Trauma-Informed Yoga for PTSD

Yoga as Trauma Support

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and trauma affect the body deeply. Trauma-informed yoga offers a safe path to reconnection, regulation, and healing—on your own terms.

Understanding Trauma and Yoga

Trauma lives in the body:

• Hypervigilance
• Dissociation
• Frozen responses
• Nervous system dysregulation

Yoga helps by:

• Restoring body connection
• Building safety in sensation
• Offering choice and control
• Regulating nervous system
• Reducing hyperarousal

Trauma-Informed Principles

Interoception

Rebuilding awareness of internal sensations safely

Choice

You always control your practice—skip, modify, or stop anything

Empowerment

Building sense of agency in your own body

Present-Moment Focus

Anchoring in sensation, not story

Safety First

Creating physical and psychological safety

Safe Practice Guidelines

YOU are in charge

• Choose what feels right
• Modify or skip anything
• Eyes open or closed
• Move at your pace
• No "shoulds"

Invitational Language

• "You might try..."
• "If it feels okay..."
• "Notice what you notice..."
• Never commanding

Avoid Triggers

• Hands-on adjustments (always ask first)
• Dark rooms
• Vulnerable positions (initially)
• Forced relaxation
• Eyes closed (until ready)

Starting Your Practice

Begin Where You Are

Grounding techniques:

• Feel feet on floor
• Notice sit bones on chair
• Hands on thighs
• Present-moment awareness
• 5-4-3-2-1 sensory check

Simple movements:

• Gentle neck rolls
• Shoulder shrugs
• Ankle circles
• Hand stretches
• Only what feels okay

Building Body Awareness

Safe sensations:

• Strength (warrior poses)
• Grounding (mountain pose)
• Expansion (gentle backbends)
• Boundaries (child's pose)

Notice without judgment:

• What do you feel?
• Where do you feel it?
• Is it comfortable, neutral, or uncomfortable?
• What do you need?

Trauma-Sensitive Poses

Grounding Poses

Mountain Pose

• Feet firmly planted
• Sense of stability
• Choice of gaze
• Build inner strength

Warrior I & II

• Powerful stance
• Facing forward (control)
• Strong legs
• Sense of capability

Boundary-Building Poses

Child's Pose (Modified)

• Knees wide (less vulnerable)
• Forehead on hands/block
• Face visible (not buried)
• Easy to exit

Seated Forward Fold

• Folding inward (protection)
• Controlled depth
• Sense of containment
• Self-soothing

Empowerment Poses

Goddess Pose

• Wide stance
• Taking up space
• Powerful and grounded
• Embracing strength

Chair Pose

• Building leg strength
• Sense of capability
• Grounding through effort
• "I am strong"

Breathwork for Trauma

Extended Exhale

• Calms nervous system
• Reduces hyperarousal
• Accessible and safe
• Inhale 4, exhale 6-8

Ocean Breath (Ujjayi)

• Soothing quality
• Internal focus
• Sense of control
• Self-regulation

Natural Breath Awareness

• No manipulation
• Just noticing
• Building interoception
• "Breath as anchor"

Avoid:

• Breath retention
• Forceful breathing
• Any technique that feels overwhelming

What to Avoid

Potentially triggering:

• Eyes closed (until ready)
• Prone positions (belly-down)
• Inversions (feeling trapped)
• Deep vulnerability
• Forced relaxation
• Touch without consent

Each person's triggers are unique—honor yours

Building Capacity

Window of Tolerance:

• Zone where you feel regulated
• Stay within this window
• Gradually expand edges
• Respect limits

Signs you've gone too far:

• Dissociation
• Flashbacks
• Overwhelm
• Shutdown
• Hyperventilation

If this happens:

• Open eyes
• Ground through feet
• Look around room
• Name 5 things you see
• You are safe now

Finding the Right Class

Look for:

• Trauma-informed trained teachers
• Invitational language
• No hands-on adjustments (or ask-first policy)
• Permission to modify
• Choice emphasized
• Predictable structure

Avoid:

• Power/intense classes (initially)
• Mystical/spiritual language (if triggering)
• Dark rooms
• Crowded spaces
• Unpredictable format

Home Practice Benefits

Why home might be better initially:

• Complete control
• Safe environment
• Your own pace
• Pause anytime
• No social pressure

Online resources:

• Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
• Justice Arts Coalition
• Accessible Yoga
• Many trauma-informed teachers offer online

Integration with Treatment

Yoga complements:

• Therapy (especially somatic therapies)
• EMDR
• Medication
• Support groups

Tell your therapist:

• You're practicing yoga
• What you're experiencing
• Any challenges
• Coordinate care

For Supporters

If you're teaching trauma survivors:

• Get proper training
• Never assume
• Offer choices always
• Use invitational language
• No surprise touch
• Create predictable environment
• Acknowledge their strength

Progress Looks Like

• Feeling safer in body
• Expanded window of tolerance
• Better self-regulation
• Reduced hypervigilance
• Improved sleep
• More present-moment awareness
• Sense of empowerment

Healing isn't linear—honor the process

Resources

• Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY)
• "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk
• "Overcoming Trauma through Yoga" by David Emerson
• Justice Arts Coalition
• Local trauma-informed yoga studios

Trauma-informed yoga is about reclaiming your body, your breath, and your sense of safety—one mindful moment at a time. You are worthy of healing. You are not alone.