TF02: Trauma-Responsive Yoga Therapy in an Active War Zone: Stability and Resilience

Speaker bio: Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, PhD, C-IAYT

In June 2023, the faculty of the International Kundalini Yoga Therapy Professional Training program began training yoga teachers in Ukraine to bring trauma-responsive yoga therapy to military populations. We focus on six core skills to safely and effectively meet the needs of those experiencing complex trauma in an active war zone. Our team also developed specific protocols that serve military rehabilitation, special forces, those with limb loss or traumatic brain injuries, and women and children in military families affected by war, rape, violence, and torture. We established research models to measure and document the outcomes of each protocol and provide follow-up and support for every teacher we train.

In this session, explore considerations for appropriate yoga therapy in an active war zone as a template for reaching out to entirely new populations who urgently need our services. Learn about the process of delivering yoga therapy in group settings to military populations experiencing complex trauma, and practice the military rehabilitation yoga protocol created to develop stability and resilience before a return to the front lines.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the six core skills for teaching trauma-responsive yoga safely and effectively.
2. Apply three language skills needed for trauma-responsive yoga therapy.
3. Apply grounding mudra to restore self-regulation.

Your purchase gives you access to the recorded session listed below (audio/slides)—plus .5 CE credit.