Empowering Yoga Practice: Tips for Trauma-Informed Classes Part 2

Overview: I'm not a big fan of "trauma-informed" as a way to describe these intentions and techniques. My tips are more than "trauma-informed"; they are "empower-focused". Every student, regardless of their mental health, can benefit from these practices. These are not tips to assuage trauma and triggers, but rather a way to build resilience and self-advocacy. If you are not a teacher, you can still incorporate these tips into your own practice and any class you attend.

Disclaimer: This is how I teach. It is constantly evolving as I evolve as a teacher and as new discoveries are found in psychophysiology. There are many ways to teach in a trauma-informed way. I’m simply sharing what I do.

Being a trauma-informed teacher benefits every student. Those who are actively working through trauma will feel safe and supported, and those with unseen/unknown injuries or physical differences as well as those who are just having a bad day also benefit. Teaching in a trauma-informed way empowers all students.

Trauma-informed practices are rooted in empathy for and understanding of the infinite amount of human experiences. 

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ORIENTATION & OBSERVATION

A specific exercise I do at the beginning of classes is orientation to space. This is especially good to do if you have a lot of first-timers to yoga or to the studio or space of practice. Orientation to space is a subtle way to soothe the nervous system. This exercise is practiced by simply looking around and observing what you see. Look up at the ceiling, to each side, behind you. Notice the objects, the colors, the lights, the shadows, the sounds. Sometimes I guide students deeper by asking them to silently pick out three colors, then two textures (“if you were to reach out and touch it, what might it feel like?”), and the weight of an item (“if you were to hold the object in your arms, think of how heavy it might be”).  With this exercise, we practice being an observer.

We build on this practice by turning the observation inside. Lead students through a body scan to notice how they are feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally. Encourage them to observe without judgment.

“Just as you noticed the color of the walls earlier, now observe your feelings the same way. There are no expectations for how you should feel. There is only the truth of how you do feel.”

Lately, I’ve taught in high schools, in conference rooms, and outside before a 5k run among all the pre-race hubbub. These spaces are not designed with a calm yoga practice in mind as a studio would be. Starting with this observation exercise is a wonderful way to guide students into a calm internal space and bring a sense of comfort to an area they aren’t accustomed to.

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NEUROSCIENCE & PATIENCE with SELF

One of the most powerful qualities I have learned in my lifetime is learning to treat myself with patience and grace and to talk to myself how I would talk to a dearly beloved friend. Since my yoga classes are focused on mental health and anxious minds, I make a conscious effort to help others build patience and grace for themselves. A neuroscience perspective is one of my go-to methods for teaching this.

1. Educate about the stress response. Psychoeducation empowers students about their own internal thoughts and feelings. Teaching students the why often fosters patience and understanding. If you aren’t aware or knowledgable to the stress response of a physiological level, I encourage you to learn. Neuroscience and physiology isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so you might not teach this at all or teach it in a different way than I do. That’s okay! As mentioned in my previous post, differences are inherent to humanity.

   I teach mostly slow flow and restorative classes aimed at addressing anxiety and boosting self-esteem. Because of the pacing of my classes, I have time to drop a lot of knowledge while my students are in a comfy pose. I like to fill that time with psychoeducation, particularly the stress response: fight/flight/freeze vs. soothe and sustain. I might write a more in depth post on the stress response in the future. For now, I’ll say, the goal of sharing this with my students is to help them grow understanding and ultimately patience with themselves.

   
   

2. Address the wandering mind. We all have them. Especially during savasana. There are many ways we can talk to our students about rambling thoughts. As someone who loves neuroscience and finding the why behind everything, I find the neuroscience perspective on the anxious mind to be very helpful in growing patience for my ever-roving thoughts. The following paragraph is more or less verbatim of what I might share in a class.

   Your brain has one job: to keep you alive, to keep your heart beating, your breath moving, and keep you out of danger. One way your brain tries to do this is by looking for potential dangers. To think about past stressful situations to try to learn from them and to think about imaginary future stressful situations and how you might avoid them. To a certain extent, this is a normal, healthy response, but as I’m sure you know, it’s not always helpful to be constantly ruminating about the past or worrying about a future that hasn’t even happened and may never happen. When you find your thoughts running away from you like this, tell your brain that you appreciate it trying to help, but now is not the time. Imagine those thoughts drifting away. Come back to your breath, to what you can see, hear, or touch around you. You might say, “Thank you brain for trying to help, but right now, I’m safe and relaxing.” Think of your brain as a toddler who is about to get themselves in a mildly unsafe situation: guide them back with patience and understanding.

   Even though this is a very succinct description, it allows students to see their out-of-control thoughts as a helpful mechanism gone rogue--something they shouldn't be ashamed or angry about, but rather something in need of gentle correcting and understanding.

   
   

3. Acknowledge and normalize the cycle. How many times have you said or heard a yoga teacher say, “imagine your thoughts drifting away like a feather on the wind,” or some version of that? It’s extremely common and is intended to be helpful imagery for quieting the mind. I personally really like this and constantly use it in my own practice. However, I think it can be done with a little more intention behind it.  Many teachers might say this at the beginning of savasana or other long-held meditation pose and leave it at that. Realistically, the feather is always going to float back to us until we achieve true meditation expert status that few ever will. Especially for beginners, it can be incredibly discouraging to almost be able to still your thoughts only for a thought to come rushing back in. (What am I going to eat for dinner later?) It can be very effective for teachers to circle back around to the imagery a few minutes later saying something like, “if your rambling thoughts have returned, if you find yourself thinking about something outside these walls or outside your body, remember that is normal, remind your brain that right now you are relaxing, and let those thoughts drift away. If they drift back in, repeat the process. It’s normal to have thoughts. Try not to let them frustrate you out of your relaxed state. You’re doing great.”

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Throughout all of my advice, I find myself returning to the same spot: acknowledgment. Whether we’re normalizing the wandering mind or demonstrating not choosing a variation as I talked about in my previous post, the same idea of acknowledgement pervades. Of course it makes sense to explore a pose before settling in on one variation, but for many people, this is forgotten in the moment. Of course, having wandering thoughts is normal, but for people learning to clear their mind, it can be forgotten just how difficult it is to let those thoughts go.

Acknowledging these ideas encourages our students to explore and find the way that makes sense to them. When we as yoga teachers assume students know how to do something, students tend to assume that it must be easy to do and are more likely to become discouraged when they don't feel at ease in a certain pose they were never given variations on or because everyone else is laying still as stone on their mat and all they can seem to think on is fidgeting.

Empowering students, educating them on stress or the wandering mind, and acknowledging the difficulties of yoga and mindfulness empower students to explore and help them feel supported in their yoga journey.

In part three of this post series, I will go over general guidelines for trauma-informed class structure such as silence and guidance as well as a list of what to avoid.

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Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings everywhere be happy and free. May the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to the happiness of and freedom for all.

With gratitude,

Rebekah