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Yogaland Podcast
Quiet Healing: Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Trauma with Dr. Gail Parker
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Dr. Gail Parker joins me on the podcast this week! Gail is a psychologist, yoga educator, and author of two companion books that center restorative yoga as a potent healing modality for ethnic and race-based trauma. These books are incredible and have taught me so much, which is why I wanted to share them with you. Here are a few things I learned from the books and this conversation with Gail:
- An understanding of what race-based trauma is, both from an historical perspective and from lived experience.
- How people who have experienced race-based trauma often feel like it's their fault (and how this is so often reinforced by society)
- The ways that restorative yoga works for race-based trauma: You are working with the nervous system not the traumatic event, which teaches you how to recognize relaxation, immobilize without fear, and supports feeling safe in stillness without hypervigilance.
- The benefits of understanding your nervous system and attempting to discern the difference between triggers and actual threats
When we attempt to learn about racism and race-based trauma, we can (hopefully) make our yoga spaces more welcoming and inclusive! Thank you for listening and go to the shownotes for Gail's books: yogalandpodcast.com/episode336
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