Trauma elicits a fight-or-flight response, and often people carry the scars of trauma for much of their life. Sea Change Yoga sets out to help students actually feel safe in their bodies again -- whether or not their students have ever spent any time on a yoga mat. The type of yoga offered in these classes is called Trauma-informed yoga.
Diana Lee has practiced yoga most of her life, and was drawn to this type of yoga when she watched her daughter use yoga to help heal from an eating disorder. This experience drew her to dive in to the study of trauma-informed yoga, and as part of her certification, she brought this style of yoga to the Southern Maine Women’s Re-entry Center in Windham.
The term Sea Change suggests a profound or notable transformation – and Diana hopes this practice will begin to heal the students and help them to feel safe in their bodies again.
Sea Change yoga is now taught in 14 locations – at correctional facilities, recovery centers, veterans programs – and is growing by leaps and bounds. The instructors bring the classes to their students – literally meeting them where they are – in their home, or the setting where they are living – and as the students learn the benefits of this yoga practice, it impacts not only themselves but their families and communities that they return to. You can learn more about the work of Sea Change and trauma-informed yoga at http://www.seachangeyoga.org.