Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy by David Emerson

Author:David Emerson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

4

TAKING EFFECTIVE ACTION

SAM IS A 30-YEAR-OLD MALE WITH A CHILDHOOD TRAUMA history; he also was a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had been in therapy for 2 years by the time we met. At the time of this example, we had done yoga together for about 9 months. One day we were doing the Seated Mountain Form (see Chapter 8 for an example) together, and after a few minutes of sitting, Sam said, “My back feels really sore.” I responded, “Would you like to try standing up?” After a moment, Sam replied, “Yeah, ok.” We stood up together and I asked, “How does your back feel now?” Sam’s face changed from a grimace to a smile and he said, “Hey, it feels a lot better.” I then asked Sam if he wanted to try that action again and this time we could each experiment with noticing the muscles we felt that helped us move from sitting to standing. He was up for it. He was curious. So we sat back down and took a couple of breaths and then tried it again. My invitation was “if you like, moving a little more slowly this time, experiment with noticing whatever muscles you feel.” Once we stood up I asked Sam if he noticed any muscles and he said, pointing to the top of his legs, “I felt these big muscles in my legs just when I started standing.” I shared that I had noticed the muscles in the backs of my arms because I had pushed myself off of the arms of the chair to get started. Finally, I asked Sam again while we were still standing, “How does your back feel?” “Good, good,” he said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.