Hi Judi

I have not perhaps had the deep trauma that too many people have had in their lives. I have not been raped or mugged. My experiences have perhaps been more run-of-the-mill fear/trauma from divorcing parents, from being jobless for a year and broke with a family to feed and care for, from being alone and very far from home in a strange place. The fear that comes from hitting 60 and worrying about the future when one has no retirement account and jobs are harder and harder to find. The “great recession” was a great fear producer for many of us, but perhaps not in the sense you mean.

The fear I was mainly trying to speak to was the existential fear of life outside our front doors that the media and so many people seem to want us to embrace. I use my yoga practice every day to help me get up, go out, and embrace the world I live in with as much joy as I can muster. I wish I could say I am perfect at that but am far from it.

In terms of deeper trauma, yoga has been used with wonderful results in PTSD cases, particularly returning military. There are lots of good articles and case studies out there to read. There is a whole movement towards trauma sensitive yoga growing across the country. It is important to find a teacher who gets that, who understands that yoga is so much more that complicated poses.

Thank you so much for your thoughts, it is nice to have people read and rspond. Happy to talk more about this if you’d like

Namaste