Ongoing studies confirm that yoga and meditation are proven complementary tools
to aid trauma survivors in healing, and support a more lasting recovery. A study
conducted by the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute found that a regular
trauma-sensitive yoga practice reduced the participants’ symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder PTSD by 30%
The sad truth is trauma can also happen to children. When children find
themselves in situations beyond their control, whether these are situations of
assault, violence or neglect, it can cause trauma. Trauma can be especially
difficult in young children, as these trauma take place in a child’s preverbal
development.
Research suggest that the capacity to encode and retain meaningful internal
representations of the salient elements of a traumatic experience may be present
as early as the second half of an infant’s first year of life. The developmental
implications of early trauma, appear to retain in memory and have enduring
effects.
Childhood Attachments And Its effects Into Adulthood
When a child has secure attachment to a sensitive and responsive caregiver, this
forms the basis of her relationships into adulthood. Through her relationship with
her caregiver, a child learns how to express herself and co-regulate her emotions.
John Bowlby succinctly explains “intimate attachments to other human beings are
the hub around a person’s life revolves, not only when he is an infant or toddler or
schoolchild, but through his adolescence into maturity and old age’
An infant whose mother’s responsiveness helps him achieve his own ends develops
confidence in his ability to control what happens to him. As such in situations
where children do not have a responsive caregiver or may have experienced abuse
or neglect, these have repercussions on the child’s view of her self worthiness (not
worthy of care), self confidence in ability to change outcomes, ability to regulate
emotions, trust and self expression.
Many abused children cling to the hope that growing up will bring escape and
freedom. But the personality formed in the environment of coercive control is not
well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic
trust, autonomy, and initiative. She approaches the task of early
adulthood――establishing independence and intimacy――burdened by major
impairments in self-care, in cognition and in memory, in identity, and in the
capacity to form stable relationships. She is still a prisoner of her childhood;
attempting to create a new life, she reencounters the trauma.
Trauma And Memory
During extreme stress, our hippocampus does not process the stressful memory as
an integrative whole. Sensory elements of experience are left unintegrated and are
therefore prone to return during flashback, when some sensory elements of the
trauma are activated.
Trauma memories are often fragmentary, intense sensations and emotions,
nonverbal and can be experienced as if the event and one’s sensory, cognitive,
physiological and emotional responses to it are happening all over again.
According to Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD, victims can have difficulty finding meaning
in life beyond their trauma experience, saying that “For real change to take place,
the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the
present”.
For a child who might have difficulty understanding their trauma, this might be
even more complex. A child might believe the trauma situations to be the norm, he
might not understand the severity of the trauma and might not even have
memories of the event. As such traditional therapy could have its limitations.
Research has shown that trauma is primarily experienced in the body, for example
as somatic symptoms, dissociation and implicit memory (memories stored on a
physiological level). As such trauma can drive a rift between self and the body.
Trauma Sensitive Yoga For Children
Trauma Sensitive Yoga is an evidence-based support that can help young victims
reconnect and reintegrate mentally, physically, and emotionally, thereby bridging
the gap between living in past abuse and living in the present.
In trauma sensitive yoga class, verbal guidance such as ‘you are welcome to find
your own expression of a triangle form’ or ‘feel free to explore how you would like
to place your arms today’ are common as facilitators share power with children.
These invitations could allow children to develop their self expression and
confidence. Further as all adults in the room are practicing together with the
children forming a shared authentic experience, this relationship of doing
something together instead of ‘doing and I am watching’ could form the basis of
trust and nurture in relationships.
Trauma Sensitive yoga for children can promote:
• Awareness in the present moment
• Development of coping skills, self-control, self-care, and self-regulation
• An authentic, shared experience
• Awareness and identification of emotional and physical sensation
• Exercising personal boundaries, safe experimentation, choice, curiosity, and
self-care
• Increase capacity for emotional and physical intimacy
• Self-awareness and introspection, behavioural change, cognitive change,
self-acceptance, and sense of connection with others
With children, development of coping skills can empower them to be more
confident, comfortable and strong in their bodies. As trauma sensitive yoga
facilitators never lay their hands on participants or manipulate their bodies into
poses, this teaches the children to be respectful of each other’s spaces and their
own.
By not mirroring trauma, trauma sensitive yoga allows children to experience
safety, predictability and trust. The hope is to equip children with simple,
sustainable tools to help them navigate complicated situations and emotions so
they can stay safe and continue their path toward healing.
References
1. David Emerson (2014), Trauma-Sensitive Yoga as an adjunct mental health treatment in group therapy for survivors of domestic violence: A feasibility study
2. Gaensbauer TJ (1995) Trauma in the preverbal period. Symptoms, memories, and developmental impact.
3. Silvia M. Bell and Mary D. Salter Ainsworth (1972) Infant Crying and Maternal Responsiveness, Child Development
4. John Bowlby (1958) “What cannot be communicated to the mother (or primary caregiver) cannot be communicated to the self.”
5. Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
6. Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD (2015), The Body Keeps the Score
7. Christine Caldwell, Lucia Bennett Leighton (2018) Oppression and the Body: Roots, Resistance, and Resolutions