5 Types of Therapeutic Yoga Interventions for Healing Trauma

When we think about healing from trauma, we often turn to the mind. We seek to understand, reframe, and cognitively process our experiences. But for many of us, the pathway to healing isn’t just through the mind—it’s through the body. The journey of post-traumatic growth asks us not only to survive what happened to us, but to grow beyond it. And somatic practices like yoga for trauma offer a way to do just that.

Rooted in the principles of somatic psychology and polyvagal theory, therapeutic yoga helps regulate the nervous system, deepen interoception, and rewire trauma responses through both body and mind

Let’s explore five types of trauma-informed yoga interventions and how they help support post-traumatic growth.

1. Discovering: Building Self-Awareness with Somatic Yoga for Trauma

Trauma-sensitive yoga begins with self-awareness. Before we can change our inner state, we must first be able to name it. Discovery-based yoga practices center on this principle, helping you develop a conscious relationship with your nervous system.

In yoga, this is the practice of svadyaya (self-study). It’s about becoming aware of what you’re experiencing—be it physical sensations, thoughts, breath patterns, emotions, or energetic shifts.

Practices in this category invite curiosity over control. You might begin with a body scan, gentle seated movement, or breath awareness, asking questions like: “What am I noticing? What’s the state of my breath? Where do I feel tension or ease?”

By paying attention to these signals, we gain the self-awareness needed to make informed choices about how to best care for ourselves moving forward

2. Centering: Yoga for the Vagus Nerve

Once you know where you’re starting your practice, you can begin to gently fine-tune what you need to feel more present and balanced.

Centering practices might include conscious breathing (such as ujjayi breath), self-applied touch, and gentle movement to support vagus nerve stimulation.

These practices help us regulate our internal state and return to a felt sense of safety and connection in the here and now.

3. Balancing: Enhancing Nervous System Regulation and Resilience

Balancing yoga practices recalibrate the nervous system by having us move between activation and rest with more ease. We learn to both up-regulate and down-regulate as needed—like the subtle micro-adjustments an ankle makes to stay balanced while standing on one foot.

Even small postural transitions, such as moving from lying to sitting to standing, can support nervous system regulation and strengthen what’s known as vagal tone—a key indicator of resilience. These practices support both emotional balance and physiological steadiness.

4. Energizing: Reclaiming Strength with Power Poses

Energizing yoga asana and breath practices are enlivening, empowering, and often playful. They may include expansive “power poses” like five-pointed star or warrior poses, breathwork that elevates heart rate, or dynamic sequences that build strength.

These practices serve an important role: helping the body experience mobilization in a safe and supportive way. For those recovering from trauma, taking up space on the mat can feel revolutionary.

Paired with a phase of active recovery—where breath and heart rate settle—these practices improve vagal efficiency and overall nervous system health.

5. Calming: Deep Rest Through Stillness

Finally, we come to calming yogic interventions—gentle, restorative practices that help the nervous system settle. These may include longer shavasanas, yoga nidra, guided visualizations, or seated meditations.

Stillness, at first, can feel intimidating—especially for those who’ve experienced trauma. But by moving through discovery, centering, and balancing practices, we prepare the body to receive the healing gifts of rest.

These deeply calming practices allow the nervous system to downshift, release defensiveness, and access the restorative power of surrender. They remind us that it's safe to soften, to yield, and to rest into our own being.

A Somatic Path to Healing Trauma

These five therapeutic yoga interventions aren’t steps in a strict sequence—they are tools to draw from as needed. On some days, you may move through all five; on others, you might linger in just one. The point is not to do it "right," but to choose what supports you in the moment.

That choice—of how to move, how to breathe, how to feel—is what makes trauma-informed yoga so profoundly empowering. It allows us to build trust with our own body, one breath and one practice at a time.

Post-Traumatic Growth and Yoga, A Yoga Therapy Online Course

If you're ready to go deeper, I invite you to explore my full course: Post-Traumatic Growth and Yoga: A Trauma-Informed Path to Nervous System Regulation, launching on Yoga International on July 8th, 2025.

This self-paced online program blends somatic psychology, nervous system education, and trauma-sensitive yoga to support your healing journey.

Inside, you'll find:
• Five progressive modules with on-demand access
• Embodied yoga practices designed for trauma recovery and vagus nerve regulation
• Core teachings in somatic psychology, polyvagal theory, and emotional resilience
• Daily tools for nervous system regulation, including therapeutic breathwork and guided meditation
• Gentle, accessible practices—no prior yoga experience required

Whether you're a yoga teacher, therapist, or a someone on a personal healing path, this course offers a compassionate path forward. Through embodied movement, breath, and deep listening, you can learn to trust your body again—and discover that healing from trauma is not about "bouncing back," but about growing forward.