Trauma Yoga

What is Trauma Informed Yoga?

Trauma affects people in deeply personal ways, leaving lasting imprints on the body, mind, and spirit. It can show up as persistent anxiety, physical tension, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, or difficulty feeling safe in one’s own body. While traditional talk therapy and other healing modalities can be incredibly beneficial, trauma is often stored in the body in ways that words alone cannot access or release. This is where Restory Yoga's Trauma Yoga can play a transformative role.

Trauma-Informed Yoga is a gentle, intentional practice designed to help individuals reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems, and process unresolved emotions in a safe and supportive environment. Unlike conventional yoga, which may prioritize fitness, flexibility, or athleticism, trauma-informed yoga focuses on safety, choice, self-awareness, and empowerment.

Through mindful movement, breathwork, meditation, and somatic healing techniques, this practice creates space for self-compassion, grounding, and a sense of control over one’s own body. Trauma-Informed Yoga is not about pushing physical limits—it’s about learning to listen to your body, honor its needs, and build a relationship of trust with yourself.

How Trauma-Informed Yoga Supports Healing

Research has shown that trauma is not just a psychological experience—it’s also a physiological one. The nervous system, particularly the autonomic nervous system (ANS), plays a significant role in how trauma is processed. When trauma occurs, the body may become stuck in a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response, making it difficult to return to a state of safety and regulation.

Trauma-Informed Yoga helps regulate the nervous system by:

Activating the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) to counterbalance stress responses
Encouraging interoception (awareness of internal sensations), helping individuals reconnect with their bodies safely
Providing predictable, grounding movements to reduce hypervigilance and overwhelm
Offering choice-based guidance so practitioners feel in control of their practice
Creating a supportive and non-judgmental environment where people can explore movement without pressure

Every session is designed with these principles in mind, ensuring that participants feel seen, supported, and empowered in their healing journey.

Week 1: Trauma-Specific Yoga Flow

Understanding that trauma manifests differently for each individual, ReStory Yoga's trauma-specific flow is offered during the first week of the month to focus on a particular type of trauma—such as developmental trauma, complex trauma, chronic trauma, or medical trauma. Each session is informed by research on where these experiences tend to be stored in the body, such as the chest, heart, pelvis, lower back, or gut.

During these sessions, you can expect:

Somatic and restorative yoga poses designed to gently release tension in key areas of the body
Guided meditation to help process emotions and reconnect with a sense of safety
Breathwork techniques to regulate the nervous system and reduce anxiety
A welcoming, supportive space where healing happens at your own pace

By integrating these elements, trauma-specific yoga flows provide an opportunity for deeper self-connection while fostering emotional and physical resilience.

Week 2: Inner Child Work Yoga

Many of the patterns we struggle with as adults—self-doubt, people-pleasing, difficulty setting boundaries—can be traced back to childhood experiences. Inner child work is a compassionate approach to healing these wounds by reconnecting with the younger parts of ourselves that may still carry unresolved pain, fear, or unmet needs.

During the second week of the month, a special Inner Child Work Yoga class is dedicated to nurturing this connection. This session blends:

Meditation & visualization to meet and offer love to your inner child
Journaling prompts to explore emotions, memories, and self-compassion
Restorative & playful movements to foster a sense of safety and joy
Somatic techniques to help integrate emotions into the body in a non-overwhelming way

Reconnecting with your inner child through yoga can be a profound healing experience, offering space for self-compassion, emotional release, and reclaiming joy.

Week 3: Yoga Nidra for Trauma Relief

During the third week of the month, we focus on Yoga Nidra, or "yogic sleep". Yoga Nidra is a deeply restorative, guided meditation practice that is traditionally done lying down in a comfortable position. Our sessions typically last 45-50 minutes.

Unlike traditional meditation, which requires active focus, Yoga Nidra allows the mind to settle into a liminal space between wakefulness and sleep, where deep healing can occur.

Why Yoga Nidra Supports Trauma Healing

Activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System

Trauma often keeps the nervous system in fight-or-flight mode, making relaxation difficult. Yoga Nidra helps shift the body into a state of deep rest, supporting emotional regulation and physical healing

Accesses the Subconscious Mind

Many traumatic memories are stored beneath conscious awareness. Yoga Nidra allows the subconscious mind to safely process these experiences without direct confrontation.

Helps Rewire Neural Pathways

Guided relaxation helps create new, positive neural connections, shifting trauma-related thought patterns toward safety and resilience.

Releases Stored Tension

Trauma often lives in the nervous system and muscles, contributing to chronic pain, fatigue, or dissociation. Yoga Nidra’s body scan technique helps bring awareness to these areas and supports gentle release.

Improves Sleep & Reduces Hypervigilance

Many trauma survivors struggle with insomnia and hyperarousal. By calming the nervous system, Yoga Nidra promotes better sleep patterns and long-term nervous system regulation.

Yoga Nidra is a powerful yet accessible tool for healing, allowing the body and mind to enter a space where deep relaxation and integration of past experiences can happen in a safe, non-intrusive way.

Week 4: Yoga for Anxiety + Nervous System Regulation

Anxiety can make it difficult to feel present, calm, or in control. Our fourth-week Yoga for Anxiety class is designed to support nervous system regulation through research-based breathwork, movement, and mindfulness practices.

Regulating the Nervous System Through Yoga

Scientific research shows that intentional breathwork and mindful movement can help shift the body out of a stress response, promoting relaxation and emotional balance. This class focuses on gentle, repetitive movements and grounding techniques that encourage a sense of safety in the body. Through these practices, we signal to the nervous system that it is safe to relax, helping to release tension and restore inner peace.

Journaling & Goal Setting: Moving from Stuck to Empowered

Anxiety can make us feel stuck in cycles of overthinking and self-doubt. To help shift this mindset, we incorporate journaling and goal setting, encouraging self-reflection and forward-thinking. Through thoughtful prompts, we explore ways to move beyond fear and uncertainty, focusing on what we are capable of rather than what feels overwhelming. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?”, we shift the question to, “What is one small step I can take to support myself?”

By combining movement, breathwork, nervous system education, and journaling, this class provides a holistic, empowering approach to healing from anxiety. Whether you're looking for relief, resilience, or simply a moment of calm, this practice is here to support you.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Trauma Yoga

Trauma Yoga is not just about movement—it’s about rebuilding trust with your body, reclaiming agency over your own healing, and cultivating self-compassion. By integrating trauma-specific flows, inner child work, Yoga Nidra, and anxiety-reducing practices, this approach creates a holistic path to nervous system regulation and emotional resilience.

Healing is a deeply personal journey, and progress isn’t measured by how flexible you are or how many poses you can master. Instead, it’s about how safe, connected, and empowered you feel in your own body.

You are worthy of peace. You are worthy of healing. Your body deserves to feel safe again.

Join our pay-what-you-can Trauma Yoga Class and take the first step toward reclaiming your well-being today.