Yoga

Yoga is more than just a physical exercise regime to get fit and lose weight.

It is a way of living in the moment in peace, with love and respect for yourself, and the world around you.

It is a way of none harming, of honesty, gratitude and forgiving.

It is a way of understanding, accepting and honouring your body and soul.

It is beautiful, joyful and strong.

My yoga classes are a wonderful mix of different gentle and trauma-sensitive Yoga styles, Mindfulness and a bunch of other tools I've come across and found deeply healing and great for your well-being.

My classes offer a safe space to get back in touch with yourself and your body regardless your abilities.
You decide how strong or gentle your practice is going to be, there are always modifications for all levels....

Beginners are especially welcome! Women only classes.

You deserve to be happy with yourself, to love who you are!

Trauma Informed Yoga (TIY)

Tuesdays, 1.30-2.30

at Omnia Physio, Rugby

What is Trauma Informed Yoga (TIY)?

When we've experienced trauma in our lives, and to be honest, most of us will have had some kind of trauma, it changes our mind and our body in many ways. I've often heard people say things like: 'It's such a long time ago, surely you must be over it' or 'Haven't you talked that all through by now? Just let it go!' Unfortunately that is not how trauma works. Trauma changes how our brain reacts to stress and perceived threats and depending on the kind of trauma, when it happened and how long it went on for this will affect not just our brain and nervous system but also the whole body and mind. We are again and again hijacked by responses of our body and mind as if we are still in a threatening situation. It can become very difficult to stay present in the here and now and the stresses of re-experiencing and re-living can lead to a multitude of physical and mental issues like anxiety, depression, sleep problems, eating disorders, controlling behaviours, addictions, chronic illnesses....

Often we believe talking about a trauma will help ease our physical and mental pain but this approach alone addresses only the mind and leaves the body behind.

In TIY we focus on the body in the here and now through yoga, bringing awareness to our nervous system and finding ways to self-regulate when we get triggered or dysregulated. When we think of yoga most of us think of a set of asanas, a flow of movement combined with breath work, followed by relaxation and meditation. The whole class follows the lead of the teacher. In TIY you, the student, leads. During trauma choice has been taken away from us, in TIY we learn to notice what our body and mind need, what we want, we invite choice back into our lives. The TIY model I use follows the 3 phases of trauma recovery: stabilisation, processing and integration. We will work intensely with understanding our nervous system, the fight-flight-freeze responses, how to recognise each of them within our body and mind and learning how to self-regulate ourselves. We befriend ourselves...

TIY is not a replacement for talking therapies but is especially beneficial in conjunction with the work you might do with a psychotherapist or counsellor.