The COVID Shift – Part 1: Disruption, Trauma, and Yoga
By Kristine Kaoverii Weber | April 16, 2021

(Part 1 of a 3-Part Series)
I taught my last in-person yoga class before the shutdown on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. It was my regular weekly gig which I’d been teaching in the same venue for nearly 20 years. As we all hugged and said our goodbyes, we reassured each other that it was temporary and we’d be back together in a few weeks or, at worst, months.
Later that week. I taught my last in-person workshop. It was about using yoga to address anxiety, depression, and trauma. We had a really sweet group at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). While things were certainly heating up, little did we know how important understanding yoga for trauma recovery was going to be – we were standing on the precipice of a massive, worldwide, protracted traumatic experience.
I remember feeling sort of serene. Okay, there’s this storm coming, but we can handle it, we got this. No big whoop.
Mmm-hmm. 🙄
I was in denial – which is a typical, initial response to trauma – a very human behavior in the face of overwhelming situations and emotions (not just a big river in Egypt).
So, what is trauma exactly and why does COVID fit in this category?
My favorite definition is from Judith Herman’s classic book, Trauma and Recovery:
“Psychological trauma is an affiliation of the powerless. At the moment of trauma, the victim is rendered helpless by overwhelming force. When the force is that of nature, we speak of disasters. When the force is that of other human beings, we speak of atrocities. Traumatic events overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection, and meaning.” (Herman, 1997)
COVID fits. Particularly in terms of losing control and connection.
Now we seem to be tentatively bootstrapping ourselves up and out of this mess – and there’s an accompanying increasing sense of agency. But as we emerge and start to survey the damage, we are beginning to witness the effect on health.
Studies have shown a decline in physical activity during COVID. Which makes sense – trauma prioritizes survival. The focus shifts away from contemplative, executive function (thinking, planning, future visioning) towards survival thinking and behavior.
Watching the news and eating become urgent. Exercising or doing yoga, not so much. Why bother? We’re gonna die.
One of the most insidious health aftershocks of the pandemic is the protracted lack of physical activity. This behavior, en masse, has increased the burden of chronic disease – which was already an increasingly urgent problem before the pandemic began.
Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of The Lancet argues that COVID-19 is more than a pandemic, it’s a “syndemic” created by the combination of a deadly virus plus ubiquitous chronic diseases:
“Addressing COVID-19 means addressing hypertension, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, and cancer. The aggregation of these diseases on a background of social and economic disparity exacerbates the adverse effects of each separate disease. COVID-19 is not a pandemic. It is a syndemic.”
Mental health has also been a victim here and it’s important to note that depression actually belongs to the chronic disease category.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled depression a leading cause of disability worldwide and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.
Over the past year there’s been an unprecedented uptick in mental health issues, as well as substance abuse, and suicide.
While we’re beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, things like doing yoga may not be on the radar of those folks who are in survival mode. If you are a teacher and you’ve seen a decrease in attendance to your online or in-person classes – you’re not alone.
The reason is trauma.
But as nervous systems begin to settle – there will be an increasing demand for yoga – it will be understood (consciously or unconsciously) as an important component of the trauma integration process. In the coming months and years, more and more people are going to be drawn to yoga to help them integrate their trauma and develop greater resilience to cope with future challenges.
Even though folks know they need more activity, getting barked at in the gym may feel too overwhelming for many at the moment. Yoga can offer folks the opportunity to start to become active again – in a non-overwhelming, trauma informed way. But yoga offers a lot more than activity and we can use it and teach it explicitly as an important tool for trauma integration.
Yoga can help people:
- Make space and time to contemplate and unravel the trauma survival wiring that was laid down during the past year.
- Make space and time to rethink their lives, their values, and what’s important to them.
- Rethink their relationships – to time, to money, to each other, to animals, to the earth, to their higher power.
- Think about the future differently – not just as an extrapolation of the past but as something potentially very different – more sustainable, more humane, more inclusive, more compassionate, and kinder.
COVID has been an unprecedented disruption and an unprecedented trauma – and that means it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for growth.
Keep an eye out for Part 2 next week!
Wanna practice with me weekly and build greater resilience? You can. Please check out The Subtle Yoga Resilience Society!
Please wait while comments are loading...
Beautifully written Kristine and it is exactly what I am seeing in my yoga therapy practice and in my work at a community hospital as an administrator. Our need for mental health admissions has grown significantly. While keeping up with the Resilience Society has been a challenge I have enjoyed and learned so much each month from you. Thank you for your encouragement, words of wisdom, vast knowledge sharing and your honesty. Looking forward to next week.
Thanks for your kind words Sandra and it sounds like you are really busy. I hope you also getting a bit of time to do some self-care. Sounds like your work is both important and may be taxing as well – thanks for what you are doing to support your community!
Thank you Krisitne as usual you say what is on my mind. I realize the impacts and I see that with my students. I see that subtle Yoga is exactly what we need.
Namaste! Perfect timing for me to read this! I was thinking of all these things these past few days but did not know how to veralize it! Thank you for your insights that helps so many of us and for those of us that teach, we notice these subtle changes/behavious/feelings not only in ourselves but in the few students that have kept coming to class. For me, am doing gentle yoga outdoors in the morning and two small gentle classes weekly indoors in the evening. What I have noticed with my students is that they all just want to do gentle stretches and Savassana! The mornings seem to have attracted a group that is becoming more positive and upbeat. The evening classes has attracted those still dealing with emotional losses, jobs that they are afraid of losing and the feelings of isolation is still big, the fear of touching others, of not going out and having fun! From work to yoga and home!
I thank God that the middle stop/point is yoga in their schedule. Bless You Kristine!
Thanks Aurora for your reflections – and thank you for the work that you’re doing – which is of vital importance at this moment.
Namaste Kristine, you have expressed so beautifully what has been going through my mind for days. The emotions of this past year and the continuing ups and downs of dealing with this situation has affected us all. I feel fortunate that I have had a brave few students that have venture out to do morning yoga classes at the park with me and a few that come to an indoor class in the evening. I’ve noticed that both groups want gentle stuff and Savassana. The morning group is beginning to feel more upbeat and they’ve gone from chair yoga to a combo of chair and mat! They seem more upbeat. Being outdoors the birds, the breeze, the smells of the park is very invigorating and soothing as well. The evening group is still a bit sad, some cry in Savassana, and I give them their space to do so and respect their feelings. I too have cried during Savassana at times. Feelings just surface, but we are all so grateful for “yoga time”. I am grateful for you inviting us to your Space online to share and learn! Thank you so much! Blessings!
Thank you, Kristine. I needed to read your words just now. I am not teaching at this time and have utmost respect and appreciation for those of you who are and for what you are doing. Thank you.