CPD - Trauma Informed Practice and Power Dynamics in Yoga with Lorraine (Lila Yoga)

In this workshop you will develop an understanding of the basics around what is required for facilitating yoga classes in a trauma informed way. This is important in all yoga settings as we do not know who might turn up in our yoga classes and we know that trauma is an almost ubiquitous human experience. We can consider trauma informed practice to be people informed practice and this is an important part of being a yoga teacher that is not always understood.

Trauma informed language helps to create a practice that is empowering, and that centres the student at the core of the experience, making sure they feel truly in charge of their own experience.

This workshop will also equip teachers with the understanding to recognise and challenge unhealthy power dynamics in yoga settings and to consider how power dynamics can play out between teachers and students. We will examine some of the ways in which yoga culture can sometimes reinforce unhealthy power dynamics that can contribute to overt or more subtle power abuse and toxic culture within yoga settings, working with real life examples to explore some of the recent conversations around power abuse in yoga.

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss the fact that trauma is ubiquitous in the human experience
• Describe briefly the impact of trauma can have on the brain and body
• Consider how regular yoga spaces can be re-traumatising or triggering for some people
• Develop skills in using language and class delivery that are more trauma informed
• To explore the history of cult dynamics and power abuse in yoga and how that has overtly and subtly contributes to inaccessibility and exclusion for some people
• To understand ways in which yoga teachers intentionally and unintentionally abuse power

This module will also discuss some of the practicalities, ethics and challenges of working in community settings and demonstrate practical tools to enable teachers to begin to build the skills necessary to offer inclusive, safer spaces.

Please note: This workshop is not in depth enough for you to call yourself a trauma informed teacher or therapist. It is designed to help you make your regular yoga classes more trauma informed- not to give you the skills to work specifically with people who have C-PTSD.

Bio:
https://edinburghcommunityyoga.co.uk/our-team/lorraine-close/