How would it feel if I told you, you were inherently lazy?
It's true, we are an inherently lazy species, in that our bodies are built for the easy way out. It takes energy to heal and it's our defence mechanism to avoid it.
Your body will do its best to avoid healing and move toward thinking comfortable thoughts, because sitting with discomfort can be very challenging. It takes energy to be present with discomfort.
The body chooses repressing over expressing
The same goes with emotional and physical injuries. To avoid exerting the energy it takes to heal, the body will instead choose to repress as a means of attempting to conserve as much energy as possible. We naturally want an easy way out.
Sometimes the body and mind will often repress over expressing to avoid the effort of processing the trauma. When this happens the body instead holds it in as a means of avoiding healing. When the mind and body don't have the capacity to process, they choose the easy way out, with the idea that we will get to it in time.
Instead the body layers the physical or emotional trauma within the mind and tissues until it becomes an immense effort to process it. In order to avoid the effort of healing, the holding becomes the habitual practice. It then gets to a place where to heal requires a significant amount of digging.
The traumatised brain however, is anything but lazy. It is over-active, and therefore over-worked and over-stimulated. Together, they often result in symptoms of anxious, depression, stress or becoming easily burnt out.
We often find a sense of it feeling easier to push through because if we keep busy we don't have the time or space to notice and feel. We don't have to sit with the discomfort. Devoting time to healing challenging. There is a phrase - "We have to feel it, to heal it". It is important to remember that it is not a healthy coping response to ignore or avoid symptoms of trauma. Infact, in doing so, we can make them worse.
How can trauma informed yoga help?
Trauma informed yoga works very well in conjunction with talking therapy from an appropriately qualified therapist. As we move the body and begin to connect with ourselves in an embodied way, there will be shifts in how you feel physically and emotionally. As we begin to release some of what has been stored and repressed within, people often find it can be beneficial to also have access to support from a qualified psychotherapist or counsellor to discuss what may come up in the mind.
It is important to remember that yoga teachers and yoga therapists are not psychotherapists, but are instead working from a bottom up approach - from the approach that the mind and body are connected and that by working with the body we support the mind. Yoga teachers and yoga therapists can help you to work safely with your body in a way that allows you to feel more embodied and better connected with yourself, to build a loving relationship with the self - all things which can feel absent after traumatic experiences. They will help to guide you, using the ancient practices of yoga which modern science is increasingly supporting the efficacy of through research.
Taking time to find a teacher you resonate with is important. A good trauma informed yoga teacher or yoga therapist creates a safe space, which invites you to gently explore with a kind, curious and compassionate voice. Yoga, taught from a trauma conscious perspective will guide you gently, it will hold you and nurture you and offer you tools and resources to support your nervous system back to a state of equilibrium. These are tools which you can use both on and off the yoga mat, enabling you to feel empowered and more in control of your trauma experience. It will help you to arrive in a place where you can support your own nervous system, finding your way back to a feeling of safety.
If this is something that speaks to you and you feel trauma informed yoga may support you on your healing journey, please do not hesitate to contact me: donnanavarroyoga@gmail.com
Comments