Sonia Brown Diaz
Yoga on the Inside
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Since 2019, Yoga on the Inside has provided trauma-informed yoga for frontline workers and FDV survivors through collaborations with NFPs, NGOs and government organisations in the mental health sector. While its primary programs support imprisoned participants, the organisation is equally committed to trauma-informed teaching within the community, working with refugees, asylum seekers and victims of torture.
According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, around half of refugees worldwide experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and psychological distress.
The program, supported by a YFG Grant, provides participants with a healthy recreational opportunity to build habits that enhance self-esteem and self-care while improving physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. An interpreter is available to answer questions and gather anecdotal feedback. Elise Douglas was the lead trauma-informed facilitator for the program.
Healing through trauma-informed yoga
The first 10-week trauma-informed yoga program was held at Foundation House from October to December 2024, with more planned for 2025. It reached up to 50 participants and staff members. Foundation House is a specialist refugee trauma agency supporting survivors of torture and other traumatic events.
Supported by Marrondah City Council, the program, Foundation House Ringwood Gentle Yoga for Women Group, provided referred Persian women with a safe and supportive space. Alongside yoga, participants took part in a “tea circle” to foster social connection and received a Certificate of Participation in recognition of their self-determination and commitment to self-care and healing.
Elise observed and reflected on the participants’ transformations. The impact of the program was clear, with positive feelings increasing by 253% and negative feelings decreasing by 73%, providing strong evidence of its effectiveness. Open-ended questions gave participants the opportunity to share personal experiences, insights and suggestions about their yoga practice. Responses included being more aware of my body (reflecting a deeper connection to the physical self) and releasing (indicating a sense of letting go of tension or stress).
“The way a number of the participants have reflected on the constant presence of physical pain in their lives, and then to have that pain alleviated, in some way, through their participation in this program has been wonderful. I have been able to bear witness to the journey that yoga has taken each of them on through just these last 10 weeks.”
When asked, “Are there any new skills or techniques that you’ve learnt in these classes that you’re finding useful?” one participant responded, “Ask your body to move just as much as it can without fear.”
Yoga on the Inside’s person-centred well-being programs provide the opportunities and permission for survivors to:
- Make their own choices about what feels right for them
- Have control over their decisions and their bodies
- Experience self-agency
- Regulate emotions via curiosity
- Explore tools that work for them
Yoga allows for experimentation with the autonomic nervous system through mindful movement and breathwork, helping to ease off the accelerator of the sympathetic nervous system and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Testimonials
Our sole mission is to create opportunities to do good for others through yoga.
And we’re making an impact.
A huge thank you to the Yoga For Good Foundation...
…for their incredible contribution to our Life Now Yoga and meditation programs!
This generous donation will mean we can buy new yoga equipment, run a new yoga class in Broome, and enhance our meditation program for cancer patients and their primary carers.
Cancer Council Western AustraliaSending out gratitude to the Yoga for Good Foundation.
Their grant is enabling me to offer FREE trauma informed therapeutic movement and relaxation to frontline mental health and social services staff in Bega.
Participants are really valuing the time out for themselves and experiencing integrated poly vagal theory. And I get to be in a teaching space, yay!
PremKranti CounsellingThe generous grant we've been awarded from the Yoga For Good Foundation...
…allows us to reach more underserved and vulnerable community groups who can benefit from a trauma-informed yoga and embodied mindfulness practice at zero cost to the participants.
Some of the community groups we’ll be serving in the current months include 000 Foundation, Men’s Walk and Talk and WAGEC.
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