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A different kind of yoga class

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By Kara Lewis

Last week, my friend and I attended a parking lot yoga class on the UMKC Hospital Hill campus. A local organization called Superhero Yoga hosted the event, and its volunteers helped bring in lots of perks: Yogurtini coupons, boxes of Insomnia Cookies, and a Lululemon giveaway.

The biggest perk, however, came with an inclusive teaching style and premise. Superhero Yoga president Isaac Collins explained what the organization does: teach trauma-informed yoga in inner-city elementary schools, using the practice as a tool to build healthy relationships.

Right away, the class differed from any other I’ve taken. Yoga newbies joined without shame, spreading out towels instead of mats, and Collins slid into poses right on the concrete. “Look at my dirty feet!” He exclaimed about halfway through the event.

Collins encouraged us to dance in our poses— trust me, it made chair pose a lot more enjoyable— lean on our neighbors for support during balancing poses, and move at our own pace. We made a hissing sound while in cobra pose, which Collins shared kids love, and listened to empowering pump-up jams, like The Script’s aptly named “Superheroes.”

But dancing and animal sounds aside, what is trauma-informed yoga?

According to Social Work Today Magazine, trauma-informed yoga seeks to help those who practice it “regain a feeling of safety inside their bodies.” While trauma often results in a feeling of numbness, yoga for trauma survivors identifies of the goal of once again inviting and managing sensation.

Even the smallest details of trauma-informed yoga, like a teacher asking before they touch a student to correct a pose, empower and give agency to those who practice. In an NPR article that observed the usage of trauma-informed yoga in a girls’ juvenile hall, one girl shared, “Being asked to be touched, it gave us a little power back in a place where all our power is taken.”

As I learned last week, trauma-informed yoga can really help. In fact, in an article published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, researchers wrote that 10 out of 13 recent studies revealed yoga’s positive effects on schizophrenia, depression, and PTSD.

Since yoga can be seen as exclusionary and non-diverse— numerous studies have pointed out its majority white and upper-class following— it’s refreshing to see trauma-informed yoga welcome everyone with respect.

Want to read more? Now that you know what trauma-informed yoga is, learn how yoga instructors can incorporate it into their classes.