Teaching Trauma-Sensitive Yoga: A Practical Guide

by Brendon Abram, Mark Stephens (Foreword by), Margaret A. Howard (Afterword)

Overview

A practical, hands-on, experienced-based guide from a military veteran turned yoga teacher

Brendon Abram combines his first-hand experience with PTSD in the field and years of teaching to offer this practical guide to bringing trauma-sensitive yoga to both clinical and studio settings. Drawing on his work with military veterans, first responders, and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, he emphasizes the importance of respecting the uniqueness of every individual and demonstrates how to use the foundational principles of yoga to create a safe experience. Abram explains that basic principles of yoga bring power to the practice and that breath, mindful movement, focused awareness, and acceptance of present-moment experience form the foundation of any yoga offering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623172244
Publisher:	North Atlantic Books
Publication date:	07/10/2018
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	715,530
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

BRENDON ABRAM is a thirty-year veteran of the Canadian Forces who served with the United Nations in El Salvador and NATO in Bosnia. A Yoga Alliance registered EYT (experienced yoga teacher), he has trained with David Emerson, completed forty hours of training with the Trauma Center in Boston to teach trauma sensitive yoga, and has taught yoga to United States Military veterans with PTSD. He was also an instructor for a research study that examined the effects of yoga on people recovering from operational trauma. As an associate at Trent View Counselling in Trenton, Ontario, Abram has worked under the direct supervision of a clinical psychologist for the past three years to teach yoga-based self-regulation practices to those living with trauma and other stress related disorders. He has worked with military veterans, first responders, and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. Applying what he has learned in the clinic, Abram frequently teaches trauma sensitive yoga at teacher trainings and Yoga Alliance certified workshops to yoga teachers and mental health care professionals.

Table of Contents

Foreword Mark Stephens ix

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

1 Trauma Is a Fact of Life 1

2 Understanding Trauma 7

3 Yoga and Trauma 25

4 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga 33

5 TSY for the General Population 49

6 TSY for the Clinical Population 65

7 Choosing a TSY Offering 73

8 Teaching Your First Class 81

Conclusion 101

Afterword Margaret A. Howard, MFA, LCSW 103

Notes 109

Bibliography 117

About the Author 121

Editorial Reviews

Brendon’s clear, concise book zeroes in on some key aspects of how we can make yoga accessible to and useful for people who have experienced various forms of physical and psychological trauma. This is a key contribution to a growing field.”
—David Emerson, director of yoga services for the Justice Resource Institute and coauthor of Overcoming Trauma through Yoga

From the Publisher