Your 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.
Triggers can be a sound, smell, word, place… really anything that brings up a painful memory. They might make sense, or they might be super random and may surprise the person experiencing them.
Intrusive thoughts are repeating, unhelpful thoughts that can cause a great deal of anxiety and may have a trigger or not.
Overwhelming emotions are just what they sound like, and may result from a known or unknown trigger or compiled stressors or memories.
Sometimes just talking about trauma – the science of the brain, common categories of trauma, etc. – can be a trigger. If someone if your class or workshop gets triggered by a discussion or practice on trauma, let them know that’s normal and common.
Knowing this, you have the opportunity to create a less stressful environment and hold space for triggers, intrusive thoughts, and overwhelming emotions as they come up.
- Avoid adding extra smells to the room. Think candles, incense, essential oils, etc.
- Avoid adding extra sounds to the room. Think bells, music, chanting, etc.
- Be mindful of the language you use. Is it necessary to say “blew my mind” or to compare something to a knife? What about using the word “observe” instead of “witness”?
- Know that you will trigger someone. There are too many possible triggers and too many experiences to forever avoid them. Do your best, notice if you do trigger someone, and check in with them as soon as you can, privately, before they leave.
- Memory loss is also common after a traumatic event. This is the brain’s way of protecting us, and it’s meant to be helpful (although often quite frustrating). Because of this memory loss, someone may have a trigger, intrusive thought, or overwhelming emotion without knowing what the cause was.
- Having a trigger response, intrusive thoughts, or overwhelming emotions in public (like a yoga class) can be very stressful. At the beginning of class, let people know that these are possible situations. Then, offer some options for these situations that you are confident you can support as the teacher (e.g. If you leave the room we’ll set a five-minute timer then someone will check on you, if you leave the room please tag someone to go with you, let the teacher know and we’ll all practice some release techniques like shaking together, etc.)
- If you are working with a group that may have a high likelihood of triggering (like those in a residential program or those who have recently experienced a traumatic event) or triggers are new to you as a practitioner/teacher, it may be worth having a therapist in the room to help with anyone needing support.
Next: Avoidance and Isolation