Integrating Somatic Practices into Trauma-Informed Yoga Classes

What brought me to this exploration. TW - mention of loss, accident, SA.

My journey into yoga started back in 2016, shortly after I moved to Switzerland. Despite having an amazing job, living in a beautiful country, I struggled to find my place, to get to know new people and my long term relationship had just ended. I was feeling disconnected from myself, spiraling in negative thoughts and my body started to show me signs it had enough. I decided to start adopting new habits, try out new things and make changes in my life which started to support me. Shortly after, my best friend passed away which was a huge shock. That was a wake up call. 

By chance I discovered yoga and little did I know back then how much it would support me in processing the loss and reconnecting to myself. It transformed so much of my life that in 2019 I decided to do my first yoga teacher training in Bali and started sharing the practice. 

In 2022, I had to face new life challenges. After an accident in the mountains, I lost part of my vision, additionally the dissatisfaction at my work led me to experience near burnout. Despite going to many specialists, no one could explain why it was happening. I then engaged in therapy and that’s when I started to learn more about the nervous system, about the window of tolerance, the impact of trauma. It finally brought an understanding as to why I had lost part of my vision. My body had had too much from this experience and past traumas and couldn't self regulate anymore, and unfortunately my eyes got affected.

During the therapy, deep buried trauma from sexual assault started to resurface. As a result, I would get very quickly overflooded or disconnected from everything. It was during this time that I started, with my therapist, to work with nervous system regulation and to reconnect with my yoga practice. This helped me and still helps me today in regulating, processing and healing.

Through this time, my interest for trauma informed care and somatics continued increasing, probably as a way to continue processing my own trauma as well as the intention to support other survivors through yoga and coaching. I found my path that was led from the heart. I decided to study trauma informed yoga, trauma informed coaching and later on, somatic coaching. These trainings have brought me so much more understanding, ressources to not only help myself but to also support others on their journey.

As I sat reflecting on my experience and all the acquired knowledge, I started to reflect on the below question: How could I integrate somatic experiences to trauma-informed yoga classes?

I got the question, isn‘t yoga somatic anyway? In some ways yoga is indeed already a somatic practice at its core, we move our body, connect with our breath. However, I noticed and experienced myself that sometimes, despite being present on the mat, following a flow and instructions, the attention to the somatic experience was sometimes very minimal. A lot of emphasis would be on the asana, a lot of cueing would be on the alignment and so on, and little on facilitating a somatic and inner experience.

So I started to wonder how to facilitate more of a somatic experience within the yoga classes and how it can fit trauma informed classes?

Below I listed some approaches based on my trauma-informed training and from the somatic school that can facilitate trauma-informed classes and nurturing the somatic experience.

Core Principles of Trauma-Informed Yoga

When teaching trauma-informed yoga, I focus on four foundational principles:

• Safety: Creating an environment where students feel physically and emotionally secure.

• Choice: Empowering students to listen to their bodies and make decisions that suit their needs.

• Invitational Language: Using non-directive language to foster autonomy and self-agency.

• Consent: Respecting boundaries, particularly with physical adjustments.

I would like to get a bit deeper on some aspects that can support trauma informed teaching and the somatic experience.

Invitation: Trauma often disrupts a person’s sense of safety and autonomy, leaving them disconnected from their body and choices. Using invitational language during the yoga class helps to rebuild that connection by offering an empowering and nurturing approach. By using phrases like "You may want to..." or "If that feels right for you...", it creates an environment where they can feel free to explore their practice, their body’s sensations without pressure or external expectations. During somatic awareness practices, this invitational becomes even more important, as it allows the students to move at their own speed, helping to prevent a sudden overwhelm of sensations and offering the freedom to pause whenever needed.

Example of language that can be used during the class : 

“I invite you to…” 

“You may want to …” 

“When you are ready …”

“If that feels right for you …” 

“If that feels supportive for you…”

“You’re welcome to explore…” 

“This is your space to explore what feels right for you.” 

“You’re always welcome to opt in or out of any practice.”

Options and Choice: Trauma survivors often experienced a repression of their freedom, of their expression, and therefore providing a sense of options and choice within the practice can be incredibly nourishing and empowering. With choices comes the power to be our own gatekeepers in life. During my own healing journey, I could notice how supportive it felt to be given choices. Whether it was pausing during a practice or choosing a variation, these moments of autonomy reminded me that I was in control and could decide for myself. During my classes, my intention is to encourage students to explore, try out and choose what feels best for them in the present moment, reminding them that their choices and experiences truly matter. I offer different options to support them in making conscious choices and in listening to the needs of their body. My intention for them is to feel empowered to adapt their practice at any time based on their experience. While traditional might be more directive and follow a set sequence, trauma-informed yoga offers variations. This sense of control and choice is healing in itself and helps survivors rebuild agency and trust in themselves. 

Example of language : 

“Feel free to modify if needed …” 

“You may want to explore what option feels best for you…”  

“You can switch position or variation whenever you want…”

“Know that you can keep your eyes open / closed / or slightly open…” 

“This is your body and always your choice…”

For example, a savasana, done in the traditional way, eyes closed, laying on the back, in darkness, could potentially be triggering. In a trauma-informed way, it could be offered as below: “You are worthy and welcome to explore what savasana looks like in your body, you may wish to be on the back or maybe to explore a variation or other shape that feels resourcing. Feel free to notice if you feel more comfortable to keep your eyes closed or slightly open. You are also welcome to use the props around you, eye pillow and or blanket to create yourself a safe space to rest. Know that you can move or shift any time to fit your comfort. ”

Orienting: I find orienting a great way to start the session to support grounding and connecting to safety. This practice personally helped me when my nervous system would get overwhelmed or if I would start dissociating. Orienting practice fits very well especially for trauma informed yoga as it supports people in connecting to a safe environment, and offers them a resource they can come back to any time if they were to feel the need for regulation (in the case of hyper or hypo arousal) or if connecting to the internal sensations feels to overwhelming. Indeed, while connecting to inner sensations can be very transformative, for some trauma survivors it could potentially also be triggering. That’s the reason why it is important to offer choice, options so that it never feels forced or pushed onto and to offering some regulating approaches like orienting, grounding.

Presencing: This practice can be particularly well incorporated at the start of a practice to invite the students to connect to the 3 sensory perceptions (exteroception, interoception, proprioception), reinforce the sense of safety and create a compassionate space of awareness and grounding. 

• Proprioception : “I invite you to notice how are you holding yourself right now?” “How is your posture?” How does your body feel in this shape?”

• Interoception: “ You may want to notice how your breath is right now, if there are any areas within your body that draw your attention.  “How might it be to sense that in your body now?” 

• Exteroception: “As you bring your attention out, what might you notice? See? Hear?”

Additionally, using the concept of self-in presence, “I am aware of…” and “there is something in me that is…” provides the ability to get a sense of being bigger than what life throws at us, to promote self awareness and to nurture a more compassionate relationship with oneself, feelings and emotions. Practicing self-in presence has personally helped me a lot to sit with strong feelings, to be disidentified but still to be able to sit with it with more kindness, curiosity and caring attention.

Focusing: Trauma often disrupts the mind-body connection, leaving survivors feeling disconnected from their physical and emotional selves. Focusing bridges this gap by helping the students to gently tune into their body's subtle sensations and responses.

Example of guidance:

Lead in: “You may want to take a moment to feel the points of contact between your body and the mat. Observing how the ground supports you. You might also let your eyes wander and notice a color or shape that feels calming.”

Introducing felt sense and Focusing: “Maybe you can notice if there’s a fresh sense in your body that’s asking for your attention. If it feels supportive, you might gently ask that sensation, ‘What is this about?’ or ‘What do you need?’ There’s no need to force an answer—just notice what arises.”

By cultivating this mindful attention to the body’s sensations, we can foster a deeper connection with ourselves, nurturing both healing and self-awareness in a gentle and compassionate way.

Embodiment: Embodiment builds on awareness by encouraging intuitive movement and expression. Instead of sticking strictly to guided poses, this approach invites students to explore shapes, gestures, or movements that feel nurturing or empowering. It encourages a sense of freedom and creativity in how they interact with their body. These moments can start from an asana, a word, an affirmation, a felt sense. As we start being present with the felt sense, word, affirmation, I invite whatever intuitive, supportive shape to arise. It results in deeper moments of connectedness and self-compassion. Embodying can also support the creation of new ressources, maybe even become an embodied resource or tool that can be re-accessed and re-experienced any time.

Example of language: 

The embodiment invitation could follow:

• A word: “If that feels right for you I invite you to explore a shape in your body that feels safe / supportive / grounding for you… You may welcome what comes … whenever you feel ready, you may check again: How might you like to move now?” 

• an affirmation: “ I deserve to take my own love.” “I invite you to find a gesture that symbolizes the love and care you show to yourself. You are worthy of your own love.”  

• a yoga pose coupled with a mantra: From Virabhadrasana II (warrior II) “I honor my boundaries”. “In your time and in your own way, feel free to invite any movement that allows this expression to feel more comfortable in your body. I invite you to notice your strength and power. You are worthy of honoring your boundaries.”

While exploring these shapes, we can also invite a potential supportive image that could nurture and reinforce that somatic experience. Allowing space and time to experience it. I myself through embodiment practices and image association/visualisation could connect with very deep and meaningful nourishing shapes and images and revisit them over time. 

Supportive self touch: Supportive self-touch, always offered as an invitation, can be a powerful tool for nervous system regulation and reconnection to self. By placing a hand on the heart, belly, or any area that feels comforting, we offer the students the possibility to create a sense of grounding and self-soothing. This practice helps stabilize emotions and integrate new ways of being, offering an anchor during moments of overwhelm or disconnection. It can lead to a sense of grounding and calm emerging from that touch. A supportive self-touch can also naturally arise from embodied shapes, allowing students to deepen their connection to the body. Additionally, supportive self-touch fosters a sense of care and compassion, reinforcing the idea that they are safe and deserving of comfort in their own skin.

Example of language: 

“Sometimes self-touch can feel supportive, you may explore how might it be to bring the palm of your hand into contact with a place on your body that would like to receive it right now…”

“You might adjust anything you’d like to adjust so it feels just right” 

“You might notice any sensations, warmth perhaps, the weight…” 

“See what you may notice in that place of connection…

Additionally, I find it also resourceful to offer non-doing self touch as well, and invite regulation through imagination. 

«You may want to bring an image of something that brings “joy” to your heart. Notice how it feels to welcome it.»

Taking in the Good: This practice can fit very well throughout the class and at the end of the yoga class and support the internalisation of positive experiences in implicit memory while fostering resilience. While inviting to welcome and nourishing thoughts, perception, emotions etc we can invite them to stay with the experience for some more breaths, Sense it within the body, Savour the pleasurable experience, and potentially invite a symbol, shape or movement that comes with it. 

Example of language: 

“You may want to notice small moments of comfort or ease, such as the warmth of the mat, the support of the ground, or the rhythm of your breath” 

“You might take a moment to really savor this feeling of ease or support, letting it settle into your body like sunlight soaking into your skin”

"As we close, you might take a moment to notice what feels good or supportive in your body right now and imagine keeping it with you as you move through your day."

Loving presence, co-regulation and nourishing empowering statements:

Through therapy, I experienced the profound impact of co-regulation—the calming effect of being in the presence of someone emotionally attuned to you. My therapist’s attunement offered a sense of safety and grounding during overwhelming times. In my yoga classes, my intention is to provide a similar sense of safety by being a compassionate and attentive presence for my students. Teaching from a place of loving presence means seeing our students as both a source of nourishment and inspiration. When we are compassionate, present, sensitive, and appreciative, we naturally create resonance, allowing others to feel safer, cared for, and understood. This supportive presence helps survivors connect with the ventral branch of their vagus nerve, fostering a sense of safety and attunement to another human being. Through our attention, facial expressions, and tone of voice, we can facilitate co-regulation and help students feel anchored and supported.

Finally, incorporating nourishing statements and affirmations throughout the class can be deeply empowering for students. For example

“There is no rush.”

“It’s your choice.”

“Your needs matter.”

“Your journey is brave.”

We can also combine the poses to nourishing affirmations. 

While guiding students through a butterfly hug, I might say, “You are worthy of gentleness, kindness, and peace.”

As they circle their arms upward, I could share affirmations such as, “I deserve to take up space” or “My needs are important,” This could support instill confidence and self-worth.

When pushing away with their arms, I could offer, “I release what does not serve me anymore” or “I honor my boundaries.”

As students bring their hands to their heart, I might invite them to reflect on affirmations like, “I create space for joy,” “I deserve to take in my own love,” or “I am held and supported.”

Some “last” thoughts…

This reflective essay has been a beautiful gift for me to sit with and explore a topic that is very close to my heart.

Reflecting on, practicing, and integrating somatic experiences into trauma-informed yoga has been an experiential and heart-led journey. Not only has it supported my own healing process through personal practice, but it has also led me to teach from a place of compassion and presence as I now welcome a somatic approach to my trauma-informed yoga classes. My intention when teaching is about creating a space where people can feel safe, have choices, find their own pace and reconnect to themselves.

This journey has reminded me of the power of compassion, choice, and presence, not just in teaching but in life itself. We cannot remind survivors enough about the choices they have with their own bodies.

When we teach from a place of loving presence, inviting people to reconnect, at their own rhythm and on their own terms, with their bodies—whether through simple things like inviting language, options, embodiment, grounding exercises, or supportive self-touch— we support them in take their power back, rebuilding trust and cultivating kindness, compassion in and towards themselves. 

This isn’t just about physical movement; it’s about a deeper healing, self-compassion, and offering a supportive environment where they can begin to feel safe again within their own body.

This reflection is just the beginning of an ongoing journey. I look forward to sharing more learnings as I continue to explore the connection of somatic practices and trauma-informed yoga.

Author: Clementine Evrard