What is Trauma Sensitive Yoga and How Can It Help?
If you've ever felt disconnected from your body or struggled to find safety in traditional yoga classes, you're not alone. For many trauma survivors, movement can be both healing and triggering. It makes sense. From watching the teacher bend into impossible shapes to lying still in savasana for what feels like hours on end, it’s easy to see how traditional yoga classes can feel intimidating—or even unsafe. Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) offers a different approach—one rooted in safety, choice, and empowerment.
What is Trauma Sensitive Yoga?
Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) is an evidence-based somatic intervention developed specifically for survivors of trauma. Unlike conventional yoga classes, TCTSY is designed to support people who have experienced complex trauma, PTSD, childhood abuse, intimate partner violence, or systemic oppression. TCTSY not about perfecting poses or becoming more flexible. It isn’t even about finding your peace. Instead, it’s about using movement to re-write your relationship with your body.
As a certified TCTSY facilitator, I guide clients through a series of gentle, invitational movements in each session. There are no hands-on adjustments and no expectations to perform in a certain way. Every movement is optional, and you’re always in charge of what you choose to do—or not do.
How Can TCTSY Help?
TCTSY can support healing in many ways:
Restores a sense of control: Trauma can leave you feeling powerless. TCTSY emphasizes choice and agency, helping rebuild trust in yourself.
Promotes body awareness: Many trauma survivors experience disconnection or numbness. Through mindful movement, clients can safely reconnect with physical sensations.
Supports emotion regulation: Regular practice can help with grounding, calming the nervous system, and noticing emotions without overwhelm.
Complements talk therapy: TCTSY is often used alongside traditional psychotherapy. It supports the integration of mind and body, especially for clients who’ve reached a limit with talk-based processing alone.
Is TCTSY Right for Me?
If you’re curious about using movement to heal, then yes! You don’t need prior yoga experience, or any movement experience at all. You don’t even need to like yoga! What matters is your interest in exploring how gentle, intentional movement might support your healing.
My TCTSY sessions are ideal for clients who:
Want to feel more at home in their body
Are working on grounding, boundaries, or self-trust
Are curious about somatic healing or body-based approaches to trauma recovery
Ready to Begin?
I offer online yoga therapy groups and private TCTSY sessions for adults. Whether you're navigating trauma, burnout, anxiety, or just looking to reconnect with your body in a meaningful way, TCTSY can be a powerful tool.
If you're curious about how TCTSY could support you, reach out here! I’d love to know how I can help.
