BOOKS WE LOVE

BOOKS WE LOVE

BOOKS WE LOVE

Review by: Tashya Knight

BOOK CLUB

We Heal Together Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection By Michelle Cassandra Johnson
We Heal Together
Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection
By Michelle Cassandra Johnson

 

Healing is an arduous journey, but when taken together in community, it can be sweeter. As Michelle Cassandra Johnson says in the first chapter of her book, “I have leaned into grief-permitted it to move through my entire being and, as a result, I felt less suffering and more freedom.” We all want to find this freedom, but to do so, we must take on the work and then share what we learn with others. We find our unity amongst the community. Michelle says “As we build from what has been uncovered, we cannot do it alone.”

In We Heal Together, we are led through eight chapters exploring how we create communion and ritual, uncovering our lineage and legacy, finding moments of joy, and how to use our dreams as messengers for how to move forward.

Each chapter contains useful journal prompts allowing the reader to dive deeper into concepts taught and explore their own thinking and awareness. This is combined with practices to be done individually and/or with community so that we may help each other find the healing and transformation we are seeking. We learn to hold space for one another and invite each other in for learning and ritual. Through understanding the collective unresolved trauma we inherited from our ancestors we move into honoring each other and not leaving others behind as we commit to taking action for the collective good and the healing of all beings. 

As we are reminded in the last chapter, “The belief that we are separate is a dangerous myth that arrests our ability to see how truly interdependent we are.The myth of separation makes us believe we can live our lives on our own and that we should be able to do everything without help.” We must instead recognize our interconnectedness with all beings and strive to heal this separation and suffering. And we are guided in doing just that through the practices, rituals, and teachings in this book.


Tashya Knight is the founder of Wellness 13, a Wellness Lifestyle Coach, Yoga Teacher and member of the Yoga Love Magazine team. Learn more about Tashya here

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TRAUMA SENSITIVE YOGA

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TRAUMA SENSITIVE YOGA

The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga

Book by: Lara Land
Review by: Tashya Knight

BOOK CLUB

Trauma Sensitive Yoga

Trauma affects many of us in a variety of ways. It can often live in our bodies for years without getting the help it needs or given the space to heal. When we enter a room at any given time, we never know the stories behind the faces looking at us and this applies to the yoga classroom as well. Yoga can be a space for connection between the body, mind, and spirit along with a place to heal if we allow it. Or it can be another mindfield to navigate. The difference can come from the teacher at the front of the room.

Lara Land understands this and with her new book, The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga, she has created a manual for yoga teachers to be more mindful in creating the environment in their classrooms and their teaching.

The first part of this book deals with defining an understanding of trauma and how it can show up, encouraging us to build an awareness for what we might see and how we can use yoga to soften the trauma response. “The way that yoga aids a trauma survivor in self understanding and rebuilds the foundation for trusting personal instincts cannot be overstated. Once the nervous system is slowed down and much of the stress is released from the body, students become conscious of their thoughts and disentangling the misleading stories their minds are telling them. They begin to get more trustworthy information from the mind-body system. Survivors begin to trust themselves again.” 

She then goes on to say,“Only when a student can trust the information they are receiving from their own mind-body system can they reestablish and trust new, healthy boundaries. Boundaries are the best form of self care. They allow us to focus on what the body and mind need to flourish, rather than what other people think we need or what other people need from us”

After this insightful explanation, the next couple chapters focus on building a trauma informed classroom, and becoming a skilled trauma informed teacher. Lara uses practical knowledge and supplies a list of techniques yoga teachers can add to their toolbox around language and environment including how to structure the rhythm of the class. She addresses avoiding triggering poses and how to manage silence and meditation. We are also provided with a helpful list of the ten key factors that ensure security in a yoga class and how we can ensure each one on the list is built in.

We then move into the second part of the book which includes detailed descriptions with pictures of 4 trauma informed yoga sequences using a chair and other props. This section includes reasoning for certain poses and how to layer the class. This is a comprehensive section taking up half of the book and is vital to understanding how a trauma informed class can be planned and come together. 

After reading this guide, the teacher is left with a better understanding of trauma, encouraged to explore and do their own work, plus sequences and poses they can work with to build their own class that is welcoming and open to all students no matter the level or trauma they may be dealing with in their lives.