Trauma-Sensitive Yoga at Delight A’dam
09/Jun/2021 - 28/Jul/2021
Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TSY) Classes – Women only
WITH Esther, Katia, Cleo & Samantha
Evidence-Based Practice, in group settings, meeting every Wednesday from 11.30 – 12.45 in Amsterdam.
Trauma-Sensitive Yoga provides a safe place where people can begin to connect with their bodies, and their breath, in relation to the trauma. Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) is an effective adjunctive, and complementary treatment for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), complex or developmental trauma. This technique was developed by David Emerson at the Justice of Resource Institute (JRI) in Boston, MA.
Sensitive Techniques
TCTSY participants are invited to notice and feel sensations within their body throughout the practice. Participants are then encouraged to make choices about what they do and how they move with their body based on what they sense. This supports participants to investigate what choice feels supportive for them, taking cues from their own individual experience. There are no physical/hands-on assists provided.
Body-centred Exploration
TCTSY applies choice and body-centred self-awareness to support a recovery process, a gentle intervention that initiates healing through people regaining a relationship with the present moment and their body. The language used throughout a yoga session is invitational and encourages curiosity to explore what one might feel in different parts of their body based on the form they are choosing to take. Over time participants begin to experience the effects of taking positive action and making choices.
TCTSY is designed specifically for participants already in therapy or be in close contact with your doctor (GP), or health care professional. The classes are offered every Wednesday, but due to the sensitive nature of the group, we ask for a 6-week long commitment. At the beginning of each 6-week course, new participants can join the group.
Extra important information
No previous yoga experience is necessary. Please note that this is a women-only group. For men who are interested, please contact Esther via e-mail below. This yoga class is not meant for yoga teachers or mental health workers who would like to become trauma-informed or learn about trauma-sensitive yoga as a form of professional development. If you are a professional and are interested in this form of yoga please click here for more information about professional training with Delight and Trauma Sensitive Yoga Nederlands. For questions or more information about these classes, you can contact Esther directly via email.
Esther works together closely with Katia Verreault and Samantha Shorter who will also guide sessions.
Katia is originally from Montreal and presently based in Amsterdam after having lived for more than 15 years in Kathmandu, Nepal. Her therapeutic and community-based work of the last years has been dedicated to communities affected by war, loss & conflict across the world.
She is a trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator (TCTSY-F), a Hatha Yoga practitioner and a Dance Movement Therapist (DMT). Dance Movement therapy integrates the body in the context of therapy. It can be defined as the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, for the purpose of improving health and well-being. In her clinical work, I support individuals who wish to integrate the body into their therapeutic journey. In Amsterdam, I collaborate with Esther van der Sande to offer trauma-sensitive yoga classes (TCTSY) at Delight Yoga.
Her work has taken me to Palestine, Uganda, Kenya, Greece, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and The Netherlands where she offers individual and group therapy sessions, develop Dance Movement Therapy education programmes and workshops on trauma and restoration. she collaborates with various NGOs such as War child Holland, to develop trauma-informed and movement-based psycho-social care for children and adults with a refugee background in various multicultural settings. Her recent research work focuses on Dance Movement Therapy, trauma and resilience building among women refugees and asylum seekers. For more information on individual therapy sessions and trauma-sensitive yoga classes, you are welcome to contact her: Katia Verreault amovingworldfoundation@gmail.
Originally from New Zealand and now based in Amsterdam, Samantha is a Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F) and Vinyasa yoga teacher.
After travelling and working abroad for many years and practising yoga on and off for almost a decade, it was while based in Sydney in 2015 that her curiosity and appreciation for yoga really deepened. Settling in Amsterdam the following year and continuing her dedicated practice here, she began to experience a powerful healing connection to herself and her body through yoga. While navigating a challenging period in her life, she turned to yoga as a source of strength and healing, supporting her mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Feeling drawn to dive deeper into this ancient practice and share yoga with others, she undertook her first yoga teacher training in 2018 which led her to discover trauma-sensitive yoga.
Passionate about trauma recovery and mental health, Samantha is now facilitating groups and individual TCTSY sessions to help support trauma survivors explore embodiment and nurture a felt sense of connection to themselves, others, and the world around them. Samantha facilitates TCTSY in English. Contact Samantha: samanthamichelleyoga
Cleo has 10 years of experience, working in youth services with children and young adults that experienced challenging dependency relationships. She’s born and bread in Amsterdam and has a son of her own, already 25 years old now. She has recently graduated as a TCTSY-Facilitator and works with one-on-one sessions, as well as in groups.