TSY & Rural (Youth) Populations

By: Campbell Schanz

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The terms “trauma-sensitive yoga” and "trauma-informed yoga” are heavily used in research and practices, so sometimes it’s a good refresher to understand the keys to this practice and how it works. 

An article that measures Rural Adolescent Trauma During Covid-19 in Montana gave a really insightful explanation to trauma and its effects. They state that trauma sensitive yoga works to calm the nervous system through rhythmic and self-soothing somatosensory input which leads to a physical and emotional sense of safety. This sense of safety in turn releases a hormone called helios which works to regulate stress-related neural systems. 

The article mentions how trauma can lead to difficulty identifying one’s feelings and distinguishing those feelings/bodily sensations from a triggered emotional arousal. The practice of yoga intertwines interception, the feeling of one’s own interior of awareness/thoughts/feelings, with proprioception, the relationship between self and environment. 

Through a 6 week, twice-weekly, trauma informed yoga intervention, the study was able to distinguish how trauma sensitive yoga can affect high school students in Montana. This area was of particular interest, as its high-altitude, prolonged cold and dark winters, and lengthy travel distance act as a barrier to mental health. The town in which the study took place has over three times the national average of suicide rates, many of which involve youth. 

The study consisted of 48 high school students who were placed either in a control or a treatment group. The group who received the treatment (trauma informed yoga) showed significant declines in cortisol levels and improvements in sleep in comparison to the control group. Similarly, there was a decline in depression and anxiety rates among those who participated in the yoga intervention. 

There are continual studies discussing the identification of trauma and its possible effects on the mind and body, and oftentimes the natural environment that one lives within gets overlooked as a possible causation to mental health crises. If trauma informed yoga can aid in countering the depression, suicide, and anxiety rates among individuals in isolated areas, it is essential that these practices become more widespread and accessible, especially to vulnerable youth populations.

With this in mind, I would also like to turn some attention to our neighbors in Western NC. Many of which we share friends and family with. Last year's hurricane continues to reap devastating effects, mental as well as physical. Natural disasters, which destroy communities and comforts, are forms of trauma, and if mindful movement can be harnessed as a tool for those suffering, I urge you to share the concept with them. Look out for your fellow NC community, however you can, and continue to shine your unique light to help uplift the spirit of others.

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