Befriend Your Nervous System
Unlock the transformative powers of trauma-focused yoga, a specialized practice designed to deepen your healing journey.
Why Trauma-Focused Yoga?
Trauma-focused yoga is not about aesthetic poses, it’s about softening into what your body is ready to feel.
This practice invites you to reconnect with your body at your own pace; offering movement, breath, and stillness as tools to support regulation, resilience, and safety.
Grounded in the neurobiology of trauma and somatics, trauma-focused yoga can gently expand your window of capacity , the space where your body feels safe enough to explore, process, and rest. Through slow, intentional practices, we begin to shift from survival mode toward a deeper sense of presence and possibility.
With practices like yin yoga, we nourish and release the fascia, the body’s connective tissue that can hold tension and trauma, through long-held, supported shapes. Inviting not only physical release, but emotional and energetic unwinding.
In this space, you’re not asked to perform only to notice… to pause….to listen.
You don’t have to hold it all alone.
Embodied Movement & Breath
Gentle Practices to Release, Regulate, and Reconnect
Yin and Restorative Yoga
A slow, deeply restorative practice that uses long holds and soft pressure to access the fascia, the body’s connective tissue, where tension, emotion, and trauma can reside. The stillness of this practice invites deep release of stored tension and emotion.
Somatic Movements
Mindful movements like tapping, rocking, and self‑holding help mobilize stored tension and shift stagnant emotions. These practices create a sense of belonging in your body, allowing feelings to move and settle, rather than overwhelm.
Breathwork and Meditation
Slow, soothing breath patterns communicate safety to the nervous system. Guided meditations using powerful visualization practices deepen embodiment, allowing you to connect with felt sense of belonging and trust within.
What does “Trauma-Focused” really mean?
I’m so glad you asked!
In this space, you and your body are the guide, and I am here to support you as we meet the unspoken needs of your body, mind, and heart.
Your physical and emotional safety is the top priority. Together, we meet your body with gentleness and your emotions with compassion.
Building trust is essential, especially when exploring something new. My goal is to create an inviting, warm, and non-judgmental space where you feel safe and supported as we get to know each other.
Empowerment & Choice
In our sessions, everything is an option. Your voice matters, and you’re always welcome to say “no.” I understand this can be a big step, so you have full permission to come out of any shape, meditation, or breathwork—no explanation needed.
Consent & Comfort
I will always gather your consent before introducing elements like scents, sound, or touch into our sessions.
Collaboration & Feedback
I welcome your feedback and check in regularly to ensure your experience aligns with your goals of reconnecting with your body. Together, we’ll create a space for relief, growth, and healing.
Common Yoga Wounds
✓ Believing yoga is only for certain bodies to enjoy
✓ Not feeling “flexible enough” during a yoga class without the support of alternative postures or props
✓ Expecting a relaxing yoga class only to find out it’s a HIIT workout with stretching in-between
✓ Feeling pressure to perform on the mat, instead of moving at your own pace and capacity
✓ Being overwhelmed with anxiety during a restorative yoga class and believing it “just doesn't work on you”
If any of the above has been your experience of yoga in the past…I want you to know you’re not alone. You should also know, it doesn’t have to be this way.
I am passionate about supporting those who may have been affected by these woundings and gently guiding them to discover the true meaning of yoga— harmony of mind, body, and spirit.
A Message from Lauren:
Early in my career as a mental health therapist, I knew my clients needed more than talk therapy sessions to initiate deeper healing.
I’ve always felt drawn to the practice of yoga. Like many others, I had my own misconceptions based on the Western, capitalized version of yoga often portrayed. I completed a 200hr trauma-informed yoga teacher training in 2023. Since then, I have intertwined the ancient practice of yoga with my clinical understanding of the neurophysiological impacts of trauma as a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP).
I too have sat in a yoga class feeling rushed, pushed too far, and left feeling disappointed… even ashamed. This fueled a feeling of injustice for others whose trauma history was not taken into consideration during a yoga class, a space they’re told will be supposedly safe for them. Yoga teachers with trauma-informed awareness do their best to accommodate; however, from my teacher training, I learned it’s virtually impossible to create a group yoga class that wouldn’t “trigger” anybody at all.
I began to explore how I could create a space that had the capacity to be completely tailored to an individual's needs, taking into account their history and current survival responses. Although one might think a relaxing, restorative yoga class would be beneficial for any person; even restorative classes have the potential to make one feel too much, too soon.
That is why I’m committed to getting to know my clients on a deeper level in order to cultivate a practice just for them and their unique story. Using my clinical knowledge and training in trauma informed yoga and somatic practices, I gently guide my clients to befriend their nervous system, which is intricately designed to protect. Together, we embark on a journey of practices that whisper to the body, ‘you are safe now’.
If shaming and forcing our body into being calm worked, it would have by now. This approach is rooted in self compassion and patience, helping us practice on and off the mat. No pose, practice, or performance will be forced in our sessions. I am simply the guide to helping you find the healing you already possess within.
It’s truly an honor to support you in discovering your very own healing within.
-Lauren Soutullo, Trauma-Focused Yoga Teacher & Founder of Embodied Collective
Let’s find the kind of support that feels right for you.
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