Trauma Aware Yoga For Yoga Teachers

What is trauma aware yoga?

Trauma aware yoga (also known as trauma informed yoga) is a gentle and supportive approach to yoga that prioritises the needs of individuals with trauma histories. Unlike many contemporary styles of yoga, which often emphasise physical accomplishment and flexibility, trauma aware yoga focuses on cultivating a sense of safety, grounding, and self-compassion. It involves a slower pace, with a focus on breath work, mindfulness, and gentle movement. The goal is to help individuals reconnect with their bodies, regulate their emotions, and develop resilience in a safe and non-judgmental environment.

Who is trauma-aware yoga teacher training for?

Arguably, trauma-informed yoga teacher training is relevant for all yoga teachers. We rarely know the full history of our students or truly understand how our language and behaviour might unintentionally affect them. Despite our best efforts to create inclusive and accessible offerings, a yoga studio or class can still feel unsafe or intimidating to some.

Trauma-aware yoga teacher training will show you how to create and cultivate a safe container for students to reconnect with and befriend their bodies, fostering integrative healing and self-discovery.

For yoga teachers who seek to become experts in this area or offer specialized classes, there are in-depth training courses offered over hundreds or thousands of hours. It's a vast subject area that incorporates elements of somatics and psychology. Alternatively, an introductory course will equip you as a yoga teacher to create an accessible class and an enhanced experience for students with trauma histories.

What is involved in trauma-aware yoga teacher training?

Foundational training will introduce the impact of trauma on the body, brain, nervous system, and overall well-being, and provide tools for yoga teachers to practice and teach with greater trauma awareness and sensitivity to support integrative healing. Key areas of learning include:

  • Understanding trauma: The difference between depression, stress, and anxiety, and their impacts on overall health.

  • Understanding the nervous system: Autonomic awareness; proprioception; interoception; gut-brain & heart axis; social engagement system; how to teach regulation.

  • The four key principles of a trauma-sensitive yoga class: Present moment; making choices; taking effective action; creating rhythms.

  • Integrating trauma-sensitive yoga into classes and workshops: Considerations for creating a trauma-sensitive safe container.

  • Embodied yoga practices to support mental health: Mindfulness, pranayama, mudras, meditation, Yoga Nidra.

  • Yoga & body image: How yoga can harm and heal; making classes welcoming, safe, adaptable, and accessible for everybody; supporting body neutrality.

If you are a yoga teacher seeking to upskill and make your classes genuinely inclusive and accessible to all, SoHo Yoga is offering a 35-hour introduction to trauma informed yoga teacher training.  Certified teachers may earn 35 continuing education training hours accredited by Yoga Alliance International Registry.

Find out more at sohoyoga.com.au/trauma-informed-yoga-teacher-training. 

Yoga for Beginners Brisbane

Yoga for Beginners Brisbane

The benefits of yoga on both physical and mental health are now widely documented, but starting out as a complete beginner can be daunting. There are so many different styles to choose from, and a lot of terminology that may seem alien and confusing. But we are here to demystify yoga for beginners.

Most people turn to yoga for one of two reasons; to improve flexibility and mobility, or to help reduce stress and anxiety. In either case it is easy to be put off by images of young, fit yogis in fashionable activewear performing strong yoga poses. But if you are seeking yoga for beginners in Brisbane, there are plenty of teachers and studios that ensure yoga remains simple and accessible for all ages and abilities.

The Rise & Rise of Restorative Yoga

The Rise & Rise of Restorative Yoga

2024 marks 10 years since the opening of our Brisbane yoga studio, SoHo Yoga. At the outset our focus was very much on a strong, dynamic, flowing style of yoga that was popular in a growing number of yoga studios across Brisbane. And our predominantly vinyasa yoga offering served the SoHo Yoga community well for a few years.

But as the business and community grew, and we introduced new teachers and timeslots, there was the opportunity to trial different yoga classes and styles. In the US there had been a seismic shift towards more yin restorative yoga practices, and a handful of international teachers were gaining renown for teacher trainings in Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga respectively.

Why Does Vinyasa Yoga Feel Amazing?

Why Does Vinyasa Yoga Feel Amazing?

Vinyasa yoga has become one of the most commonly offered styles of yoga in Brisbane yoga studios and around the world. While vinyasa yoga remains rooted in ancient Indian traditions, it is actually a relatively recent phenomenon. So why has it become so popular? The dynamic and flowing style of vinyasa yoga seems to have transformative effects on both the body and mind, and when studied in the context of Tantric philosophy and the concept of Spanda, we begin to understand why.

Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training & Other 200Hr YTTs

Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training & Other 200Hr YTTs

While all 200 hour yoga teacher trainings will include yoga history & philosophy and anatomy & physiology, the key differentiator between most courses will be the style of yoga asana taught.

Vinyasa is a broad term and even vinyasa yoga teacher trainings will vary greatly; from strong powerful practices incorporating advanced yoga asana, to slower, more mindful, alignment focused practices.

Yoga Dictionary: Your Guide to Key Terms

Yoga Dictionary: Your Guide to Key Terms

The practice of yoga is often misconstrued as a form of purely physical exercise, and the emergence of expensive activewear brands leveraging its surge in popularity in recent decades has done little to demystify it. Yoga is in fact a holistic practice that originated in ancient India, and which can have a profound impact on physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

You may have bought the fancy mat and buttery soft leggings, but do you know the difference between Vinyasa Yoga classes and Yin Yoga classes? This ancient practice encompasses a rich vocabulary of terms that reflect its philosophical roots, as well as breathing techniques and physical practices. Here we’ll explore some key terms used in yoga to provide a better understanding of its core concepts and practices.

Why You Should Be Making Time For Yoga In Your Week

Why You Should Be Making Time For Yoga In Your Week

Do you suffer from exhaustion, burn-out, stress or anxiety? Then you should be making time for yoga in your week. Of course, the irony is you probably don’t have time because you are so busy! But restorative yoga is one of the most important things you can do for your mental health and wellbeing. At our beautiful yoga studio in Grange, we offer restorative yoga classes to help balance your nervous system and find inner calm.

Where to practice yoga in North Brisbane

Where to practice yoga in North Brisbane

Not all yoga is the same! And there are many factors to consider when you are seeking a yoga studio in north Brisbane, other than location and convenience.

The first question to ask yourself is, what are you seeking from your yoga practice? As there are many different styles of yoga that offer different outcomes.

At our boutique yoga studio in Grange, Brisbane we offer a variety of styles that might suit you. For complete beginners, our Slow Flow classes include some gentle movement combined with relaxation and are a great introduction to the practice of yoga.

For those seeking a deep stretch or deep relaxation, our yin yoga and restorative yoga classes are suitable for all levels. And for those that are reasonably fit and healthy, and have some prior yoga experience, our Rise & Shine and Vinyasa yoga classes are more dynamic and may incorporate more challenging postures.

A Perspective on the Pandemic and Personal Choice

A Perspective on the Pandemic and Personal Choice

Extremism has always swirled on the fringes of politics and Western society but, along with the existential threat of climate change, it now howls at the door like extreme weather events threatening to destroy communities and tear families apart.

Even while a global pandemic was still forming over the South China Sea, the flames of political discontent and social divide were already being fanned by social media around the world, and within months the two fronts collided to form a Superstorm unparalleled and unprecedented in recent history.

How and why is this relevant to a yoga blog you may ask? Because I am devastated that a community of humans historically united by a common philosophical belief system based literally on the word ‘union’ (from the Sanskrit to yoke) has also become divided.

Reflections of a Yogini at 50

Reflections of a Yogini at 50

12 months ago as I commenced my 50th orbit around our star I was celebrating with friends in Amsterdam and could hardly have anticipated the tumultuous year that lay ahead. Approaching 50 we would all hope to be on a safe and predictable trajectory towards that dreaded nomenclature, ‘middle age’, and enjoying a period of stability and security in our lives. However the Universe had other plans for me and I was violently knocked off course. Not quite the smooth transition to the fabulous fifties that I had envisaged, in fact probably the single most challenging year of my life! But on the eve of this milestone birthday, the ground beneath my feet is feeling reasonably steady once more, and I am naturally inclined to reflect on a few things I have learned.

Yoga Teachers Sometimes Break Too

Yoga Teachers Sometimes Break Too

Many people discover yoga, or turn to yoga, when they are recovering from illness or injury, or suffering from stress or anxiety or heartbreak, or simply hit rock bottom. While the practices of yoga and meditation may not be a cure-all for devastating diseases, they are widely recognised as healing modalities that can significantly benefit both our physical and mental health.

Long before I became a yoga teacher, I credited my regular dynamic asana practice with keeping me strong and healthy and relatively immune from serious illness. Imagine my dismay then that since leaving the corporate world to start my own business and become a full-time yoga teacher my health seems to have plummeted to an all-time low, and most recently I found myself hospitalised for two weeks with a particularly pervasive case of pneumonia, along with complications too numerous to mention.

Space . . . The Final Frontier

Space . . . The Final Frontier

When we think of space, we often think of the vast, unimaginable expanse of the Universe beyond our planet, our solar system, even our galaxy. And maybe how small and seemingly insignificant we little Earthlings really are in the grand scheme of things.

But in reality we are all simply space. Life-forms made up of atoms, which are in turn made up of electrons, protons and neutrons - the smallest particles of matter know to man - all floating around in nothing but space.

My Top 5 Inspiring & Thought Provoking Docos

My Top 5 Inspiring & Thought Provoking Docos

For a few people, yoga is no more than the physical postures practiced on the mat in the pursuit of a healthier, more flexible body – and that is fine. But for many the practice of yoga extends way beyond the physical postures into a more meaningful way of living, which becomes a life long journey of self-discovery. There are a gazillion books and texts I could refer you to for a deeper understanding of the principles of yoga off the mat (maybe for a later blog post), but for a more digestible taste of how to live a more conscious, connected and compassionate life, here are my top 5 inspiring & thought provoking docos.

Lessons in Yoga Etiquette

Lessons in Yoga Etiquette

While out of action due to recent surgery I finally got the opportunity to catch up on the fantastic Netflix series, The Crown.  Without making any parallels, witnessing the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret undertaking their etiquette lessons prompted me to draw up a few lessons in yoga etiquette for the uninitiated.

In all seriousness, for anyone entirely new to yoga this might be genuinely useful information. Or for those who are regular practitioners it might be a timely reminder, and answer a few unanswered questions that you’re too afraid to ask. 

"I'm not flexible enough to do yoga."

"I'm not flexible enough to do yoga."

Like many aspects of our modern lives some yoga classes do focus on a strong and somewhat competitive style of practice that is sadly over represented in the media. Glamorous images of super fit young things wearing scantily little clothing performing pretzel poses on the beach are more than enough to scare the average punter away.

I’m grateful to these schools of yoga for offering an introduction to the practice for people who are seeking a physical challenge, but for most students the real yoga education starts at the opposite end of the spectrum, with learning to be still, to breathe and to find contentment with things just as they are.