Yoga for Trauma benefits the body and mind. We have already learned Trauma Sensitive Yoga physical benefits in a past article. In today’s post, we will learn about the emotional benefits that this practice can bring to your life.

Emotional benefits

• Feel present, be present

Many people who live with trauma can feel disembodied. They may feel absent. Yoga for Trauma helps them to reengage with their bodies, be aware of their sensations, and to recognise their own presence. They learn to reconnect with their physical body and appreciate it. 

• Improves self-confidence

After going through a traumatic event, self-confidence can be damaged and people can experience perceptual distortion. Sometimes, the aftermath involves involuntary body responses, such as excessive sweating, stuttering, trembling, and others. Yoga for Trauma helps trauma survivors to regulate themselves. Being able to have better control over their own bodies is an empowering experience, which improves their confidence. 

This practice also empowers the client by letting them explore their own limits, never offering hands-on assists. It has been demonstrated that hands-on assists can make students feel uncomfortable, not only because it can trigger them, but because it can make them feel like they are doing something wrong. In fact, a study showed that 50% of trauma clients who were physically assisted by their instructors didn’t come back because they felt judged. 

Practitioners don’t even leave their mat during a Trauma Sensitive Yoga session. They demonstrate the forms with their own bodies and offer verbal guidance, but let the students explore the shapes they feel more comfortable in and try other variations.  

• Improves social interaction

Yoga for trauma sessions provides social support for trauma clients. Sharing with others who you can relate with makes you part of a social group and makes you feel emotionally supported. Having a sense of belonging is crucial during your healing journey because it helps you to shape your own identity and it creates a safe space for you to go back to when you need to meet your agency. Knowing that you are not alone and that you have a community to rely on can help you to keep going when you encounter your first obstacle in your path to become a better version of yourself.

• Helps the decision-making process

Traumatic events can make the person feel like they don’t have control, hence why they may feel like they can’t choose. Trauma Sensitive Yoga encourages them to make decisions and take effective action. If the client doesn’t feel comfortable during a shape, they can make the conscious decision to get out of it. Practitioners are never pushy and allow the students to choose how to execute a form, whether to attempt certain shapes or not, close their eyes during meditation or keep them open, etc. Everything is a choice.

• Learn your own way of self-care

It can be difficult to recognise what your body and mind need if you aren’t present in your own body. Yoga for Trauma teaches people to understand their body responses, needs and how to take care of them, both mentally and physically. It helps students to introduce healthy habits into their daily routines and how to step out of discomfort and back into comfort.

• Regain control and be empowered

Some trauma survivors can develop addictions or mutilate themselves. Yoga for Trauma helps them to be connected with their bodies and learn how to cultivate self-love. You will learn to understand your relationship with trauma, as well as how to shape it and transform it.

The usage of inviting language is also one of the tools that Trauma Sensitive Yoga uses to empower students. Practitioners won’t give you commands but encourage you to choose to try a form freely. Lastly, learning how to soothe your own mind and body when feeling triggered, anxious, or about to have a panic attack, also contributes to the process of empowerment.

If you are ready to start your healing journey and welcome all the benefits that Yoga for Trauma has for your body and mind, please visit Journey with Jen and allow me to join you in your recovery process.