What Makes Yoga Trauma-Sensitive?
By Šárka | Wildflower Somatics
Trauma-Informed Somatic Coach • Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator • SE Practitioner
Many people come to yoga carrying far more than tight shoulders or a busy mind.
They arrive with stories the body remembers — of stress, overwhelm, loss, or moments when life moved too fast.
If you have ever stepped into a yoga class and felt the urge to withdraw, freeze, or push yourself beyond what felt right, you are not alone.
Trauma-sensitive yoga was created for this very reason.
It is not a style to master, but a way of being with the body — one that listens, respects, and moves at the pace of safety.
A different intention
In trauma-sensitive yoga, the intention is not to stretch further or achieve a shape.
The intention is to feel safe enough to feel at all.
The practice invites:
softness instead of striving
curiosity instead of correction
presence instead of performance
Movement becomes a conversation with your nervous system rather than a demand placed upon it.
Safety before depth
Healing does not happen by going deeper.
It happens when the body senses it can rest.
A trauma-sensitive class prioritizes stability, predictability, and gentle transitions. Poses are offered in ways that support grounding and orientation, allowing your system to settle rather than brace.
There is no rush.
There is no pressure to open or release.
Only the invitation to notice what is already here.
Choice as medicine
One of the quiet wounds of trauma is the loss of choice.
Trauma-sensitive yoga gently restores it.
You may hear language like:
“You might explore…”
“If it feels supportive…”
“You’re welcome to stay just as you are.”
Every movement is optional.
Every pause is respected.
Over time, this practice can help rebuild trust — in your body, in your boundaries, in your inner yes and no.
Words that create space
Language matters.
In trauma-sensitive yoga, words are chosen intentionally.
They are not commands, but invitations.
They do not correct, but sparkle curiosity.
There are no hands-on adjustments, no public alignment fixes, no comparisons. Instead, the facilitator guides attention inward — toward sensation, breath, and subtle shifts that arise naturally.
Your body becomes the authority.
Moving at the rhythm of the nervous system
The body remembers even what the mind has long moved past.
A trauma-sensitive facilitator (or trauma-informed teacher) understands how activation and settling move in waves. Practices are paced slowly, with room to pause, orient, and return to the present moment whenever needed.
There is always space to rest or pause.
There is always a way back to safety.
A space that supports regulation
Often, trauma-sensitive yoga looks simple from the outside.
Soft lighting.
Quiet music, or none at all.
Props that support rather than challenge.
A calm, welcoming atmosphere.
Nothing is there to impress.
Everything is there to support your nervous system in feeling held.
Grounded in holding space, not fixing
Trauma-sensitive yoga is informed by an understanding of how the nervous system responds to stress and threat — fight, flight, freeze, and the slow return to safety.
It does not try to “heal” you.
It trusts that healing unfolds when the conditions are right.
This practice can beautifully complement therapy or coaching, while respecting boundaries and never forcing emotional material to surface.
Choosing a trauma-sensitive yoga space in Tel Aviv
As you look for a class or teacher, you might gently ask yourself:
Do I feel safe in this person’s presence?
Am I allowed to go at my own pace?
Are my boundaries respected without explanation?
Do I leave feeling more connected, even if subtle?
Your body will often know before your mind does.
My approach at Wildflower Somatics
As part of my work and soul calling I offer trauma-sensitive yoga and somatic practices for women who long to feel more at home in their bodies.
My work weaves together:
Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
Somatic Experiencing®
Gentle somatic movement
Embodied mindfulness
Nervous system regulation
Each session is an invitation — to slow down, to listen inward, and to rediscover a sense of steadiness from within.
There is nothing to fix.
There is only space to remember what safety feels like in your body.
If something in these words resonates, you are welcome to explore further — through a group class, a workshop, or a one-to-one somatic trauma informed session.
You don’t need to be ready.
You don’t need to know what exactly you’re healing.
You only need a willingness to arrive, just as you are.
With warmth,
Šárka
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Šárka is the heart behind Wildflower Somatics — a space holder for women on the journey back to their bodies, their rhythm, and their truth.
As a trauma-informed somatic coach for women, trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, and Somatic Experiencing® practitioner, she supports nervous system healing, embodied resilience, and soulful self-discovery — always honoring the wisdom of the body, the power of presence, and the courage it takes to feel. Her work weaves together somatics, mindfulness, and deep listening in service of sustainable inner change. With tenderness and depth, she invites women to root, rise, and bloom — in their own wild, gentle way.
