Teaching Trauma Sensitive Classes
Photography by Courtney Hergesheimer Figueroa
Enrolling in a 100 HR Trauma Sensitive Teacher Training was the best decision I made in my yoga career from an educational standpoint. This training was led by Michele Vinbury and Mary Beth Hamilton, including co-teachers Marcia Miller and psychiatrist and yoga instructor Lee Shackelford.
As a yoga instructor, you learn quickly that you generally cannot predict the demographic of students who will walk into your class. You may have your regular students you've connected with, but you certainly don't know everything about who is practicing and why. Simply acknowledge to yourself that people you meet each and every day may have trauma they’ve experienced, whether or not they themselves have personally or publicly identified it, or even dealt with it. People who have experienced trauma will most definitely be in your yoga class. There are conscious considerations you can take as an instructor to ease the environment for someone who has experienced trauma whether or not you’re teaching a class that's labeled ‘trauma sensitive.' For example, create an environment with little to no spiritual items; make the space as secular as possible. Keep the lights on and speak to where you are in the room. Orient the students so that they know where the exit is. Acknowledge the noise and outside movement; as the teacher, you can say, “I am watching and listening. I got this and I know what you are seeing and hearing.”
If you are teaching a Trauma Sensitive class, you will have an idea of the demographic of your students, but avoid expectation. You won't know the best way to teach your students until you're with them. Do you know what population you're teaching to? Ask yourself what their needs might be. I recommend thinking about this before you start your training so you can apply what you learn in context. If you’re teaching to a population of eating disorder survivors, you may want to pay special attention to your language regarding the physical body and overbearing positivity associated with poses. Be an empathetic witness.
You will not get it right. You will mess up over and over and it’s okay. No matter who you are teaching to, remind them time and time again that they have a choice. Consent is the upmost important thing you can offer.
Being honest with yourself about your own trauma is the only way through. By doing this, you can be consistent while teaching Trauma Sensitive yoga. Consistency creates a foundation of stability. You must show up and you mustn’t abandon. Understand the gravity of that choice before you make it. I cannot count how many times I've had to show up to class after something traumatic happened to me. I found out one of my friends passed away right before walking into a studio to teach. I showed up anyway because of the tools I learned in my trainings. My mother once said to me that a yoga instructor who still teaches while walking with their own trauma is doing the work of the divine. Similar to how spiritual leaders like monks, pastors, or rabbis greet every day to commune with the holy. For me, it's like that.
If you’re endeavoring to teach Trauma Sensitive yoga, find an external support system for yourself so that you can process and integrate what transpires in class. Know that you can empower others to heal even if you're still healing yourself which is the beauty in this work.
