Trauma-Informed Yoga Session 2: The Ebb & Flow

Session 2: The Ebb & Flow invites you to honour the natural rhythm of healing, where emotions rise and fall like the tide. In this trauma-informed practice, all feelings are welcomed and normalized, whether calm, restless, tender, or uncertain, as meaningful parts of your process. Through steady breath and mindful movement, this session offers space to ride each wave with compassion, building resilience and trust in your capacity to navigate it all. This 8-part yoga series complements my 15-day Insight Timer Course, "The Wisdom of Our Wounds: Healing From Trauma," found in my teacher profile.

Please note that this video was recorded in a natural, outdoor setting. Some background noise may be detected. As this practice touches on trauma, please remember that it is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

Transcript

Hello, And thanks for tuning in. My name is Megan and I'll be leading you through your yoga series this week. For this week's theme, We're exploring the concept of ebb and flow during our healing process. Maybe you've noticed this pendulum, This swinging back and forth between feeling really good and on top of things and then feeling completely overwhelmed and knocked off his feet. When healing from past trauma, This pendulum feeling, This ebb and flow, Is absolutely normal. So I want you to think about what does that pendulum look like for you? Do you find that you feel good for a couple of days and then get knocked on your feet? Is it? Day by day, Or is there a longer period of time? I think it's important to remember that the healing process and progress is not linear. Some days it feels like we take 10 steps forward, But 15 steps back. So keeping this in mind and noticing and recognizing that This bounce back and forth, This duality between feeling good and feeling knocked off your feet is 100% normal. So with this week's yoga series, The idea is to move with the body in a way that brings a sense of compassion. Can you gently allow all of the sensations come to the surface? Recognizing that with healing, Sometimes you have to feel worse before you feel better. And so the invitation is to move through these next few movements. With a sense of kindness and gentle compassion. If something doesn't feel quite right, Instead of judging it as right or wrong, Can you sit with it exactly as it is? So let's get ready, Find yourself in a comfortable position, And we'll get started. Find yourself in a comfortable starting position. You're welcome to sit cross-legged on the floor or gently on your knees. If you're more comfortable in a chair, You can do that. Or even if you'd like, You can lie completely on your back. Just listening to your body and what it needs in this moment. Making the choice to honor it and do whatever feels most comfortable for you. And wherever you are, As you come to settle in, Giving yourself permission to tend to any adjustments that would help make this experience a little more comfortable. So if you need to scratch that itch or clear your throat, Wipe the hair away from your ear face. Just taking a moment to make all those adjustments that you need to. The invitation now is to bring the eyes gently to a close, Or if you're more comfortable, Just softly directing the gaze off the tip of the nose. The idea here is to just eliminate as much external distraction as possible. And as you come to settle into this moment, Just maybe thinking about how you arrived. So perhaps you're feeling a little bit rushed or scattered or maybe you're having a really good day. Remembering that there's no right or wrong. Emotion or thought that you should be having. Seeing what's there and honoring whatever comes up in this moment. Whenever you're ready, Drawing the attention now to the flow of breath as it comes into the body on the in-breath. And drawing the attention to the flow of breath as it leaves the body on an out breath. Just taking a couple of moments to tune into your own rhythm of breath. Remembering that there's absolutely no special way that you have to breathe. Your body already knows. Just gently. Drawing the awareness to what the sensation of breath entering and leaving the body feels like for you. You're welcome to stay paying attention to the breath as long as you'd like. The invitation now is to do a simple breath technique to the movement of arms. So it looks like this. On the in-breath, We're going to reach the arms high to the sky. As we exhale, We bring the elbows to a bend, Palms open. Inhaling the hands to the heart and exhaling the palms to open to the knees. If you're not comfortable for whatever reason, Just gently continue drawing the awareness to your breath. And if you'd like, We can follow along together. Take a long, Slow breath in, Reach the arms up. Exhale the elbows to a bend. Inhale, Hands to heart. Exhale palms to open. Inhale, Sweep the arms high. Exhale, Elbows to bend. Inhale, Hands to heart. And exhale palms to open. Inhale, Reach the arms high. Exhale, Elbows to bed. Inhale, Palms to heart. Exhale palms open to me. Inhale, Arms high. Exhale, Elbows to bend. Inhale, Palms to heart. Exhale, Palms open. Inhale, Reach the arms high. Exhale, Elbows to bend. Inhale, Palms to heart. Exhale palms to me. I'm going to continue on without any cueing, So use your own rhythm. Inhale, And find your way back into a neutral position whenever you're ready. Taking a moment now, You're welcome to continue with the breath technique. Or if you'd like, We're going to move to side body stretches. Whenever you're ready, Gently drawing the arms up above the head. Taking one hand and wrapping the fingers around the wrist, We're going to inhale, Lift up through the spine and exhale over to one side. Notice what sensations might emerge. Remembering that there's no right or wrong sensation to feel. If you'd like, You can also experiment with taking the bottom hand down to the floor or the mat. And just gently reaching the fingertips of the top hand. Off to the side just a touch more. You get to choose how far you'd like to go with this side body stretch. There's no right or wrong. Just noticing. Any sensations coming up in the body. And whenever you're ready. Lifting both hands back up above the head. If you'd like you can interlace the fingers. Reverse the palms up to the sky and take a nice big morning stretch if that feels comfortable for you. Taking a moment now to set up for the opposite side. So take the opposite hand to reach around the wrist and we're going to come up and over. Stretching through the opposite side of the body. Remembering to go at your own pace and if you'd like you can also experiment with taking the bottom hand down to the mat and reaching the fingertips over to the side. And perhaps if you'd like, You can take the breath into the side of the body that's being stretched. Imagining what it feels like to stretch through each of the ribcage. And when you're ready bringing it back up we'll interlace the fingers if you'd like and reach the arms up above head Big morning stretch here. And you're welcome to do the side body stretch on either side or just come to your neutral seated position and allow that movement to settle in. And whenever you're ready, Coming into what I call windshield wiper legs. So taking the hands just gently behind the hips. Planting the soles of the feet right on the floor and bringing the knees to a bend as much as you'd like. We're just going to experiment with dropping the knees off to one side, Getting a little bit of a twist through the core. And then gently drawing the knees to the opposite side. So much like a windshield wiper, This is exactly what we're doing with the knees. And you get to experiment and choose the pace. So you can go really, Really quick if you'd like. Or you can really slow it down and spend some time with the knees dropped to one side. Followed by the other. And just noticing any of the sensations that arise here. Perhaps one side feels a little bit more tender than the other and that's entirely normal. We're just releasing through the hips. And flowing side to side. And you can continue to do this as long as you'd like. And bringing yourself back to a comfortable seated position whenever you're ready. Taking a moment to let that movement settle. And when you're ready, We're going to move into a position called Child's Pose. So gently finding your way. On your hands and knees. And you get to choose. The knees can spread really, Really wide to the edges of the mat. Or, If you'd like, You can take the knees really close together. The choice is entirely up to you. Whatever feels most comfortable in this moment. So finding the comfortable width between the legs. Take the toes to touch behind you if that's comfortable for you. Now what we're going to begin to do is tiptoe the hands out in front of us. As long as you'd like. And then gently touch the forehead to the floor. What does it feel like to soften and melt the hips back towards the feet and ankles? Perhaps bringing your attention to the shoulders here. Noticing if you might be able to find a little bit of softness. A little bit of release through the shoulder joints. And finding your way into your own natural rhythm of breath. This is a really great way. Movement to come into if you need an extra moment of rest or breath and it's always available to you. An added variation, If you'd like, You can begin to walk the fingertips out in front of you. Until the elbows lift up off the floor. Just notice how that changes the sensation in your body. You get to choose if you want to stay here or just bring the arms back. Resting onto the floor. It's entirely up to you. For another added variation, You can experiment with sweeping the arms way off the left side of the mark. Or the right, Whichever you want to choose first. Notice the sensation of the side body stretch that we get. You get to choose how far you want to reach the arms off the side. Right or wrong way or there's no end point that you have to get to. Whatever feels good in this moment. And when you're ready, You can sweep the hands through center and draw them way off the opposite side of the mat. Again, Just noticing the sensation that comes up in the body. Does one side feel a little bit different than the other or do they both feel about the same? How can you use your breath in this moment? To find a little more comfort. Whenever you're ready bringing it back to neutral child's pose and hanging out here as long as you'd like. Again, This is one of my favorite movements to come to. Especially when I'm feeling a little scattered or. . . Just need a little extra moment of grounding. Taking a moment now, Whenever you're ready, We're going to move into tabletop position. So the knees are going to become underneath the hips. And the palms just come right underneath the shoulders. Notice the hands here. Perhaps you want to experiment with spreading the fingertips wide, Increasing the base or the foundation of our table. Maybe if you'd like you can press each of the finger pads into the floor. And just like the legs of a table are sturdy and strong, What do you need to do in your body to Find that sensation of solid and strength through the arms. Checking in with the spine here. Finding what feels like a neutral spine for you. So no compression. Just whatever lengthening the spine, Maybe sending the tailbone behind you and the crown of the head in front of you. Whatever feels like a neutral spine, Working your way into that. If you'd like, You can also experiment with drawing the belly button up towards the spine. Creating a solid tabletop surface. And when you're ready, We're going to move into some spinal curves. Called Cat and Cow. So moving into Cat first, We're going to tuck the tailbone underneath us. Curl the tailbone underneath. Scoop the belly, So tuck the belly button in towards the spine, Round through the shoulders, And when you're ready, Drawing the chin to chest. This somewhat mimics what an angry cat might look like, Hence the name. And then on your next in-breath, We're going to glide the tailbone up to the sky, Take the gaze there as well, And drop the belly button towards the floor. So imagining that we're getting this nice scooping C curve through the spine, Whatever that feels like for you. Beginning to match the breath now, On the exhale, We're going to move into angry cat, So round through the tailbone, Scoop through the belly. Round through the shoulders, Chin to chest. Inhale, Take the tailbone and the gaze to the sky, Belly button drops to the floor. Exhale angry cat Inhale. To cow. Exhale and recap. And inhale. Just do a couple more on your own pace and time if you'd like to. And whenever you're ready, Finding your neutral tabletop position. Taking the knees just a touch closer, Maybe about a fist width apart. From tabletop we're going to drop the hips now off the right side of the mat and take the gaze past the left shoulder. Again, You get to choose the intensity and how far you want to go with this. Coming through center, We're just going to drop the hips off the opposite side and take the gaze past the opposite shoulder. So just like we windshield wipered the legs, We're kind of doing this now with the hips. So go at your own pace and if for whatever reason you're not comfortable with this movement, Find your way back to tabletop or child's pose, Whatever feels most comfortable. And you can choose to drop the hip side to side as much as you'd wish and whenever you're ready. Finding your way back into your favorite version of child's pose, Whatever that feels like in this moment. And if you'd like, Just gently bringing the attention back to the breath. As the breath flows in through the body on the in-breath. And out through the body on the out breath. Perhaps you We'd like to notice the sensation of bringing softness to the hips as they float back towards the feet and ankles. Remembering that you can stay here as long as you'd like. But this is always available to you. Whenever you need an extra moment of rest or grounding. Slowly, Whenever you're ready, Begin to walk the hands back towards the knees. Find yourself in a comfortable seated position or lying down, Whichever feels most comfortable. The invitation is to draw the eyes to a close but if you'd like you can also softly direct the gaze downward. Taking a moment here if you'd like to. Tune in. To check in with how the body might be feeling. Paying attention to the subtle flow of breath coming in and out of the body. Just taking a moment to fully tune into your environment. What noises do you hear? What sensations do you feel? What thoughts are coming to the surface? And remembering through the ebb and flow of our healing process that Progress in healing is not always linear. Some days we feel like we've taken. A lot more steps backwards than forwards. And just noticing if. That is true for you today. How might you? Meat. That backward motion with compassion. Of kindness. And with non-judgment. Thank you for tuning in with me today. May you take the sensation of this practice with you throughout the rest of your day. And have a wonderful day ahead.