Parhad Summer Research Program Recipient
The evolution of my MSW was supported by the final practicum experience! Spending three months in Boston at the Trauma Center studying trauma sensitive yoga (TSY) with David Emerson, Director of Yoga Services and co-author of the book 'Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga', was incredibly integrative for my theoretical, philosophical, and practical underpinnings.
None of this would have been possible without the Parhad Summer Research Program through the Calgary Center for Global Community (CCGC)!
The generosity and open mindedness of the CCGC has been insurmountable! Not only was funding provided to support my dream manifest, the organization continues to open doorways of opportunities that enable me to apply myself as a global citizen. For example, in the spring of 2014 I will be facilitating a 'New Ecology' retreat, a 4-day experience integrating yoga, mindfulness, and exploring social change!
To honour reciprocity, a critical ingredient to any beneficial and healthy relationship, recipients of this award were required to fulfill several obligations to demonstrate their research outcomes. I use the language ‘obligations’, however they have been powerful opportunities of community engagement and reflective processes. For example, all recipients presented at the 2020 Vision for Humanity: Human Security Symposium on their different projects. This webpage is a creative approach to delivering my final report. My intention is for this page to be an accumulation of artifacts that demonstrate outcomes and impacts of the Parhad program. The most poignant message within – the presentation - Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Human Security, research findings, and a witnessed outcome within applied TSY sessions has been...
None of this would have been possible without the Parhad Summer Research Program through the Calgary Center for Global Community (CCGC)!
The generosity and open mindedness of the CCGC has been insurmountable! Not only was funding provided to support my dream manifest, the organization continues to open doorways of opportunities that enable me to apply myself as a global citizen. For example, in the spring of 2014 I will be facilitating a 'New Ecology' retreat, a 4-day experience integrating yoga, mindfulness, and exploring social change!
To honour reciprocity, a critical ingredient to any beneficial and healthy relationship, recipients of this award were required to fulfill several obligations to demonstrate their research outcomes. I use the language ‘obligations’, however they have been powerful opportunities of community engagement and reflective processes. For example, all recipients presented at the 2020 Vision for Humanity: Human Security Symposium on their different projects. This webpage is a creative approach to delivering my final report. My intention is for this page to be an accumulation of artifacts that demonstrate outcomes and impacts of the Parhad program. The most poignant message within – the presentation - Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Human Security, research findings, and a witnessed outcome within applied TSY sessions has been...
'To support change we must transform one’s relational experience.'
I emphasize this phrase because I am seeing the impacts of shifting one's relational experience. I relate this to a recent practical teaching experience with a client at an addiction treatment center. From what I know about him and his past, I think much of his mental health conditions and abuse of substances have to do with experiences of intense isolation and loneliness. It was amazing to be a witness to his shift in how he carried himself and to see his face open up after 1 one-on-one yoga session. I think being in his body was really powerful, but what was most potent for this client was the relational experience within safe boundaries. I believe the experience of interoception, noticing his internal state and sensations, supported him in an ability to attune to anther person and have a shift in a relational experience. In an article, Mindfulness, Psychotherapy and the Brain, Seigal is quoted from his book The Mindful Brain (2007), "relationships are fundamental in a person’s life and well-being. But [the] findings also verified the importance for each of us to be attuned to our own internal states in order to attune to others (p. 162)." This aligns with the interoceptive principle within TSY aiming to engage participants in noticing what is happening in their body. This experience not only shifts relationship with their own body, but may also contribute to a shift in interpersonal relations. Ernst, Nrothoff, Bo'ker, Seifritz, & Grimm state in an article abstract that, "interoception seems to be implicated to yielding empathy (2012, p. 1)", empathy identified as an undeniable authentic attribute used for relating to others!
The term 'interoception' does not mean the same thing as mindfulness - some argue that interoceoption is the precursor to mindfulness. Interoception is not a cognitive process but is closely related to mindfulness through the action of noticing and observing physical experience. Within TSY the action of interoception is integrated with noticing and making choices based on what someone observes in their body. Choice is the tool that offers a traumatized person an empowering opportunity. In her book Trauma and Recovery (1997), Judith Herman states, “recovery…is based upon the empowerment of the survivor and the creation of new connections. Recovery can take place only within the context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation” (p. 133). This statement demonstrates the correlation between empowerment and relationship, two key ingredients to trauma recovery present within TSY.
For an example of interoception, the language of inquiry, and choice, this link will connect you with an audio recording of me guiding 10 minutes of Grounding Breath using TSY techniques. You may notice, it is through a process of offering invitations to be curious, to notice, to make choices, that the TSY practice occurs. Below I have included a number of testimonials from TSY participants and copies of some evaluations submitted from clients engaged in one-on-one sessions.
The term 'interoception' does not mean the same thing as mindfulness - some argue that interoceoption is the precursor to mindfulness. Interoception is not a cognitive process but is closely related to mindfulness through the action of noticing and observing physical experience. Within TSY the action of interoception is integrated with noticing and making choices based on what someone observes in their body. Choice is the tool that offers a traumatized person an empowering opportunity. In her book Trauma and Recovery (1997), Judith Herman states, “recovery…is based upon the empowerment of the survivor and the creation of new connections. Recovery can take place only within the context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation” (p. 133). This statement demonstrates the correlation between empowerment and relationship, two key ingredients to trauma recovery present within TSY.
For an example of interoception, the language of inquiry, and choice, this link will connect you with an audio recording of me guiding 10 minutes of Grounding Breath using TSY techniques. You may notice, it is through a process of offering invitations to be curious, to notice, to make choices, that the TSY practice occurs. Below I have included a number of testimonials from TSY participants and copies of some evaluations submitted from clients engaged in one-on-one sessions.
“[Trauma sensitive yoga] helped to ground
me and bring focus. It brought me back into
the moment and felt really good. The power
of suggestion is what did it for me…It
allowed me to feel safer for some reason.”
– Women of Courage Participant
“I have done yoga once and it was centered
more on what one could do…This was much
a gentler and much more positive
experience. It allowed each of us to do what
we were comfortable with, it was a great
mindfulness practice, and it felt amazing to
be one with myself. The language used
during the yoga was also very encouraging,
accepting and safe.”
– Women of Courage Participant
more on what one could do…This was much
a gentler and much more positive
experience. It allowed each of us to do what
we were comfortable with, it was a great
mindfulness practice, and it felt amazing to
be one with myself. The language used
during the yoga was also very encouraging,
accepting and safe.”
– Women of Courage Participant
Two evaluations of one-on-one TSY sessions demonstrating some client outcomes and impacts!
With opportunities to apply TSY with different populations, I am seeing the complex nature of this technique that appears to be really simple! I discuss the complexity of trauma and the complex reflection that trauma sensitive yoga offers for those in recovery within an article I wrote and published in the Elephant Journal - Treating Trauma with Yoga. This article reflects the amalgamtion of a number of articles and discussions with my supervisor.
So with all these positive outcomes - what's the future plan?
With continued collaboration and support from the CCGC, I will be implementing the 'New Ecology Project' through a four day retreat within Calgary and hopefully outside of Calgary in a wilderness setting. The intention is to initiate change from within through using the head, hands, and heart - mind, body, and spirit. It will take place in May 2014 with the intention of more to follow with additional modules to support transformation! In addition, I will continue seeking avenues to teach TSY and begin developing a training module for clinicians and yoga teachers.
Please contact me if you have any questions and inquiries at - [email protected].
All my relations.
References
Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and Recovery. New York, USA: Basic Books.
Ernst, J., Northoff, G., Bo ̈ker, H., Seifritz, E., & Grimm, S. (2012). Interoceptive awareness enhances neural activity during empathy. Human Brain Mapping. Retrieved November 23, 2013 from http://www.imhr.ca/research/northofflab/documents/2012_IA_enhances_empathy_Ernst_HBM.pdf/
So with all these positive outcomes - what's the future plan?
With continued collaboration and support from the CCGC, I will be implementing the 'New Ecology Project' through a four day retreat within Calgary and hopefully outside of Calgary in a wilderness setting. The intention is to initiate change from within through using the head, hands, and heart - mind, body, and spirit. It will take place in May 2014 with the intention of more to follow with additional modules to support transformation! In addition, I will continue seeking avenues to teach TSY and begin developing a training module for clinicians and yoga teachers.
Please contact me if you have any questions and inquiries at - [email protected].
All my relations.
References
Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and Recovery. New York, USA: Basic Books.
Ernst, J., Northoff, G., Bo ̈ker, H., Seifritz, E., & Grimm, S. (2012). Interoceptive awareness enhances neural activity during empathy. Human Brain Mapping. Retrieved November 23, 2013 from http://www.imhr.ca/research/northofflab/documents/2012_IA_enhances_empathy_Ernst_HBM.pdf/