to your trauma-informed class or workshop. It’s a really big deal!
• Don’t force people to interact with each other or with you. You know those yoga classes where the teacher asks you to turn to your neighbor and introduce yourselves? This is nightmarish for someone who just wants to isolate.
• Create space for community (again, without forcing it). When possible, make yourself available before and after the class/workshop to engage with people and – if appropriate – make personalized introductions to other students. Read the room and use your judgment.
• Learn to recognize signs of hyper- and hypo-arousal. If you have a student who looks like they’re checked out, it’s possible that they’re experiencing hypoarousal – not that they’re bored or being rude. If you have a student who is moving faster than the rest of the class or who suddenly leaves the room, it’s possible that they’re experiencing hyperarousal.
• Once you know the signs of a person outside their window of tolerance, check in. You might discreetly ask the person if they’re okay, and if you can walk them through some practices with the class to invite regulation and presence. If they’re okay with it, you can take the class through some shaking, simple breathwork, or gentle breath-to-movement vinyasa. These tools are something everyone can try out and come back to when they experience a time outside the window.