Cultivating Trust with Independence
Trust is a key concept in trauma informed practice and it is one of the five trauma informed principles (along with Safety, Choice, Empowerment and Collaboration). Generally, it refers to interpersonal boundaries, clarity, and consistency, but what does this look like in a yoga context? And why is it so important for people recovering after trauma?
Traumatic experiences can cause an erosion of trust in self and people, and yoga provides an effective opportunity to recover and rebuild it. Trauma aware or trauma informed yoga is about creating an environment where people feel empowered, validated and heard. This can precipitate the rebuilding of trust – of both self and others.
Most trauma involves a loss of control over what is happening to an individual and a physical violation of the body. After a traumatic experience individuals can develop fear of their bodily sensations and distrust of their responses and emotions. Research has demonstrated that yoga can increase interoception, and this awareness and understanding of internal sensations and emotional reactions can improve self-regulation, and reduce shame and fear.
Teaching trauma informed yoga creates the time and space for the individual to explore “how do I feel?”; to be curious about sensations as they arise. This is invaluable in reestablishing agency and learning to trust their body again.
“The reality, of course, is that being traumatised does make you a difficult person to get along with. Because you suddenly get angry, you suddenly shut down or you space out. But more difficult is to live that life: not being able to trust yourself. And there’s always this internal pressure to step up to the plate and keep functioning. So the next piece is a profound feeling of shame about yourself and your reactions.” – Bessel van der Kolk
Before you read on, please consider attending our upcoming summit on Yoga and Mental Health:
After 15 years of working with people recovering from mental health challenges, trauma, addiction, and adversity, The Yoga Foundation has collected a lot of feedback and evidence about how teachers can successfully establish and facilitate trust of self and others, while also increasing independence and empowerment. Yoga Australia’s Josh Pryor interviewed CEO Jessica Hobson and the team at The Yoga Foundation.
Josh: The last 20 years of work around Trauma Informed teaching, in yoga and so many other spheres, has done wonders for our culture. For me, it’s yet another example of a yogic concept, in this case saṃskāra, popping up in modern science. In the context of modern yoga, delivered via led āsana classes to the general public, how can yoga teachers build trust with their students?
Jessica: There are many simple things yoga teachers can do to establish a trusting relationship with their students. It is important for any teacher, and crucial in cases where a trauma history has been disclosed .
The basics are: doing what you say you will, acting with integrity, start and finish the class on time, introduce yourself at the start of the class, outline class content and timing so participants know what to expect and when. All of these can minimise anxiety and build trust. Let participants know that you if you intend to provide physical adjustments, you will seek consent first – and ensure you then do as you say. If you teach trauma-aware yoga, do not provide physical adjustments or touch the participants.
Teachers need to establish interpersonal boundaries from the beginning, and model appropriate self-disclosure. If they can demonstrate consistency and clarity then they provide the foundation required for the participants to feel safe, trust the teacher, and start the process of trusting themselves again.
“Yoga has helped me connect back to my body which has been a huge learning experience since Complex PTSD led to dissociating. I find yoga so helpful and interesting for developing a relationship with myself.” – DV survivor, TYF yoga program
Josh: Classical yoga includes intention setting (saṅkalpa and japa) both verbal (vaikhari) and nonverbal (ajapa), both as a group and individually. How does this idea align with modern western techniques?
Jessica: Trauma aware techniques that can be applied in a yoga class include starting and closing rituals, such as a verbal check-in or setting an intention. These actions can all create some predictability and help establish rhythms and routine, which are critical for building trust and safety after periods of fearful vigilance.
We focus on gradually widening the window of tolerance by resourcing and supporting participants, and by employing sensation, movement, and breath from a foundation of safety. Yoga presents excellent opportunities to explore exteroception, proprioception, and interoception, inviting curiosity about sensations.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is part of the third wave of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and interestingly aligns with pratipakṣa bhāvanā, or “cultivating the opposite” (Yoga Sutra II.33). For example, instead of self-criticism, cultivate self-kindness and compassion (karuṇā). Instead of rumination, cultivate mindfulness. DBT calls this “opposite action”.
Josh: The ultimate teaching of yoga is that our true and whole Self (ātman) is large and eternal, and by comparison our physical body and intellect are small and temporary. Our young Western culture can be seen as an experiment in materialism, which supposes that the physical body and intellect exists alone, vulnerable and isolated from the world. Establishing identity with the large Self creates widespread trust, peace, and autonomy, how can this be facilitated by modern yoga teachers?
Jessica: Encouraging participants to make decisions every step of the way can help reignite a sense of control over self. When a trauma survivor practices yoga, it is their choice to move their physical body into a pose, to stay in that pose, and to move away from the pose. This sense of felt control over their practice and their body cultivates trust of their own feelings and actions. Teachers should encourage individuals to move at their own pace, offering choices instead of directives. Teachers might choose to participate with the class, rather than perform at the front.
Reminding practitioners of their inherent agency can help them trust themselves again over time. Thus, a yoga teacher can cultivate curiosity and exploration by inviting participants to notice what is happening with their body, breath, mind throughout the practice, with no expectation. By avoiding telling someone how they will or should feel during or after a pose or practice, a yoga teacher can create space and give permission for the participants to feel whatever they are feeling at that time. By welcoming all responses and reactions, the teacher is validating what each individual is experiencing.
Josh: Yoga students often find themselves in possession of unwanted limiting beliefs, often imposed by parents or other historical authority figures. Students often seek out teachers who are more experienced and who demonstrate success in areas of life that the student deems important. How can one consciously invite and receive inspiration from a trusted source without developing unhealthy reliance?
Jessica: We have seen many participants build a new relationship with themselves and their bodies, welcoming sensations and building awareness of their individual and unique responses. This is empowering and supports independent growth, not based on the teacher directing and telling, but rather guiding and inviting. Participants recovering from trauma learn that they are in charge of their body and mind, that they are managing their recovery, that they have the power within them. It creates an equal relationship with the teacher, dissolves any idea of hierarchy, and reignites a sense of control over self – and life.
Trust is not developed by the yoga teacher telling the student “you can do this and it will feel great!” It is about the yoga teacher providing the safe space for the student to explore the experience on their own terms and in their own time. It is about the yoga teacher being a guide and facilitator for the individual to ‘choose their own adventure’, and support their recovery.
Josh: Once self-trust reaches a certain level and is not dependent on an external source, will a practitioner affected by trauma be able to benefit from positive suggestion from a teacher?
Jessica: Trust in self can become an embodied experience and not something that is dependent on an external source. They will be able to listen to their body and trust that feeling, and the choice to experiment with pushing beyond their current comfort zone remains their own. Setting and adjusting these boundaries can be practiced on the mat and extended into life off the mat. It’s a valuable lesson and central to recovery.
I am always struck by the resilience and strength of the people we support. They are very familiar with many levels of discomfort and may even seek it as it is a norm for them. Yoga teachers can help people to be okay with discomfort as they learn to tolerate sensations and thoughts they may have previously avoided. Teachers can provide the guidance and tools to enable people to feel safe in their bodies again, and to enjoy the feeling of comfort and safety, which may be novel to them.
“The body always leads us home. If we can simply learn to trust sensation and stay with it long enough for it to reveal appropriate action, insight, movement, or feeling.” – Pat Ogden
The Yoga Foundation Shares their Deep Domain Expertise
They have designed an accessible, interactive 3 hour workshop that provides evidence, insights and practical tips for creating an appropriate and beneficial yoga practice for people who have experienced trauma, mental health challenges, addiction and disadvantage. The course uniquely links modern neuroscience with the Yoga Sutras, and learning outcomes support teachers working with both at-risk groups and the general population. The workshop runs online on March 21st and bookings can be made here.
AT A GLANCE
- Suitable for all yoga teachers and tuaght by highly experienced facilitators
- Evidence based and underpinned by 15 years experience working with at-risk groups
- Economic way to improve your teaching impact and support recovery
- Earn 3 CPD points over 3 hours
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Recognise signs of trauma and the neurobiological impact of trauma
- Understand trauma-informed principles and their application to teaching yoga
- Begin to plan and deliver a trauma-aware yoga practice
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Natalie Haider, Yoga Therapist and Psychologist
Natalie specialises in integrating evidence-based psychological tools with trauma-informed yoga therapy, and delivering this in an accessible, inclusive, and body positive way. She has extensive experience in Learning & Development roles at UNSW Division of Research; as a Researcher Development Consultant & Instructional Designer and as a National Training Specialist & Principal Consultant, Converge International. Natalie has worked with The Yoga Foundation since 2018.
Mischa Telford, Senior yoga teacher and internationally-accredited yoga therapist
Mischa brings over three decades of experience and knowledge, with a background and extensive training in yoga philosophy and practice, as well as gestalt psychotherapy and massage. Her yoga training is in the Krishnamacharya lineage, which is unique in its emphasis on adapting classical yoga techniques to teach what is appropriate to the individual. Mischa has taught with The Yoga Foundation since 2016.
