3 Powerful Tools to Deal with Trauma
I’m Jen and I’m a survivor of trauma. I’m holding a 2 hour yoga for trauma workshop to share with you the tools I’ve learned that can work for you whether you suffer from PTSD, anxiety, abuse, physical or emotional trauma. You are invited to stay internalised throughout or to practice with a cheshire cat grin. There are no expectations and the workshop is designed for you, to be you!
You might ask, is it right for me?
Let’s establish, this will be a safe space – a space for you to go as deep or shallow as you feel right in that moment and there is no pressure or expectations in the room. Yoga can be used as a resource and have a different purpose for each individual so let’s find out what tools you can learn to help you.
1. The Feeling of Safety
Using the research of Dr Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps The Score and a pioneer of the use of yoga as therapy for trauma, he says,
“What most people do not realize is that trauma is not the story of something awful that happened in the past, but the residue of imprints left behind in people’s sensory and hormonal systems. Traumatised people often are terrified of the sensations in their own bodies.”
We take each movement as being intuitive, to slowly connect our minds and bodies. With a focus on grounding and connection to our surroundings and being. There is no right or wrong expression or sounds our bodies might make.
You’ll develop safety within yourself, and become in control of your own beautiful body.
2. Self-care
When was the last time you took care of yourself? Proper care. Not just living it day-by-day but making choices? This practice, yoga and especially trauma sensitive yoga is based upon acknowledging where you’re at now, as a personal choice, a real opportunity for you to create your own rhythm between tension and relaxation. An invitation to focus moment to moment. Our bodies have things to say and so why don’t we try to listen?
Take this as an opportunity to bring balance back to your nervous system and allow the well-deserved rest and digest to take place within your interconnected self.
“If you are not aware of what your body needs, you can’t take care of it. This is why cultivating a sensory awareness is a critical aspect of trauma recovery” – David Emerson
3. Mindfulness
Dr Van der Kolk was a strong believer in mindfulness as a tool to healing. Mindfulness gives you the permission to explore. Treat it as a personal invitation to focus on what you feel and what sensations are really happening within your body, rather than what your memory tells you is happening. It’s normal to have so much going around us, so slowly and gently, peel back the layers, just one at a time.
It might have happened in a yoga practice too, or in the middle of a meeting at work where your body has made sound, of all sorts! Embrace those gurgles in your tummy and embrace the tingles in your feet.
Become present, even if just for a moment.
So come and join me at Bodyscape Yoga on Sunday 27th August at 2-4pm for the Yoga for Trauma Workshop. To complement this ‘me time’, I’ve hand-picked a couple of natural and organic essential oils for aromatherapy which you can even take home for bathtime, bedtime or anytime.
Credit Photography 