Yoga For Trauma: The Inner Fire of Yoga

Trauma-Sensitive Yoga With Kristen Klipp | Ep 22

• Liz Albanis - Senior Yoga Teacher • Season 2 • Episode 22

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What if the bravest thing a yoga teacher can say isn’t “go deeper,” but “you have a choice”? Liz sits down with trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator and empowerment coach Kristen Klipp to unpack how choice, consent, and agency can transform a class.  From the first welcome at the studio door to the last shape on the mat.  Small decisions, words, pacing, predictability can add up to a nervous system that can finally exhale.

Key Topics:

  • 300‑hour  Trauma CentrenSensitive Yoga Teacher (TCTSY) certification rooted in neuroscience and clinical evidence. 
  • Generational trauma in plain language.
  • Dissociation in a yoga 
  • How TCTSY reframes teaching as a shared experience.
  • Invitational cues instead of commands. Non‑coercion over compliance.
  • Interoception that helps students feel what’s happening inside their bodies without getting overwhelmed. 
  • Industry blind spots: unsolicited touch disguised as “assists,” heavy scents and dim rooms that spike anxiety, and the myth that “no one here has trauma.” If you’ve ever tensed when footsteps circle your mat or wished a teacher would simply ask before adjusting, this conversation will feel like a sigh of relief.

Practical takeaways for both teachers and students. Teachers get ready-to-use language for choice and consent, ideas to make classes predictable without feeling rigid, and ways to embed ahimsa in every decision. Students will learn how to assess a studio’s vibe in the first five minutes, start  a home yoga practice. and advocate for their needs without apology. This is yoga that welcomes every body. And every story it carries.

Scientific Research on Trauma Sensitive Yoga:

https://www.healwithcfte.org/research/

About the guest: 

Kristin Klipp is a Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator, Empowerment Coach, and Chakra Energy Healer. Kristin has been helping people for 9 years to discover their intuition, heal from trauma, and lead the life they were meant to live. Her company, Truth Lives Within, offers holistic healing sessions that allow clients to find their own inner wisdom and heal their wounds. Kristin has been dedicated to healing trauma after seeing how it has affected her relationships with her family. Kristin has seen how trauma is often swept under the rug and she is getting loud about trauma with her podcast, Get Loud. Find out more about Kristin by checking out her website, https://www.truthliveswithin.com.

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Inclusion Is Real Yoga

Speaker 1

When you're already like cutting off certain people from coming to your class because you don't want to accommodate them, that's not practicing yoga to some extent.

What Trauma‑Sensitive Yoga Means

Content Warning And Support Resources

Speaker 2

Have you ever wanted to know what trauma-sensitive yoga is? And how it's different? How trauma can affect someone, especially in the way of dissociation, and what generational trauma is. This is the episode for you. Hi, I'm Liz Albanis, and welcome to season two of Yoga for Trauma: The Inner Fire of Yoga, where we explore how yoga can help release trauma, calm the mind, and reconnect you with your body. Before you start listening, this episode includes a discussion on trauma and may touch on experiences that could be distressing for some listeners, including, but not limited to survivors of sexual abuse, natural disasters, or other distressing events. If you find yourself feeling triggered during this episode, please treat yourself with care and compassion for where you are in this moment. If you're struggling, please see a licensed healthcare professional or if in Australia to call Lifeline on 1314.

Meet Guest Kristen Klipp

Speaker

The views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host Liz Albanis. The content shared in these conversations is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and it's not suitable for listeners under the age of 18. Please use discretion and consult a qualified professional before making changes to your health or wellness routines.

Speaker 2

Today's guest is Kristen Clip. Kristen is a trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, empowerment coach, and chakra energy healer. Kristen has been helping people for nine years to discover their intuition, heal from trauma, and lead the life they were meant to live. Her company, Truth Lives Within, offers holistic healing sessions that allow clients to find their own inner wisdom and heal their wounds. Kristen has been dedicated to healing trauma after seeing how it affected her relationship with her family. Kristen has seen how trauma is often swept under the rug, and she is getting loud about trauma with her own podcast, Get Loud. You can find out more about Kristen by checking out the links in the show notes. And we had such a long conversation that I've divided it up into two episodes, and here is the first part. Let's get into the episode. Welcome, Kristen, to the show. So great to have you on the show after being on your podcast.

Speaker 1

Thank you so much for having me, Les.

Speaker 2

Kristen, can you just tell me and the audience how you got to where you are today with the work you do with trauma and yoga?

Speaker 1

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I actually started my career as an administrative assistant and worked in that for probably about a decade and knew it wasn't what I felt called to do. I always knew I wanted to help people, but I didn't know how. And got turned on to Martha Beck, who is a life coach. And she did a virtual class with Lisa Rankin, who is a author and a former, I think she still is a physician. Um and really felt like I needed to follow my truth. I needed to follow my intuition. That's kind of uh what their class kind of brought me to realize. And after that, I felt called to take Martha Beck's coaching training. So that was back in 2015. And I was at the time working as an office manager at a software company. And after I did my coaching training, really felt like I want to do something a little different but similar, and had really loved yoga, got into it in college, and got to a point where I was ready to take my yoga teacher training. So I did that as well. And then in 2016, I decided to quit my full-time job and start doing teaching yoga and coaching full-time. And so that was the start of my business. It's the LLC is called Satya, which means truth in Sanskrit. And the intention from the beginning has always been to help people find their intuition to really lead from their own truth. So that word truth, satya in Sanskrit. And it's evolved over time. There's been so many iterations of my business since 2016, but it always has been really rooted and based in that idea of finding your inner truth. And from there, I took my trauma-sensitive yoga training and also got certified to do chakra energy healing as well. So I've really loved having my hands in many different things. And the latest iteration of my business is um, it's called Truth Lives Within. So really coming back to that sense of truth and finding what truth lives within you as well.

Speaker 2

The true self. Brings us up to our true self. So if someone came up to you in the street or said, Oh, what's yoga? And you could describe it in really simple terms, what would you say to them?

Defining Yoga As Union

Speaker 1

Yeah, so yoga, the actual definition is to yoke or the union. Um, and I really see that as the union of your mind, body, and soul together. It has this holistic approach within itself. And it really allows a person to start to listen to their bodies, start to listen to their inner wisdom, and really start to pay attention to the things that their soul, their mind, their body have all been probably saying to them that maybe they've been ignoring. So for me, it's definitely been this union, this coming together of my mind, body, and soul, and really learning how and practicing how to pay attention to what my body is needing in any moment and really taking that time to tune in and to listen.

Speaker 2

That's a really lovely way of putting it, especially with the finding your true self and shooting in and being intuitive. Has your personal practice changed a lot over the years? Because you've been practicing for a while.

Evolving A Personal Practice

Speaker 1

Yeah, absolutely. I'm always open to trying new branches of yoga. So I've definitely had my moments of really enjoying a vinyasa class, something more high power. I've tried bikram, I've tried uh hot yoga. Hot yoga turned out not to quite be my thing. But over time, it's definitely slowed down a bit, become more grounded of a practice. And really, since COVID, I haven't made my way back to the studio in a really long time. I have here or there done group classes, but a lot of my practice has really turned into doing it at home. This personal space where each morning I'm doing my best to do a few yoga stretches. And if I can put on a yoga video or even just listen to my body and move however I want to. So sometimes I do feel called to do more of that uh power type of yoga, but often it kind of slows down a little bit more of a yin or restorative style practice for me, where there's more of that tuning in too.

Speaker 2

So you meet your body and your mind where it is that day and balance it with whatever it needs. And that's the thing about knowing enough to do that and practice independently and not rely on going to a class. I actually haven't been to a physical yoga class in over two years. I will eventually. I just haven't found the time or the need at this point, but I might now that I've moved to cities and while I'm settling in. But yeah, I just haven't. I think if you when you don't need to as much, you're less likely to. And yet, COVID made us well, we discovered other ways to practice yoga, which could can be a good thing as well, especially since here and probably over there a lot of studios closed. So there's less opportunities to get to a class.

Speaker 1

Absolutely. Yeah, and I've noticed prices have gone up too since I've made it into the studio, which is understandable with everything that's been happening. So yeah, it's it's kind of been the same for me where I haven't quite felt the need. I do meet people who are like, oh, you're a yoga teacher. Have you tried this studio? And I'm like, actually, I haven't. Oops. Uh but yeah, I think when I when and if I feel called, like what I have been doing are some group yoga classes outside in the summer, which have been really nice to be out in nature and practice that way as well.

Speaker 2

Oh, that would be nice, but yeah, it would have to be in the summer because where you are, it's being it very, very cold. I I went to Boston in I think April in 1992 or something. So cold and it wasn't even winter. Right. Yeah. It was colder than our winter here. So it was like, oh my goodness, yeah. I needed better clothes, probably.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that can help. Yeah. And this winter, unfortunately, has been very, very cold. So we just had uh I think the high was 15 on Sunday.

Speaker 2

Oh Fahrenheit.

Speaker 1

Um yeah, which is very, very cold for minus in a Celsius, probably.

Why Trauma Sensitive Yoga

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So what led you to become a certified trauma-sensitive yoga teacher?

Speaker 1

Yeah, I guess to start, what what called me to work with trauma is I there's generational trauma in my family. And that has come through in how I was raised.

Speaker 2

And sorry, uh back up there. Sorry, can you explain for the audience what generational trauma is?

Generational Trauma Explained

Speaker 1

Absolutely. Um, so generational trauma is trauma that has been occurring in multiple generations of a family. Um, so my grandfather sexually abused my mother and my aunts as children. And then as a result, my mother was rather emotionally and uh with me mostly mostly emotionally abusive with my sisters. There was some physical abuse as a result of not healing some of that trauma. So when we don't heal that trauma, it can cause us to then cause trauma for later generations.

Speaker 2

I'm so sorry to hear that, Kristen, and I can see your passion there with helping yourself and others heal their trauma.

Scientific Evidence Behind Trauma Sensitive Yoga

Speaker 1

Thank you. Yeah, it started with this journey of wanting to heal myself. And after I took my regular yoga teacher training, my 200-hour, I got introduced through Kerpalu, which is a yoga school in Western Massachusetts. Yeah, which most people I think have probably heard of them. Yeah. So this man, David Emerson and his colleague Jen Turner, did a 40-hour trauma-sensitive yoga training at Krapalu. So I went, I was interested in learning more, and I really found the practice to be one, it was evidence-based. They worked with people who had complex PTSD, complex trauma, who were not responding to regular talk therapy, and they brought in yoga. I think it was a 10-week series. And so it was really powerful to see how yoga actually affected their healing process. And one of the things that really stuck with me was someone went to the grocery store and said, I actually could make a decision of what I was buying versus standing there and getting overwhelmed by all the choices.

Speaker 2

Oh my.

Speaker 1

No, so um Bessil Vanderkolk, who was the psychiatrist who was working with David Emerson to create this type of yoga, um, he moved on to create his own another trauma center. And David Emerson and Jen Turner ended up really creating their own organization around this type of this trauma-sensitive yoga. And they have other trauma-sensitive offerings as well. They have weightlifting, they have um like an acting program, as well as they just started like a mindful eating program. So um it it started with the yoga many years ago and has really evolved into this amazing organization. Um, and yeah, so just going to that 40 hours, I was wowed by it and really wanted to learn more and felt like in terms of other trauma-sensitive or trauma-informed yoga trainings, this one was actually backed by science and evidence working with people who were having trouble with talk therapy by itself. So I that really had a profound impact on wanting to do the specific training.

Speaker 2

I'm going to do their foundational course online. But I think I can only do it online at the moment. There are at least some people here in Australia in the same time zone.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Later in the year when I finished current studies. So it's certified, correct? You cannot call yourself a trauma-sensitive yoga teacher or your classes trauma-sensitive unless you got that certification. That's right.

Yoga For Trauma Teacher Training Pathways And Titles

Speaker 1

Yes, and this specific training, it's the trauma center, trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, um, is really my official title with them. And um there are other trauma-sensitive yoga trainings out there, other trauma-informed trainings out there, but this specific one uh I really found to be more evidence-based than others were, where they were actually getting real-time feedback from these clients going through the train the yoga classes and having talk therapy as well.

Speaker 2

But there's other trainings that call themselves trauma-sensitive.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

I didn't know if you were allowed to do that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I don't think they have it necessarily trademarked to say, I mean, they their website is trauma-sensitive yoga, I think. Um, but yeah, there are other trainings. There's a training called Timbo that is also trauma-informed. Um, and there are other ones I've seen too. So um, yeah, there's there's definitely a lot more out there than there were when this training was created.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's just the word sensitive because I'm currently at the end of my studies to become a yoga therapist with the Biomedical Institute of Yoga and Meditation with Celia Roberts. And there's a trauma module in there, and she's very transparent in that she says, this does not give you authority to call yourself a trauma-sensitive yoga teacher. This is what a trauma-sensitive yoga teacher is, this is trauma-informed training. So she's very respectful of that definition of trauma-sensitive yoga teacher or trauma-sensitive yoga teaching. And one of the teachers that taught part of this module is actually certified to teach and train others in trauma-sensitive yoga. So that's why I was aware of that. And I've got two of David Emerson's books. So I know a bit about it, but someone might say to you, 300 hours? I only did 200 hours to become a yoga teacher. Surely I don't need to do 300 hours to become certified in trauma-sensitive yoga. What would you say to that?

Trauma Sensitive Yoga And Why 300 Hours Matters

The Five Pillars Of TCTSY

Speaker 1

Well, this training, it's the 300 hour is you're not just learning how to teach yoga, right? So our 200-hour, you're learning how to teach yoga, you're learning different aspects of it. This 300-hour half of the program is learning about neurology and how the brain works and how trauma affects the brain. So a lot of it, we were reading different psychology papers and studies that have been done and doing our own research on the eight limbs of yoga and how sort of trauma comes into that. So one of the modules we did was about ahimsa or non-harm. And I remember coming out of that module, really realizing like I'm telling myself I'm I'm being kind to myself and I love myself, but then I'm I have this negative self-talk going off in the background that's not nice to myself. Um, so there was a lot of time, you know, really dissecting the eight limbs of yoga, but then also having this other more scientific, like neurology piece of it where you're learning how trauma is affecting the brain and how someone who has trauma might be showing up in your classes. So there was actually very little of teaching you how to teach yoga. Um, you know, you didn't have to be a yoga teacher to take this training, but most of the the program was just really learning about trauma and how it affects the brain and how clients might be showing up in your class and how you can assist them depending on what might be happening for them, whether they're disassociating, whether they're um having triggers come up, you know, and really how to offer them this practice in a way that doesn't feel coercive, that feels like they have a choice, they have their own agency, and really letting taking away the power dynamic of the teacher and the student as well, and really having it be hey, I'm practic, I'm doing this practice with you while you're we're kind of learning it together. So it's really more about this partnership. And and so that was part of it as well was there's these five pillars of trauma-centered, trauma-sensitive yoga, and it was how to how to bring them into your practice as a teacher. And so one of them is that shared authentic experience is coming to that class or that student where you're practicing with them, offering choices so they feel like they have a choice, and also offering choices in a way that's invitational. So you're instead of saying move your arm to the left, you're saying if you'd like, you might move your arm to the left so that people feel like they have a choice.

Speaker 2

They don't have to take it away from them.

Interoception And Choice

Speaker 1

Right, exactly. Um, and then that no non-coercion piece, you know, really giving them agency. This is their practice, it's their body, they're the ones deciding how to move, not me, the facilitator. And then also interoception. So interoception is the idea of like when I move my arm this way, I feel it in, you know, maybe my upper arm, I feel a sensation, or I feel a sensation in my lower arm when I do this specific movement. So it's it's more going inward and checking in with that body, which can be really frightening for people with trauma as well. Um yeah, so 300 hours is a lot. It it was almost a full year. I think it's a nine-month program, but it's not doing at your own pace. No, it is not. So it most of it's virtual. Um, even though I live in driving distance to their location, most of it was virtual. They did have like a opening weekend you could go in person, but the rest of it, you're you have a partner the whole time. So you and your partner are meeting once a week to discuss the topics, the homework, everything. And then every two weeks, you and your partner have um one of their course facilitators come in and answer any questions for you too. And then there's bigger group things as well. Um, so it's very structured. That first sort of, I guess, five, four to five months-ish is really diving into the psychology papers and the neurology of it, how trauma affects the brain. And then that second half of the program is more about okay, how do we actually teach this? And how do you show up in the class and and what might that look like?

Speaker 2

Yeah, it sounds amazing. Of course, I'm looking forward to doing the foundation of it.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

There's always so much to learn, and I I've done trauma training in the US and here in Australia, I've got my own experience, but each person has a different experience. And could you explain what the word dissociate means for the audience?

Speaker 1

Yeah, absolutely. So, dissociation, it's kind of like if you're having this experience that you don't want to have, it becomes this almost out-of-body experience where the person who is dissociating might be like watching themselves in this situation. And so, what what might happen if you're with that person who's dissociating, you might notice that they sort of maybe start staring into space, they might not be aware of what's going on. And really, what dissociation is, is it's a response to trauma that many people have, where instead of feeling the pain and the hurt of what's happening, it's their body's response to exit so that they're not fully engaging and they're not in the present moment at all with what's happening. And so sometimes someone with trauma might dissociate in a situation like a trauma-sensitive yoga class, and it's not because they're not enjoying the class, but it they may have become triggered in some way that they're just automatically dissociating. And oftentimes they don't know that this is happening at all in the moment. So it's a trauma response that comes in as a way to kind of exit and say, okay, I don't want to fully feel what's happening here.

Speaker 2

It's too uncomfortable to feel, or I can't do it. I've stopped, I no longer know how to feel in my body.

What A Trigger Really Is

Speaker 1

Yeah, and it's not really even a conscious thing. So oftentimes people don't even know they're disassociating when it's happening. And so that's one of the reasons why we were trained to be able to notice that might be happening. Because then if someone is dissociating, they're not, they're not engaging with you, right? They're not in the present moment, they're not taking the time to move through that practice. They're they're kind of having this like out-of-body reaction almost. Um, and so oftentimes if we are teaching and someone is dissociating, that's a cue to stop um practicing. If especially if it's a one-on-one, it's a bit harder if you're in a group setting necessarily. Um, so yeah, that's dissociating is really that type of trauma response that people might have. And not everyone with trauma has that, but it can come up when someone feels triggered or when they're in a situation that doesn't feel safe.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's right. Do you think the word triggered is overused with people rather than actually being triggered, they're just stressed. As one of my other guests has said, who's done some trauma training?

Speaker 1

Yeah. I think so. Like, you know, it's interesting because I feel like for so long trauma was kind of this taboo word that no one wanted to use. And now that it's more in like mainstream, people are saying that they're triggered by anything, right? And um, and I think there is a little bit of a like misunderstanding of what the word triggered means, what might be a trigger, and what might what that might look like for any person, because it's different for everyone.

Speaker 2

Yeah, like for me it was a I remember after the flight was a full-blown panic attack. That was my or yeah, or a lot of shaking. For me, it was the startled response and a panic attack. So that could be frightening for people around. Do you have a technical definition of the word trigger that comes to mind or a way to describe it?

Predictability And Safety In Class

Speaker 1

Yeah, um, so I would say that a trigger would be sort of like almost like a overreaction, and not that it is an overreaction, but like it it might be someone says something and your response to it becomes overblown.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

“No One Here Has Trauma” Myth

Speaker 1

And that's usually a sense of like, oh, okay, maybe there's something more than just what that person said. You kind of react more than like maybe you might have normally, or even um, you react in a way that is a little aggressive or out there, or emotional, it might seem over emotional, yeah. And I think it's easy to assume that someone reacting at all is a trigger, and I think that's where the word trigger gets overused is like anyone reacting in a situation might be considered a trigger. Like, I I got an argument with my sister, and she was like, Oh, well, you're clearly triggered by that. And I don't know if it was a trigger, like I think there was a little bit something where like I did react more than I might normally, because maybe there was something underlying that that was bothering me that I didn't realize. And so sometimes, yeah, it can be this bigger reaction than you might normally think.

Speaker 2

And sometimes it's just someone over-reacting without being triggered, yeah. Right. To me, I would have thought that someone being triggered would be more of someone who's got a diagnosis of PTSD or just survived a traumatic period. But then I'm not a doctor. So say if my daughter screams at me, I don't know if I'd call that a trigger. I'd call her being upset or overreacting, being tired, being a typical six-year-old. So every time she cries, I wouldn't say that's a trigger, but that's why I think the word gets overused. And a lot of people don't understand, as we said in another conversation, that just because someone was right after a shooting or a fire doesn't mean the person next to them is gonna be okay. We we can all react completely differently. And I remember Bessel saying this in an um podcast. You can ask people after the event what their memory of it was, and it can be completely different. And that makes sense to me too.

Fitness Culture Versus Yoga’s Heart

Speaker 1

Yeah, I I think that's a good example, right? Like, so one thing while you were talking, I I thought of um specifically a yoga class. You might be in a yoga class, maybe your eyes are closed, and you start to hear someone walking around the room, and you you clench up, you're anxious, and you're tense. That can be a trigger, right? Also, so it's not like it's it doesn't have to be an emotional response. It can just be like, oh, like, why am I getting anxious because someone's walking around the room, you know? But the reason for that could be underlying there could be a trauma underlying that, which is why you might feel anxious from someone walking around the room. So it can be something that subtle, but also where you're like, normally I wouldn't get anxious by something like that, but I am in this moment. And I think that can happen a lot for people in yoga classes when you don't know what the teacher is gonna do at any point in time.

Speaker 2

It's it's unpredictable. Yeah. And you'd want a trauma-informed class to be predictable. Oh, I'm just walking around and also have the option of you can keep your eyes open. You don't have to close them. There's no dogma there, there's choice and there's invitation. Now, I've had yoga teachers say to me, Well, no one in my class has trauma. Anything could trigger someone anyway. Just go to a trauma-sensitive class, just don't come to my class. How would you respond to that with all the training you've done, which I really respect?

Trauma Sensitive Yoga: Touch, Consent, And Harm

Speaker 1

Yeah, so I've had someone say that, like, oh, I think I made a comment, like, everyone has trauma, and they were like, Oh, I don't agree with that. Well, everyone does have trauma. We all have lived through a pandemic at this point, so there's trauma in that, and there's you know, more that maybe we are dealing with. But I'd I'd also want to say, like, that assumption that no one has trauma when we're also living in these societies that cause trauma on a daily basis to some extent. So we're all dealing with it on some level, even if we don't feel affected by it. And there are things that I really do feel that yoga studios and yoga teachers can do to help accommodate people and know that yes, you're not gonna know everything everyone in your class is gonna be triggered by. Someone might still get triggered during a trauma-sensitive yoga class. And I have a bunch of videos on YouTube. A lot of them are five years old, but I had someone recently message me and say, hey, this video where you introduced trauma-sensitive yoga, I got triggered because you made a, I think the way I worded it was there might be a couple choices for how you want to move. And that felt triggering because it almost closed it out for that person as like these are the only choices you have, instead of allowing them to see you have these choices, and then you could also move another way. So I feel like even when we think we're being as trauma-sensitive as we possibly could, we still can trigger something.

Speaker 2

Absolutely.

Finding Trauma Informed Yoga Studios And Teachers

Speaker 1

You know, we're we're human, we make mistakes as well. And for those teachers that think, oh, if you have trauma, you should go to a trauma-sensitive class. First of all, those are not that common. Most studios are not trauma-sensitive, they're not trauma-informed. And I really feel like more yoga studios would get more students if they accommodated everyone. And there is a bit of not being inclusive by assuming, well, those people with trauma, they can go somewhere else, or they can go to another class.

Speaker 2

People who can't do a handstand and a downward dog, they can go somewhere else. Right. You know, people who are a certain size can go somewhere else. People who don't fit the stereotype.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Right. Yeah. You know, yoga is not about a specific person practicing. It's it's about anyone practicing and and tuning into themselves. So when you're already like cutting off certain people from coming to your class because you don't want to accommodate them, that's not practicing yoga to some extent. You might be teaching a bunch of yoga shapes, it but you're not fully embodying the practice. Exactly.

Speaker 2

And and then there's teachers that think, well, that person needs to be pushed to get the trauma out. And I'm like, I can't see anywhere under my qualifications as a yoga teacher that I am qualified in exposure therapy. So I would hope if someone goes into a studio and they see candles and they don't run out the door and they're brave enough and centered enough to say, look, could you please blow the candles out? I really don't feel comfortable. That teacher wouldn't laugh and would think to themselves, a himsa, compassion, I'll change the lighting. But there are teachers there who purposely push their buttons, people's buttons, and I guess you would be aware of that too.

Practical Tips For Starting Yoga

Speaker 1

Yeah, you know, I I don't know if this is as rampant in Australia, but in the US, what's popular yoga is that um performative wellness. So it's it's not about the meditation piece, it's not not necessarily even about going inward and listening to your body, it's about fitness. So um years ago, I owned a studio, it was right before COVID, and I was struggling getting people to come in, and part of that people were complaining it wasn't hard enough, classes weren't hard enough, there was too much meditation piece, and I realized, and I don't think much has changed, that that that is how studios do well is they offer the fitness piece. The fitness piece is the thing that's leading a lot of their marketing, and that's what's bringing people in the door, and unfortunately, that is not really embodying what yoga fully is, right? Right, and I saw a quote, I think, from Susanna Barkati. She's a yoga teacher, and she's fantastic, and she said something uh, yeah, about like, but the point of the yoga practice, these shapes that we do, is so that we calm the mind to get to meditation.

Speaker 2

Like it's right, yeah.

Closing And Next Episode Teaser

Speaker 1

Right. So the US especially sees it as no, it's it's about the movements, but it really is the movements are the precursor to then find to move into that meditation and you know, ultimately find enlightenment, right? But we're kind of missing the the mark there, and unfortunately, that is what the industry is. Um I've approached many yoga studios locally about um, you know, as a trauma center, trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, I can teach this three-hour training to tell people about this practice. And most of the studio like either ghosted me or if they responded, they said, like, oh, we already add a trauma-sensitive component into our training. One woman who told me she added a trauma-sensitive yoga component into her training. I went to her studio and took a class with her. I was in child's shape, and she gave me an assist from behind without asking permission. Oh, and so I also think there's just not an awareness of what is trauma-sensitive, what can be trauma-informed. Or even a lot of it. Right. Like, I was just like, oh my gosh, how like how is this what's happening if you include this in your training? Like, what are you telling your students then? If this is how you're teaching your class, um, yeah, so it's it's unfortunate that that is a lot of what these studios are. So if you are someone who has trauma, I would first, before going to a studio, check out, you know, people who have maybe been there, if they can help tell you what the vibe is like, because there are those studios that are really about embodying the true meaning of yoga. It's about the holistic practice. Um, they are there, they're just sometimes hard to find among all these big chains and other ones that are more about the fitness aspect of yoga.

Speaker 2

That's a great piece of advice for people who are listening and are too scared to go to a shoe or not knowing how to start. So, would you have any other advice for people who have concerns about being triggered about how to start a yoga practice? They could work.

Speaker 1

I mean, yeah, for sure. I I work with people one-on-one as well as in classes, but also like YouTube has so many videos that can be a way to just explore different teachers, different styles. Um, and I'm trying to like, I think for me, I just I started going to studios, and what made it for me was if they like say hi to you when you walk in the door, if they make you feel welcome. Um yeah, like before even getting into that classroom, you feel kind of brought into the fold of the studio. If they show you around, if they like I worked at studios, I owned a studio. Number one thing, if a new student comes in, you show them around, you show them where the props are, where the bathroom is, where to put their stuff. Like, if you walk in and no one cares, or they're just like, oh hey, you can get a feel in the first five minutes of walking in the door if it's a good space for you to some extent, right? And then depending on the class, like I think a lot of studios are starting to write whether there's like uh scents that they're using in their classes, whether it's incense or different essential oils and things like that, because there are so many people who have scent sensitivities where even if there isn't anything, you know, sage or anything burning in the moment, if they walk in a room where there was sage, it might be too strong. So I think studios are trying to do that more where they're communicating, where if there's a class that has those aspects to it, so you can know in advance before going in if there might be something present that's gonna trigger you when you get in the door.

Speaker 2

That's great advice too. Sadly, I've known of a therapist here in Australia who went to some yoga studios with her clients and she said to them, the teacher, look, don't do this, don't do that. My clients got sexual trauma, and the teacher disregarded them as if to say, I know better. Uh, all yoga is trauma sensitive just because it's yoga. And I thought it's a real concern. And I advised to go to Yoga Australia on that one because I would hope yoga teachers would take that advice very seriously and listen to it. Next episode, I will share the rest of the conversation. Here's a little snippet. What simple steps would you encourage any yoga teacher to take who's maybe feeling whelmed and not knowing where to start to help yoga teachers cater to trauma better and mental health overall, even.

Speaker 1

W hen you are like getting bothered by what other people are doing, you're trying to control their experience. So really just paying attention to that negative self talk and seeing if it's trying to control what's happening.

Speaker 2

If you enjoyed that episode with Kristen, you can also check out her podcast as well. Thanks for listening to another episode of Yoga for Trauma The Inner Fire of Yoga.

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Liz Albanis

Host
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Kristin Klipp

Guest