Join our conversation with host Rachel Autumn and Darby Ray, a trauma-informed yoga teacher. Darby discusses how yoga spaces can be a sanctuary, supporting students’ experiences with stress and trauma. In the compassionate world of trauma-informed yoga, personal agency and resilience are at the heart of a healing practice.

Darby has been teaching yoga for more than ten years, and is a passionate advocate for bringing trauma informed practices into wellness spaces. She’s worked in different treatment centers and communities, offering yoga as a modality to assist the body’s inherent capacity for healing and growth.

The conversation covers how to navigate the delicate balance of personal boundaries and growth within yoga, we share candid reflections on maintaining focus amidst distraction, and the power of listening to one’s body over external cues. Breathwork, often a cornerstone of yoga, is dissected for its dual role as a grounding force and a potential source of discomfort, prompting a deeper conversation on offering choices and normalizing a spectrum of responses. Moreover, we tackle the practical aspects of teaching, like the use of consent cards for hands-on adjustments and the necessity of self-care to sustain the quality of teaching, especially in group dynamics post-pandemic.

Included is a discussion about the art of crafting a yoga practice rich in options and variations that honors all bodies and abilities. Rachel and Darby explore the challenges of online instruction, affirming the critical role of language and pacing when visual cues are absent, and how the universal benefits of trauma-informed yoga that can extend beyond trauma survivors to anyone coping with life’s stresses.

Key Takeaways for this Episode

(00:00) Introduction to Darby Rae

(06:53) Addressing trauma in classes 

(11:27) The language of trauma-informed teaching

(18:00) Teachers' responsibility in trauma-informed classes

(24:01) Creating a supportive and flexible classroom environment

(26:31) Step-by-step exploration of trauma-informed yoga practice

(34:27) Importance of self-care in yoga teaching

(37:11) Building a trauma-informed public yoga class

(45:12) Trauma-informed yoga classes online

(51:02) Collective Resilience yoga teacher training

Links:

Darby Rae on Instagram

Darby Rae Website

Collective Resilience

Hala Khouri

Kira Haglund

Santa Monica Yoga

Exhale to Inhale

GLO classes:

Listen To Your Body Qi Gong with Stephanie

Regulate Emotions Flow with Elena

Nervous System Gentle Flow with Divya

Grief Support Hatha with Ivorie