What is Trauma? And how can yoga help?
If I were to ask you what Trauma is, what would you say?
There’s a common belief that trauma comes from something “big” or “dramatic.” A war, a natural disaster, a sexual assault, or a pandemic. And indeed, all of those can be traumatic events.
But as a Somatic Experiencing (TM) Practitioner, I can tell you that trauma also comes from events that are more subtle, unseen; even experiences we might brush over as “normal”. A routine medical procedure, neglect, emotional blackmailing, an illness, a move to a new location, or a rupture in a core relationship.
Big or seemingly small, visible or barely seen, the event itself does not carry the trauma. As Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing (TM), and other leading researchers in the field of trauma explain, trauma does not live in the event; trauma lives in the body. In particular it lives in the nervous system.
To put it simply: In trauma the energy that is mobilised to respond to a perceived threat gets stuck. In yogic terms, all of the chemical, physical, emotional and pranic energy that was mobilised, for example, to avoid a blow, get away from a speeding car, or avoid a life-threatening infection from an imperceivable virus— gets bound.
It’s like collecting the velocity of a car going 200km/hr, putting it into a grain of sand and having that grain stay still. Intense, overwhelming, internally chaotic.
When this happens in us humans, our system collapses—physically, emotionally, mentally and energetically. We get disoriented, dissociate, and go into different degrees of “numbness”:
...We lose touch with our inner compass & don’t recognize our “gut feelings” or boundaries
…We don’t or can’t feel certain feelings or emotions—“What? Me? I never get angry/afraid!” “I don’t feel anything”
…We’re “fine” or “ok”
In this state the slightest bit of sensory input (a sound, smell, memory, taste) or hint of emotion can become overwhelming and unmanageable....so we shut down again, or more. And the cycle goes continues.
Ultimately, in trauma, we get cut off from parts of our body, parts of our minds/ hearts and parts of our lives.
So, how does Yoga help resolve this?
Recent research shows that Yoga is one of the most effective tools to resolve the effects of trauma; more than prescription medicine or traditional therapeutic approaches.
As a yoga instructor and/or practitioner, you might already know this to be true.
One of the reasons why Yogic practices— and particularly those in a tradition such as the Bihar School of Yoga— are so powerful is that they invite us back into the body; to develop the awareness of the felt sense, to stay present in the body through comfort and discomfort, to build tolerance, to rebuild confidence & trust in our capacity to be in the body, in the breath, in our thoughts, and in life.
To find out more about the how- why- what of Yoga and Trauma, and to learn new skills & confidence in working with trauma affected populations, join me this February for What every Yoga instructor needs to know about Trauma Workshop. I look forward to seeing you there!
Written by Sannyasi Yogatara