Trauma-Focused Yoga

12/01/2025

There’s been a growing interest in somatic and bottom-up approaches to healing, which is exciting to see. At the same time, I often notice the terms trauma-informed, trauma-sensitive, and trauma-focused being blended together. Each serves a different purpose, and understanding those differences can help us offer support more thoughtfully.

I wrote a short blog looking at this continuum through the lens of yoga, though these ideas apply to many practices. My hope is that it brings clarity for anyone exploring somatic work or considering yoga as part of their healing or their professional care.

https://traumafocusedyoga.com/blog/

Clear explanation of trauma-informed, trauma-sensitive, and trauma-focused yoga. Understand the continuum, the research, and how to choose the right model.

11/26/2025

It’s not about performing poses, but about honoring the body. Take a breath and join me in embracing presence in your practice.

11/19/2025

I presented at the CACTN Connecting for Children’s Justice Conference this week, and it was such a great experience. As a presenter, those moments when the room smiles back are everything. I loved getting to share this session, and the questions afterward were hands down the best part. If you were there, thank you for showing up with so much intention.


Peace out, Tennessee. 🥰❤✌️

11/17/2025

Fawning is a highly adaptive trauma response where we unknowingly “play pretend” to survive.

Fawning is a hybrid response, activating the sympathetic (hyperarousal) and parasympathetic (hypoarousal) branches of the autonomic nervous system at the same time.

• The hyperarousal aspect of fawning has us instinctively managing the moods and states of those “in charge.” We lean into the very relationships that are causing us harm, appeasing our perpetrators while taking personal responsibility for all relational difficulties. Fawning can be incredibly active.

• But at the same time, we are detaching from ourselves. The hypoarousal of fawning numbs our connection to self, our broader sense of agency, and often, our ability to feel the effects of the abuse at all.

We are threading a fine needle when we fawn, neither risking greater harm through fight or flight, nor shutting down completely. This highly adaptive response is moving beyond playing dead to playing LIFE. We are playing pretend, and we don’t even know it. We are playing house, playing the game (to survive or escape our situation), playing a part—sometimes as many parts as there are people in our lives.

🌟Click the link in my bio to get a Free PDF on the Fawning Trauma Response and to order FAWNING: Why the need to please makes us lose ourselves – and how to find our way back. AVAILABLE NOW 🤗

11/13/2025

Science is revealing more than ever about how trauma lives in the body, and the critical role somatic and nervous system-based approaches play in healing it. I’ll be speaking at EVAWI26 this April about how Trauma-Focused Yoga meets that need in clinical practice.

I’m honored to present three sessions at the End Violence Against Women International Conference in New Orleans, April 7–9, 2026.

This year’s theme, Empowering Change: Innovative Response Strategies for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, couldn’t be more aligned with the work I’m passionate about. One of the sessions, Bringing Trauma-Focused Yoga into Clinical Practice, will explore the philosophy and principles behind the practice, and how breath, movement, and interoceptive awareness can support safety, regulation, and reconnection in therapeutic care.

If you’re attending EVAWI26 or considering it, I’d love to connect.
Details and registration: https://cvent.me/YMyaW0

11/06/2025

https://traumafocusedyoga.com/rhythm-and-routine-nervous-system/

11/02/2025

The mind listens to words. The body listens to touch. Mantra and mudra speak both languages.

These simple practices help us shift out of mental noise and back into presence, something we all need more of lately.

In my latest post, The Quiet Power of Mantra and Mudra, I share how these tools calm the nervous system and invite a deeper sense of connection.

Read it here:https://traumafocusedyoga.com/https-traumafocusedyoga-com-the-quiet-power-of-mantra-and-mudra/

10/20/2025

New blog post just dropped.

Have you ever heard someone say that emotions are stored in the hips? This short reflection looks at where that idea comes from and what’s really happening in the body.

Discover how the psoas and pelvic floor respond to stress and why the body holds tension long after threat has passed. Learn how Trauma-Focused Yoga can help release stored stress and support nervous system regulation.

10/16/2025

After months of quiet work behind the scenes, my new website is finally live. It’s a place to explore Trauma-Focused Yoga™, upcoming trainings, and the heart behind this work. I’d love for you to take a look when you have a moment and let me know what you think.

Thank you to the kind hearts who helped bring this project to life and shared your thoughtful feedback along the way.

https://traumafocusedyoga.com

09/19/2025

I’m honored to be heading to Nashville, November 17–19, for the Connecting for Children’s Justice Conference, hosted by Children’s Advocacy Centers of Tennessee.

This gathering brings together professionals from across the country who are dedicated to protecting and healing children. I’ll be sharing Trauma-Focused Yoga™ as part of the conversation on how body-based practices can support trauma treatment and recovery.

It’s a gift to witness this work reaching new spaces and to join others who care deeply about creating pathways for healing.

Registration details: https://www.cactn.org/ccj/

09/01/2025

Have you ever been so busy at work that you forgot to eat or even noticed hours had passed without a bathroom break? That is chronic stress at work. The brain overrides body signals so you can keep going.

When stress is ongoing, interoception, or the awareness of what is happening inside the body, can become muted. Hunger, thirst, or fatigue fade into the background. This pattern is often reversible once the pressure lifts.

Trauma works differently. The body’s signals are not only muted but can also become tied to fear. A racing heartbeat, a tight chest, or stomach tension can be overwhelming and trigger memories of danger. Trauma can mute or amplify interoception in ways that feel unpredictable.

A principle of Trauma-Focused Yoga is regaining a safe sense of interoception. It means noticing the heartbeat, the breath, and the body’s subtle cues with safety. When we can meet these signals without fear, the body becomes an ally again.