Please consider sharing your reaction to this recorded session in your own words as you engage with the content. If you prefer a specific prompt, please reflect on our discussion of ‘accessible’ yoga and directional planes, what did you notice about how accessibility shows up in your own body or practice? How might you carry this awareness into spaces where you hold or share yoga?
I really enjoyed the example of trauma informed practice given during this live session. I liked the fact that it could be done standing or in a chair and how many levels of intensity were welcomed. I also enjoyed the levity of the demonstration and how most of the prompts were invitations. I loved how participants were encouraged to jump around, swing their arms and just exist in space. However, as a viewer and participant I did at times feel inclined to want to go into the full extension of warrior one and other asanas. I am realizing that being a participant versus a facilitator will be a very new experience. I will have to not only be attuned to myself and my own body's capabilities in the space, but those of the participants and ensuring they honor their capabilities by modeling this. I want to be able to do this fully by decentering myself in my role as a practitioner.
This week's session on accessibility and trauma-informed yoga really resonated with me. I appreciated the reframing of the concept as healing-centered too. It's not just about making yoga available but about truly creating space for healing. I found myself reflecting on the many layers of accessibility we explored. Physical accessibility is an important foundation. We have to acknowledge the uniqueness of every body and create supportive options like using a chair and offering options and gentle transitions. I loved how the practice we did allowed us to move slowly to become more comfortable and attuned to what our bodies needed in that moment.
We also discussed accessibility in terms of language, which I hadn't thought about as deeply before. It makes so much sense to introduce yoga in people's spoken language and use clear, approachable terms, especially for those brand new to yoga. Then, once trust and familiarity are established, there may be space to explore deeper and introduce traditional language and meanings.
Another dimension that stood out to me was emotional accessibility. Everyone arrives with different lived experiences and some people are carrying the weight of trauma and lack of autonomy (like those incarcerated). It's powerful to create a space where participation is flexible and rooted in respect for where someone is emotionally, not where they think they should be.
Today's practice really made me aware of my own emotional state and how it impacted my movement. I was under a lot of stress, and it showed. I did not have the energy or focus to fully engage in a way I typically expect myself to. But the way the session was stuctured allowed me to be myself as I was without pressure to perform or push myself. I feel like I'm leaving today's session with a deeper understanding of all the ways we can offer an accessible yoga class.
I really enjoyed the movement practice from this session and afterwards spent some time reflecting how it was different from yoga and movement classes I've taken. In our practice, I felt much more empowered to listen to myself and move my body in a way that felt right to me, which is not my usual instinct in a group class - I usually focus on following the instructor's flow to a t, which I'm now questioning why that is so important to me. Another part of the practice that piqued my interest was drawing upon energetic awareness and the importance of reading participants' energies and asking them about their energy levels, as well as understanding that the energy we bring into a space impacts how we are received, how others connect to us, and the experience that others have in our presence.
Personally, I loved this session! Jen has such a way with words that makes me feel truly nourished. I was in the previous cohort but had to pause due to the state of my emotional landscape. It’s really great to be back.
My own journey with yoga has been such a battle. I used to only do vigorous Bikram yoga, then transitioned to your standard hot yoga studios. I swore it was breaking me open and leading me to the path of liberation. Funny word, right? Since we discussed the harms of the world and America’s current toxic political canvas, I think back to that mid-twenty-something version of myself and realize that liberation means something entirely different now.
Back then, I thought if I could just liberate myself, all would be well—a very individualistic worldview. I was young, newly clean, and of course, spiritual principles expand over time. As we discussed in class, we are always excavating.
During the pandemic, I had no choice but to practice at home. I sought out influencers, YouTubers—kind of like chasing a high. To be blunt, I thought yoga was the perfect workout for me. It was strenuous enough, I was flexible enough… but then I realized something. While practicing at home, I wasn’t watching someone do a crow pose—and I was suddenly okay with not wanting to do a crow pose. That was the beginning of a subtle leaning into listening to my own body.
Then I found weight-inclusive yoga, and I was floored. I’ve been on my own path ever since—trying to listen to my own cues, trusting that I know more about my body than the facilitator, and recognizing the power of inclusive language.
This discovery sparked my desire to bring healing-centered yoga to as many people as possible. As Jen said in the recording: What happens to people when they even hear the word yoga? Even when I tell my family I’m doing this training, their immediate reaction is, “I’m not flexible.”
Safety is wildly important to me. And while I never had long extended stays in the prison system—a few nights in jail here or there—I still remember the guttural absence of autonomy. Of course, my active addiction didn’t exactly make way for the path of liberation… or did it?
Jen said something in this session that I found so eye-opening, paraphrasing, “ what tools can I provide that offers self regulation.” I am a far cry from my twenty something year old self. Who only wanted to heal herself. Now I understand the most basic premise of healing … heal yourself heal the world.
There were so many gems in this class—from the flow chart and the asana practice to Rachel’s comments about perfection and the anxiety of feeling like we need to do everything “right.” I deeply relate. I think that’s why I struggled in the previous cohort—as if I was undeserving of the grace that healing-centered yoga can offer.
I honestly can’t wait to dive into the Yamas and Niyamas. I’m so excited to continue this work.
I write this as I finish watching the recordings for sessions 2 and 3 over the last few days, in between work and sleep. This session 2 is familiar and covered the Group Agreement, 'Our Approach', and yoga philosophy. I particularly like 'I' statements and taking ownership of thoughts, feelings, and ideas. I especially like the idea of speaking, and how much, and if it's appropriate and making a contribution. I love the idea of what I'm contributing, and the value of wanting to be in this space. The group contract encourages presence, patience, and support. On this course, social justice is partnered with yoga studies.
We explore oneness of mind, body, and a supreme awareness of the oneness of Self. As I watch, pause, and play the recording I take in slowly and at depth the full flavour of what is being said. On the first course between January and June 2025 I followed through the lessons, journaled, completed the required tasks, attended the extra Tuesday guest sessions when I could, time-zone allowing, but toward the end felt little belief in yoga, myself, and the world. I guess that was in itself a philosophy of questioning. In parallel I developed a sense of a need to REALLY believe in all the parts, in spite of a 2018 200hr YTT that complimented my counselling practice.
This course demanded more by way of invitation.
As I watch and listen I make notes, and a Freudian slips appears! I wrote, '...how yoga creates barriers to Oneness'. What Jen actually said was, '...trauma created barriers to Oneness'. Okay, interesting! You or I can't hide what's really going on inside and it needs looking at. I've written how yoga can help to acknowledge generational harm, oppression, genocide, slavery, and abuse. The PYP approach is trauma-informed and 'healing-centred'. I love that. It's soft and forgiving, and an invitation. I have a great print-out of the Yamas and the Niyamas on the desk and I read every day. It's my iPhone wallpaper. I gradually settle into the intersection between yoga and social justice, where on the last course I couldn't quite agree that they were compatible, I am now beginning to feel that the philosophy grows me, and what I become is what I offer in service'. That feels so natural and I realise if I stop 'doing', I can start 'being'.
I've explored recommended sequencing, postures, breath, and moving. I harass Google Scholar for academic articles about the original ancient yoga as NO asanas at all, and only sitting and meditation on the sutras. Gradually I blend 'old school' with what modern life requires for healing from trauma, which IS moving (with the breath) and not with a Bell Curve. More that lovely wave graphic that is scientific and works.
It takes about a week to process and digest the ideas so I can embody them, and the real value of what I'm learning and changing is only emerging on my second journey on this wonderful course. There's an idea that what you're seeking is seeking you, and in the art of manifesting, you just have to be what you want to attract. I might just be starting to let go of all the death and destruction of two careers over nearly 35 years and end up where I was always destined to begin. No linear time, just a capacity to 'be', realise it, and pass it on in service of others in the form of yoga, yoga philosophy, and social justice.
As I watched this week's discussion and participated in the healing-centered guided practice, I gained new awareness about my personal practice. I found comfort in the way Jen led us into to the most accessible variation of the posture first, then invited us to explore further if we felt we were ready. It felt good to have the ability to chose without trying to meet the expectation of the instructor.
I began my yoga journey with Bikram yoga. The strict dialogue used in that series communicated a certain set of posture expectations that were inaccessible to many people, especially if they were new to practicing yoga. Additionally, the use of "props" was not allowed. Occasionally, I observed facilitators offer variations for practitioners who were unable to meet the expectations due to an injury which the instructor was made aware of prior to class. I was always an athlete and I had a lot of flexibility, so these expectations were relatively easy for me to meet for many years. As a result, I never stopped to consider the fact that many people were not at the same accessibility level as I was. Over the years, my body has aged, and I have endured injuries. Those same postures became not as accessible as they once were, yet I found myself still trying to meet the instructor's expectations of me, and the expectations of myself and what my body could once do. After several years of hurting myself to try to maintain my image, and bruising my ego, I surrendered to the fact that my body can only do what it is capable of doing. Bikram yoga no longer works for me. This is a recent and empowering discovery. Now, I choose classes where my agency is encouraged, and competition, even if it's only within the self is discouraged.
My yoga journey has allowed to me to experience what it is like to accept the fact that my body will not always be able to do the advanced variations. It has allowed me to feel what a person feels when they are told to begin with a deeper variation, then adjust backwards as needed. When this happens, I feel like I am "not good enough, or not meeting the expectations." Having this self-awareness and experience will help me remember to facilitate a class by guiding practitioners into the most accessible variation first, then invite them to explore further.
Hello!
There are so many beautiful lessons I am still digesting and reflecting on from this session. I am brought back to my educational rearing, that is so often dominated by Eurocentric norms of living and behaving, that promotes the constant and violent exploitation of historically marginalized communities and their bodies, their stories, their histories. The importance of discussing positionally especially stood out to me, as I find that I cannot commit to a practice of true embodiment without recognizing the intersecting politics of the identities I hold. As I consider the week's themes of power, privilege, and yogic study, I consider the importance of building lasting communities that do not seek to further erase indigenous voices and stories, but that seek to understand and amplify them.
The practice offered in the week's session brought me to reflect on what it means for me to respond to my body over reacting to it. True embodiment, in this sense, highlights the value of being with the body, with the intention of being present with the body's sensations. This, for me, is almost like a reassuring, "I'm here." Most of the time, I find that a deep breath and a present-centered awareness of my body's sensations, ranging from a racing heartbeat to clammy skin or a shaky voice, is what my body seeks more of.
As I watch this session and consider a healing-centered practice, I am called to challenge my conditioned habits of being "on the go", or worse, on autopilot, and cuing to my body that my body is joy, love, peace, and uncertainty. This is what brings me to this training and what calls me to choose being with and responding to what my body is living through throughout time. I am grateful for this program and for the lessons to come. Also, you all are deeply inspiring -- I am so thrilled to be in community with you all!
Zoha