Tagged With "Yoga"

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Jen Johnson to discuss the gifts contained in mindfulness practice, her counseling services as well as her coaching work with clients all over the world, her photography and writing outlets, along with sharing pieces of her own healing journey with us.

5 Rhythmic Movement Practices That Can Calm Our Anxious Mind

By Charity Nebbe, Katelyn Harrop, and Sthefany Nobriga, Iowa Public Radio, January 8, 2020 The impacts of trauma can be unexpected, affecting not only mental and emotional health but also physical well being. Through Trauma Sensitive Yoga, a modified yoga practice that prioritizes a healthy realtionship with one's body and similarly informed tai-chi programs, some survivors have found a new kind of relief. On this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talked with Matthew Vasquez, an...

Yoga teacher Tatiana Forero Puerta, author of Yoga for the Wounded Heart, shares what she’s learned about trauma, clearing emotional patterns, and finding a vision for the future. If at the age of 20 you would’ve asked me to imagine my life 15 years in the future, I wouldn’t have been able to give you an answer. I couldn’t see my life in those terms. When I looked into my future then, I simply saw a field of blackness; my potential was not just obfuscated—it was inaccessible. This is what...

I remember it like yesterday. It was January 1993, I was walking up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan when a small gold sign advertising a yoga studio caught my eye. I turned on a whim, went in, and some two hours later, found myself sobbing on my yoga mat. I knew I was tight from years of working out, but it wasn’t until that moment that I realized that under the tightness I’d lived with from pushing myself around — muscling through everything I encountered without taking a rest — was also a deep,...

How yoga helped me heal from neglect and violence I grew up in poverty in a drug-addicted and violent family. Without necessities like proper food or shelter, and subjected to regular abuse, I ran away at the age of 13. Within two years, I was on the road with a 19-year-old man. Being so young, I was attracted to his antisocial, rebellious past rather than recognizing these behaviors as red flags. Eventually, we called my mother and she threatened him with jail time for statutory rape and...

Laura's note: This story of sheer determination of transformation of self and community in the face of personal trauma AND systemic racism is breathtaking. Be warned: it may blow you away, as it did me. As a child, Ebony Smith survived sexual assault but didn’t have the tools to cope with the trauma until years later, when she found yoga. Now, she’s bringing the practice to her community, and others in crisis. Exactly 247 people came to practice yoga with me today. Why is that such a big...

Great conversation about mindfulness and meditation. You two covered a lot of territory! Thanks, Teri.

Thanks so much for taking the time to listen in and offer feedback, Laura. I feel blessed to meet beautiful souls from all over the world who are striving to help others along their healing journey. Jen Johnson is one of those souls.

Joanna, such great solutions to the problem of wanting to meditate but being emotionally uncomfortable or triggered by trying to sit too long. It's possible to have the best of both worlds -- the benefits of mindfulness meditation AND mindful movement in one. Thank you for sharing your own experience and good ideas with so many of us who can use an alternative to traditional seated meditation. This may encourage some who were hesitant to meditate because of the potential for anxiety to go...

LOVE THS ARTICLE!!! SOOO admire Ebony and want to cheer her on!!! Thank you for sharing with us, Laura!

Are you kidding, Gail? I couldn't post this article here fast enough ! It's like the brass ring of post-trauma stories!

TOTALLY AGREE!! It would be wonderful to connect with Ebony. Have you tried? Bring her into this community!!

I haven't, but I will. Same with the author of another recent post that you and I talked about -- can't remember her name but I will look her up and invite her too. Been meaning to message you about it to make sure you hadn't already contacted her.

Skills and wisdom for creating the best possible experience of life. This program is designed to give you skills and understanding that you can use now AND that will continue to deepen and unfold over time. The curriculum is resilience-focused. What that means in a practical sense is that the starting place is of acknowledgment of the traumas potentially being held by yourself and your students. This allows for these amazing practices to be applied in a way that is most supportive of the...

This workshop is holistic, interactive, applied, and designed for those who want to incorporate mindfulness-based practices such as yoga and meditation into their daily lives in order to increase their own and/or their client’s ability to handle the ordinary and sometimes extraordinary stresses of daily life. We will dive deep into what trauma and resilience look like from scientific, psychological, and cultural perspectives, explore some of the origins and impacts of trauma and learn...

NARM and the Role of Consent in Trauma-Informed Yoga with Colleen Millen In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Sarah Buino welcomes NARM Therapist and Accessible Yoga instructor Colleen Millen to dive into and discuss the theme of consent. Throughout the episode, Colleen shares how her understanding of what consent means has deepened through her relationship with yoga and through her ongoing study of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM). Each episode of Transforming Trauma...

Psychology and spirituality are viewed as separate disciplines, but they shouldn't be. Healing is grounded in the place where they meet.

However difficult the past, or slow the progress, you can always choose to begin again. Wednesdays 12:00-12:50 January 27 - March 17, 2021 Live Online Yoga Practice Sign up for the Eight Week Series or Single Classes By employing the contemplative movement practice of yoga through a trauma-sensitive lens, you will have the opportunity to observe your thoughts, feel your physical and emotional sensations and consider self-compassion as you invite yourself, from moment to moment, to begin...

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a shock to the system for many -- for individuals, for countries, for economies on a huge scale. As a survivor, you know we will get through this . The only way out is through. But the stress the pandemic has visited on your body has not been kind. Meditation and activities that promote mindfulness (like yoga) can help stem some of this stress and relieve the tension the pandemic has left behind in your bones. If you’re ready to move toward healing and more...

You can't fail at self-care. If something isn't helpful, maybe you haven't yet found your own way.

All wonderful ways to care for the self, and yet, most of these are just read about, maybe tried for 1 or 2 sessions and then we move on to something else. Something most people call more productive, but I call more exciting. It seems we always go in with the highest intentions, and then, and then, and then after a few sessions we don't see a difference, we don't feel better or different so we move on, or worse, don't try anything else at all because those last 2 things sure did not do...

thank you for reading, Mary! Each person's experience is unique and must be honored, and it sounds like you've found--or are finding--your own way.

November 9, 2022 11:00 AM 3:30 PM EST Virtual via Zoom Learning how little bodies register and retain trauma physically and physiologically is key to helping children release toxic stress. Register HERE. After any long period of stress or trauma—such as getting through a pandemic—it is normal to experience emotional de-regulation. As we prepare for post-pandemic life, it is normal to experience de-regulation as a result of long periods of stress or trauma. In Echo's Trauma-Informed Yoga for...