There is also a story from when I was doing this work with a group of gang interventionists. This was a group of former gang members who worked in their community, in the places of their original traumas. One man had been shot on a particular street corner, and whenever he would near that corner he would start to tremble and he couldn’t breathe. When I explained to him what was happening, he was so relieved. He said, “Oh my God, Hala, I thought I was crazy.”
He wasn’t crazy. Trauma symptoms are an attempt of the body to self-regulate unsuccessfully. I might try to self-regulate by doing drugs or overeating because I’m afraid of the sensations. Or my body might try to self-regulate by shaking uncontrollably. Yoga can help us be in the body with whatever is happening so we can eventually move beyond it and not need to run away anymore.
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