How does trauma impact us?

Trauma is an embodied experience – which is to say that in order to work with trauma, the body must be involved in treatment.

To understand how trauma impacts the mind-body relationship we must look at how the body responds to stimuli:

When the body perceives a threat to its safety, the sympathetic portion of the nervous system releases adrenaline, cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine and noradrenaline. This reaction, known as fight-or-flight, activates the body into escaping by increasing the heart rate, speeding up the breath and sending blood to the muscles so they can run. All the systems of the body co-operate in order to flee danger.

Once the perceived threat has passed, the parasympathetic portion of the nervous system releases serotonin, dopamine and endorphins, the hormones responsible for soothing the nervous system and bringing the body back into rest-and-digest.

In both systems the hormones are activated by neurotransmitters which work (in a healthy person) in companionship with all the other systems of the body: cardiovascular, respiratory, immune, endocrine, and digestive. However, homeostasis – the body's natural ability to return to a state of equilibrium – is disrupted in the traumatised mind-body as the nervous system often finds itself on constant high alert, scanning for danger.

Traumatic experiences – which range from verbal/sexual/physical/emotional abuse to war, natural disasters, illness, loss and accidents – can leave a person in a state of persistent arousal, most especially if the trauma is repeated or unresolved (i.e. has not been worked through the mind-body system with therapeutic modalities).

A state of constant arousal – where the amygdala and prefrontal cortex (responsible for activating fear and making decisions, respectively) – will, eventually, result in an over-exertion of the sympathetic reaction and the release of adrenaline, which can lead to adrenal fatigue.

Equally, the body is liable to process and store complex emotions surrounding the traumatic event(s) which can lead to physical manifestations of the mental/psychological pains. This is often where disease ('dis-ease') arises. And when the body becomes a storehouse of unresolved trauma, and physically painful, the mind will do what it can to dissociate from the body – a feature of trauma well-known to those who use diversion tactics to render their bodies insensible; whether that's through drink, drugs, sex or self-harm.

The brain and the body are connected by the vagus nerve which manages and communicates responses between the two via the nervous system.

When a person undergoes traumatic experiences that are not tempered by the body's natural ability to reset itself to rest-and-digest, the pathways of communication become blocked and the mind begins to dissociate from the messages it receives from the body.

This degree of dissociation can lead to severe energetic blocks in the body (which manifest in disease and disruption to the immune system in particular) as well as an over-emphasis on the identification with the mind. This mind-as-self perspective is typified by persistent negative thoughts, depression, anxiety, panic, fear and endless replays of traumatic experience. The mind, effectively, gets caught in a self-destructive loop.

How can trauma informed yoga help?

Specific emotions induce changes in our breathing patterns, and voluntary changes in our breathing will induce specific emotions. Trauma informed Yoga works to bring the body back into presence through mindful breath and movement in such a way as to free the mind from 'top-down' activation so as to awaken the natural wisdom of the body.

A conscious, slow and full exhalation will activate the parasympathetic nervous system and alter the activity of the vagus nerve to open connection between mind and body. An inhalation will energise and innervate the organs, the lungs, the glands, the heart and the brain.

When we combine conscious breath-work with mindful movement we create the opportunity to witness how our body responds to the challenge – both mentally and physically – and to use our observation to take a new direction.

When we meet resistance, boredom or frustration we can use our attention on the breath to soften the mental reaction, slow the mind and calm the physical systems of the body. In this way, when there may not have appeared to have been a choice about where we find ourselves – both in life and in practice – we create a choice for ourselves as to how we react. We come to see that the voluntary change in breath corresponds to a voluntary change in outlook and that the simple act of breathing is available to us at all times and in all situations.

Let’s dive deeper

The positive feedback system works like this: the body holds a posture, say Warrior 2, for longer than it might like to. The muscles work hard to keep the spine straight, the front leg bent, both arms extended and straight. After a few seconds, the mind chips in and asks to stop, complains about the pain and the tension in the lower back, gets bored and wants to do something else. This is totally normal. This is where the breath comes in and why it is so crucially important to our trauma informed yoga practice: without it, we are simply not practicing yoga, but gymnastics. In order to quiet the mind and train the brain we draw on the breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling fully. We stay with the movement of the breath at all times, in every posture.

And in a nutshell, this is why: the sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) flares up in response to the stress of holding a pose, sending messages to the brain that puts us into 'fight or flight' mode. By breathing deeply and steadily, we activate the parasympathetic or 'rest and digest' response in the ANS that counteracts this stress signal, leading to a soothed state of being. The more we practice, the stronger the feedback between the two responses becomes, meaning that when we're faced with stressors and aggravations from daily life, our neural memory knows how to maintain our arousal at a comfortable and safe level.

In short, we become calmer and more easily able to handle life's ups and downs with greater ease. This is why trauma informed yoga has shown to be especially effective for war veterans and PTSD sufferers - in fact, any population used to running on 'high alert' in such a way as to exhaust the adrenal system.

Through breathing mindfully we provide a portal to interoceptive awareness and notice our ability to self-soothe, to trust in the safety of our own bodies, to increase social engagement and to nurture a healthy and reciprocal co-regulation of the physiological and psychological states. As a result we find ourselves better able to regulate our emotions, limit defensive reactions, cooperate, connect and love in a way that is deeply healing to the traumatised mind-body organism.

Now we know what happens in the body and brain of an individual suffering trauma, we can use evidence-based, trauma informed yoga practices as part of a broader program of therapeutic treatments to help patients feel safe in their bodies again.

Once students learn the basics of posture and breath, they not only reduce the need for medication, but are empowered to self-regulate and find their own pathway to peace. And while trauma informed yoga alone can't heal the effects of trauma or change past events, it can act as a crucial ally in bringing us home to ourselves, and embracing the present moment for whatever it holds. As Thich Nhat Hanh writes, 'There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.'

For more information on how to create social change by becoming a trauma-informed yoga teacher and mindful business owner, enrolment for our next training is now open.