Trauma-informed yoga can help with healing | Opinion

• Landon Funk lives in Nashville and teaches power, restorative, trauma-informed and sculpt classes.

You can’t go to therapy without first going to yoga – that’s my belief anyway. We store all of our thoughts, emotions and traumas in our bodies, predominantly in our shoulders and hips, which is why those areas are so tight all of the time. When we practice yoga, we access those uncomfortable traumas through movement and mindfulness. And in trauma-informed yoga, we sit with that discomfort and those painful memories, taking the time to process each one as they arise. Because once they are processed, once we have paid proper attention to them, we start to heal, turning that trauma from easily triggered to no longer bubbling up.  

And who doesn’t want to get rid of the forever-festering fear of panic attacks, anxiety attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder episodes and depression?  

Everyone has gone through some sort of trauma. From surgery to car accidents to intimate partner violence to animal attacks to emotional abuse to overwhelming grief to chronic pain, trauma is an active player in all of our lives. If we do not address that trauma, then we will let it slowly consume us.  

While I was at Princeton, I was raped twice and sexually assaulted more times than I can count. Shortly after I graduated, my parents dragged me to a yoga class that was being taught by a family friend. Immediately, I loved it. However, it was not until a few months into my practice that I learned yoga has the remarkable ability to heal.  

I was sitting in a deep hip-opener (sleeping pigeon for my fellow yogis), and I hated it. I started to think of ways that I could make it easier, get out of there and be done with the pose. Then the teacher said, “If a certain emotion comes up, like anger, sadness, happiness or anything else, that means you have stored something in your hips that needs to be let go. Breathe into those feelings and listen to what they have to say.” For the first time, I addressed my sexual trauma and started to heal. Nothing had helped me heal up until that point. Not therapy. Not journaling. Nothing. But yoga did, and because my body freed that trauma, I am now able to talk about it – openly and without shame.  

I have personally seen how yoga can heal and know its power. Since 2017, I have been teaching specifically trauma-informed yoga at studios, holistic healing centers and with private clients to help people of all different sizes, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, etc., address what they have stored in their bodies and process those memories and emotions. It's hard work, but it is a whole lot easier to look your trauma in the eyes when someone you trust is supporting you.  

Landon Funk lives in Nashville and teaches power, restorative, trauma-informed and sculpt classes. She may be reached via her website, landonfunk.com/.