trauma conscious yoga is a safe and supportive practice that can help you learn to regulate your breath, emotions and body awareness. It can also help you discharge incomplete impulses related to nervous system activation, which are often triggered by fear. This process of discharge and integration is called neuroplasticity, and it can greatly accelerate your healing.
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In a trauma conscious yoga class, instructors are trained to create a safe space and encourage students to work within their “window of tolerance”—the optimal zone of arousal in which you can move or stay in a pose without being triggered. In addition, instructors use inclusive language and make space for diverse experiences to promote a healing environment. And they’ll offer modifications for poses to help students who may be triggered.
This is particularly important for people with PTSD, which can be triggered by sensory input like light and sound. It’s also important for people with a history of sexual trauma, as well as racialized and intersectional trauma, which has been shown to have cumulative effects on marginalized communities.
But it’s not a substitute for therapy. “It is important to continue working with a therapist or other clinicians to address trauma and recovery,” Heyman says. That’s why it’s important to seek out a therapist with trauma-informed training, and to consider yoga as a complementary practice.