Minimizing Threats: Trauma Aware Yoga Instruction & Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, is an educational framework that, among other things, makes powerful learning outcomes available to all students. I try to apply UDL principles to the teaching of yoga and discovered an intersection between UDL and trauma aware yoga instruction.

Minimizing Threats

A key point of UDL is the understanding that an environment that heightens a students “fight or flight” mode (the sympathetic nervous system) sabotages learning, as the brain’s ability to process complex information is compromised when the mind/body feels threatened.

The first rung on the UDL ladder is accessibility… Without access, learning cannot happen. Without a safe feeling environment, access to learning is severely limited.

Trauma Aware Yoga Teaching Practices

There are some great best practices to follow to reduce the chance of triggering a fight/flight reaction in students, especially those who have experienced trauma, such as (not a complete list by any means):

1. Avoiding the unwelcome surprises:
   1. Making it clear what the teacher’s movements and positions are around the room, and generally trying to be visible to the student at all times
   2. Using physical touch sparingly, if at all, and only with positive, enthusiastic consent
   3. Starting and ending class promptly
2. Emphasizing self-determination
   1. Cues that are invitational
   2. Awareness that some mindfulness practices, just like physical practices, sometimes require building up to and offering choices
   3. Clarifying that closing the eyes is always optional

Minimizing Threats in the Age of Remote Zoom Yoga

There are some interesting features of Zoom based yoga that interact with accessibility but especially in the area of minimizing threat:

1. Asynchronous Instruction thanks to recordings. The ability for a student to participate in class after creates opportunities for greater sense of safety:
   1. There are way fewer surprises in a non-live class
   2. A sense of self-determination, as to controlling the time and place of practice
2. A literal safe space:
   1. The student can practice where ever they please
   2. The teacher is always contained in the device

Did you teach movement online during quarantine? What teaching practices to you use to minimize threat so your students’ sympathetic nervous systems are not activated too much during class? I’d love to hear your experiences!