YogaFit Warriors Trains
Trauma-Informed Teachers
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Shaye Molendyke, Lt Col USAF, MA, E-RYT-200, 500 RYT, C-IAYT
ogaFit for Warriors is a comprehensive traumainformed yoga program focused on activating the natural neural, chemical, and biological healing mechanisms in the body using yoga postures, breath, and mindfulness. Exposure to trauma, abuse, or neglect is the number one unaddressed physical and health concern in the world. We are witnessing an unprecedented worldwide traumatic event affecting human beings at all levels of society. The Pandemic has brought to the forefront for healthcare workers, educators, yoga teachers, and even businesses the importance of understanding how trauma operates and seeing the unconscious mechanisms that impact each person differently. The common variable of trauma is the feeling of being immobilized in fear with a perceived lack of control. Humans have evolved through cooperation that allowed for both physical and more importantly, emotional safety through a shared collaborative environment. That sense of safety is deeply compromised when we can’t use our senses to defend against a potential lifethreatening event. For example, viruses can’t be seen, touched, tasted, or heard. Our safety is even further exacerbated by being unable to work cooperatively to address that threat. Isolation is a perceived life-threatening event for humans at the most primitive level. Unconsciously we understand there is something dangerous about not being able to communicate in close proximity to other humans. The effects of these current events are a complex trauma that is happening uniquely to each person depending on their past traumas and their current resources and resiliency skills. YogaFit’s trauma-informed yoga programs help us to deeply understand and more importantly witness what’s happening “behind the scenes.” These programs empower us to address this mental health triage moment in history as a helper--regardless of the uniform we wear. Thankfully, exciting new neurological and psychological discoveries, including polyvagal theory, allow for a more expansive understanding of the full impact of trauma. We are also starting to understand exactly how and why yoga helps mitigate these impacts. Somatic processing and treatment methodologies like yoga are being used to help repair and rebuild distressed nervous systems. This in turn helps the brain integrate and “file” distressing memories.
What makes a trauma-informed yoga class?
The primary difference in a trauma-informed yoga practice is the focus on HOW we practice instead of WHAT we practice. While we are certainly moving through postures, it is more the state of 14 YOGAFIT.COM
being we are in versus the focus on pure physical form in a pose. Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) activation is the key to creating a more sustained healing state of being. This is instead of the elevated cortisol-releasing state of being in the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). The SNS has been shown to stay perpetually “on” after a traumatic event or during chronic stress; the SNS is the primary inhibitor of our natural healing mechanisms. A good trauma-informed yoga practice teaches and empowers individuals to intentionally activate their PNS system. This empowering approach helps establish an enduring personal resiliency after a disempowering traumatic event. Yoga classes with large or fast movements can actually get in the way of healing due to increased SNS activation. Through our unique methods at YogaFit, students learn to feel when their SNS is activating. They are then better able to regulate their nervous system using breath, gentle movement, trauma-sensitive language, specific meditations, and limbic-center focused guided imagery. We have found our students are better able to release stuck energy once they feel safe and when they are able to gently acknowledge their bodies instead of disconnecting or disassociating. The part of the brain linked to healing is the limbic center or emotional brain. We intentionally activate this system by grounded and mindful movements. This creates a gradual tolerance of increased sensations that students learn to manage.
YogaFit’s Trauma-Informed Program
YogaFit for Warriors is a trauma-sensitive and trauma-informed yoga program designed by military veteran and yoga therapist, Shaye Molendyke (C-IAYT) and yoga therapist, Kristy Manuel (C-IAYT). YogaFit’s Master Trainers who teach the Warriors Program have a depth and breadth of knowledge in yoga as well as in mental and physical health fields. Our trainers maintain the highest certification in the yoga profession as Certified Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT) and they also have decades of experience. They are working at the cutting edge of the latest yoga therapy techniques.
The Importance of Slow Mindful Movements
YogaFit’s Warriors classes use slow mindful movements to activate the healing limbic system. We believe that the rhythmic vinyasa flow style is critical to restoring the natural processes of the body. These include the cardiovascular, endocrine, and digestive systems as well as the circadian and cranial rhythms that get disrupted after a traumatic event or prolonged stress. We also incorporate unique iliopsoas (psoas) activating and releasing practices. These practices
