Yoga for PTSD
Healing the Brain with Yoga Nidra
Kamini Desai
50% Lecture 50% Gentle stretches and Yoga Nidra (2 hours)
Yoga Nidra is an ancient sleep-based meditation technique derived from the scriptures. Composed of a series of body, breath and awareness techniques, Yoga Nidra has the power to take you to profound levels of stillness in Delta brainwave states where the brain can heal and unresolved experiences can be integrated. Yoga Nidra is a favorite with those suffering from trauma because it does not require re-visiting the traumatic experience and allows the body to gently release trauma from the body and mind in titrated doses. Learn how trauma affects the brain and experience how the Integrative Amrit Method of Yoga Nidra can help heal.
Bring a yoga mat, notebook, pen, sitting pillow or backjack, blanket and whatever you need to sit and lie comfortably on the floor for about 35-40 minutes.
Understanding and Treating Trauma as an Unresolved Energy Event
Kamini Desai
60% lecture/discussion 40% experience and practice of skills learned (2 hours)
Explore the Anatomy of Energy. Life is energy. It is meant to flow through us, each time leaving us broader, richer and evolving us for having known it. When we experience more intensity than we can handle, we shut this process down and create blocks in the body. The Amrit Method of Yoga Therapy is designed to not only treat visible physical symptoms, but is aimed at addressing the invisible mental and emotional blocks that contribute to them. This rejuvenating and releasing experience enhances your understanding of the energetic aspects of yoga and how to use it for yourself and others as one of the most profound healing modalities you will ever encounter. In this workshop we’ll understand how trauma and other overwhelming events create energy blocks and using a yoga-based facilitation technique you will learn how to begin to allow this unresolved energy to move and integrate itself.
Yoga Mat, Sitting pillow or backjack, blanket/bolster or whatever you need to sit and lie comfortably.
Science of Pranayama
Sundar Balasubramanian
20% lecture, 10% discussion, 70% pranayama practice (90 minutes)
Pranayama is one of the key practices within the Yoga discipline. Next to Asanas and Meditation, Pranayama is gaining increasing importance in the Western world. The availability of ancient literature and modern scientific evidence is sparse in this area of Yoga. Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian is a pioneer in the area of salivary biomarkers combining Pranayama practice. He has been researching techniques related to Pranayama from the ancient Siddha tradition. He has published scientific research papers and book on Thirumanthiram, written by Saint Thirumoolar. This talk will provide an insight into Pranayama. The attendees will be able to get acquainted with key exercises from the Pranayama tradition and their relevance to wellbeing in modern times. Discover the wonders of breathing right. Understand the scientific reasons behind the practice. Designed for students from all levels. This workshop will cover the theory, practice, and modern scientific insights of key Pranayama techniques, lead by Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian. No mat or special apparel required. Wear anything that would allow you to breathe well. Available to all ages. No large meal 2 hours prior is suggested.
No large meal 2 hours prior to the class. Bring writing materials to take notes, water, and anything to make you comfortably seated during the session.
Pranayama for PTSD
Sundar Balasubramanian
(2 hours)
As breathing is the bridge between mind and body, it is the most easily accessible and effective adjunct therapeutic modality for psychosomatic disorders. Our research shows Pranayama practice can stimulate various biomarkers involved in mental health including neurotrophins. In addition, Pranayama could reduce the levels of inflammatory cytokines that are key mediators of emotional and physical stress into tissue injury under chronic conditions such as PTSD. This workshop will introduce the key aspects of Pranayama that are relevant to PTSD, molecular mechanisms that confer potential benefits, and practice of key Pranayama techniques in the context of PTSD.
No large meal 2 hours prior to the class. Bring writing materials to take notes, water, and anything to make you comfortably seated during the session.
Bridging Cultural Divides through Photography
Robert Sturman
lecture and slide presentation (1 hour)
Join world-renowned artist/photographer, Robert Sturman, as he and his camera take us around the globe. This photographic exploration highlights the power of yoga to unite people across cultural and physical divides. Sturman’s work has given him the opportunity to make art with yogis in Kenya, Italy, Thailand, Israel, Cuba, to name but a few. From United States prisons to orphanages in Africa and the streets of Palestine, he has photographed all walks of life, embodying yoga poses with equanimity and grace. So many people, so many stories: breast cancer survivors, Maasai Warriors, Hasidic Jews, police officers, soldiers and inmates serving life sentences, each one a unique expression of humanity.
Deep Sound Journey
Alex King-Harris
10% discussion 10% guided meditation 40% sound healing journey (1 hour)
Sound is a gateway to the soul. It speaks to our nervous system in a way that allows our waking mind to relax and give way to the deeper impulses of the body. Music can be a profoundly healing experience when the right container is created where the body feels like it can surrender, let go, become present and mindfully relax. This sound healing journey will be a great time and place to rest, nourish your body, relax your mind and breathe with your soul.
Please bring a mat, pillow, block + blanket if you have these, otherwise we’ll improvise!
Teach to Transform Trauma
Catherine Ashton
(2 hours)
Trauma has many faces and touches millions of our lives and teaching trauma informed Yoga offers a vital means for people to learn how to calm their mind and regain a sense of safety and empowerment within their bodies. Begin to explore both the physiological and emotional challenges that survivors and teachers alike experience as we contemplate or step into asana spaces as well as the gifts that embodied practices and trauma informed Yoga offer. In this time together we will begin to explore how a trauma sensitive Yoga class differs from a more “traditional” class and is a means to move, feel, laugh and get curious……We will create the time, space and moments that allow us to use our bodies to move more, feel more and to access hopeful healing when thinking and words fall short. This class is both
didactic as well as experiential in nature and is open to all.
Healing Circles & Shaking Medicine for Trauma Recovery
Catherine Ashton
(90m)
Sacred Circles, Story Telling and Shaking Medicine are ancient practices deeply rooted within cultures
around the world that acknowledge and honor the capacity for each of us to heal trauma and illness
both individually as well as collectively. Join us as we step into Circle, use ritual as resource, remember
our breath and stand and “rattle” with our feet firmly rooted in both the old and new worlds to explore
how these ancient practices may help us to bear witness, shift and transform our trauma to better serve
ourselves, our communities and our earth.
Uninstall Traumatic Triggers & Reclaim Your Consciousness
Erin Byron
35% lecture 11% breathing 15% asana 12% relaxation 12% personal reflection 15% processing/discussion (2 hours)
Trauma touches all levels of being. Its symptoms of fear, isolation, and psychological trickery undercut your valiant attempts to create a good life with. Research has shown time and again that yoga practices and philosophy support you in removing the trauma that is stored in your cells, mind, and emotions. “Triggers” are your system’s attempt at healing. Trauma tends to unwind in three stages. Understand this process, identify the stage you are in, and learn to live into post-traumatic growth. Recovery is a release, reclaiming, and genuine connection to your authentic spirit. It is time to use the trauma to create a more inspired and vibrant life than you ever thought possible. Combine guided visualization and user-friendly breathwork with simple creative endeavors and nurturing yoga movements. Resolve the imprints of cellular memories and long-forgotten pains that still impact your emotions. Overwrite the lingering painful programs that are running in your not-conscious mind, holding the reins and steering your feelings without your awareness. There are systematic ways to uninstall triggers and be more of who you truly are. Discover how to help yourself and others navigate the way through automatic reactions into connected, joyful living.
Please bring a yoga mat, notebook and pens, as well as any props that support your comfort.
Taming Your Komodo Dragon
Suzanne Connolly
100% presentatin (1 hour)
This presentation will provide a simple basic overview of our current understanding of how psychological trauma is processed in our brains and nervous systems. My hope is that- If you are a helping professional -having this basic understanding will help you understand why – what you’re already doing is working so well–and that having a better understanding of how trauma is processed internally, may possibly help you do what you’re already doing even better. If you are not a helping professional, I hope that this information will help you understand that traumatic memories are really processed quite differently than other memories and that this understanding will help you have a more compassionate understanding of yourself and/or loved ones who may have experienced trauma. You might be wondering why I called this presentation “Taming your Komodo Dragon.Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words and I Am hoping that the image of a Komodo dragon can serve as an easy to remember metaphor for the part of the brain that is most responsible for, the differences in the way traumatic memories are processed. Most dragons are mythical, but Komodo dragons are real. Komodo dragons can kill. And so can trauma. Trauma, like the Komodo Dragon can kill quickly or over a period of time. Unlike Komodo dragons, however, psychological trauma is not confined to a small part of the world. It exists all over the globe and it affects the brains of millions of people. The part of the brain that processes trauma is a very primitive part of the brain. We share this part of the brain with all other humans, and in some form, with all mammals, and reptiles, including the Komodo dragon. This part of your brain can be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy. As We all know, Komodo Dragons kill. And severe psychological trauma kills too. Komodo Dragons have glands that secrete a poison that can paralyze its victims. And Trauma can paralyze its victims too. Not only can traumatic events trigger a Mobilizing fight or flight response, but they can also trigger an immobilizing freeze response. Following serious trauma, normal life can stop, emotional growth can be stunted, and a deep sense of hopelessness can hang for years. Or decades.
You might want to bring a neotebook and pen, or just hang back and absorb.
PTSD and how Aqua Yoga Can Help
Camella Nair
50% presentation 50% experiential (2 hours)
Stress can affect nerves and hormones as well as the mind and muscles, leaving clients feeling lethargic and un-motivated. In conscious yoga the heart rate can be gently elevated in order to allow the liver to release more energy as glycogen to cultivate more positivity. It is estimated that around 7.8% of us experience PTS at some point in their life but the physiological and emotional symptoms can be felt as we all experience stressful situations off the battle field. Conflict at work, death of a loved one, sleep deprivation or break up of a marriage are a few examples that suggest it is a conservative number and more of us are affected. In the water the gains in proprioception can help us to find our place of balance and contentment once again in order to move on with our lives sooner. Objectives:
- Review symptoms of PTS and overlap with general stress factors that will affect us all in time.
- Explore techniques in the pool to help reduce stress, gain better clarity, improve breathing and gain greater body awareness.
- How can we relax and release the fascia
- Work on dismantling erroneous breathing patterning.
- How working in the water can help create support and compassion
Come with an open heart and mind. Swimsuit is not necessary but you might want to dig it our after this lecture.
