Anyone who has lived through a traumatic event knows the effects of trauma can linger for months if not years. War, violent crime, major accidents, and natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes are examples of experiences that might result in on-going traumatic stress for survivors. While getting over trauma takes time, recent research is demonstrating that yoga can play a role in helping people overcome traumatic stress. As the healing power of yoga becomes better known and accepted, more yoga teachers are reaching out to students who are grappling with the effects of trauma. Veterans, prisoners, domestic violence or sexual abuse survivors, refugees, and clients at soup kitchens and homeless shelters are now benefiting from yoga classes all over the country.
Have you considered teaching yoga classes to any of these populations? Here are a few classroom tips to help you get started.
1. Approach your students with genuine respect. At the beginning of each class, take some time to ask them how they are feeling and listen attentively. If they want to talk about their experiences, let them talk, but don’t feel the need to ask questions and try to draw them out. Everyone processes trauma and heals at his or her own pace, and many won’t want to discuss their experiences. See yourself as a support system, but not a cure.
2. Encourage your students to stay in their bodies. Trauma survivors often have vivid memories or flashbacks of incidents that caused traumatic stress. It’s important to keep the students grounded and focused. In standing yoga postures such as mountain pose, remind students to connect their feet to the earth and ground down, finding stability in their stance. If teaching Kundalini Yoga, kriyas that emphasize lower chakras are often helpful. For example, I find that the Sahibi Kriya to Master Your Domain, in I am a Woman, is very effective, as is Kriya for the Kidneys from Kundalini Yoga for Youth and Joy. Whatever kriya you choose, make sure to offer plenty of modifications and adjust the times as necessary.
I Am A Woman Yoga Manual
Kundalini Yoga for Youth and Joy3. Be mindful of yoga postures that may trigger a trauma response. Certain yoga poses may seem benign to most of us, but for a trauma survivor, they may trigger a memory of the traumatic event. “Happy Baby Pose” (Ananda Balasana) can cause discomfort among sexual abuse survivors, for instance. Kundalini triangle (downward facing dog) or other yoga postures that involve “sticking the bottom in the air” may also create some anxiety. Choose kriyas that don’t use postures that you think may be problematic, and modify when it seems appropriate. Additionally, be mindful that physical touch may also trigger trauma reactions, so avoid hands-on adjustments of your students. Verbal descriptions or demonstrations should be sufficient, and if your students aren’t in a “perfect” posture, just let it go and accept where they are!
4. Don’t overlook the power of chanting. Healing Ra Ma Da Sa is a very logical and easy choice, and there are many versions of this available for download. Gurunam Joseph Michael Levry offers several options on one CD, appropriately called Ra Ma Da Sa, or check out Mirabai Ceiba’s A Hundred Blessings. This latter CD also includes the Kirtan Kriya (Sa Ta Na Ma), another meditation that I have found to be extremely well received by trauma-survivor students. Both these mantras are available in their full times (31 minutes) on Mirabai Ceiba’s CD, Cycle of Life. You can also choose any mantra that is easily repeated, such as Guru Ram Das (I love Nirinjan Kaur’s version on her Aquarian Sadhana CD) or Bountiful, Blissful, Beautiful, such as Bachan Kaur’s recording on Soul Songs.
These are just some tips to get you started. The first step is often the hardest, for both the students and the teachers, but you’ll find that you tune into the students’ needs very quickly. If you’re unsure or nervous about something, just ask the students if it makes them uncomfortable. They’re your best teachers, and the rewards in bringing yoga to this population can’t be overstated. Just get out there and do it! 
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Posted in Yoga, Yoga Teacher Resources | Tagged trauma survivors, Yoga, yoga for trauma
Julie Eisenberg (Jiwan Shakti Kaur) is co-owner of Golden Heart Yoga DC (www.goldenheartyoga.com/dc), Washington, DC’s newest Kundalini Yoga Center. She started practicing yoga in the mid-1990s as a way to decompress from a stressful job and since then, she has dedicated herself to sharing the teachings with anyone who will listen. Over the years, as her practice deepened and evolved, Julie began to understand yoga as a tool of personal transformation and empowerment. She teaches yoga to the homeless and to low-income Spanish-speaking immigrants in the Washington region, and she thoroughly believes in the transformative power of the practice. 
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