YOGA + Life® Magazines
  • Partner With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Education + Trainings
  • Retreat Directory
  • “The Practice”
  • HOME
  • FEATURED
    • Community + Culture
    • Wellness + Nutrition
    • Products
    • Profiles
    • Yoga + Fitness
    • Events
  • ALL CONTENT
    • Community + Culture
      • Art
      • Books
      • Community
      • Culture
      • Family
      • Fashion
      • Food + Drink
      • Nourish Me
      • Motivation
      • Music
      • Outdoors
      • Travel
    • Wellness + Nutrition
      • Self-Care
      • Nutrition
      • Psychology
      • Recipes
      • Therapy
      • Weight Loss
    • Products
      • Product Spotlights
      • Roundups
      • Try It On – Reviews
      • Try It Out – Reviews
    • Profiles
      • Business
      • Partner Profiles
      • People
      • Spotlight Cities
      • Students
      • Studios
      • Teachers
      • Seva Story
      • Sustainability Story
      • Storytelling
    • Yoga + Fitness
      • Asana
      • In the Practice
      • Meditation
      • Philosophy
      • Physiology
      • Sports
      • Workouts
    • Events
      • Festivals
      • Retreats
      • Training Spotlights
    • Inspiration From Y+L Partners
  • Y + L COMMUNITIES
    • COLORADO
    • MINNESOTA
    • NEW YORK
  • CONNECT
    • Order A Magazine
    • Advertise With Us
    • Contribute
    • Contact Us
  • LIVE CLASSES
Featured Posts
  • Cleanse Your Soul + Palate Through The Conscious Cleanse Cookbook | By Olivia Lyda
    • 8 views
  • Transforming Energy + Restoring Balance : Liz Gómez, Shamanic Energy Medicine | By Marisol Cruz
    • 50 views
  • Invoking The Divine Feminine in Challenging Times | By Jeanie Manchester
    • 46 views
  • Partner With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Education + Trainings
  • Retreat Directory
  • “The Practice”
0 Followers
2K Likes
Partners
YOGA + Life® Magazines
Subscribe
  • HOME
  • FEATURED
    • Community + Culture
    • Wellness + Nutrition
    • Products
    • Profiles
    • Yoga + Fitness
    • Events
  • ALL CONTENT
    • Community + Culture
      • Art
      • Books
      • Community
      • Culture
      • Family
      • Fashion
      • Food + Drink
      • Nourish Me
      • Motivation
      • Music
      • Outdoors
      • Travel
    • Wellness + Nutrition
      • Self-Care
      • Nutrition
      • Psychology
      • Recipes
      • Therapy
      • Weight Loss
    • Products
      • Product Spotlights
      • Roundups
      • Try It On – Reviews
      • Try It Out – Reviews
    • Profiles
      • Business
      • Partner Profiles
      • People
      • Spotlight Cities
      • Students
      • Studios
      • Teachers
      • Seva Story
      • Sustainability Story
      • Storytelling
    • Yoga + Fitness
      • Asana
      • In the Practice
      • Meditation
      • Philosophy
      • Physiology
      • Sports
      • Workouts
    • Events
      • Festivals
      • Retreats
      • Training Spotlights
    • Inspiration From Y+L Partners
  • Y + L COMMUNITIES
    • COLORADO
    • MINNESOTA
    • NEW YORK
  • CONNECT
    • Order A Magazine
    • Advertise With Us
    • Contribute
    • Contact Us
  • LIVE CLASSES
  • CO YOGA + Life
  • Wellness
  • Wellness + Nutrition
  • Yoga + Fitness

Yoga Therapy : Meet Boulder’s Arielle Schwartz | By Sarah Tuff Dunn

  • Lexi Reich | Managing Editor
  • 116 views
  • 4 minute read
Total
3
Shares
3
0
0

When psychologist Arielle Schwartz moved to Boulder in 1996 to study Somatic Psychology at the Naropa Institute, she discovered that teaching yoga was a great way to deal with lifelong anxiety issues.

When I moved to Louisville in late 2017 to begin a new life with my husband and two children, I discovered that a psychotherapy practice called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) was a great way to deal with some trauma from the past. At the same time, I began researching ways to return to the practice of yoga.

That’s how I discovered Schwartz, who teaches therapeutic yoga, using some EMDR principles to help practitioners bend their minds as much as their bodies. She’s also the co-author of EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology. Recently, I called Schwartz to learn more about her approach.

How did you become involved in yoga?

I actually grew up in a yoga community; my parents started going to Kripalu when I was 7, and I remember my dad coming to teach my third grade class. I stopped as a teenager, and then when I went to college at Oberlin, being away from home, and the demands, I went to community class and fell in love again on my own with yoga. It was Kundalini, and then when I went to do my teacher training I went back to my roots and focused on Kripalu.

For the layperson, can you describe what EMDR is?

EMDR brings together what I think are the best elements of any trauma-focused therapy: the meaning-making, your mind, what story you’re telling, what beliefs you hold about yourself in relationship to specific traumatic events. It works with your body, and how you experience sensations, how you experience the different arousal states related to that event, and it’s going to work with the emotions.

EMDR has a way of using the assessment state to light up the neural network associated with a traumatic memory through all these channels — the emotions, the beliefs, the images and the sensations in the body. Once you have access to that, then you use bilateral stimulation, either through eye movements or sound, as a way to oscillate rhythmically in the brain and also left and right sides of the brain.

There’s a whole bunch of theories about the working mechanism as to why EMDR is effective — some of has to do with lower brain centers and that rhythm, some of it has to do with the orienting response and how the eyes are moving. But once you activate that process, kind of like REM sleep when you’re dreaming, you’re processing and downloading the events of the day. You open it up so the therapist is not in control, but the client gets to drop into their own innate healing capacity.

Can you give me an example of what a trauma might be?

There was a client who came into work specifically on a car accident. I asked her to tell me more about the car accident, how it felt in the body, what was the belief and what was familiar about it. The client recalled being a child in her home with her parents arguing from her mind’s eye. We followed the associative process to work at what we call the root target, and she dropped into processing a series of childhood events. At some point she realized, “Oh, I had a car accident when I was 7.” Ultimately we loop around to the recent traumatic event, and once you clear what’s underneath it, that root target, you’re much more likely to experience relief from the distress.

Is there any similarity between what goes on in a yoga practice and EMDR?

I love this question! It’s one of the key elements to the yoga for trauma therapy that I teach; we will bring in bilateral stimulation and work with how things can get stuck in the body. So, for example, we’ll bring in alternate nostril pranayama, and have the students reflect on blocking belief. Or we’ll do things that cross midline, like croc crawls or eagle pose. Coming in and out of crossing midline, there’s so much that shows up in yoga.

The other is that as a traumatic therapist, what we want to look for is also re-patterning movement, because people who have experienced trauma get stuck in high arousal states or low arousal states. So we want to use our practice to restore flexibility to the yoga system states, so that the students can realize, “Oh, when I change how I breathe, I’m changing my physiology, or when I stand in tadasana, I’m bringing my awareness to my feet, and I really feel the strength of my legs underneath me, that allows me to tolerate anxiety.” Most often we’re alternating between a pretty powerful energizing breath or posture and then restoring into something like’s child’s pose. It restores that sense of choice and control.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Tuff Dunn.

Sarah Tuff Dunn is a professional writer who has been covering the outdoors, fitness, health, nutrition and more for nearly 25 years. She lives in Louisville with her husband and two children and her favorite yoga pose is downward dog now that she has a new rescue puppy.

 

 

 

Total
3
Shares
Share 3
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Lexi Reich | Managing Editor
Lexi Reich | Managing Editor

After experiencing a yoga ashram nestled in the mountains of Colorado, Lexi became enthralled in the practice of yoga and meditation, and earned her yoga teacher training at the sacred space. Originally from Chicago, Lexi loves the holistic lifestyle she found in Colorado, and combining this passion with her writing is what makes her truly happy. Outside of her role as Managing Editor at Jaunt Media Collective, the publishing company behind YOGA + Life® and Spoke+Blossom, Lexi spends most of her time freelance writing and leading yoga classes. Besides this, you can find her hiking or daydreaming about traveling. Learn more at lexireich.com

Previous Article
Madeline Hotel, Telluride
  • CO YOGA + Life
  • Community + Culture
  • Travel

Destination Spotlight : Madeline Hotel and Residences, Telluride

  • Kim Fuller | Editor-in-Chief, YOGA + Life®
View Post
Next Article
  • CO YOGA + Life
  • Wellness
  • Wellness + Nutrition

3 Ways To Live The Gut Health Lifestyle | By Carley Smith

  • Lexi Reich | Managing Editor
View Post
More from Y+L
  • Play + Connect at Everland : Sedalia, Colorado | By Lexi Reich

    • Lexi Reich | Managing Editor
    View Post
  • RiverWonderGrass

    Rafting, Camping + Live Music : The 2021 RiverWonderGrass Expedition Lineup is Here

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Hanuman Academy Launches Tantra Yoga Psychology Course : September 20 – October 31, 2020

    • YOGA + Life® Magazines
    View Post
  • Meet Two Featured Artists from CRUSH Walls Art Festival in Denver : September 14-20, 2020 | By Brooke Welsh

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Eat, Drink and Learn During the Flatirons Food Film Festival Fundraiser this August

    • Bobby L'Heureux | Director or Partnerships, Y+L
    View Post
  • Keeping the Yoga Retreat Alive During a Pandemic | By Lisa Blake

    • Bobby L'Heureux | Director or Partnerships, Y+L
    View Post
  • Summer + Fall Adventure with RiverWonderGrass | By Brooke Welsh

    • Bobby L'Heureux | Director or Partnerships, Y+L
    View Post
  • Yoga & Collective Resilience : Hanuman Community Offers Online Event | By Wendy Wilkinson

    • CO YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • Wellness Retreats – Can I Still Do This? | By Juli Rathke

    • Juli Rathke | Founder, YOGA + Life®
    View Post
  • UCHealth evrē 2020 Self Care Saturday for Women | By Karstee Davis

    • karsteedavis
    View Post
Archived Posts!
  • “Downward Mule” : A Yoga Picture Book For All Ages, Starring Sam the Mule | By Sandy Ferguson Fuller
    • 152
  • How Indoor Fitness Can Keep You Healthy Outdoors | By Angela Muzic
    • 75
  • Explore | By Hali Love
    • 122
  • Wine + Live Music in Manitou Springs : Wine Festival Returns June 1 | By Wendy Wilkinson
    • 117
  • Unblocking Love And Revealing a Path of Healing | By Marisol Cruz
    • 195
Instagram
YES! March is Women’s History Month and we’re celebrating female identifying athletes with @her_summit ❤️
If you’re looking for some new intimate layers, the YOGA + Life team recommends @branwynofficial ✨
If you are looking to be an integral part of a growing global community of mindful + inspired individuals, we invite you to apply to the YOGA + Life Ambassador Program! Applications are OPEN to everyone and anyone...and we have to admit the benefits are pretty exciting ✨
This special 90-minute workshop combines the elements of yoga and journaling to help guide you in a creative, inspired headspace. Grab a pencil, notebook, yoga mat and your favorite herbal brew!
It’s the first day of February, and that means Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away! We love to help you celebrate sweethearts and friends every Valentine’s Day ❤️ Our 2021 Gift Guide is live on yogalifelive.com!
When we consider our yoga practice as play, as lila, we can recognize opportunities to see the struggle/fear/frustration as a facade and release it.
We’re well into 2021 — how are your New Years goals holding up?
Focus on your internal well-being. Self-care is not only beneficial to oneself, but for the communal good. Together let’s rise up and rejuvenate with the help of our 2021 self-care essentials. Link in bio for full list of products!
Facebook
Facebook
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
YES! March is Women’s History Month and we’re celebrating female identifying athletes with @her_summit ❤️
If you’re looking for some new intimate layers, the YOGA + Life team recommends @branwynofficial ✨
If you are looking to be an integral part of a growing global community of mindful + inspired individuals, we invite you to apply to the YOGA + Life Ambassador Program! Applications are OPEN to everyone and anyone...and we have to admit the benefits are pretty exciting ✨
This special 90-minute workshop combines the elements of yoga and journaling to help guide you in a creative, inspired headspace. Grab a pencil, notebook, yoga mat and your favorite herbal brew!
It’s the first day of February, and that means Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away! We love to help you celebrate sweethearts and friends every Valentine’s Day ❤️ Our 2021 Gift Guide is live on yogalifelive.com!
When we consider our yoga practice as play, as lila, we can recognize opportunities to see the struggle/fear/frustration as a facade and release it.

Join the YOGA + Life® Newsletter!

Events, Product Reviews, Promotions and More!

about
YOGA + Life® - an online community and magazine.
Recent Articles
  • Cleanse Your Soul + Palate Through The Conscious Cleanse Cookbook | By Olivia Lyda
    • CO YOGA + Life®
  • Transforming Energy + Restoring Balance : Liz Gómez, Shamanic Energy Medicine | By Marisol Cruz
    • CO YOGA + Life®
  • Invoking The Divine Feminine in Challenging Times | By Jeanie Manchester
    • CO YOGA + Life®
  • Ho’oponopono : A Hawaiian Mantra to Rise Out of Mental Chaos | By Shenna Jean
    • CO YOGA + Life®
  • Editors
  • Online Columnists
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
YOGA + Life® - All Rights Reserved

Input your search keywords and press Enter.