Transforming Trauma through Yoga
Yoga can be a safe and accessible way to utilize the body – the primary site of the trauma and all that it holds within – as a powerful vehicle for transformation.
The practice of yoga allows survivors to regain a sense of comfort and ease within their own shape, to non-verbally process feelings that transcend language, and to experientially cultivate gratitude towards the body, which all serve as an embodied reminder of their innate resilience.
Hosting this yoga workshop on a campus or in a community, offers survivors a safe (enough) space to discover their body as a resource for healing, to build self-trust and intuition, to identify community support and belonging, and to gain a variety of tangible tools that can nourish and sustain them throughout their healing process.
Molly teaches from a trauma-informed, non-prescriptive lens that is grounded in empowering her students to listen to and follow their internal teacher.
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This workshop will provide survivors with:
Practices that gently re-acquaint oneself with the body, mind, and spirit
Tools to ground oneself and soothe nervous system over-activation
Accessible meditation and mindfulness practices
Permission to listen to the language of the body and practice self-direction
Foundations for a yoga home-practice to utilize for ongoing healing and self-care
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During the class, Molly shares themes that connect yoga philosophy with trauma resilience theory, making philosophy and theory experiential and personalized for each survivor.
The session(s) incorporate light discussion, optional physical movement, breathing exercises, meditation, and journaling.
When taught from a trauma-informed lens, yoga offer survivors a safe space to gain greater awareness around strength, stability, assertiveness, self-acceptance, mindfulness, and their own experience of embodiment.
This workshop can be offered in a variety of formats - whether a single or multi-session, and the length of time can be adjusted to meet participants needs and abilities.
Molly has been studying yoga since 2000 and first began teaching in 2006. After she was sexually assaulted, she spent 3 years practicing privately with seasoned instructors who drew from various yoga methodologies, providing her with a solid foundation for her own healing and an expansive view of yoga that informs her teaching. Yoga asana, meditation, and philosophy, in a variety of manifestations - including vinyasa flow, yin yoga, hot yoga, and restorative yoga - have been an integral component of her ability to navigate the immediate, short-term, and ongoing impacts of surviving sexual trauma. She is honored to share this uniquely personalized practice as an opportunity for more survivors to return to, or discover at last, the fullest expression of themselves.