The Power of Yoga to Holistically Heal Trauma
BY HANNAH COFFMAN
Hannah currently works as an editor, college English instructor, and freelance writer, but she is a storyteller first and foremost. From her home in Missouri, Hannah spends her days writing, exploring the Ozarks, kayaking, hiking, and traveling. She's counting down the days until her next adventure. Find more about Hannah at https://hannahclairecoffman.com/.
Wherever you are right now, I want to ask you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Feel the air inflating your lungs, filling up with purpose, with love, with hope. Stretch your arms high and wiggle your toes.
Even if you’ve never attended a yoga class, if you played along with my request, your practice has already started. Yoga is in our breath, and it is the practice of drawing the mind to this ordinary act. It’s as simple as that and as expansive as a creative expression, a practice of mindfulness, and the most impactful of all: a method to holistically treat trauma.
As studies have emerged about the power of yoga to heal trauma, we’re able to understand more about exactly why it is an effective treatment modality. Whether you suffer from panic attacks, mild anxiety, or are currently digging into the hard work of healing trauma, I think yoga is for you.
Let me share with you why yoga is so powerful.
Breathwork
The first thing you’ll learn in yoga is how to breathe (in through the nose, out through the mouth, deeply). Depending on where you practice, you’ll likely work on inhaling and exhaling to a specific count. Most importantly, movement through the postures will be guided by your own breath.
Trauma invokes an involuntary physical response in the body: short, shaky breaths and a quickened heartbeat. When we learn to control the physical response of the breath, we can help control the emotional response as well. Learning to breathe is everything— in yoga as well as in life. If you are used to holding tension in your body, breathwork will be uncomfortable at first. It will be uncomfortable, probably, for a long time. But this is where growth happens, in the place between comfort and progress.
Befriending the Body
Trauma teaches us to ignore our feelings; yoga teaches us to feel and acknowledge them. If trauma prevents us from fully feeling our emotions (and it does), the pain manifests itself in other ways. Our pain rises to the service like a bruise. It is not skin-deep.
“Trauma victims cannot recover until they become familiar with and befriend the sensations in their bodies... physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past,” says Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk in his book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. During yoga practice, you will be encouraged to befriend your body and practice mindfulness.
Mindfulness helps us escape from fear and flashbacks by drawing us into the present. For example, a common grounding technique is to mentally note five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell, and one thing you can feel. Drawing the mind to these details in a calm, distraction-free space helps train the mind to ground itself in reality rather than in the unsafe past.
Shaping your Life
My yoga instructor says “Yoga is not about the shape of your body. It is about the shape of your life.” I believe that all the things we practice in the yoga studio— setting intentions, deepening our breath and awareness, learning to be disciplined and find balance—are all skills we can carry with us into life.
Yoga does not come naturally to me: I am not particularly flexible or comfortable being still. And yet I believe this is why it has helped me grow so much. Am I physically stronger now than I was before I started practicing? Absolutely. But I am also more mindful, less distracted, and more aware of how to control the trauma responses in my body.
My instructor often reminds us that our practice is ours and no one else’s. I appreciate this opportunity to look inward rather than outward; there will always be someone in the room who is more flexible, stronger, and more balanced. But there is no one who has faced the unique challenges in your life the way that you have. Press into that knowledge as you press into your poses.
What’s next?
My hope is that today, you deepen your awareness through the ordinary. My hope is that you carry yogic techniques with you into the office, the coffee shop, and the grocery store, and that when you roll out your mat, you turn your attention to your breath. Facing trauma takes great courage, and I won’t leave you without words of hope. I’d like to remind you of Dr. van der Kolk’s words: “Our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another” (The Body Keeps the Score).
Be kind to your body during this journey, and be kind to yourself as you pursue healing. I hope you’ll meet me on your mat, whether it be in your living room or at your local gym. Meet me wherever you’re at in this day, in sorrow, in joy, in anticipation. There is so much goodness here. Wherever you are, take a deep breath. May you show up today and every day to the mat, but also to life and all the beautiful things it has to offer. I believe this with my whole heart: healing is waiting for you.
Yoga Resources:
Quick note: If you suffer from trauma, anxiety, depression, or other mental health factors and haven’t reached out to a doctor or a counselor, remember that professional help is important. Yoga can be used as a helpful tool, but resources such as medication and counseling are also crucial. Find mental health resources here.