Yoga is an ancient practice of connecting mind and body for a state of inner peace. When most people visualize yoga, they see a fancy studio with skinny bodies and expensive activewear. When I visualize yoga, I see any body, in any space, utilizing embodiment practices to counteract internal distress and conflict.

Trauma-informed yoga utilizes choice-oriented language to invite a feeling of autonomy and inclusiveness. This is meant to better address symptoms associated with an over-active or under-active nervous system due to chronic stress and other mental health conditions.

Yoga is not just a feel-good practice. The practice of yoga often brings up uncomfortable feelings in the body, letting us know what areas of our life we need to work through on the mat. Yoga teaches us to lean into the discomfort in order to understand it, process through it, and release it.

Through consistency of intentional movement, breath work, sound, and visualization, the potential for healing is endless, both on the mat and off the mat.

The mind-body connection is the link between how our mental health affects our physical body and vice versa. When our brain senses fear or over-activation of any kind, it sends signals to our bodies through the nervous system to help us prepare to address the stressors.

The opposite is also true for positive experiences. When our brain notices the sensations of love, contentment, happiness, etc., it sends signals to our bodies that we are safe.

So ultimately, all of our emotions and experiences are stored in our bodies, and it is through our bodies that we begin to heal.

Embodiment is our full awareness and acceptance of the feelings or activation within our bodies and ability to process through this. Embodiment can be a blissful and beautifully releasing experience, and it can also be incredibly challenging to sit in the awareness of our biggest fears and deepest emotions.

For those with higher levels of trauma and fewer positive interactions, it might feel foreign and even unsafe to experience any sort of sensations in our bodies, positive or negative. This is where Trauma-Informed Yoga can help.

Any kind of stress causes a disconnection between mind and body. This is due to the brain’s natural way of coping with emotions that feel too overwhelming to process in the moment. Whether it be day-to-day stressors or specific traumatic events, we all have experienced this disruption and disconnect in our brains and bodies at different levels.

Emotions are energy, and when we are unable or don’t know how to acknowledge and process difficult feelings, they become trapped in our bodies, thus causing symptoms such as anxiety, depression, dissociation, mood disruption, or PTSD.

Yoga is just one way to reconnect our brains and bodies, leading us to our truest, most embodied selves.