Paving the path to an embodied yoga practice after sexual trauma can be a difficult journey.
Many practices that focus on embodiment ask students to explore sensations without an understanding of trauma’s impact on our entire physical being. It can lead to many feeling overwhelmed, pressured, or even triggered during these practices.
These classes may also encourage embodiment while still favoring perfect form, leaving us feeling confused and wondering what embodiment practices truly mean. And to make practices even more frustrating, they may include long periods of stillness or fast, intense movements that aren’t supportive of a calm, balanced nervous system.
This can lead to confusion or feeling like we’re not meant for embodiment practices because we feel uncomfortable or unsure about what embodied yoga actually is, and if it’s even a viable option after trauma.
While a traditional approach to embodied yoga practices may be suitable for those without trauma, it’s important to create practices that understand and acknowledge the complex and nonlinear healing journeys of survivors.
How to create embodiment after trauma
To create a practice that gives depth and opportunity for intuitive movements that feel safe within our nervous systems, we can follow trauma-informed guidance that focuses on:
- Safety
- Trust
- Choice
- Empowerment
- Collaboration
- Cultural relevance
These trauma-informed pillars recognize and honor survivors, and when classes are created with this in mind, you’ll be able to remain in your practice, know how to transcend emotions without becoming overwhelmed, and stay grounded as you rebuild your mind and body connection.
I invite you to read more about trauma-informed yoga and its impact on sexual trauma survivors in this blog post.
Three Steps to an Embodied Yoga Practice
1.Establish Safety
In order to create a practice that allows you to feel present and in tune with your body, we first need to establish safety. This means:
- Knowing you’re free to end, modify, or skip any poses.
- Having nervous system regulation tools on hand for overwhelming moments.
- Understanding and acknowledging your limits
It may seem counterintuitive, but ending a practice early creates trust within yourself and strengthens embodiment.
When you acknowledge and listen to your needs, you also deepen embodied consent. Many sexual trauma survivors feel unsure about their needs or what “yes” and “no” feel like in their bodies. Beginning to trust your limits within your yoga practice is a supportive step to strengthening this intuition.
2. Focus on Your Own Experience
When you feel comfortable and safe in your practice, you might begin to explore your practice further, which is moving within your body in a way that feels supportive for you. This means:
- Viewing your teacher as a guide instead of someone to mirror
- Focusing on what feels right in your body, and where you’d rather adjust or skip a pose
- Acknowledging that every practice is different
Many beginner yoga students like to mirror the teacher because they’re unsure if they’re doing the poses correctly. There is nothing wrong with this, and can be a good starting point for understanding the practice and main poses.
A step beyond this is to follow the teacher, then explore once you’re in the pose. If you’re in child’s pose, you might explore different props, hand placements, or even a new shape altogether.
Even if a teacher tells you to adjust your form in a type of way, you have every right to do what feels best in your practice. Teachers shouldn’t give physical assists without your permission or say you need to do a pose. You always have the final say.
It’s also important to recognize that every practice is different. Our flexibility, tension, anatomies, and energy within our bodies can change based on many factors. This actually creates more room for embodiment because it keeps each practice unique, offering more room for exploration.
3. Explore Your Internal Landscape
If you feel comfortable in this stage of your practice, you might decide to become curious about your internal sensations and emotions. It’s important to have regulation tools to bring yourself to a calm state if you’re starting to feel overwhelmed. A few simple examples of this are:
- Take a sip of warm water or place a blanket over you for grounding.
- Place your hands on opposite shoulders and tap alternatively in a rhythmic pattern. This is known as bilateral stimulation and activates both sides of your brain to support presence.
- Define and acknowledge an inner resource. This could be a photo of someone you love, an object, or a meditation you return to that brings you comfort.
I welcome you to explore my Mind Body Heal Ebook for more regulation tools and creating a yoga practice that supports and honors trauma healing.
Supporting yourself when exploring emotions with somatic guidance
When you start to acknowledge your emotions, I invite you to do your best to avoid judgment. This takes practice, and I found that facing my emotions as if it were a small child who needed attention allows for more compassion.
Through a somatic lens, emotions may come with feelings, thoughts and beliefs. This is where you can bridge the gap between your physical and emotional body for even deeper embodiment.
Here’s an example of using somatic exploration to release tension and become more embodied:
I feel tension in my right shoulder, so I do a few gentle movements focusing on this area. I find a moment of rest, and notice if any sensations arise. If there is, I might notice a thought related to this.
Sometimes thoughts arise and sometimes they don’t. Not all tension needs to relate to a thought.
But, in this case, I notice that my shoulder tension brings a thought of feeling stuck. If I look deeper, I feel a bit of fear here. I may continue to move my shoulder in a way that helps me release tension then take another moment of rest. I might ask if this tension is tied to a belief. If I look even deeper, I could notice that I have a belief that I’m not doing enough, or that I’m not enough.
I have options here to either work through this belief with a counselor, or practice yogic self study (Svadhyaya) and journal about this. Sometimes, repeating an affirmation and allowing this belief to be heard and acknowledged can lead to gentle release.
These exercises can lead to deep embodiment and holistic healing through gentle movement and honoring how we feel and what we’re thinking. We connect with our inner wisdom, intuition, and allow our compassionate feminine nature to comfort us.
I welcome you to give yourself patience with this practice, because not all tension has a deeper meaning. Maybe we slept wrong or have an injury. Some days we might have a release, and other days we might not notice much. Every practice accumulates and leads us to a more embodied, present mind, body and healthy lifestyle.
Overview
The more we practice and become in tune with ourselves and communicating with our bodies, we can learn where we’re stuck emotionally and physically. An embodied yoga practice has more layers when we’re supporting ourselves through trauma healing, but it’s entirely possible to become more connected with ourselves. I wish you the best on your healing journey, and thank you for joining me in this post!
I invite you to practice with me
I welcome you to explore trauma-informed, online yoga classes that focus on common symptoms experienced by sexual trauma survivors. You’ll also receive access to the private community to ask questions and connect. I hope to see you inside!
