Holistic Healing: Combining EMDR Treatment with Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
As a Trauma Therapist and a Yoga Teacher, with a personal yoga practice spanning over the past 15 years, I’m very passionate about integrating psychotherapy with eastern practices. Both EMDR Therapy and Yoga have been shown effective in working with a range of mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and more.
It’s widely understood that a regular yoga practice offers a range of benefits, both physical and mental. But what about the benefits of including trauma-sensitive yoga with EMDR Therapy? Many studies have shown benefits of yoga in regulating the autonomic nervous system and supporting the parasympathetic relaxation response, leading to a state of relaxation and calmness. Imagine how these benefits of deep relaxation alongside of trauma therapy could enhance treatment. By incorporating the benefits of yoga, individuals may be better able to access and process traumatic memories and emotions, and integrate insights from the EMDR, leading to more effective healing and recovery.
EMDR and yoga provide unique benefits that complement each other.
When combined, their healing potential is amplified, offering a more comprehensive approach to recovery while promoting self-empowerment, resilience, and overall well-being.
Here's Ways EMDR and Yoga Work Together:
Reducing stress and anxiety
Both EMDR and yoga have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety levels. EMDR can help process and integrate traumatic memories, while yoga can help calm the mind and body through physical movements and breathing techniques. A combination of these approaches in a session can enrich integration as yoga can support a relaxed and connected experience.
Promoting relaxation
Yoga can help individuals relax and reduce muscle tension, which can be particularly helpful for individuals who experience anxiety or stress as a result of trauma. When practiced regularly, deep breathing can be a powerful tool for individuals to regulate their physiological responses to trauma triggers and emotional distress leading to feeling more capable and empowered in the treatment process. Also as individuals are able to relax more during EMDR, they can find more focus and attention with the memories during the reprocessing stages of EMDR therapy.
Enhancing self-awareness and improving emotional regulation
EMDR helps individuals build understanding of the impact of trauma as they become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, which can be useful for understanding the impact of trauma on their mental health. Yoga can also deepen mind-body connection by encouraging individuals to tune into their breath and body sensations through mindful movement. Improvements in self-awareness can also help individuals process and manage their emotions more effectively.
Enhancing cognitive processing
EMDR can help individuals process and integrate traumatic memories, while yoga can help improve cognitive functioning through mindfulness and concentration techniques. A relaxed state can enhance cognitive functioning, allowing the individual to better attend to and process new information, and to integrate it into their existing knowledge and understanding of the world. Yoga can offer a safe space to explore and integrate experiences related to trauma and the trauma treatment, supporting the overall healing process
Strengthening emotional resources and adaptive thoughts
Both EMDR and yoga can support neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change and adapt, which can be particularly helpful for individuals who have experienced trauma. This can contribute to changing unhelpful thought patterns and learning new ways of relating to oneself and others.
Encouraging self-compassion and promoting overall well-being
Both EMDR and yoga can encourage self-compassion by helping individuals develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance. Cohesive treatments that include a focus on the mind, body and spirit can help reduce stress, improve mood and enhance functioning leading to overall well-being.
Ways to Incorporate Yoga with EMDR Treatment
1. Engage in a regular personal yoga practice, either attending classes at a local studio and/or practicing at home.
2. Work with a yoga therapist in addition to an EMDR Therapist.
3. Look for an EMDR Therapist that is also trained in yoga and mindfulness. Yoga practices and mindfulness can be integrated into EMDR treatment, as specific techniques to support ease during deeper trauma reprocessing stages. Yoga may also be provided towards the end of an EMDR session to support with the closure phase of EMDR treatment, helping provide deep relaxation, safety, and ease in transitioning from the session.
In Conclusion
Overall, the combination of yoga and EMDR can provide a comprehensive approach to healing trauma by addressing both the physical and emotional aspects of trauma. By integrating these practices, individuals can develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience, leading to a more holistic healing process. It's important to work with a licensed therapist who is trained in EMDR as well as yoga, and to ensure that the therapist has experience working with individuals who have experienced trauma.
Interested in Trauma Treatment Incorporating EMDR and Yoga in Asheville, NC
As a psychotherapist and yoga teacher, I provide EMDR in longer sessions combined with trauma-sensitive yoga in Asheville, NC. These sessions provide space for a dedicated focus on reprocessing trauma and difficult experiences, along with providing nourishment with experiential components of relaxation, intuitive movement, physical support, and integration with yoga. Pairing EMDR and Yoga helps address underlying issues while offering immediate, manageable steps towards feeling more empowered and capable with the collective benefits mentioned above. As always, reach out with any questions you may have and below are some ways to find out more:
Find out more about integrative sessions of EMDR and Trauma-Sensitive Yoga here.
Learn more about me and my practice here.