Birth Trauma for Yoga Teachers & Therapists: Miscarriage & Stillbirths
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Date: Wed 26 May 2021
Time: 1200-1430 BST (UK Time)
Venue: Zoom
Cost: £35
"I really enjoyed this workshop.... I liked Tessa's examples ...Tessa guided some great visualisations ....I left feeling resourced and inspired with plenty of new material to explore in classes." Amba Cooper- The Pelvis in Pregnancy
"I did enjoy it, very much. Many thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge, and for providing a stimulating forum for discussion." Una Bentley - Biomechanics of Birth
In this workshop, you will learn:
- the prevalence of miscarriage and stillbirth
- about assessing the presentation of and signs of trauma
- from polyvagal theory and how to break the cycle between activation of the sympathetic nervous system (flight/ fight) and freeze
- to reflect on your ability to hold space for someone's emotion and create compassionate boundaries for you and your client
- how to conduct a listening partnership - the importance of witnessing and acknowledging trauma (but knowing our boundaries - we are not offering a talking therapy as yoga teachers)
- how to introduce embodied and needs-led practice
- to consider the postnatal needs of someone who has experienced stillbirth and how to be sensitive to the impact of miscarriage in pregnancy classes
- practices, including centring and utilising the senses
- about further resources and what the next steps would be.
For those who experience a traumatic birth, miscarriage or stillbirth, trauma can have far reaching consequences for their quality of life. There is still a strong narrative that mothers (and partners) should just get on with life because these things happen. Whether someone is coming to a general class and you want to be aware of how to work in a trauma-informed way or you want to offer specific services around birth trauma, these workshops will provide an invaluable introduction.
We often think of trauma with a capital 'T'. However, trauma can also be as a result of a violation of someone's integrity during the prenatal, labour and/or postnatal journey. It might not be labelled as trauma in the usual way that we understand it but be something that didn't feel right and leaves an on-going feeling of not feel safe in your own skin. It's also important to witness and acknowledge these experiences.
As a yoga teacher, you can offer body-based support for processing trauma, which complements talking therapies. By sharing knowledge of how the nervous system functions, you can support someone to notice how their nervous system responds to a trigger, provide simple practices to ground, centre and find stability, and break the cycle that leads to overwhelm and burnout.
The workshop will cover different aspects of the nervous system in relation to birth trauma and how to utilise your existing yoga knowledge in a trauma-sensitive way to support these clients.
Tessa will also provide a space to regulate our own nervous systems in relation to the experiences our yoga clients have had and gain an understanding of vicarious or secondary trauma and compassionate boundaries.
Individual workshop: investment £35
About the facilitator - Tessa Sanderson: