More About Trauma,
Trauma-Informed Approaches,
and Healing & Transformation
At Spiral Studio our offerings are trauma-informed. What does this mean? it means that our instructors and facilitators receive an in-house training about trauma and best practices for a supported space and trauma-informed approaches to teaching embodied practices.
We think everyone benefits from more knowledge about the ways in which trauma impacts, individuals and communities as well as our larger culture.
We think everyone benefits from more knowledge about the ways in which trauma impacts, individuals and communities as well as our larger culture.
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"As Nkem Ndefo so eloquently reminds us, trauma is more than a single event.
It disrupts and overwhelms our ability to adapt, to connect, to flourish. The symptoms aren’t always felt immediately; they often emerge over time—hijacking thoughts and behavior, damaging relationships, undermining health, stealing the future. Nkem says, 'We can’t afford to let trauma steal anything more from us. . . . We need all of us healing trauma together to reclaim the freedom, vitality, and love that is our birthright."' —The Embody Lab email 8/19/22 |
Trauma is becoming more widely understood and there is a body of fascinating research that helps us to understand the ways in which trauma impacts our minds and our bodies in a variety of ways. Part of the SGC's mission and vision is to provide opportunities and resources for members of our community to learn more about trauma and the ways in which we can manage the effects of trauma for ourselves, our children, our friends and families, and our communities.
Toxic stress, social and cultural inequalities, adverse childhood experiences (ACES), accidents, surgeries, and natural disasters can all cause trauma and result in symptoms like anxiety, depression, addiction, and a variety of dis-ease in the body. As Arielle Schwartz writes in Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery, "Trauma, by definition, refers to any frightening, shocking, or life-threatening event that overwhelms your capacity to physically cope with or emotionally process your experience." Further, multiple traumas or prolonged trauma can result in complex trauma and life-long adverse impacts on mental and physical health.
An event or experience that is traumatic for one person may not be traumatic for another person. For instance, we are only beginning to see the effects of the collective trauma that we have experienced throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Even before Covid, we were already experiencing a mental health crisis in the U.S. and around the world. Mental health resources, and the stigmas related to mental health needs, make therapy and other tools difficult to access for many people, in and beyond our community. And the best mental health treatments are often expensive in addition to being inaccessible. How do we even begin to find the support and healing that we need as individuals, let alone as communities and a country?
In trauma-informed yoga and conscious dance, we often refer to a common phrases like: "the issues are in our tissues" and "you have to feel it to heal it." In other words, trauma is not in our heads, it is in our bodies as well. If we don't address trauma, it takes a toll on our minds, bodies, emotions, and relationships. We cannot talk our way out of a trauma response (fight, flight, freeze, or appease), but we can engage in embodied practices that help to manage and alleviate our symptoms and help us to be more present in our lives.
At SGC, our trauma-informed programs and approaches are not meant to replace therapy and they are not a magic pill that cures all of our physical and mental health challenges. What we offer are resources and tools toward empowerment, balance, and embodiment as well as mind/body/spirit health and wellness. We cannot provide a "safe space" because such a thing does not exist because sometimes we don't know that we have been impacted by trauma. We might not know how it manifests in our body, and we don't necessarily know what might trigger us. Instead, we provide a "brave space," a container where we can explore and process through embodied movements, breathwork, and meditation.
Yoga and conscious dance are two useful modalities for managing PTSD and the impacts of collective, complex, and intergenerational trauma. The work that we do on, and for, ourselves is not easy, but the positive impacts on our mental, physical, and emotional well-being can be transformative.
Toxic stress, social and cultural inequalities, adverse childhood experiences (ACES), accidents, surgeries, and natural disasters can all cause trauma and result in symptoms like anxiety, depression, addiction, and a variety of dis-ease in the body. As Arielle Schwartz writes in Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery, "Trauma, by definition, refers to any frightening, shocking, or life-threatening event that overwhelms your capacity to physically cope with or emotionally process your experience." Further, multiple traumas or prolonged trauma can result in complex trauma and life-long adverse impacts on mental and physical health.
An event or experience that is traumatic for one person may not be traumatic for another person. For instance, we are only beginning to see the effects of the collective trauma that we have experienced throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Even before Covid, we were already experiencing a mental health crisis in the U.S. and around the world. Mental health resources, and the stigmas related to mental health needs, make therapy and other tools difficult to access for many people, in and beyond our community. And the best mental health treatments are often expensive in addition to being inaccessible. How do we even begin to find the support and healing that we need as individuals, let alone as communities and a country?
In trauma-informed yoga and conscious dance, we often refer to a common phrases like: "the issues are in our tissues" and "you have to feel it to heal it." In other words, trauma is not in our heads, it is in our bodies as well. If we don't address trauma, it takes a toll on our minds, bodies, emotions, and relationships. We cannot talk our way out of a trauma response (fight, flight, freeze, or appease), but we can engage in embodied practices that help to manage and alleviate our symptoms and help us to be more present in our lives.
At SGC, our trauma-informed programs and approaches are not meant to replace therapy and they are not a magic pill that cures all of our physical and mental health challenges. What we offer are resources and tools toward empowerment, balance, and embodiment as well as mind/body/spirit health and wellness. We cannot provide a "safe space" because such a thing does not exist because sometimes we don't know that we have been impacted by trauma. We might not know how it manifests in our body, and we don't necessarily know what might trigger us. Instead, we provide a "brave space," a container where we can explore and process through embodied movements, breathwork, and meditation.
Yoga and conscious dance are two useful modalities for managing PTSD and the impacts of collective, complex, and intergenerational trauma. The work that we do on, and for, ourselves is not easy, but the positive impacts on our mental, physical, and emotional well-being can be transformative.
Sen Wilde created these beautiful "Yes/No" medallions, also known as Consent Cards. While most of our classes do not include hands-on adjustments, we want to make sure that participants have a way to clearly communicate their boundaries. These consent cards help represent our core values of empowerment, inclusivity, and clear communication and allow our students to clearly and discreetly communicate whether they want physical adjustments from our instructors, ensuring a safe and respectful practice by giving individuals full control over their personal boundaries and comfort level with touch during a class.
Healing & Transformation
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“According to ancient Asian philosophy, life is not a straight line but a spiral. Every life lesson that has ever been presented to me (which means everything I have ever been through) will come back again, in some form, until I learn it. And the stakes each time will be higher. Whatever I’ve learned will bear greater fruit. Whatever I’ve failed to learn will bear harsher consequences.”
--Marianne Williamson "Are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well? . . . 'cause wholeness is no trifling matter. A lot of weight when you're well." --Toni Cade Bambara, The Salt Eaters |
Healing and transformation are closely related. We might argue that we cannot have one without the other. And we might argue that in order to transform our society and culture we first need to heal--our bodies, minds, and environment.
In her book, Transforming Ethnic and Race-Based Traumatic Stress with Yoga: Rest, Reflect, Renew, Gail Parker describes the difference between healing and transformation in her note to the reader:
"Healing is a term we use when we discuss illness or injury. Racial stress and trauma are emotional injuries that, left unhealed, become chronic and can lead to negative health outcomes. . . . Transformation, on the other hand, suggests change--in this case, positive change that leads to growth. To that end, transformation can be a change agent and can also be the result of healing. . . . What is true is that healing the wounds of racial distress along with individual personal and collective transformation are essential to a better quality of life for us all. Yoga is a science, a philosophy, a practice, and an art that can both effect healing and lead to positive transformation."
While Parker focuses on racial stress and trauma, her words apply to all kinds of stress and trauma--individual and collective, complex and intergenerational. Further, In his groundbreaking book, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem argues that we are all impacted by "white-body supremacy" which is "in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the culture we share"; it is "an equivalent of a toxic chemical we ingest on a daily basis. Eventually, it changes our brains and the chemistry of our bodies."
Those who practice and teach conscious dance, trauma-informed yoga, and embodied practices often say things like "the issues are in our tissues" and "we need to feel it to heal it." As Melissa Febos argues in her book, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, All forms of trauma--from intergenerational or historical traumas to those of illness, mental and physical abuse, and the many wrought by war--share the quality of disempowerment." In other words, we cannot begin to heal, let alone transform until we are willing to do the hard work of healing and until we recover some sense of agency.
The work we do--the practices we do--at The Spiral Goddess Collective aim to bring us back into our bodies, to help us become more empowered, to feel, and to heal and, ultimately, to transform ourselves, our community, and our world.
In her book, Transforming Ethnic and Race-Based Traumatic Stress with Yoga: Rest, Reflect, Renew, Gail Parker describes the difference between healing and transformation in her note to the reader:
"Healing is a term we use when we discuss illness or injury. Racial stress and trauma are emotional injuries that, left unhealed, become chronic and can lead to negative health outcomes. . . . Transformation, on the other hand, suggests change--in this case, positive change that leads to growth. To that end, transformation can be a change agent and can also be the result of healing. . . . What is true is that healing the wounds of racial distress along with individual personal and collective transformation are essential to a better quality of life for us all. Yoga is a science, a philosophy, a practice, and an art that can both effect healing and lead to positive transformation."
While Parker focuses on racial stress and trauma, her words apply to all kinds of stress and trauma--individual and collective, complex and intergenerational. Further, In his groundbreaking book, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem argues that we are all impacted by "white-body supremacy" which is "in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the culture we share"; it is "an equivalent of a toxic chemical we ingest on a daily basis. Eventually, it changes our brains and the chemistry of our bodies."
Those who practice and teach conscious dance, trauma-informed yoga, and embodied practices often say things like "the issues are in our tissues" and "we need to feel it to heal it." As Melissa Febos argues in her book, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, All forms of trauma--from intergenerational or historical traumas to those of illness, mental and physical abuse, and the many wrought by war--share the quality of disempowerment." In other words, we cannot begin to heal, let alone transform until we are willing to do the hard work of healing and until we recover some sense of agency.
The work we do--the practices we do--at The Spiral Goddess Collective aim to bring us back into our bodies, to help us become more empowered, to feel, and to heal and, ultimately, to transform ourselves, our community, and our world.
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Learn more in Sarah's book ...
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