Trauma-sensitive yoga in the context of psychotherapy and spirituality

Abstract

Suffering, experiences of powerlessness and illness have always inspired people to deal with spiritual questions. This article shows what people who have suffered severe violence or powerlessness need and how the integration of trauma-sensitive yoga in the accompaniment of these people can initiate and support psychological healing processes. Thereby it becomes evident how trauma and yoga work in an antagonistic way. While trauma restricts and separates the breath, the feeling of body sensations and consciousness, yoga has a consciousness-deepening and connecting effect. Yoga as a comprehensive science of the relationship between body and mind offers a guideline with its eightlimbed path (according to Patanjali), according to which this article opens up the different levels on which yoga can bring about a healing process through mindful sensing of body and mind. Sensitive body awareness, accompanied by the acceptance of powerlessness, makes post-traumatic growth possible.