This dispatch is from Kimberley Luu, facilitator of The Branches’ Trauma Informed Yoga Nidra Teacher Training.
I felt a light, buzzing energy rising up my face as I read through our yoga nidra facilitator trainees’ final practicum reflection. For this assignment, the trainees guided a yoga nidra practice for a participant or small group. A few lines I remember, paraphrased:
“My participant described feeling depleted and overwhelmed, so I decided it was best to avoid any intense emotional processing and focus on settling, resourcing, and visuals of ocean coasts which he said were peaceful places for him.”
“I could see one participant struggling to physically settle, so I offered some extra prop supports. I also offered an eye covering but they preferred access to the soft lighting rather than complete darkness. Happily, they settled much easier afterwards.”
“I decided to share a poem to shape the sankalpa. I knew the participant was a poet themself and sensed that this one would resonate given their personality.”
What lies in each of these lines is a portrayal that they are listening. They are listening to their participants and sharing what is truly needed, rather than relying on pre-formulated structures and scripts. They can do this because in our training, we learned the essential purpose of each yoga nidra technique and trauma-informed considerations behind each one. This way, they can simply be present to the bodies in front of them, and deliver practices that make sense, context-to-context.
This last quote I’ll share is especially moving to me, portraying the trainees’ ability to not only listen to their participant, but also to themselves:
“My participant was interested in exploring a challenging experience which we could facilitate with pairs of opposites. After some reflection, I felt that it was wiser to begin with a more resourceful practice as I build trust in my own abilities to hold space. I let her know that we may be able to explore the challenging experience in a future session.”
What an incredible choice to make for one’s self, and ultimately the other too! For those in healing professions, it can be difficult to remember that we operate best when we feel safe and confident in our role. The first integrative exercise we did in our training weekend was discuss our scope as individual facilitators, and grow familiar with all of the grey territory we will have to navigate.
All in all, I want to say congratulations to our first cohort of graduates. I am truly proud of how they grew throughout these last five months and am excited for what they will be offering to the world. I trust with my whole heart that they will do a wonderful job in offering the gifts of integrative rest.
Curious about yoga nidra? Keep an eye out for workshops and courses coming in the fall. As for the next training, we usually offer our training programs every two years, meaning that the next time we’d offer this one would likely be Winter of 2028. If you’re interested, let us know so we can flag it for you when it comes around again.
The Branches 