Beyond Trauma

For this first anniversary of the publication of my book, The Essential Guide to Trauma-Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All, I'm releasing the Outside the Studio episode I was featured on with Tessa Tovar. We discuss suggested language for shifting power in group settings, how to create after environments, how to practice to reach yoga in a way that includes all, as well as other topics. The Essential Guide to Trauma-Sensitive Yoga has received outstanding reviews and remains an important resource for yoga teachers and practitioners as well as an intro for the yoga curious. "I was so excited to receive this book in the mail. I am an amateur yogi and an aspiring school counselor who believes that trauma-informed ANYTHING is important. I especially love that photos were added to this book for added clarification. I am excited to use this book as a guide for myself and looking forward to eventually sharing this knowledge with others! This book is essential for any instructor who wants to be trauma-informed and very helpful to anyone who practices yoga or wants to start but doesn't know how. I would give this book more stars if I could!" - Melissa Smith “The Essential Guide for Trauma Sensitive Yoga is a comprehensive resource for teachers to understand the complex nuances of trauma and the subtle and overt ways it can present itself in our students. As teachers, we have a responsibility to serve the whole person and that includes sensitizing ourselves to the various ways that trauma lives uniquely in each body, how it influences the mind and perceptions and can affect one's health and emotional wellness. Lara Land deftly provides the necessary guidance, insights, and best practices so that facilitators can support their students on their journey toward healing with more mindfulness, awareness, and skill. This excellent resource should be required reading in any teacher training course.”—Seane Corn, Yoga Teacher, author of Revolution of the Soul ----------------- Tessa received her degree in Human Communication with honors at the University of Southern Oregon in Ashland. It was at Southern Oregon University that Tessa found and developed her passion for the practice of Yoga. Since 2001 she has been practicing Yoga and in 2015 she acquired her first 200HR RYT. Since then she has accumulated over 500HRS of accredited teaching certifications with a focus on Vinyasa, Nidra, Restorative, Reiki Level I&II, Pranayama, and guided meditation. Lara Land is a deeply compassionate life coach, consultant, and yoga teacher trainer specializing in trauma sensitivity. Her work is in helping to heal trauma both subtle and significant and train others using trauma-sensitive yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and breathing practices. Lara has spent the last 25 years studying Ashtanga yoga and sharing yoga asana, chanting, meditation, and philosophy directly from her teachers in India. -------------------- Coming UP! Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training, Universal Power Yoga, MA, 5/17-5/19 Forest Therapy Walk, Steady Slope, NY, 6/22 Catskill Mountain Yoga Festival, NY, 7/27 Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training, Omega Institute, NY, 8/9-8/11 Virtual Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training w/Reggie Hubbard and Jivana Heyman, 9/27-9/29

In this pivotal episode featuring Annie Chen, we delve deep into the fundamental concepts of attachment theory and the distinct indicators of each attachment style. Annie illuminates how early life experiences, particularly traumatic events, can shape these attachment styles and influence recurring patterns within our relationships as we mature. We explore strategies to mend negative behavioral cycles and emphasize the paramount importance of prioritizing healthy relationships. Additionally, we dissect the role of the nervous system and stress in our interactions, examining the profound impact of triggers on relationship dynamics. Our conversation extends to the correlation between relationship quality and overall happiness, alongside insights into the neuroscience behind our learning processes. Annie Chen is an author, therapist, consultant, and coach who holds two master’s degrees in counseling and psychology. With over 17 years dedicated to studying the mind, nervous systems, and relationships, Annie has developed a unique approach to relationships and working with people. Her work integrates research from neuroscience to help clients navigate the complexities of relationships and emotional safety. Annie maintains a practice of seeing individuals and couples in Berkeley, CA, and virtually. Her books, The Attachment Theory Workbook and I Want to Connect, have inspired over 100,000 people to work towards healthy relationships and promote a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

This detailed episode with Dr. Mark Harper, author of breaks down the benefits of cold water swimming for trauma, chronic pain, depression, bipolar disorder, and other illnesses plaguing so many of us these days. Dr. Mark Harper shares the findings of his cold swimming studies and the direction his research is going. We discuss the various reasons you might consider cold water swimming as a priority in your wellness habits and how to start, if, like me, you are terrified of being cold and unable to breathe. Mark explains how cold the water should be to be effective, how long one should stay immersed, and how often to engage in cold water swimming to receive its benefits. He shares the many stories of those whose health has been drastically improved by cold water swimming and many other recommendations for blue therapy, and why this therapy works to reduce stress in all areas of our lives. Dr. Mark Harper is a consultant anesthetist. His first field of research was investigating the best way to keep patients warm during surgery and thereby reduce the incidence of postoperative complications. The results of these studies have been incorporated into national and international guidelines and Mark was invited to be an expert clinical adviser to NICE, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. Shortly after taking up his consultant post in Brighton in 2003, he started swimming in the sea throughout the year. Around the same time, whilst working on his PhD, he brought together his clinical research and the physiology of cold-water adaptation to show how outdoor swimming could be employed to reduce surgical complications. Further insights – both from his personal experience and the experimental literature - led him to propose that cold water swimming might be an effective intervention for mental health problems. In collaboration Dr Chris van Tulleken and the Extreme Environments Lab in Portsmouth, he had the opportunity to test this in practice on the BAFTA award-nominated BBC television program “The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs.” Following this success, he set up and ran the first-ever clinical trial using sea swimming as a clinical treatment - for anxiety and depression – the outcomes of which were incredibly positive. In the process, he helped set up Chill UK which now provides outdoor swimming courses for hundreds of people around the UK. His book, ‘Chill – the cold water swim cure’ was published in 2022 and is being translated into three other languages. Website | Instagram | Book ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

In this riveting conversation with cult expert Dr. Steve Eichel, we uncover the common recruitment strategies of some of the most notorious cults. Dr. Eichel shares his personal experience infiltrating a cult and the tactics they used on him and the rest of his cohort. That early encounter with cult culture informed his decades-long work supporting survivors of cult trauma and their families. We cover human psychology and how it impacts politics, signs you might be in a high-demand organization, and the parallels between intimate partner violence (IPV) and cult practices. Dr. Steve Eichel has been a licensed psychologist since 1982. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania after which he spent many years as a child and family psychologist and as a director of child and family services. Currently, in addition to his private practice, Dr. Eichel serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Delaware. He has a specialty in drug and alcohol counseling and cultic practices, a subject he has written many articles dissecting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

It was an honor to sit down with April Dinwoodie to learn more about a topic I am admittingly not enough informed on. Until recently, I had not considered how innately traumatic the relinquishing of a child is both for that child and the birth parents. In this episode, we discuss both the personal and political implications of adoption. We talk about what happens when a child is taken away from their family of origin especially if their family of experience (as April likes to call them) is a different race. We interrogate trauma adaptions and how many of those show up later in life to protect against future abandonment. April clarifies how that word sits for her and the difference between processing the initial relinquishment from her mother of origin and her mother of origin's inability to be able to build a relationship with her later in life. We discuss what both individuals and society as a whole can do better in terms of adoption advocacy and April's number one recommendations for families considering adoption. Plus April and I dive into our favorite healing modalities and the layered approach to healing we both subscribe to. April Dinwoodie is an Adoption Activist, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Consultant, and Parent Coach. Dinwoodie’s podcast Born in June, Raised in April: What Adoption Can Teach the World! helps facilitate an open dialogue about identity, relationships, and differences of race, culture, and class. April is fiercely dedicated to helping individuals, companies, and organizations develop stronger teams, and ultimately find even more purpose in our individual and collective work. Follow April: @juneinapril (x, IG, FB) @April Dinwoodie (LinkedIn/Threads/YouTube) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

In this information-packed conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Guthrie, we discuss the incredible power of herbs in assisting with nervous system regulation. Elizabeth shares ways to work with herbs as a beginner including special herbal considerations for trauma survivors. She describes the benefits of teas versus tinctures and other herbal creations and goes into detail about specific herbs such as Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Dandelion, and many others. Elizabeth and I explore the importance of nature as part of healing, the power and the dangers of slowing down, polyvagal theory, and the three gunas. We also talk about titration, diet and so much more... Elizabeth Guthrie is the founder of Herbal Somatics. She is a clinical herbalist, certified aromatherapist, and yoga teacher with a Ph.D. in Natural Medicine with a specialization in Naturopathic Psychology and a Master’s of Public Health in Functional Nutrition. They are also the best-selling author of The Trauma-Informed Herbalist and hold multiple other certifications from conventional and traditional schools. Elizabeth’s personal experiences led them to begin studying trauma and its effects on the body and mind. Now they help others to learn how natural wellness and somatic herbalism practices can be safely implemented as part of a trauma recovery journey. Check out Elizabeth's work: Website/Instagram/Facebook ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

In this very vulnerable and candid conversation with esteemed psychologist Dr. Jessa Navide´, we dive into the truth of about suicidality. Jessa details who is at the highest risk for suicidal attempts, the signs that someone you know might be suicidal, as well as how to approach a loved one you suspect is having suicidal thoughts. Jessa shares deep insights from her own experience as a survivor of multiple suicide attempts and what she wishes someone would have done for her. We discuss ways out of these thoughts including the particular power of trauma-sensitive yoga and the science behind why Ashtanga yoga may be so supportive a practice for suicide attempt survivors. This episode comes in advance of a longer virtual Suicide Prevention training Jessa is leading for the nonprofit Three and a Half Acres Yoga on February 8th, 6-8 pm Eastern time. This training is designed to have you walk away with core skills for showing up if a loved one in your community is experiencing these thoughts. Jessa recommends Three and a Half Acres Yoga trauma-sensitive classes and trauma-informed yoga teacher training in this episode. Suicidal thoughts do not have to be dealt with alone. If you, or someone you know needs immediate support, please contact the National Crisis Hotline at 988. Dr. Jessa Navidé is a licensed clinical psychologist who has a passion for suicide prevention stemming from lived and professional experience. She believes that by teaching skills to engage in compassionate conversations with those experiencing suicidal thoughts, everyone can play a role in suicide prevention. This belief led her to become an ASIST (Applied suicide intervention skills) trainer. Dr. Jessa is a graduate of Three and a Half Acres trauma-sensitive yoga teacher training and has experienced that this form of yoga is a powerful healing resource in suicide prevention work Find Jessa at https://www.claritytherapynyc.com/nyc-therapist/jessa-navide-psy-d/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

In this detailed and important conversation with Dave Emerson, the man who coined the term trauma-sensitive yoga, we get insights into Dave’s extensive research on the impacts of trauma-informed yoga for survivors including his most recent paper comparing trauma-sensitive yoga and cognitive processing therapy. We explore the difference between Complex Trauma and PTSD and the implications of those differences on survivor validation and services. We discuss the harmful power dynamics that occur within abusive relationships and the importance of healthy interpersonal encounters in yoga spaces which propose to heal trauma adaptations. Dave shares why yoga is one of, if not the strongest embodied practice for healing the impacts of trauma and just how much of this style of practice is needed as well as other deep insights from his work and what he’s learned about research and forming research studies for yoga claims. Dave Emerson (he/him/his) is the founder of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) for the Justice Resource Institute in Massachusetts, where he coined the term “trauma-sensitive yoga”. from 2009-2011 he was responsible for curriculum development, supervision, and oversight of the yoga intervention component of the first-of-its-kind, NIH-funded study to assess the utility of yoga for survivors of trauma. Dave has developed, conducted, and supervised TCTSY groups for rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs, residential programs for youth, active duty military personnel, survivors of terrorism, and Veterans Administration centers and clinics, and more. He is the co-author of Overcoming Trauma through Yoga, released in 2011 by North Atlantic Books, and Author of, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy (Norton, 2015). In 2018, Dave Emerson co-founded the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at JRI. Instagram: @tctsy & @centerfortraumaandembodiment Web: https://www.traumasensitiveyoga.com/ & https://www.healwithcfte.org/ Yoga vs Cognitive Processing Therapy for Military Sexual Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

In this episode, I share the most impactful moments of 2023 and a preview of guests and topics you can expect in the coming year, including the exceptional first guest of the year! I also share some of my own experiences this year and the modalities I have been using to release stress and heal. Thank you to all my listeners, especially those of you who have been reaching out with specific comments about episodes. This enlivens me so much. Please keep commenting, reviewing, and sharing the podcast! Coming up in 2024 I'll be releasing the on-demand training of The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga! Make sure to get your copy and reach out to be on my list for when the course drops! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All

I get asked on almost a daily basis for recommendations for yoga teacher training programs. You would think that after 25 years in yoga, I would have some, but the truth is very different. Yoga teacher training programs vary widely, change regularly, and come with a host of problems. On this episode with my friend and colleague, Michelle Lehrman, we discuss some of the biggest issues with YTTs, including forcing participants to make and accept hands-on adjustments, shaming people who hold different opinions or do things differently, and forcing a one-way approach to this ancient, adaptable practice. Michelle Lehrman is a certified 200-hour and trauma-informed yoga instructor who has been teaching in New York City since 2016. She currently teaches at Crunch (yoga and spin), Sacred Space Astoria, and Lionheart Health, and works with private clients. I met Michelle when she participated in the Three and a Half Acres Yoga Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training a 20-hour supplemental training for teachers with a 200 + hour yoga teacher certification. This training hopes to undo some of the damage caused by many YTTs and offer a safer approach to teaching yoga. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

In this episode with Deborah Draves-Legg, we discuss the healing power of horses, how they communicate, and what it looks like to receive coaching in partnership with a horse. Deborah shares some secret horse language and some out-of-this-world experiences she has had witnessing horses lead her clients to healing. She also does a session of her Quantum Physics coaching on me! Deborah is a certified Transformational Presence Coach, ICF Accredited Associate Coach, RN, Certified Death Doula, Advanced Eponaquest Facilitator, and author of Pony's Girl Parables. Her coaching philosophy centers around the concept that the power within us lights the way to realize our purpose, potential, and reason for being. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

Joy Holden is a long-time member of the Margaretville Central School staff. She was a special education teacher for 19 years and then transitioned into an administrative role in 2017. Joy's responsibility as Director of Pupil Services is to support all students with learning and accessing school programming, including being the CSE/CPSE/504 chairperson and Dignity Act Coordinator. Recently, Joy has been taking the lead in training staff on supportive responses to students when they are struggling emotionally and unable to use socially appropriate coping strategies. In 2022, Joy was certified to train staff for Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools (TCIS). She is enthusiastically working towards training all staff on the principles of TCIS. In this episode, we discuss how to identify a child who is in a trauma response and what we can do within a school setting to help that child. We also explore the stress, trauma, and burnout of adults in the school system particularly since Covid-19, and specific techniques teachers can lean on to reduce burnout and frustration. As an aid in this school, I particularly enjoyed this episode and a chance to learn more about my supervisor. To bring trauma-sensitive training to your school reach out to me here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

Grab a cup of tea, a notebook, a pen, and a quiet spot, for today you and I have the chance to sit down with a legend. Dr. Pauline Boss coined the term Ambiguous Loss as part of her thesis in the 1970s and has pursued and expanded its definition and treatment ever since. At 89 years old she is still writing, still learning, and as we get into in this talk, has seen quite a large amount of trends come and go in society and in the way we parent, teach, and treat. We discuss all different kinds of ambiguous loss including identity change, loss of a relative to dementia, and those who go missing and are never found. We also talk about the COVID-19 pandemic and the losses we are still suffering as a world community. I have never been so honored and so touched to have a guest make time for me. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do. Pauline Boss, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a former president of the National Council on Family Relations. She practiced family therapy for over 40 years. With her groundbreaking work in research and practice, Dr. Boss coined the term ambiguous loss in the 1970s and since then, developed and tested the theory of ambiguous loss, a guide for working with families of the missing, physically or psychologically. She summarized this research and clinical work in her widely acclaimed book Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief (Harvard University Press, 2000). In addition to over 100 peer reviewed academic articles and chapters, her other books include Loss, Trauma, and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss (W. W. Norton, 2006) and Loving Someone Who Has Dementia: How to Find Hope While Coping with Stress and Grief (Jossey-Bass, 2011). Her most recent book is The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic and Change (W. W. Norton, 2022). Her work is known around the world wherever ambiguous losses occur, and thus her books are now available in 18 different languages. For more information about Dr. Boss, her writings, and the ambiguous loss online training program, see www.ambiguousloss.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

Part 2 of my audio gift to you! Please enjoy the next 25 pages of my book, The Essential Guide to Trauma-Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All read to you by me! If you haven't heard the first pages make sure to go back to the last episode of this podcast. If you do enjoy this reading, please support with your purchase of the book which has over a hundred photos and and many more chapters not read to you here. Other ways to work together are to hire me as a coach, bring me to your yoga studio to train your teachers in trauma sensitivity, and purchase my first book, My Bliss Book, a life purpose planner, and my on-demand course, The Complete Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga. You can find me on Instagram and YouTube. Lara Land is a deeply compassionate life coach, consultant, and yoga teacher trainer specializing in trauma sensitivity. Her work is in helping to heal trauma both subtle and significant and train others using trauma-sensitive yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and breathing practices. Lara has spent the last 25 years studying Ashtanga yoga and sharing yoga asana, chanting, meditation, and philosophy directly from her teachers in India. Her commitment is to honor the traditions of yoga by responding to the needs of each individual, using a unique combination of practices and techniques that are appropriate for their personal growth. In addition to providing trauma-sensitive workshops and training for facilitators of all types, Lara guides folks in awakening, deep connection, and healing practices through Mindful Outdoor Guiding and Forest Therapy. Lara has been featured in and contributed to New York Magazine, Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Apartment Therapy, and on Fox5, CBS, NY1, and SiriusRadioXM. She is the author of My Bliss Book and The Essential Guide to Trauma-Sensitive Yoga. She is also the host of the Beyond Trauma Podcast.

An exciting gift for you! Today, listeners can enjoy the first 25 pages of my book, The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All read by yours truly, Lara Land. I hope you will enjoy and support my first book with Shambhala Publications by purchasing and reviewing your hard copy which includes over 100 photos! Other ways to support/work with me include hiring me as your coach, to lead a workshop in trauma sensitivity for your school, studio or business or purchasing my first book, My Bliss Book, an undated life-purpose planner or my on-demand course, The Complete Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga. You can find me on Instagram and sometimes on YouTube. Lara Land is a deeply compassionate life coach, consultant, and yoga teacher trainer specializing in trauma sensitivity. Her work is in helping to heal trauma both subtle and significant and train others using trauma-sensitive yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and breathing practices. Lara has spent the last 25 years studying Ashtanga yoga and sharing yoga asana, chanting, meditation, and philosophy directly from her teachers in India. Her commitment is to honor the traditions of yoga by responding to the needs of each individual, using a unique combination of practices and techniques that are appropriate for their personal growth. In addition to providing trauma-sensitive workshops and training for facilitators of all types, Lara guides folks in awakening, deep connection, and healing practices through Mindful Outdoor Guiding and Forest Therapy. Lara has been featured in and contributed to New York Magazine, Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Apartment Therapy, and on Fox5, CBS, NY1, and SiriusRadioXM. She is the author of My Bliss Book and The Essential Guide to Trauma-Sensitive Yoga. She is also the host of the Beyond Trauma Podcast.

In this episode, I detail my own experiences with birth trauma and the ways multiple people in different areas of the medical field have used unskillful methods and communication along the way. I hope that the telling of my story helps others. You can find me on Instagram and sometimes on YouTube. Lara Land is a deeply compassionate life coach, consultant, and yoga teacher trainer specializing in trauma sensitivity. Her work is in helping to heal trauma both subtle and significant and train others using trauma-sensitive yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and breathing practices. Lara has spent the last 25 years studying Ashtanga yoga and sharing yoga asana, chanting, meditation, and philosophy directly from her teachers in India. Her commitment is to honor the traditions of yoga by responding to the needs of each individual, using a unique combination of practices and techniques that are appropriate for their personal growth. In addition to providing trauma-sensitive workshops and training for facilitators of all types, Lara guides folks in awakening, deep connection, and healing practices through Mindful Outdoor Guiding and Forest Therapy. Lara has been featured in and contributed to New York Magazine, Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, Apartment Therapy, and on Fox5, CBS, NY1, and SiriusRadioXM. She is the author of My Bliss Book and The Essential Guide to Trauma-Sensitive Yoga. She is also the host of the Beyond Trauma Podcast. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can support this podcast with any level of donation here.

You are going to want to sit back and take notes for this one. Today's guest Bintou Diarra and I get in-depth about birth trauma and the current state of maternal health care in the US. We discuss the origins of the issues infecting the medicalized birth system which has taken hold today, including our earliest indoctrination into the female body as pathology in sex ed and structural racism and implicit bias. Bintou details the culture most physicians are steeped in and how it leads directly to negative outcomes in the birthing process. She explains why having a doula may help mitigate some of this and also why a doula can not fix it all. We discuss preeclampsia, endometriosis, and the horrific birth outcome inequities for people of color. Finally, we cover power inequity and imagine a restructuring of the system which would allow for empowering birth stories for all. In this episode, Bintou references and recommends the book Birth Control by Allison Yarrow and the documentary Below the Belt, the Last Health Taboo both of which are excellent resources for continued education on this topic. Make sure to check out both Bintou's individual links and the work she does at MamaGlow. https://beacons.ai/bintouhq instagram.com/bintouhq mamaglow.com instagram.com/mamaglow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

In this heartfelt conversation with my longtime friend and colleague, Harmony Slater, we discuss many life transitions that can result in a trauma response and loss of sense of self. Harmony details her own personal experience with divorce and why divorce or any significant relationship end can trigger our most primal survival instincts and leave us in a fight or flight mode for long after the separation has passed. We also get into a deep discussion about different types of practice and how some of even the "best practices" can end up taxing our nervous system or numbing us out. We talk about finding balance, self-acceptance, and love, especially as women, the toxic wellness culture, and the small practices that make the most difference. Harmony is a Certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher. She is one of less than 20 women in the world to hold this honor. Harmony is also a National Board Certified Wellness Coach. She began traveling to East Asia in 2002 to study Buddhism and Indian philosophy and spent five years living between India and Thailand. She holds BA degrees in both Philosophy and Religious Studies and founded two yoga schools in Canada. For the past 20+ years Harmony's been focused on sharing the deeper teachings of yoga to support greater health and spiritual integration with students around the world, and has taught workshops in over 30 different countries. She’s the host of the Finding Harmony Podcast and has been featured in two anthologies on yoga, pregnancy, and motherhood: ‘Yoga Sadhana for Mothers’ and ‘Strength and Grace: A collection of Essays by Women of Ashtanga Yoga.’ Harmony is also a contributing editor for SONIMA online magazine. Currently, she's actively helping individuals design their unique Spiritual Wellness practice to find deeper fulfillment both personally and professionally. Harmony can be found teaching online within her Inner Circle Community and her Ancient Breathing 2.0 course. Website/Instagram -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

In this honest and raw conversation, Whitney Lyn Allen shares the details of her husband's tragic accident and later death in service of others also dealing with trauma and loss. Whitney used her experience to catapult her into a career and life change and became a certified grief coach. She shares her extensive knowledge in this episode of what survival mode is and feels like, grief hijacking and how to maintain boundaries, tips for flashbacks, and her feelings on finding love after loss. Whitney is an author, attorney, and certified grief educator. Her book, Running in Trauma Stilettos is about grief and life after loss and is available everywhere books are sold. Instagram/TikTok-@whitneylynallen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.

In this powerful episode, we discuss a potential outcome of trauma that is often ignored: Post-traumatic growth. Discover how to get through a traumatic experience to growth and the difference between post-traumatic growth and resilience. Learn what makes the difference between people who remain stuck in trauma response and those that are able to make the leap forward. Trauma is relational and generational. Understand how we are all connected to it and impacted by it as well as why the body is so important in relation to our own trauma. Gain new insights you may not have heard before including the importance of and how to create safety as a friend, family member, yoga teacher, or therapist so that survivors can move forward using Edith's powerful stages. We also discuss the impact. of working with folks with terminal diagnoses and how loss and death can lead to meaning-making. If you or someone you know is going through the end of life, or you are interested in understanding more about how recognizing the inevitability of death can allow you to live more fully and meaningfully, check out my work as an End of Life Doula and upcoming workshop on learning to live life more fully by embracing death. Dr. Edith Shiro is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Miami, Florida. She specializes in trauma nd posttraumatic growth, holding space and guiding her patients to achieve greater potential and higher consciousness. Dr. Shiro is a cofounder of the Trauma and Resilience Center, a board member of the World Happiness Foundation, and an active member of Cadena International, providing humanitarian aid and disaster prevention worldwide, and is on the advisory board of international humanitarian organization HIAS. She has worked at the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, the Cambodian refugee clinic at Montefiore Medical Center, and the Human Rights Clinical Support Network at REFUGE, among others. Dr. Shiro offers workshops on trauma-based therapy for mental health professionals and is a frequent guest on various TV shows, podcasts and radio programs. Follow her on Instagram. Linda Sparrowe, author, mentor, and teacher, with deep roots in both ancient and contemporary yoga and meditation, specializes in practices for physical, emotional, and spiritual health. She has served as editor-in-chief of Yoga International and Natural Solutions magazines and as managing editor, acting editor, and contributing editor of Yoga Journal. She has lent her writing and editing skills to a variety of book projects, from celebrity memoirs to spiritual self-help books; from the psychology of pleasure to posttraumatic growth. She has authored six books of her own including the award-winning Yoga At Home: Inspiration for Creating Your Own Personal Practice (Rizzoli Publications); A Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health: A Lifelong Guide to Wellness (Shambhala Publications, Boston); and Yoga for Healthy Bones (also a Shambhala publication). Outside the office, Linda has continued her commitment to holistic health. She was instrumental in launching the Courageous Women, Fearless Living retreats for women with breast and reproductive cancers (her heart’s work) and she also speaks about and leads workshops on grief and loss, moving through the stages of our lives, and how yoga helps us learn to love ourselves. Follow her on Instagram. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your support is deeply appreciated! Find me, Lara, on my Website / Instagram You can support this podcast with any level of donation here. Order The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga: How to Create Safer Spaces for All Opening and Closing music: Other People's Photographs courtesy of Daniel Zaitchik. Follow Daniel on Spotify.