Trauma-Informed Yoga with Anneke Lucas

Yoga Teachers Association of the Hudson Valley will be kicking off its 2016–2017 program year on Saturday, September 10, with Anneke Lucas and her Unconditionality model of trauma-informed yoga.

Everyone has experienced trauma, and many people are affected for years afterward, even lifetimes. Repressed emotions connected to trauma can cause imbalances in the body/mind system that may manifest as uncontrollable anger, chronic low self-esteem, or physical illness. This workshop will focus on creating a safe space that allows students to break through enduring shame and connect to the self with compassion and acceptance. Participants will explore the elements of Trauma Yoga and be guided through a trauma-informed practice.

After the workshop, the conversation will continue at YTA’s annual Prana Party, from 4:30 to 5:30 in the Club Fit lounge. This is an opportunity for members to connect and share ideas. Anneke Lucas will also be available for questions.

Anneke Lucas conducts workshops for yoga instructors interested in serving traumatized populations in and out of prisons and for professionals working with those populations. She founded Liberation Prison Yoga in 2014, and she teaches regularly at Rikers Island, MDC (aka “The Tombs”), Bedford Hills Correctional Institution, and FCI in Danbury, CT. A survivor of sexual abuse at a young age, Anneke herself experienced and witnessed some of the worst atrocities known to humankind. The specific trauma-informed yoga style she developed is based on analysis of her own healing experience, supported by current trauma science. The continued healing she receives from her work has aroused an unstoppable drive to share hope. In 2008, Anneke created a 500-RYT program for a New York–based yoga studio. She graduated from the American Film Institute’s screenwriting program in 1993, published a novel in her home country of Belgium, and has written many articles about yoga and trauma.

The workshop will be held at the Yoga Studio at Club Fit, 584 North State Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510, on Saturday, September 10, from 1:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. The cost is $45 for YTA members and $65 for nonmembers who register in advance; $55 and $75 at the door. Preregistration is requested at YTAYoga.com. Ample parking is available. Please bring a yoga mat and arrive early to check in and set up. For more information, contact Audrey Brooks at ytapresident@gmail.net or 914-582-7816.

YTA’s 2016–2017 program year will continue with Handcrafted Yoga with Al Bingham on October 8, followed by Chakras and Healing with the Himalayan Institute’s Shari Friedrichsen on November 12 and Yin/Vinyasa: Harnessing the Power of Stillness to Maximize Your Inherent Mobility with Corina Benner on December 10.

Yoga Teachers Association (YTA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that has been providing affordable continuing education for yoga teachers and committed students since 1979. Membership dues and additional contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. Visit us at www.ytayoga.com.