Why The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠?

Trauma-informed yoga trainings have flourished in quantity and popularity in recent years. I often get asked what the difference is between The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ and some of the other trainings out there. I think there are a lot of things that make The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ unique. In this brief article I will outline the most significant ones:

  • Integrative:
    • The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ goes beyond trauma-informed yoga, offering a marrying of Trauma-Informed Yoga with Somatic Psychotherapy* and Indigenous Healing Practices.
  • Rooted in Social Justice:
    • The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ has social justice and healing justice work at its roots. Yoga is about elevated consciousness. If we are truly going to become more awake, we we cannot choose which aspects of life to be awake to- we must be awake to all of it. If we are awake, we cannot be asleep to recognizing the inequalities and injustices that permeate our society and result in our misalignment with yoga’s truths.
  • Decolonizing Yoga:
    • Many yoga trainings replicate racial trauma and cultural appropriation of the practice by neglecting to discuss yoga’s true roots. In The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ we tackle the topics of colonization and White Supremacy. We address systemic structures and legislation that deliberately leaves targeted groups more vulnerable to trauma and without community support.
    • Centering whiteness in trauma-informed care, instead of being inclusive to all people, perpetuates trauma and is therefore ineffective in supporting true healing collectively and individually. In The TCYM℠, we study both individual and collective trauma, understanding that healing must take place both inside oneself and as a society for ultimate transformation.
  • Exploring the Full Breadth of Trauma:
    • In the Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ we explore trauma on all of its levels: individual, collective, racial and social, ancestral/intergenerational, attachment, complex and relational trauma.
    • We attune to resiliency and post-traumatic growth.
  • Emphasis on Intuition and Lived Experience:
    • Because we live in a patriarchy and society rooted in White Supremacy, we see that the people referred to as the “pioneers” of the trauma-field are largely white men. While these men have contributed valuable information to the field, this white male centering in and of itself is a perpetuation of trauma.
    • In The Trauma-Conscious Yoga Method℠ we look at the neuroscience and explore Western somatic psychotherapy practices that are incredibly effective, while also connecting to Indigenous Healing Practices. In both of these explorations, we go beyond what is generally offered in a trauma-informed yoga training.
  • Your Facilitator: 
    • Your training is lead by a Woman of Color who has dedicated herself to her own healing journey and supporting the healing of others. Despite being highly educated and having devoted years to trauma study and specialty, this woman knows that nothing trumps her intuitive nature and lived experience.
    • Through a parallel process, I support you in continuing down your healing path, as you concurrently learn new ways to support others.

*The Somatic Psychotherapy Skills provided in this training come from the modalities of Somatic Experiencing (SE), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), and Inner Child Work. If you are not a clinician you will learn how to use tools from these practices while staying within your scope of practice.