Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Program

Our Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Program is specifically designed for complex and clinical settings. Informed by empirically validated approaches to trauma-sensitive facilitation and drawing on seven years of service delivery experience across hospital, mental health and survivor-oriented sectors, our facilitators are highly skilled at adapting programs to meet the needs of specific client groups.

We currently run this program in partnership with key community health services including Western Health, Eastern Health, and St Vincent’s Hospital.

About this program:

Our Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TSY) program is an evidence-informed, modified approach to yoga that supports connection and regulation through breath, movement, strength and stabilisation sequences. Research demonstrates that this approach to yoga can reduce autonomic sympathetic activation and blood pressure, improve neuro-endocrine activity and vagal tone, increase heart rate variability, and decrease reported symptoms of PTSD (Emerson & West, 2015, Rhodes et al., 2016; Tyagi & Cohen, 2016; van der Kolk et al., 2014).

In a TSY session, participants are invited to practice being present with their bodies, sensations, emotions and breath. Trauma-Sensitive Yoga focuses on the development of interoceptive skills through an emphasis of ‘function over form’ – i.e., noticing sensations in the body and being guided by what is noticed as opposed to adhering to strict yoga alignment cues.

Our model of TSY is informed by the Trauma Centre Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) modality, which was developed by the Trauma Center, Massachusetts under the guidance of Bessel van der Kolk (for more information regarding the rigorously evaluated TCTSY methodology, see here.). Based on seven years of participant feedback, our TSY Program diverges in small but significant ways from the traditional TCTSY model, integrating somatic stress relief practices, mindfulness, and individual reflective practice.

“As I often tell my students, the two most important phrases in therapy, as in yoga, are “Notice that” and “What happens next?” Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts”

— Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

Our TSY programs can be tailored for children, youth, adults, or families and are always designed to meet the needs of specific groups and settings. We specialise in small group programs with a maximum capacity of 12 participants. Programs typically run in blocks of 8-12 weeks with the opportunity to extend long term or ongoing, should it be site appropriate.

Each week we cover a different theme:

  • Week 1 : arriving together

  • Week 2 : resourcing and safety

  • Week 3 : curiosity and compassion

  • Week 4 : exploring your breath

  • Week 5 : taking effective action

  • Week 6 : balance and stability

  • Week 7 : moving towards comfort

  • Week 8 : acknowledging your efforts

Program Model

Participant feedback

  • "This program has had a significant and positive influence on how I feel, how I relate to myself and others, and manage the ups and downs through the rest of the week”

    TSY Program Participant

  • “Beautiful team and a nourishing space to be in even when I couldn’t feel safe in my body or mind. It was welcoming and autism/ADHD welcoming... I am very grateful”

    TSY Program Participant

  • “This has been exactly what I needed. I felt supported and safer to practice in this space. I’ve learnt so much too- I’ve already taken some practices into my everyday life”

    TSY Program Participant

Get In Touch

Interested in learning more about our Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Program?

To learn more about offering this program to your clients or community, get in touch with Alexia, our Programs Coordinator (alexia@collectivebeing.org) or contact us below.

We also run this program online and in-person for the general public. For details of these offerings, click here to access our Events page.