TRAUMA Senstive Yoga (TCTSY)

Community-based TCTSY—sometimes by other names—is available in relationship with organizations, studios, or as stand-alone offerings available to the public.

Current community-based TCTSY offerings are described below.

Embodied Possibilities @ Sanctuary

6-session series at Sanctuary in downtown Northampton (MASKED) Tuesdays 10-11am, March 4-April 8, 2025

As we collectively continue to better understand the diverse impacts of trauma in our bodyminds, the call for dynamic, embodied practices for survivors expands. Simultaneously, so many of our communities are being exposed to persistently or increasingly traumatizing conditions in our social-political landscape. Within this landscape, Embodied Possibilities is a 6-week series for folks interested in a non-verbal container to explore the possibility of having a body through choiceful movement. Rooted in research in complex trauma, neurophysiology, and attachment, as well as yoga, Embodied Possibilities provides a pathway to transform embodied trauma patterns through practicing personal agency in a container attuned to safety. 

In practice, an Embodied Possibilities session looks and sounds like a series of invitations to move or find stillness within the range of ways that your body moves. There's no expectation to look, move, or or feel a certain way, and you’re free to make each practice your own. Importantly, there’s no specific movement or flow that heals trauma. Rather, this practice is about exploring choices and noticing points of curiosity or sensation that might serve to create more possibilities for how to move forward. I will also be practicing, from my own mat; facilitation is entirely verbal, and never includes “hands-on assists” or other “corrections.” You are welcome to practice from a chair or mat as suits you; both will be available for each in-studio session. 

Embodied Possibilities is an expression of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY), an evidence-based intervention for survivors navigating the effects of complex trauma found to be supportive for many survivors experiencing unwanted trauma-related patterns like fatigue, numbness or detachment, fear and sadness, self-doubt, nightmares, confusing emotions, and more.

More information is available in the drop-down and “Common Queries” sections below! You can also learn more and register on Sanctuary’s website.

  • For this series, the same overall flow and series of shapes will be provided each session in service of predictability. Options for ways to move or explore stillness are offered as invitations, and you are welcome to make choices about how to practice.

    10-10:05: Entering and settling. You are welcome to set up your mat and/or chair and settle into the space.

    10:05-10:50: Invitational movement practice. Each practice begins with an opportunity to choose a starting shape (such as seated or standing) and an invitation to notice the places where your body is touching the surface(s) under you, if you'd like. Movement option offerings then generally flow from head/neck down to shoulders/arms, torso/back, and legs. At the end of the practice, there is 1 minute of silence, during which you are welcome to choose stillness or movement. To close the practice, you will be invited to notice the places where your body is touching the surface(s) under you, if you'd like.

    10:50-11: Transitions and time for feedback. As a way to close the practice time, these last 10 minutes are protected for you to transition out of the session in ways that work for you, such as choosing to move or find stillness for a few more minutes, to clean up your mat and/or chair, or to approach me to share any feedback or questions. During this time, I will remain on my mat and available to folks to receive feedback and/or questions.

  • -Register with Sanctuary. As a program offered through Sanctuary, registration is available on the series page on their website.

    -Complete enrollment form. Once you register with Sanctuary, you will receive a private Google form (accessible only by me) to gather a bit more information about your interest in TCTSY and a TCTSY-specific waiver. You can view/download the waiver here. You will not be asked to identify as a trauma survivor or describe experiences of trauma.

    -Questions. You’re welcome to reach out at any point during the process to ask questions or learn more!

  • Location: Sanctuary is located in downtown Northampton on the 3rd floor of Thornes Marketplace (150 Main St. Northampton, MA 01060) and accessible by local public transportation. There is abundant downtown parking for cars and bicycles. The studio accessible via stairs or elevator. Information about parking and accessing the studio space are available on Sanctuary's website.

    Restrooms: There are gender-inclusive single-stall restrooms outside of the studio on the same floor, as well as gendered multi-stall restrooms on other floors of Thornes. There is a key for the single-stall restrooms at Sanctuary's front desk.

    Studio space: The studio for TCTSY is a larger studio space. There are no mirrors. There are some yoga-connected spiritual/religious images in the studio; if you're interested, you can learn more about them from Sanctuary at the bottom of this page.

    COVID+: Masks are required for this series. I will always be masked when facilitating. If you are experiencing new or unusual respiratory or digestive symptoms, please do not come to class.

    If you have other access-related questions, please feel free to reach out to me or Sanctuary.

  • No special equipment is needed for this series. You are welcome to bring a mat if you have one; mats and chairs will be available for all participants.

    Feel free to bring water with you, if you'd like.

    No yoga "props" (e.g., blocks or bolsters) are purposely integrated into this TCTSY series. However, you are welcome to use props for your practice if you choose. Some will be available in the studio.

    You are welcome to wear whatever clothing works for you to explore movement/stillness. Sanctuary asks all visitors to remove their shoes at the door; if you would like to wear shoes during the practice, please bring a clean pair of shoes that have not been worn outside.

  • In relationship with Sanctuary, this 6-week series is offered on a sliding scale of $120–$180. Sanctuary also offers scholarships to folks for whom financial support would make this series (or their other offerings) available. Feel free to learn more on their website here.

TCTSY Micro-practice Sample

Common Queries

  • TCTSY is for folks living with the effects of complex trauma who feel that a nondirective, non-conversation-based, trauma-sensitive movement practice could be accessible at this time.

    You don’t need to have any specific movement experience or special equipment. This practice is designed to be adaptive to the needs of all bodies.

    Because movement practices can sometimes bring strong or unexpected feelings to the surface, I ask that all participants have access to a trusted support person or network where you can share and process your experiences from TCTSY sessions, in case you need or want to discuss your experiences.

    Like any practice or modality, TCTSY may or may not be a good fit for you in terms of vibe, types of movement, or other features. Different approaches work for different bodyminds! You're always welcome to try it out, to provide feedback, and/or to be all done at any time.

  • The majority of community-based TCTSY sessions involve me offering invitations for you to explore movement and/or stillness through different shapes with your body, as I practice along with you. I facilitate by sharing invitational options of ways you might choose to explore movement or stillness, and sometimes invite you to notice your breath or sensation. How you move (or don’t) remains entirely up to you! For example, I might say “if you’d like, you could explore movement with your neck. One way to move your neck could be by bringing your ear toward your shoulder, any amount. If you decide to bring your ear toward your shoulder, you’re welcome to find stillness in this shape, or to explore movement.”

    TCTSY can be practiced standing, seated on a chair or the floor, or lying down. No special equipment is needed.

    If you'd like, you're also welcome to view the "TCTSY Micro-practice" video above, which offers an example of how TCTSY sounds in practice.

  • Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) is an empirically-validated (research-supported) intervention for people who are impacted by the effects of complex trauma. If you’d like, you can explore the research supporting TCTSY here.

    Consistent with the TCTSY model, community-based TCTSY is shaped by trauma theory, attachment theory, and neuroscience, which are specific academic lineages that try to help tell the story of how complex trauma affects peoples’ bodies and relationships.

    TCTSY is also rooted in several key principles, which I seek to integrate into every aspect of the process:

    -Invitation: Rather than telling you how to be or move, I invite you to consider whether and how you’d like to try something on.

    -Noncoercion: There isn’t a right or wrong way to practice, move, or have a body. There are options, and you get to decide what is interesting or useful to you, without added pressure. Rooted in this principle, TCTSY never involves the use of touch.

    -Choice: This is the name of the game. I provide some potential options, and you’re welcome to explore what is interesting or useful to you in this moment.

    -Shared Authentic Experience: As I facilitate, I’m actually practicing right along with you (often with my eyes closed!). The idea here is that I can offer embodied facilitation, help ensure that you have space to explore without being observed, and that we get to explore independently and “together.”

    -Internal Body Awareness (also called "interoception": I use plain, body-focused language to provide opportunities for you to explore whether and how you’d like to notice what’s happening in your body through movement and sensation.

    -Feedback: I live a commitment to creating spaciousness for your feedback, and I respect any feedback you to choose to provide as a gift. It’s then my responsibility to respond to that feedback with care, self-reflection, and transparency.

  • While it has “yoga” in the name and integrates yogic principles, TCTSY is at its core an evidence-based somatic intervention for complex trauma. How different TCTSY feels to you in practice, however, may depend on the yoga you've seen or practiced before.

    TCTSY is an empirically-validated intervention for complex trauma or “chronic, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” It may be used in community settings (like a yoga studio or recovery center) or in clinical setting (like a hospital or therapy practice). This means that it has been designed and adapted over time with the feedback and contributions of people impacted by trauma.

    Importantly, I am also not currently a registered yoga teacher (RYT), though I am currently a student in a 200-hr yoga teacher training at Yoga Roots on Location. As a certified TCTSY facilitator, I use a variety of movements that may or may not be traditional yoga forms yoga forms, and I don’t use Sanskrit or English names for specific yoga forms (like “tree pose”). My training in TCTSY focused on treating complex trauma, rather than grounding in yogic teachings or physical forms.

    Unlike in many yoga offerings (particularly in commercial yoga settings), TCTSY does not emphasize the external expression or appearance of forms (i.e. doing it "right"), or receiving the approval of an external authority, such as a teacher. Its goal is not "fitness" or relaxation. Instead, the purpose is your internal experience as the participant. TCTSY is designed to concentrate power with the participant rather than the TCTSY facilitator. Importantly, this also means that there are no “physical assists” or any other kind of touch in a TCTSY session; I also don't move around the room or provide feedback about how you are practicing.

    If you have more questions about how TCTSY may be different than or similar to other kinds of yoga practice, feel free to reach out!