trauma-Sensitive Yoga
“Helplessness and isolation are the core experiences of trauma. Power and reconnections are the core experiences of recovery.”
When we experience trauma or painful life events, we can become disconnected from our bodies, or sensations may feel overwhelming or intolerable. When we experience trauma (and/or chronic stress), our nervous systems can get stuck “on”, especially if we have not processed or discharged these experiences. Trauma-sensitive yoga offers an opportunity to rebuild our relationship with ourselves and reclaim our bodies.
At Blue Sky Therapy we offer Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) which is an empirically validated, clinical intervention for complex trauma or chronic, treatment resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In TCTSY the power resides within the individual, not the facilitator. By focusing on the felt sense of your body to inform choice-making, TCTSY offers participants the opportunity to restore their connection of mind and body, and to cultivate a sense of agency that is often compromised as a result of trauma.
Reclaim your body! In TCTSY we increase our interoceptive awareness (awareness of your internal body experience) through invitations to notice and befriend your body. Engaging in TCTSY and other therapy tools, you can experience your body as a resource which may lead to an increased ability to self-regulate and manage difficult emotions. In this practice, we can cultivate safety in the present moment and build a relationship with your body. What a gift to reconnect and claim your body after years of cycling between numbing and intensity.
TCTSY has foundations in trauma theory, attachment theory, neuroscience, and hatha yoga, with an emphasis on body-based yoga forms and breathing practices.
