Unfortunately, if you teach pregnancy or postnatal yoga, you are likely to have clients in your classes who have experienced birth trauma.  This may be because they thought that their life was in danger or that of their baby, or very sadly because their baby was stillborn.  The trauma may result from other loss such as miscarriage or abortion.

However, trauma can also be more subtle.  For example, trauma may be experienced as a result of a subtle violation of someone's integrity during the prenatal, labour and/or postnatal journey where their wishes were not upheld.  Something that didn't feel right leaves an on-going feeling of not feel safe in your own skin.

Yoga can provide a body-based way of learning to regulate the nervous system: how to be in our natural state of ‘alert relaxation’, rather than reacting to current events as if the trauma was reoccurring again and again.

In this workshop, you will discover

• Why as yoga teachers we can offer valuable support for body-based healing and as an adjunct to talking therapies
• Where to signpost your clients for support, if this hasn't been done by the hospital or GP
• How to recognise the signs of trauma and how someone may present in class if they have experienced trauma
• Simple steps you can take in your group classes to minimise the possibility re-traumatising someone
• Psychoeducation on how the nervous system responds to trauma and triggers for your own understanding and to share with your clients
• The importance of social engagement in the birth journey and why the freeze response is sometimes mistaken as consent (and the difficult feelings that can arise from this)
• Polyvagal theory and how we can use yoga practices to support the nervous system of someone with birth trauma
• Practical sessions to experience and practice how to teach in a trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive way, including invitational and interoceptive language

The workshop will be a mixture of theoretical background and practical sessions.  Tessa will model the key components of a trauma-sensitive approach through the workshop itself.

It is not the aim of the workshop to enable you to provide trauma therapy, but your learning will support you to create a safe space for someone with trauma to connect with their body and support the therapy that they are receiving elsewhere.

If you have experienced birth trauma yourself or are experiencing vicarious (or secondary trauma), please contact Tessa to talk about whether the workshop will be helpful to you at this time at hello@tessayoga.co.uk

At the end of the training, you will receive Certificate of Attendance from Yoga Teachers Forum.