Friday Q&A: Trauma Resurfacing, Crying in Class, Part 2

Morning Glories by Melina Meza

Last week when Baxter and I wrote our post Friday Q&A: Trauma Resurfacing, Crying in Class, we felt a bit like we were going out on a limb. Finding the right way to talk about trauma resurfacing during yoga practice was a delicate process, especially because neither of us has had the experience ourselves. And we also wanted to be as diplomatic as possible in discussing the role yoga teachers should play (and not play) when a student cries during classes. So we were very pleased to receive some positive comments about our post. In fact, Baxter found the comments on the blog site so insightful that he asked me to share them with you, our readers. Of course, some of you may read the comments sections of our posts and will have already seen one or both of these comments. But for those who read the original post early or those of you who don’t read the comments, I'm including them below. We are so grateful that these readers took the time to contribute their own thoughts about this important topic. Thank you, Kate and Mary!

—Nina

"Thank you for this post; I think lots of teachers will benefit as I've seen little written about it. This line of Baxter's really resonated with how I feel on the topic: "I try not to pacify or console, or imply that I know what they are going through, but continue to cultivate a safe environment for them to experience their full practice." Creating a safe space for the more intense moments of the practice to be digested is key, and I believe is often what enables them to come up for people in class in the first place. I find it useful to let students know that when practicing yoga over a series of years almost every emotion available will be experienced to some degree and that crying from sadness or any other emotion can be a healthy and useful way to process those emotions or experiences that arise. I wonder if saying even that much goes outside scope of practice, but nonetheless it's been beneficial for students who have cried in class to hear and understand so they don't feel there is something wrong with their practice or something that needs fixing. 
Nina, thank you for the resources for better supporting those working with a history of trauma. The front body protected poses are excellent reminders." —Kate

"Thank you for this important post. I think we will be seeing much more about the benefits of a yoga practice for trauma survivors. I can highly recommend the book by Emerson and Hopper, and the training through the Trauma Center at JRI. As an adjunct to talk therapy, I believe yoga is a powerful ally in the treatment of trauma, and hope that more people will become aware of its benefits. In those cases, making sure that the student is already actively in therapy is vital, so that what comes up in yoga class can be processed safely with a trusted professional. In my experience so far, your advice about child's pose (and front body protecting positions) is spot on – although, naturally any pose could trigger emotions and memories, as each individual's experience is unique. As the original commenter stated, I agree that there are likely many more trauma survivors in our classes than we realize, and although there is no way of knowing the reason for the spontaneous tears in class, I think it's a gift for any practitioner to be in an environment where experiencing and expressing emotions is welcomed and not judged – something that all yoga teachers can strive to provide." —Mary

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