Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign hello and welcome back to another episode of Deepen your yoga practice. I am Lauren Leduc, the founder and owner of True Love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri. And today I wanted to go into the topic of trauma aware yoga. Trauma is somewhat of a buzzword these days. Many people claim they're trauma aware yoga teachers. What does it really all mean? I also want to go into tips for both students and teachers and I also want to recognize that there is so much going on in the world and just by opening our phones these days we might become exposed to trauma.
[00:01:00] And it's good we have our eyes opened to what other people are going through.
[00:01:07] It might give us information on how we can help, but also we have to be able to cope and digest these experiences so that we can be healthy, present and awake to our own lives.
[00:01:27] There are a lot of different definitions of trauma.
[00:01:31] I like to think of it as an undigested experience. So it might be one big experience like the type of trauma most people probably think of when they think of trauma that might be like a natural disaster that might mean war, some sort of big violence. Violence. There's also little traumas, little T traumas they might be called, which are maybe smaller things that happen but still have an effect on the nervous system and on the person who experienced it. There are secondary traumas. So I like to think of trauma as some kind of experience or series of experiences that we haven't fully been able to process. And due to that I our nervous systems are constantly reacting and it can be very difficult to be present. I also want to add that whether or not you've been through a big T or a little T trauma that you know of that this is a stressful world. I think modern life is stressful for most of us.
[00:02:40] So you might be holding energy or experiences in your body that you're aware of or unaware of and engaging in the yoga practice in a really specific way, in my opinion can be really helpful no matter who you are. I want to emphasize that I am not a therapist. I am not a mental health specialist. I became interested in trauma aware yoga when dealing with a student with trauma years ago and not quite knowing what to do.
[00:03:17] And then in my education of trauma and trauma aware yoga over the years, I've also been able to examine what I am holding on to.
[00:03:30] So that being said, I'm not a therapist. Yoga teachers might also be therapists, but the role of yoga teacher is not to treat anyone's mental health.
[00:03:41] When I'm talking about trauma aware yoga, I'M talking about a compliment to therapeutic work and also really just creating a safe, supportive and empowering environment for anyone who walks on the door making no assumptions about what someone has been through or not been through, but perhaps making the overall assumption that we're all human, we have all experienced a variety of things and, and we might be holding onto things within our beings. In my opinion. What I'll talk about when it comes to trauma Aware yoga should just be the way yoga is presented in general. I wish all spaces were trauma aware spaces. I think it's a great step in creating a better society that is more collaborative, that also helps promote more autonomy, self love and safety. And we'll go over how Trauma Aware yoga fosters this today. I also do want to point out that Trauma aware Yoga respects the unique needs of each individual. Like I said, it promotes autonomy. So as a yoga teacher, it's really an honor to be able to teach yoga in this very specific and mindful way that honors the individual, that honors society and the collective, and that leaves room to improve. Right. I'm not doing it perfectly all the time. I. I can't avoid triggering every single person because we all have different triggers. But I can try my best and I can do better with new information.
[00:05:25] So, like I said, I have done quite a few trainings on Trauma Aware yoga now over the years, and there is an element of Trauma Aware yoga in the yoga teacher training that I lead. I bring on a social worker, Mo Edmonds, to lead that particular part. Although the trauma aware aspect really does bleed into the varieties of techniques that I share in the training.
[00:05:54] And if this is really interesting to you, I really love the book Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga by David Emerson and Elizabeth Hopper. I've read through the yoga portion many times and it's required reading for my yoga teacher training. And whether you are a teacher or a student, I think this information can be mind blowing, super helpful, sometimes hard to take in and digest, but ultimately really worthwhile. So I want to go over a few principles of Trauma Aware yoga and how you can perhaps call these in as a student and if you're a yoga teacher, how you can promote this type of environment. So the first is empowerment. So as teachers, this is really about encouraging students to make choices about their practice. And we can do that by offering options and by not creating hierarchy around these options.
[00:06:54] So every body is different, every story is different. And I find when you give these options that it really provides this environment where everyone can sort of choose their own adventure and experience that they can become the expert on themselves and their own practice and they can make choices that really suit what they're needing from day to day.
[00:07:18] So that can be as simple as letting people know that they can close their eyes or keep them open. We're not forcing everyone to close their eyes. It might not feel comfortable for someone to close their eyes. So give the option so people don't feel pressured to do one or the other. It might mean offering different props for different postures or maybe different ways to approach a posture. It can be something as easy as you can use the bathroom at any time during class. Which sounds simple, I think, but I think we've all been in educational environments before where that's not the case. You have to raise your hand and ask or it's just seen as rude. And that is not the case in a trauma aware yoga environment. So as a student, definitely encourage you to make choices that work for you. That can be really hard when you're not in a class with teachers who are fostering that environment or a studio that doesn't have that culture. But I think it's something that you can practice in a safe space and then take with you elsewhere. I'll give an example of me being in a class before. No offense to hot yoga or a little offense to not Bikram yoga, but Bikram himself.
[00:08:39] But I took a Bikram class years ago before I knew about the man behind the practice. And it wasn't for me. It was hot. The teacher was very controlling. I know she was good at what she was doing by following that particular style. But they want you to, you know, not drink water at certain times, not rest, not leave the room. And I decided about halfway through the practice that it wasn't for me. It didn't feel safe, it didn't feel comfortable and I left and it felt hard to make that choice. I don't necessarily love to stand out, but it felt very empowering and I knew that I was making the best choice for me. So that's one way I have experienced empowerment as a student. The next principle is safety. So that's creating a safe space with clear boundaries and consistency. So as a teacher that's setting up these rhythms and rituals within the class. Not every class needs to be exactly the same, but it could be as simple as following the class description. So not showing up with any major surprises, keeping things somewhat within the expected. And that doesn't mean that you can't be creative or explore new sequencing or things like that. But it is about Keeping it safe. It's also about sequencing in such a way that it makes sense that you're not putting your students bodies into dangerous positions where you're keeping an eye on everybody, where you're up to date on safety and yoga. This also might mean not using hands on adjustments or creating a very clear communication and consent system in order to do so. And if you want to learn more about that, I have an episode on hands on assists in yoga and provide a lot of different ways to create that culture of consent within them. As a student, that might mean creating boundaries around yourself. That might mean if you're in an environment that's not trauma aware and the teacher is providing assists without asking first, they're using their hands to touch you, that you can say no, no thank you.
[00:11:03] That can be really hard to do. Most of us don't want to stand out in a group class. But I'm here to tell you that it is perfectly okay to say no and to create that clear boundary. That also means really checking in with your body, your mind at the beginning of class and using choice, empowering yourself to create a sense of safety for you. So that means not pushing beyond whatever your edge is.
[00:11:33] You might be trying hard, you might try something you haven't done before, but you're not going so beyond your own abilities that you hurt yourself. For me, that also means choosing classes, whether it's yoga workout, whatever, where people aren't, or where the teacher isn't talking about losing weight or really about like body talk in that way in general it's really triggering for me. So I feel safer in an environment where we focus on if we're talking about the body becoming strong, taking care of ourselves, et cetera. Another principle of trauma aware yoga is cultivating mind body connection. So that means we're focusing on creating proprioception. So as teachers, we're helping our students become aware of where their body is in space as well as interoception, which is the awareness of our internal sensations. So as teachers, we can use different cues throughout a yoga class to help bring students awareness to where their body is and what's going on inside them. And it can be really simple, but it's just remembering to help students become present with themselves. There are more advanced ways to create proprioception that I'm not going to go into today. But there are plenty of techniques within yoga to create this mind body connection that should be what yoga is all about. And as a student I would definitely recommend staying present with yourself throughout the class.
[00:13:19] Especially if you have experienced trauma, you might notice a habitual pattern of disconnecting, of going elsewhere while you're practicing. It's nothing to beat yourself up over, but it is an invitation to try connecting with the body, feeling where it is in space, feeling its internal sensations. And hopefully you have a great teacher who helps you remind you of that over and over. So that when your mind does wander or you disconnect from your body, that you can come back home to it. The next principle is non judgment. So as teachers, we can explore this by making no assumptions about students as they walk through the door. We don't assume anything about their practice due to their size, their gender, their skin color, whatever it might be. We approach every student with equanimity. That also means avoiding singling people out.
[00:14:22] That means not invading people's space or over correcting somebody. It's also an invitation to be non judgmental toward yourself as a teacher, because if you can be that way toward yourself, it sets a really good example for your students. As a student, I would definitely recommend taking each practice for what it is, allowing whatever happens to happen, meaning if you wobble or fall, if you're feeling less mobile or flexible one day, if you're tired, even if you're mentally beating yourself up a little bit to find the part of yourself that doesn't judge that, that is able to look at what's happening with a sense of equanimity without judging. This also means as a student, keeping your eyes on your own mat. It means not looking around at the different students in the room and judging them or judging yourself in comparison to them.
[00:15:26] It's allowing everyone to show up as they are and be themselves. The next principle is inclusivity. As teachers, this means using invitational language and making the practice accessible to the bodies and abilities who are in the room. Invitational language is a big shift from what many of us are used to, sometimes with teaching, with fitness, sometimes our view of teaching might be more authoritarian. I'll give an example, and it's something people might not even notice. But one thing I avoid saying as a teacher is I want you to. I want you to step your right foot forward. I want you to do this and that. Because frankly, it's not about me, it's not about my wants. I am inviting students essentially to come along for the ride as I'm leading a class, but they get to choose what they want to participate in and what they do not. It doesn't really have anything to do with my wants or desires. So I may say things like, as I'm giving options for the class, you might try blah blah, blah, blah blah or blah blah blah is a great option. And I know I'm not using any specific examples anymore, but it's taking away hierarchy and really giving everyone a chance to participate in the way that they see fit. So that's one way to include everyone. That also goes back to the options that we were talking about earlier. Making sure that everyone has a way to participate.
[00:16:59] And if you are creating a non judgmental environment that allows for somebody to lay in Shavasana the whole time, if that's what they're needing for the day. So you might see how a lot of these concepts can be woven together. As a student, I want to say in terms of inclusivity, that you belong. You might look around and see that people look different from you. But I'm here to tell you that you do belong in the yoga class because yoga is truly for everybody.
[00:17:29] That might also mean that if you have it in you, that you introduce yourself to the person next to you on the met, that you give someone a smile, that you help others feel included within the community.
[00:17:48] I think that can go a long way when the teacher is really inviting in that way and welcoming. I really encourage all of my teachers to be that way.
[00:17:58] But it might even go further when it's a student making that effort.
[00:18:03] And I find that when the teacher really, from the top down, maybe the owner of the studio and then the teachers and the staff, the students all feel included, that it becomes this really welcoming space for new people. The last principle I wanted to talk about is collaboration. And that really goes hand in hand with inclusivity and community.
[00:18:26] And it's fostering this sense of connection and community when appropriate. So as a teacher, you might ask if anyone's needing anything specific before class and then doing your best to incorporate it into the class, it might mean something as simple as really just observing your students as they walk in the door and get on their mats and making choices in your teaching that day that coincides with their energy. If everyone looks really tired, you might honor that as you're teaching. Maybe help them bring their energy up, but also give them space for rest and vice versa. Maybe it's frenetic energy and it's time to ground everybody. This also might mean creating opportunities outside the classroom to connect with your yoga community, with fellow students and teachers. I'd say also as a student that it's okay to talk to your teachers or studio owner or whoever and offer Suggestions to offer feedback, positive and constructive. Because that is one way that you can be a collaborator in this process.
[00:19:41] Also, I'll go back to choice. By you choosing an option that works for you, you are collaborating with the teacher to create your own unique, personalized and trauma aware yoga experience. Now I'm going to give some tips for teachers for teaching during difficult times.
[00:20:03] I feel like over the last few years that there's just always something. There's always something horrible going on in the world.
[00:20:12] There is always something that we're coping with collectively.
[00:20:17] And as teachers, we still show up and hold space for people. So how can we be extra mindful as we navigate these waters?
[00:20:26] One is setting the tone, so making sure that you're creating a welcoming and calming environment.
[00:20:33] That might mean dimming the lights a little bit, having your props set out.
[00:20:38] It might mean really preparing yourself before class so that you are showing up grounded, present and able to hold space.
[00:20:48] That becomes extra important during hard times. It doesn't mean to show up inauthentically. You certainly have the permission to do so. But again, this practice as we're teaching, it isn't about us as the teachers, it's about the students.
[00:21:04] So we do our best, I think to get out of our own way and to be professional and compassionate and to be able to be observers of what is happening in the room. We can also offer choice and control, as I talked about earlier, allowing students to opt out of poses or practices without any kind of judgment. You know, they don't have to do that. Fifth, chaturanga. It's okay in providing alternate options for postures and sequences that work with all the different bodies and experiences in the class.
[00:21:38] As teachers, we can also try our best to avoid triggers so we can be really mindful of the language and imagery that we're using. Is it non violent? Is it specific? There is one cue I used to hear that I don't really hear teachers say anymore, but it was for triangle pose of having like a pane of glass behind you and a pane of glass in front of you and staying within that. And for somebody who is claustrophobic, that could really be an overwhelming visualization to hold.
[00:22:10] So it's really being mindful about things like that and trying to keep them as that you're cueing as specific and gentle, non triggering as possible. That might also mean not changing your tone all of a sudden or becoming just unpredictable. Not like super duper changing the volume. It means using music, which this one's really hard because everybody has different Musical preferences, I think. But using non triggering music music. I mean, I use music with lyrics sometimes as I'm teaching. But I do have a preference for instrumental music because I do find it less distracting and less particularly triggering to somebody. I have a teacher who worked for this studio and she had a student come up to her one time and many of the students really loved her playlists. But this student said, hey, you know, I just went through a breakup and almost every song on your playlist was a love song. And the teacher, it hadn't really occurred to her before that that could potentially be triggering to somebody. But she was really grateful that the student said something. That's a form of collaboration, right? And then the student was able to or the teacher was able to make better musical choices in the future. Also really coming back to the basic basics can be so important. So focus on breath, focus on grounding. Incorporate these techniques. It might be seated breath work, might be something that is just a little bit more contained, inviting and slow to start the class. And then continuing that theme even as you explore standing poses and amp it up perhaps a little bit, really keeping the rhythm of the breath and using tools for interoception and proprioception to create a sense of grounding. Another thing you can do is just stay present and compassionate. Be aware, like I said, of the energy of the room. That's a way that we collaborate with our students and respond calmly to any signs of distress and just holding space really, rather than trying to fix anything. We've all probably cried in pigeon pose before. We've probably seen people cry during class before. And it's not something that we need to fix. It's something that we can just hold with non judgment and with a sense of compassion. I'll also say for teachers during distressing times that if you need to take a break, it's okay, really check in with yourself. Practice your swadhyaya or self study. Be introspective. And if you need a little bit of time for self care, then make the arrangements to allow for that to happen. But also know that you are strong, that you are resilient, that you have the yoga practice to support you not only in easy times, but especially in hard times so that you are able to show up for others.
[00:25:07] So really remembering your why and grounding yourself within your own practice can be such a tool for times such as these. So everyone, thank you so much for listening today. I just want to repeat how important I think following these principles are. And just the awareness of trauma is not only in yoga, but in so many different public environments within families, within the self.
[00:25:33] There's so much more science and information around trauma that we could go into, but I did want to keep it centered around this practice of Trauma Aware Yoga. But it is something that is worthy of looking into. You are worthy of being in spaces that foster safety and connection and community and you're worthy of feeling safe and at home in your own body. I definitely encourage yoga teachers to keep exploring Trauma Aware resources, for instance, overcoming trauma through yoga or perhaps finding some kind of training. If you're interested in our 200 hour training, definitely reach out to me and I want to remind listeners I'd love to remind you to keep creating and seeking spaces that honor safety, choice and compassion. The more we all choose that, the more we're going to see all of those qualities become an integral, natural part of our world. And if you have any questions or would love to connect, please reach out to me. My email is laurenrueloveyogakc.com you can find me on Instagram at I am Lauren Leduc and I'm so, so glad you're here. Have a beautiful week. Om Shanti, Om. Peace.
