TRAUMA INFORMED WELLNESS SERVICES
Rachel Allen
ERYT-200 partners and collaborates with nonprofits and providers of services to individuals who have sustained trauma in their lives and deal with co-occurring issues such as addiction. Rachel is a rostered teacher with The Breathe Network. Rachel teaches femmes and non-binary folx who are survivors of rape, domestic violence, those who suffer from addiction and homelessness and incarceration. “It is a privilege to share this practice and honor the light that exists in all beings without exception.”
In addition to trauma classes, Rachel has training available for clinicians, therapists and yoga teachers.
The classes and training draw from the research piloted by Bessel Van der Kolk and the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute showing the efficacy of yoga in shifting the neurobiology of the traumatized brain. More information and the published research can be found at the Trauma Center’s website.
Work with Rachel!
Does your organization want to incorporate mindfulness, gentle movement and meditation in offerings to those you serve?
Does your organization want staff training in how to incorporate trauma informed wellness practices into how your staff provides services?
Contact Rachel today!
Yoga and Community Partnerships
Rachel has many ongoing community partnerships offering Trauma Sensitive Yoga, Music and Movement. Please contact her if you are interested in collaborating!
Current and past partnerships include:
- BottleWorks Ethnic Arts Center
- Women’s Help Center
- Victim Services Inc.
- Torrance State Hospital
- Cambria County Prison
- Community Care (Support group for HIV/AIDS)
- Alternative Community Resource Program
- Tableland Cambria County
- Conemaugh Cancer Center
- Lilly Washington Public Library
yoga heals trauma
Why Yoga
Yoga is a time honored system that addresses human suffering. It addresses the states and conditions of the mind and brings the body as a tool for reclaiming one’s life as the body physically experiences all of life and holds memory (issues that live in our tissues) in our very cells.
In yogic philosophy, there are two roots of suffering. The first is attachment to pleasure which can manifest in clinging, grasping, greed and cravings. The second is aversion to feeling which can manifest in denial, shame, blame, resentment and numbing. We can see the relationship between trauma, addiction and these states of being, all of which are part of the normal human experience but those living in the cycles of addiction and unprocessed trauma live with the volume full blast in these states. Yoga has the potential to turn down the volume here and to re establish feelings of self forgiveness, self acceptance, self awareness, compassion for self and others.
This is a process, often lifelong that allows participants to access their own body as a tool for self regulation. The basic tools of grounding, orienting yourself in space and time in the present moment, feeling your body in space and time, consciously accessing your breath, with this, we can begin to recognize the need arises in the moment, be aware of choice, and potentially choose skillful action that honors our life and all of life.
Yoga, Trauma and Addiction
Yoga contains the ability to meet the suffering of addiction in the body with the practice of breathing, moving,stretching, strengthening and releasing muscles. The body which has experienced the pains of addiction and trauma can become a source of emotional self regulation and healing. Moving our bodies with intention and awareness can change the way we think and feel.
Neuroscience is now demonstrating this with evidence that moving with awareness links the primitive reptilian brain to the midbrain area of emotional self regulation to the prefrontal cortex where long term strategic planning and empathy are located. This happens through the creation of interoceptive pathways that fire up with this mindful movement based practice linking and connecting these areas of the brain. Yoga has the ability with regular practice and in conjunction with other recovery supports to fire up and aid in restoring balance to the pain/pleasure receptors in the brain which are damaged by addiction and trauma.
We are always in need of financial support for these programs. If you are inclined to support trauma informed classes or other related services, please contact any of the agencies listed below. Trauma-sensitive yoga for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors is available at the following agencies:
Victim Services Inc. (814) 288-4961
trainings
Mindfulness Based Movement for Clinicians
The primary aim is in a trauma sensitive practice is to provide the tools that support the shift that yoga facilitates in the brain’s rhythms, allowing survivors to engage self-regulatory mechanisms in the brain’s arousal system. Goal: To provide the tools of a trauma informed yoga practice to staff to integrate into existing treatment that complements and supports emotional self regulation in a mindful embodied experience. Objectives:
- Staff will gain awareness of trauma informed yoga as distinct from the larger practice of yoga in studios or fitness clubs.
- Staff will become informed of the effects of yoga on the traumatized brain with potential for increased emotional self regulation in the individual with trauma.
- Staff will receive experiential practice with three short practices that can be used with groups or one on one sessions. Handouts and Yoga Cards will also be available as well as access to privately linked Youtube Videos for refreshers on the practices.
- Staff will explore this practice in role playing with each other the three short practices and the one on one sessions.
Trauma Sensitive Yoga for Wellness and Recovery for Yoga Teachers and Clinicians
Goal: To guide and offer tools of breathing and moving as somatic complements to addressing and supporting the healing from trauma.
Participants will gain an understanding of the physiology of trauma, trauma theory, attachment theory, neuroscience and how somatic practices such as Trauma Sensitive Yoga can support and aid in reintegrating and regulating the central nervous system and build robust pathways of interoception throughout the brain.
Participants will explore the language of inquiry, interoception, choice, pace, flow and centering the experience in the student/client.
Participants will discuss and explore issues around ethics, power dynamics, assists, race and other factors related to working with various populations in varying settings.
Participants will lead in a practicum, short TSY practices and in a peer review, provide feedback and support to each other.
- Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Somatic Practice: 4.5 hours
- Neuroscience and Neurophysiology of Trauma: 3 hours
- Ethics and Power Dynamics: 2 hours
- Practicum: 3.5 hours
- Other topics ( grants, working in various settings, etc.): 2 hours
- Total training hours: 15
- Continuing education credits provided for RYT 200 through Yoga Alliance
