Yoga is increasingly recognised for its ability to support mental health. In this six week course for women, you will be guided by Katie Sayles, to learn practical techniques and mind-body explorations to support your trauma recovery journey.

This is a six week exploration of Therapeutic Yoga, Somatics and Polyvagal Theory to support you in your journey of self-discovery, embodied healing and meaningful change.

Each session is 90 minutes long and will consist of psychoeducation, movement, breathing practices, somatic practices and rest.

When embarking on this course, you are likely to meet like-minded souls who may have had similar experiences to you. It may therefore be a beautiful way to open yourself up to being witnessed by others, and supported in a held space where any and all of your expression is welcome.

The session topics will explore:

Week 1: Choice - Often when we experience trauma, our choice may have been taken away from us. This session will help you to find a sense of safety in your body and increase your capacity to be with emotions and sensations without becoming overwhelmed.

Week 2: The Witness - This session supports you to non-judgmentally observe your thoughts, emotions and sensations using a range of practices and gentle stretches.

Week 3: Cultivate Equanimity - In this session, we will explore Polyvagal theory and practices that aim to facilitate greater balance in the nervous system.

Week 4: Embodiment as Empowerment - This session is designed to support you to safely upregulate and mobilise the body and mind, enhancing the felt sense of vitality.

Week 5: Brain and Body Integration - This class explores the impact that trauma has on our body and mind, with practices to support brain integration.

Week 6: Opening to Love - In the final class of this course, practices aim to facilitate a gentle and safe opening of the heart, an inward turn towards yourself and softening of muscular tension.

What is the fee?

£180 for the six week exploration.

Location

Grow Yoga, 3 The Artisans Yard, Dyson Place

*This closed group is now full, but we have a waitlist. Please email elisha@grow-yoga.co.uk to be added

What is therapeutic Yoga?

In a therapeutic Yoga class, the practices are designed specifically to have therapeutic effects for example; stress relief, management of anxiety symptoms or soothing overwhelm. These classes aim to provide a helpful tools and a community, to support your physiological, mental and spiritual health.

Please note that this course is not specific to trauma or mental health needs, if you require more specific support, we recommend Yoga Therapy or the Trauma specific six week course.

What is a closed group?

In a closed group, you practice with the same group of people weekly. There are no drop in slots available, and everyone commits to at least a four week phase. If you want to stay longer, that’s great! If you want to leave - no problem - all we ask for is two weeks notice, so that we can fill your space.

Closed groups are helpful for therapeutic groups as they bring a sense of safety, familiarity and community into the process.

What is the fee?

£64 per four week phase.

Restorative Yoga is stilling and gentle, the class is particularly useful for busy people who are wanting to slow down and bring some ease into their day.

Practicing rest regularly is useful for immunity, digestion, menstruation, menopause & the reproductive system.

Rest also benefits social bonding, resilience and energy levels.

A pregnancy specific course, running for five weeks, led by our pregnancy and yoga for motherhood teacher Alex Newton.

This is a rich and in-depth course full of helpful information about pregnancy and how we can use mindfulness, relaxation, yoga, breathwork and myofascial release to support the body not only through pregnancy but in the birth of your baby and beyond. The course is suitable for beginners to yoga.

Key themes will include:

Deep Rest - leaning into rest through yoga nidra, creating 'nests' to support the body and allow the parasympathetic nervous system to come to the fore.

Intuition - learning to listen to the body's intuition through body awareness, sensing and noticing. Through mindfulness practices we will be meeting you and your body where it is each day.

Emotions - We'll be working at an embodied level with anxiety, low mood, restlessness, exhaustion, worry, joy and bliss. We'll be cultivating connection to ourselves and others.

Yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine - We'll be working with the five elements through acupressure and yoga and looking at how the wisdom of TCM can nourish us in pregnancy and beyond.

Breath - we'll be working with breath practices to release tension in the body and to help ease baby's passage - as well as help us connect with our emotions.

Voice - we'll be unleashing the voice and looking at how sound, and the sounds we naturally make in birth, can help release fear and tension.

Birth Biomechanics - we'll be moving to optimise baby's position in the third trimester and ease the baby's journey through the pelvis. We'll be freeing the pelvis, working with imbalance, maintaining strength and mobility and feeling how it is connected to the whole body such as the feet, jaw, breath and posture.

Body Support - releasing tension in the upper back, shoulders and lower back and looking at the emotional anatomy behind some of our tensions - how we can ask for support and how we receive help.

Touch - self massage, supportive holds and looking at how touch can directly talk to our nervous system and support us, and our babies, in pregnancy and beyond. We'll also be looking at what postpartum support we may need.

Closing circle and ceremony - the final session will involve a closing circle of connection, embodied practice, breath, poetry, nidra and rest.