Book Review: The Power of Trauma Informed Yoga
Recently, I realized I needed to start reading again—there’s something about writing truths I haven’t fully embodied in a while that pushes me to do better. I’ve also been neglecting several books I’ve collected over the years, all relevant to this blog. 😅 I decided to begin with The Power of Trauma-Informed Yoga by Sue Berman. Friends, this is *the* book I wish had existed when I began my healing journey. It’s so well-crafted that it inspired me to start reviewing books on this here blog. I truly believe anyone on a self-help or healing journey can benefit from the wisdom Berman expertly weaves through her anecdotes and insights as both a trauma-informed yoga instructor and someone who has personally benefited from the practice.
Berman begins by ensuring readers have a solid framework for discussing trauma, emphasizing the importance of a shared vocabulary for this sensitive and multifaceted topic. I anticipated these early chapters would be dry, as I’m not a patient reader and don’t love revisiting familiar concepts. However, Berman presents the material in a clear, concise way that makes it easy to follow, even if you're already familiar with the subject. I appreciate the thorough explanation of trauma, including the various ways it manifests, along with insightful tips on managing triggers. I also appreciate the stories she weaves into the book to underscore the humanness of trauma.
Once we’re all sharing the same language, Berman shares her personal journey with trauma, healing, and the power of trauma-informed yoga before explaining what trauma-informed yoga is. I don’t want to spoil her powerful story, not even a little for the sake of explanation, but I will say that I believe the trauma she describes is less common than what we usually see discussed in these spaces. Once again, she lays out the information clearly and concisely. Berman even provides a helpful chart differentiating between “traditional yoga” and trauma-informed yoga. I put "traditional yoga" in quotes because when we say traditional yoga in the West, we’re often referring to a type of yoga that is actually the most modern form and I’m not *actually* sure which she means, but I digress. She goes on to further explain how specific aspects of yoga help alleviate different aspects of trauma. There is even an entire chapter dedicated to breath!
Sue Berman spends the rest of the book offering tips on setting up safe spaces to practice, highlighting the importance of being mindful and compassionate to ourselves and others. Additionally, Berman offers several asanas (or postures) and how to cue them, making this book a helpful resource for both individuals interested in practicing on their own and those already working in the field who may want to offer trauma-informed yoga themselves. Overall, I think Berman has done an excellent job of providing a solid starting point for anyone who has experienced trauma and is interested in yoga but doesn’t know where to begin. This book truly illustrates, as its title suggests, The Power of Trauma-Informed Yoga.
10/10 - Do recommend
Read this book, and love yourself better,
Mia Marie
Beyond the Plate: Media
While my peers were consuming The Kardashians and Jackass, I was learning about tarot, beginner spells, and the occult. This labeled me as weird; I was different. It was clear that I didn’t have the same priorities and values as my peers. I was also smoking, skipping class, and dating fully grown men. This was middle school, by the way. While my peers were worrying about name-brand clothing, makeup, and perfect hair, I was concerned with manifesting, communicating with the dead, and finding the love that I was desperately lacking at home. While my peers were watching Walking Dead and playing COD, I was working a full-time job, learning Excel, fractions and ethics online. (I was, of course, still trying to find love on the poisoned lips of men.) While my peers were consuming Game of Thrones, I was consuming Christianity and the history of religions. (GoT was in the last season by the time a co-worker forced me to watch it, and YES, I am glad I watched it.) I am a culmination of the media I have consumed, just like you. As a result, I have always played a part in “othering” myself by having a different perspective and different values. I have also spent so much time googling pop-culture references in an effort to fit in. “You’ve never seen insert cult classic I simply can’t believe it!” Thanks, Becky, was the 2 hours enriching? I’m never going to watch it, but since you are the third person to reference it, I will watch the clip that quote is associated with and laugh next time.
“Oh Mia, you’re sooo different. Good for you!” /s. That isn’t my point. Yes, I am different, but that was never my concern; in fact, it seemed to concern my peers more than it did me. I have always been more concerned with being comfortable in my own skin. I remember when I was in 5th grade, I did a school research paper on eating disorders. I learned a lot about bulimia and anorexia. I chose this topic because my mother and peers had been bullying me since I was in the 2nd grade about my weight. I wanted to see if an eating disorder was likely to get my mother off my back, if I’m being honest. What I found was that there was a correlation between unattainable beauty standards found in the media and eating disorders. I also found that the harm done to the body by engaging in eating disorders outweighed the harm of being overweight, almost always. Thankfully, this paper led me to understand the practices that perpetuate unattainable beauty standards and gave me a foundation to not believe every “perfect” thing I saw on the internet. I also understood that my peers were being influenced by the “perfect” models and celebrities. Many years later, I had occasion to meet a beautiful young woman who was struggling with bulimia while I was in the children's psych ward. I remember she and I spoke about her struggles, and while she was invested in all the teen magazines at the time (like books but thinner with more advertisements and pictures), the way her mother spoke about her own weight was probably the most influential. Her mother, of course, was also a victim of a society focused on unrealistic and harmful beauty standards.
I think we all know about the tricks influencers and celebrities use to appear better and perfect. Many of these celebrities and influencers will even tell you what they are using to achieve their “look,” only for it to not work for you. Maybe they’ll get you to tune in while they do a GRWM video aimed towards selling you their brand deals, or maybe they’ll sell you their workout routine, claiming you’ll have a Kim K ass, when we all know people pay for their assets. Or how about when they are selling you skincare products that are unregulated, and you have no idea what’s in them? Am I telling you not to buy makeup, skincare, or fitness stuff? No, I am asking you to be aware that almost every piece of media you engage with is designed to prop up capitalism. It is designed to sell you something. When was the last time you engaged with a piece of media and thought about the intention behind it? It’s not just products and services; it's also thoughts, ideals, and beliefs.
Mia, you are only talking about visual media, though, so my music and podcasts are safe, right? I hope you know that isn’t true. Look at how many podcasts are out there spreading harmful rhetoric. They are even selling you their thoughts and ideas. Whose ideas are you buying? Who are you tuning into? Where are they in life? How did they get there? Was it by spreading positive thoughts and ideals? Or was it by selling you fear and telling you they are the answer? Or maybe they have some real knowledge but also have some really shit takes. Or maybe the content itself is just dark and heavy. I have been consuming true crime since high school. I was traumatized by the Dahmer and Bundy atrocities while I was trying to understand serial killers long before Netflix decided to traumatize y’all with a docuseries. (I was taking college-level psych courses; it was weird but not as weird as my peers made it out to be. I still want to know who started the rumor that I had a hit list. 😂) A few years back, I was consuming a lot of true crime, like 10+ hours a day for many months, and it started to affect my mental health. It was then that I remembered my favorite YouTuber, Cayleigh Elise. For those of you that are normal, Cayleigh Elise did a lot of videos on many different things, from spooky and lore-type things to missing and murdered women, children, and Indigenous women. She is where I first learned that our Indigenous women go missing at an alarming rate. Her Jane Doe series brought attention to people that authorities had given up on. She was in this line of work for all the right reasons, but consuming hours and hours of dark content to make dark content eventually took its toll on her mental health, and she decided to leave her platform.
What about the music you listen to? How do they speak about the people you care about in your favorite songs? How are women being portrayed? How are men being portrayed? What thoughts about race are you unintentionally ingesting? Gender? Sexual identity? I was 19 when I started to notice that different music could alter the way I felt. I have always been polyjamorous, but before hearing many different genres back to back during my bar shifts, I wouldn’t have really considered it. Not only did I notice that music altered my emotional state but also that of my patrons. Of course, not every genre hits every person the same, but every person got hit by every genre. Art is supposed to make you feel something. Good artists use many tools to make you feel what they want you to feel. Everything from BPM to chords to lyrics is all designed to make you feel something. By being aware of how different genres make us feel, many of us can start taking control of our emotional well-being and our worldview.
I use rap or metal when I need to tap into rage and bluegrass when I need to tap into calm and joy. Recently, I found myself at an industrial show. A couple of the bands were pretty good, actually, but I became concerned that one of the bands I was vibing to (I can’t understand the lyrics) might have been spouting some WASP-type noise when I saw a single person in the crowd throw up a Hitler salute. I took to Google and discovered that the entire genre, and that band in particular, are often under criticism for their very pro-white-dude rhetoric. This scene is one that I have an acquaintance in, and I was telling him about the show and found out that recently, for his mental health, he had decided to switch genres and pull back on the industrial scene.
Another instance of music's impact was during a road trip with friends. We decided to create a playlist that included all our favorite songs, regardless of genre. As we drove, I noticed how the mood in the car shifted with each song. Fast-paced songs brought energy and excitement, while slower, melancholic tunes led to introspective conversations. This experience solidified my belief in the power of music to influence our emotions and interactions.
Everything we consume has a vibration. Sound, light, color—all of it is vibration and frequency. When we consider that we are more than a physical body but also an energetic body, it becomes almost natural to consider media as part of what we consume. This concept that everything is vibration can be observed in nature with the help of science. I recently came across a TikTok creator who uses a synthesizer or something and connects it to plants to allow us to hear their songs. This is part of why telling someone to go touch grass is actually such a great way to be like, “You clearly are dysregulated, please go get in touch with nature.” When we are out in nature, we are getting in touch with the various vibrations of nature. Allowing that to inform our reality makes more sense to me than allowing people who only want you for your follow, like, comment, money, etc., to inform your reality. As always, do your own research.
This became even clearer to me during my career in sales. We analyzed advertisements and marketing campaigns, breaking down the psychological tactics used to manipulate consumers. It was eye-opening to see the lengths to which companies go to sell products and the subtle ways they influence our self-perception. I learned these concepts firsthand in sales training, where understanding consumer psychology to create a sense of need and urgency was emphasized. The goal was always to close the deal, often by exploiting insecurities and desires.
Reflecting on these experiences, I realized how pervasive and powerful these techniques are. They aren't limited to commercials or product placements; they infiltrate every aspect of the media we consume. Understanding these tactics can help us become more discerning consumers and protect our mental and emotional well-being. I invite you to reflect on the media you consume daily—whether it's TV shows, music, podcasts, or social media. How does each influence your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions? Consider keeping a journal for a week to track how different forms of media impact your mood and worldview. Share your insights or any revelations you have about your media consumption journey in the comments below. Let's explore together how we can become more mindful consumers in our everyday lives.
Love,
Mia Marie
Crystals and Healing
Whenever someone finds out that I’m a little “witchy” or “woo-woo,” a common question I get asked is, “What are your thoughts on crystals?” Usually, this question is prompted by me offering some offhand herbal advice. I’ll talk more about that in later posts. This question about my thoughts on crystals is valid. On one hand, by the time these topics come up, I have usually proven myself to be a fairly rational and well-researched person. However, writing this, it does occur to me that perhaps this question isn’t always asked genuinely. Regardless of the intent, my answer is always the same: “I’m not really sure, actually.”
Early Experiences with Crystals
Crystals were one of the first tools I looked at, other than tarot and the diet connection. I was working with crystals even before Reiki and Yoga. Ultimately, I believe they helped. I am not sure that I will ever be fully convinced that it was more than a placebo effect. However, I did have some interesting experiences with crystals over the years that are undeniably correlated. I’ll share some anecdotes and some backstory about my experiences.
A Journey into Healing
When I started my journey into crystals, I had been in talk therapy and diagnosed with C-PTSD. My therapist was great, but as with many others with C-PTSD, talk therapy wasn’t much help beyond validating what I had gone through and the work I did to understand it prior to therapy. It turns out actualizing and intellectualizing aren’t the great solution I assumed them to be. This left me looking for other ways to calm my nervous system and move through life with healthy perspectives. Some other things I was working with at the time were cannabis and other mild but legal psychoactive herbs, a CBT workbook, and a homemade gratitude journal. An important piece of information that wasn’t available to me at the time was that the relationship I was in was one of the more damaging partnerships I had been in my adult life. I had been with some real winners, including a man who I quickly understood was ramping up to physical abuse and would sniff me down if I was five minutes late walking home from work in the winter. I tell you all of this to paint a picture of where I was mentally before deciding to work with crystals.
Rose Quartz: A Catalyst for Change
The first crystal I decided to work with was rose quartz. It is said to help with self-love. I KNEW I was struggling with that based on the way I would speak to myself, causing an anxiety spiral. These anxiety spirals would cause me to become hyper-controlling of my environment and lash out easily. Shortly after I started working with rose quartz, i.e., throwing a piece in my bra every day, I started to do two things that I would have never really expected me to do: yoga and meditation. It's funny, actually, because I remember when I would ask a medicine man and a self-proclaimed prophet for advice, I was often told to go within, and I would scoff. “I simply CANNOT meditate,” I would retort. My ADHD does, in fact, make achieving a meditative state more difficult, but it turns out that I can, in fact, meditate. These two things would prove to be some of the most powerful acts of self-love that I can practice for myself. Do I believe rose quartz to be responsible for this change in direction? No, not really. Do I think that the ritual act of picking up the rose quartz off of my nightstand, throwing it in my bra, and remembering to focus on self-love was a catalyst? Yes, but not necessarily the vibe of the crystal, ya know?
Picasso Stone and Creativity
Another stone I ended up working with wasn’t one I sought out exactly. I was wandering through some metaphysical shop, perusing the aisles for books and tarot cards, and my eyes landed on a stone I hadn’t seen or read about. I picked it up and bought it. I researched the Picasso Stone later and found that it was supposed to heighten creativity. I started working with the stone, though this time I believe I put it on a makeshift crystal grid of sorts on a bookshelf in my makeshift home office. Around this time, I learned how to make shower steamers. I was aiming for bath bombs, but hey, it was a fun craft. My best friend understood the assignment and perfected my vision. Together, she made and we sold 400 of our “ritual” bath bombs. (Friend, if you are reading this, I would love a bath bomb!) Here again, we have a “Was it the stone or intentional and inspired action?”
Moonstone and Relationships
The last story I’ll share about crystals for now is my moonstone story. Did you guys see the moldavite trend on TikTok? Too niche? Well, back in 2020, a bunch of folks bought moldavite and have come back telling stories about how their world got flipped on its head in what I call a tower moment. This also allowed them to build back better. I recently saw a TT alleging that moonstone is similar but for relationships. Some time early on in my crystal journey, I bought a moonstone ring. I wore this on my left index finger. I don’t know if this was “right,” and I don’t care. I don’t think that the tools and modalities we use always have to have rigid rules. If that helps you, cool, but I will continue to be my spiritual authority and would encourage you to be that for yourself. So I was in this relationship with the fella I mentioned earlier. We were a team for work, we were raising his daughter, and I was doing the lion's share of what was paying us and keeping up with the house and childcare, among cooking and hosting two separate holiday meals. The lifestyle of working from home and taking care of my house felt really nice. Unfortunately, this partner felt that because his name was on the business, he did enough. I would express needing help, and he would tell me in action that I was unworthy, just absolutely echoing my fears and internalized beliefs from childhood. This is actually why I chose moonstone. I knew the problem had to be that I was not in touch with my femininity. Clearly, I was too masculine, and that was why I was struggling to keep up with everything. My partner also questioned me about literally everything. Small decisions would require me to explain myself and result in a 10-20 minute argument. It did not help that for about six months, my mother was living with us. My mental health was... not great. At one point around Christmas, my friend had to physically take a pair of scissors out of my hand for fear of witnessing self-harm, a behavior I hadn’t struggled with since high school and haven’t felt again since. Again, I’m just painting the picture here. Eventually, my mother moved out. I expected things to get better, but they somehow went from bad to worse. The last argument I had with this man was so bewildering that I admitted to a mutual friend that I felt like running away. She, from what I can tell, immediately called him to tell him this. (Katie, I hope you heal and be thankful I never shared your secrets.) This led to a discussion where I admitted to wanting to be deleted from the population for months, and he broke up with me. He left the home his mom bought for us to live in to give me time to get out, and I immediately called his sister, my best friend. By the time she got there, I was done crying and had decided that him calling it off was the best thing for me. I healed, got my own place, and started working on MY life again.
Reflections on Crystals
The moonstone obviously can’t be blamed for the downfall of a toxic relationship that should have been left alone to start. However, it is an interesting correlation. All of my experiences got me thinking, do these solidified earth excretions actually hold power? So I looked around and found mostly anecdotal evidence from folks I fear don’t know the difference between science and pseudoscience. No hate or shade to them or anyone—I am, after all, a bit woo-woo. It just wasn’t the answer I was looking for; I could provide that evidence for myself. What I eventually found were excerpts from Nikola Tesla's work involving crystals and their vibrations. Tesla wasn’t working with crystals in the capacity I was, but he did seem to hold them in very high regard. Reading this work sent me down two other rabbit holes: crystals in tech, and quantum physics.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, I decided that I like the use of crystals in spiritual and healing spaces. As with any tool or modality, I fear that there is room for abuse. Please always do your own research from reputable sources. Trust your gut. If someone is trying to sell you a $600 crystal that they SWEAR is going to fix everything, they are swindling you. On the other hand, if you are walking through a little shop and feel drawn to a crystal, let it tell you where you can shift your focus and help create the life you want to live. They are a fun and pretty addition to what you are already doing to support your mental and physical health. They may not help, but they certainly can’t hurt. So, throw them on your mantle or toss them in your window, sleep with them, meditate with them; just don’t put anything in water without checking if it is safe! Do your own research, have your own experiences, but remember intentional action and doing the inner work are always going to be what dictates your life.
I’d love to hear from you! Have you had any interesting experiences with crystals? Do you have questions about how to incorporate them into your life? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below.
With love and compassion,
Mia Marie
