Physiology Answer Keys

Nervous System Overview

Answer Key

Vocabulary Mix & Match

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (1)🡪(D)Governs the typically automatic functions, including breathing, heart rate and the endocrine (hormone) system
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (2)🡪(H)The brain and spinal cord
NERVOUS SYSTEM (3)🡪(E)The body’s “electrical wiring” consisting of the brain, spinal cord, neurons, nerves, meninges, cerebrospinal fluid and sensory receptors
NEURON (4)🡪(C)A cell that is the “basic working unit” of the nervous system, communicating via electrical signals which are converted into neurotransmitters
PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (5)🡪(A)Controls the Relaxation Response and the Rest and Digest state
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (6)🡪(F)All the nerves that lie outside of the spinal cord and brain
SOMATIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (7)🡪(G)Controls conscious bodily activities such as moving the arm
SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (8)🡪(B)Triggers the stress response
  1. What forms the nervous system?
  • The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, neurons, nerves, meninges, cerebrospinal fluid and sensory receptors.
  1. What is included in the central nervous system (CNS)?
  • The central nervous system (CNS) is comprised of the brain and spinal cord.
  1. What are the functions of the nervous system?
  • The functions of the nervous system can be categorized as 1) sensory, 2) integration and 3) motor. 
  • The sensory function involves collecting information and passing it on to the central nervous system.
  • Integration refers to an evaluation of the signals by the brain and spinal cord.
  • The motor function is the carrying of signals from the CNS that can result in, for instance, moving a part of the body.
  1. What is the peripheral nervous system and what does it do?
  • While the CNS is defined as the brain and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system includes all other parts of the nervous system which communicate between the CNS and the rest of the body.
  • The peripheral nervous system contains 12 cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves and ganglia.
  1. What two systems make up the peripheral nervous system?
  • The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic (voluntary) and autonomic (typically involuntary) nervous systems.
  1. What is the difference between the somatic and autonomic nervous systems?
  • The somatic nervous system controls conscious bodily activities such as moving the arm.
  • The autonomic nervous system (ANS) governs the typically automatic functions, including breathing, heart rate and the endocrine (hormone) system.
  1. What two systems make up the autonomic nervous system (ANS)?
  • The ANS is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, only one of which is activated at any time.
  1. What is associated with the sympathetic nervous system?
  • The sympathetic nervous system triggers the stress response. 
  • When stress is perceived to be excessive or threatening, a physiological reaction called the Fight or Flight Response occurs.
  1. What is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system?
  • The parasympathetic nervous system controls the Relaxation Response and the Rest and Digest state.

The Vagus Nerve

Answer Key

  1. The vagus nerve is an element of which part of the nervous system?
  • The vagus nerve is an element of the parasympathetic nervous system.
  1. What is the vagus nerve and where is it located?
  • The vagus nerve is one of 12 pairs of cranial nerves that originate in the brain. 
  • It is the largest and most complex nerve in the body.
  • From the brain, it passes through the neck, spreading nerve fibers through the body.
  1. What is another name for the vagus nerve?
  • The vagus nerve is also known as the “wandering nerve.”
  1. Describe the role of the vagus nerve.
  • The vagus nerve has been called the “air traffic controller” because it helps, among other things, to regulate major bodily functions, influencing the lungs, heart, stomach and intestines.
  • The vagus nerve both sends and receives signals between the brain and visceral organs.
  • It sends sensory information about the state of the body’s organs to the brain. And, in a mind-body feedback loop, messages also travel to the organs, signaling if there is an inner-calm or if there is danger.
  1. What is meant by the term, “vagal tone?”
  • “Healthy vagus nerve communication between your gut and your brain helps to slow you down like the brakes on your car.” (Christopher Bergland) “Vagal tone is a general term for the responsiveness of our braking system.” (Craig Marker)
  1. What is associated with high vagal tone?
  • High vagal tone is linked to physical and psychological well-being.
  • It relates to self-regulation: the ability to move from more active and stressful states to more relaxed ones “without getting unduly perturbed.”
  • High vagal tone is associated with better health, resilience, and sustained attention.
  1. What is associated with low vagal tone?
  • Low vagal tone is linked with inflammation, negative moods, loneliness, heart attacks and stroke.
  • It is associated with a “sense of depletion,” digestion issues, depression, PTSD, chronic pain and epilepsy.
  1. While there are implanted medical devices for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), we can’t directly stimulate the vagus nerve. How is it indirectly stimulated?
  • The vagus nerve is stimulated indirectly by activities that induce the Relaxation Response.
  • Research has shown that lovingkindness meditation, chanting and pranayama positively affect the vagus nerve.
  1. What practices raise vagal tone, boost the immune system, reduce inflammation and contribute to feelings of contentment?
  • Brahmari Pranayama
  • Ujjayi Pranayama
  • Nadi Shodhana Pranayama
  • Chanting
  • Singing
  • Talking
  • Lovingkindness Meditation
  • Washing your face with icy water

Stress & Relaxation Response

Answer Key

Vocabulary Mix & Match

FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE (1)🡪(C)A physiological reaction that occurs when stress is perceived to be excessive or threatening
HYPERAROUSAL/ACUTE STRESS RESPONSE (2)🡪(A)Other names for Fight or Flight Response
RELAXATION RESPONSE (3)🡪(B)A physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional response to stress; the opposite of the Fight or Flight Response
  1. What part of the nervous system is activated when experiencing stress?
  • When experiencing stress, the sympathetic nervous system is activated.
  1. What happens when stress is perceived to be excessive or threatening?
  • When stress is perceived to be excessive or threatening, a physiological reaction called the Fight or Flight Response (also called “hyperarousal” or “the acute stress response”) occurs. 
  1. What happens when the stress response is activated?
  • The stress response includes an increase in heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension and elevation of cortisol and other stress hormones.
  1. Give examples of positive triggers for the Stress Response.
  • Positive challenges such as creating art or participating in a competitive athletic event, for example, invoke the stress response without causing the Fight or Flight Response.
  1. Under what conditions is the Fight or Flight Response activated and what happens?
  • In the case of an actual or perceived threat, the Fight or Flight (also called Fight, Flight or Freeze) Response is activated.
  • Pupils dilate, breathing quickens, digestion slows down, blood pressure increases, muscles become tense, trembling may occur, the heart beats faster, blood vessels constrict, saliva decreases.
  • During Fight or Flight, the parasympathetic (“Rest and Digest”) system is shut off so as to maximize the body’s response to the stress. This means digestion, restoration and healing functions are shut down.
  1. How is the Fight or Flight Response helpful? Under what circumstance is it harmful?
  • Fight or Flight is useful as a short-term reaction because it evokes physical and emotional actions to deal with an immediate threat.
  • If Fight or Flight is chronically triggered, the responses that are helpful in the short-term become harmful over time. In addition, chronic stress can lead to problems such as anxiety or depression. 
  1. What is the Relaxation Response?
  • The Relaxation Response is “a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional response to stress… the opposite of the fight or flight response.”
  • Initiating the Relaxation Response corresponds with activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
  • It switches off the stress response and the associated increase in heart rate, blood pressure, mental alertness and muscle tension.
  • When the Relaxation Response is activated, so too are the bodily systems that were shut down from the Fight or Flight Response, including digestion, elimination, growth, repair and reproduction.
  1. What practices have been shown to initiate the Relaxation Response?

Why Yoga Works

Answer Key 

  1. Why is it important to learn to regulate the nervous system?
  • Chronic stress is known to both cause and exacerbate disease, and can lead to problems such as anxiety or depression. 
  • A balanced nervous system is the key to positively managing stress.
  • We typically can’t “just stop” stressful thoughts or the cascade of bodily responses.
  1. What is the primary underlying reason that yoga helps to relieve stress?
  • The primary reason that yoga helps to relieve stress is because many yoga practices trigger the Relaxation Response.
  1. What are some examples of yoga techniques that trigger the Relaxation Response?
  • Calming Breath Practices
  • Mindfulness and Meditation
  • Restorative Yoga
  • Inversions
  • Conscious Relaxation including such practices as Yoga Nidra and Guided Visualization
  • Other Mindful Movement
  1. What is the relationship between yoga, vagal tone, and relaxation?
  • Some yoga practices indirectly stimulate the vagus nerve and help to sustain vagal tone, encouraging a healthy shift from the Fight or Flight Response to the Relaxation Response.
  • Examples include:
  1. Brahmari Pranayama
  2. Ujjayi Pranayama
  3. Nadi Shodhana Pranayama
  4. Chanting
  5. Lovingkindess Meditation
  1. Describe four additional ways that yoga helps to relieve stress.
  1. Stress causes a rapid breath rate and yoga can slow the breath down.
  2. Slower, diaphragmatic breathing helps to balance the pH level of the blood.
  3. Releasing tension in the psoas is related to relieving stress.
  4. The stress response includes not only such activities as increased heart rate, but also particular muscular contractions. Yoga practices help to release muscular tension induced by such a stress response.
  1. What has research shown is the effect of Ujjayi Pranayama as it relates to stress?
  • Ujjayi Pranayama was shown to increase the Relaxation Response and heart rate variability (a function of stress resilience).
  1. What is GABA and how is related to stress, fear and anxiety?
  • GABA is a neurotransmitter that sends messages through the nervous system, and is involved in regulating communication between brain cells. 
  • GABA plays an important role in behavior, cognition, and the body’s response to stress. Research suggests that GABA helps to control fear and anxiety while low levels of GABA in the brain have been linked to schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.
  • Classical anti-anxiety medications work by encouraging the release of GABA. And GABA is what alcohol mimics, by temporarily binding to the same chemical receptors. 
  1. What has research shown is the impact of yoga on GABA levels?
  • GABA was shown to be significantly higher in the brains of those who practiced yoga (but not those who engaged in walking). 

Respiratory Anatomy Introduction

Answer Key 

Vocabulary Mix & Match

ABDOMINAL CAVITY (1) 🡪(B)The part of the trunk beginning at the lower rib cage and encompassing the space down into the pelvis; contains digestive organs; during breathing, changes shape but NOT volume
BREATHING (2)🡪(E)The movement of air into and out of the lungs
DIAPHRAGM (3)🡪(C)A dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs; separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities
RESPIRATION (4)🡪(A)The act of breathing
THORACIC CAVITY (5)🡪(D)A sealed-off container for the lungs and heart; during breathing, changes shape AND volume
  1. What is breathing?
    • Breathing is the movement of air into and out of the lungs.
  1. What is the purpose of breathing?
    • The primary purpose of breathing is to supply fresh oxygen to the blood and cells, and to discharge carbon dioxide.
  1. What is respiration?
    • Respiration is the act of breathing.
    • It refers to the “physical and chemical processes by which oxygen is conveyed to tissues and cells, and the oxidation products, carbon dioxide and water, are given off.” (Dictionary.com) 
  1. What causes breathing?
    • Breathing is caused by the thoracic and abdominal cavities changing shape. 
  1. What are the contents of the thoracic and abdominal cavities?
    • The torso is divided into the thoracic and abdominal cavities, which change shape during breathing.
    • The thoracic cavity holds the heart and lungs.

The contents of the abdominal cavity are: Stomach, Liver, Gall Bladder, Spleen, Pancreas, Small and Large Intestines, Kidneys and Bladder.

  1. How do the thoracic and abdominal cavities change during breathing?
    • During breathing, the thoracic cavity changes shape and volume.
    • The abdominal cavity changes shape, but not volume.
  1. Why can’t lungs be moved directly at will?
    • Lungs do not have muscular tissue and therefore cannot be moved directly at will.
  1. What is the principal muscle involved in breathing?
    • The diaphragm is the principal muscle involved in breathing.
  1. Describe the diaphragm.
    • The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs. It separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities.
    • The diaphragm is a muscle. As with other muscles, the diaphragm can become tight or weak.
  1. Describe the movement of the diaphragm during relaxed breathing.
    • The diaphragm acts as a pump, causing the lungs to inflate.
    • During relaxed breathing, on the in-breath, the diaphragm contracts (moves down) to give the lungs more room to fill up. The abdominal organs are compressed and the abdomen typically puffs out.
    • On the out-breath, the diaphragm relaxes, and moves back up; the belly typically moves back in.
  1. What problems can a person have with their diaphragm and what is the effect?
    • When the abdomen is chronically tightened, the diaphragm is unable to move downward and secondary muscles are recruited. Using the secondary muscles (which are designed for short-term use) for regular, deep breathing is tiring and ineffective.
    • If the diaphragm is tight, weak, or unable to move freely, it can affect stress level, circulation, emotions, digestion and spinal stability. (Yoga Tune Up)

Accessory Muscles & More

Answer Key

  1. What is the function of the nose in breathing?
    • Tubes in the nose moisten air from the in-breath, and fine hairs filter it.
  1. What is the nasal cycle?
    • The nasal cycle refers to how humans and other animals breathe in patterns, alternating their breathing through one nostril and then the other.
  1. What is each nostril connected to, and what do they trigger?
    • The right nostril corresponds to the left side of the brain (which governs thinking, intellect, and reason) and is connected to the sympathetic nervous system.
    • The left nostril corresponds to the right side of the brain (responsible for feelings and intuition) and triggers the parasympathetic nervous system.
  1. What are the primary respiratory muscles?
    • Diaphragm – responsible for 75% of all respiratory effort
    • Intercostals (muscles between the ribs)
    • Some sources classify abdominals as primary, and some designate them as accessory
  1. What is meant by accessory respiratory muscles? What is their purpose?
    • The accessory muscles for inhalation are helpers intended to be used for short periods of time.
  1. Name the accessory muscles used for inspiration.

The accessory muscles for inspiration are:

  • Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) – prominent muscle at front of neck; moves rib cage by pulling it upward at top of sternum
  • Scalenes – these muscles in neck are attached to cervical vertebrae; can raise top ribs
  • Pectoralis Minor – when it contracts, it lifts ribs forward; moves when inhaling and raising top part of chest
  • Pectoralis Major – lifts ribs mostly via lower muscle fibers at ribs 4 through 8; raises sternum by opening lower ribs outward
  • Serratus Anterior – pulls ribs back and out, raising ribs in larger, lateral movement
  1. List six muscles involved in exhalation.

The muscles for expiration (whether termed primary or accessory)* are

  • Rectus Abdominis
  • Transversus Abdominis
  • Internal Obliques
  • External Obliques
  • Pelvic Floor
  • Quadratus Lumborum

* Some sources, including Donna Farhi in The Breathing Book 1996 classify the abdominals as primary muscles of respiration (p 51). In the Anatomy of Breathing 2006 Calais-Germain describes the diaphragm as the “primary inspiratory muscle” (p 80) but doesn’t distinguish between primary and accessory muscles of expiration (p 96). In Anatomy of Hatha Yoga 2001, H. David Coulter doesn’t use the terms primary and accessory but in one quote he includes abdominals in the “main sets of muscles” along with intercostals and diaphragm (p 74).

  1. Why is the fill capacity of the upper lungs less than the lower?
    • Lungs have five lobes: three in the right lung (upper, middle and lower lobes) and two in the left (upper and lower lobes). 
    • Because lungs are pear-shaped, the fill capacity of the upper lungs is less than the lower.
  1. What is the role of the intercostals in breathing?
    • Rib movement is caused by muscles between the ribs, called the internal and external intercostals.
    • With an inhalation, the intercostals open to expand the ribs and increase space for the lungs.
    • They contract during an exhalation.

Physiology of Flexibility & Stretching
Answer Key

Vocabulary Mix & Match

ACTIVE STRETCHING (1)🡪(E)Contracting the muscle in opposition to the targeted stretching muscle
DYNAMIC STRETCHING (2)🡪(A)Stretch done with movement
FACILITATED STRETCHING (3)🡪(H)Another name for Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)
FLEXIBILITY (4)🡪( I )The ability to move (without pain or restriction) through a joint’s range of motion
PASSIVE STRETCHING (5)🡪(D)Many non-yoga sources define it as using an outside force such as a partner; most yoga sources likely mean what Ray Long calls Passive Static Stretching, defined as relaxing into the stretch such as in a Restorative Pose
PROPRIOCEPTIVE NEUROMUSCULAR FACILITATION (6)🡪(J)A muscle group is passively stretched, then contracts isometrically against resistance while in the stretched position, and is then passively stretched again
RESISTANCE STRETCHING (7)🡪(B)Stretch is done with contraction while lengthening (eccentric contraction)
STATIC STRETCHING (8)🡪(F)Stretch is performed with no outside force and no movement, and is held for some period of time
STRETCHING (9)🡪(C)Affects the nervous system in a way that relaxes muscle fibers (Many other definitions included in lesson)
TENSILE LOAD / TENSILE STRENGTH (10)🡪(G)One of many ways that stretching is defined; refers to the greatest pulling force that a material can withstand without breaking; “tensile” refers to pulling apart in contrast to “compressive” which refers to pushing together
  1. Flexibility may be limited by muscles that are shortened, tight or in a contracted state. Name four additional factors that may limit flexibility.
  • Flexibility is limited by restrictions from connective tissue.
  • Flexibility is commonly limited by the nervous system, via sensory receptors in muscles.
  • Compression (when two parts of the body come into contact) indicates the end of the body’s possible ROM. Often, compression refers to bones coming into contact, although it could also refer to a pregnant torso compressing thighs in a forward bend, for example.
  • Joint issues such as arthritis can limit range of motion.
  • Pain, injury and disability can inhibit flexibility. 
  1. When anesthetized, what happens to a person’s muscles? What is the significance regarding flexibility?
  • Under anesthesia, muscles become so loose that care has to be taken not to dislocate the joints.
  • Thus, our ROM limits are not set by muscle length, but by the nervous system.
  1. What happens when personal ROM limits are reached?

In daily life, when we reach our personal ROM limits, the nervous system is activated, and we experience pain, trembling or weakness.

  1. What are the three states that a muscle may exist in?
  • Muscles exist in either a contracted, relaxed, or stretched state
  1. What are the effects of stretching?
  • The nervous system relaxes fibers in the muscles.
  • Muscles elongate.
  • Joint range of motion increases.
  • Connective tissue that is within and around muscle expands.
  1. Jules Mitchell defines stretching as a “tensile load.” What does that mean?

Tensile strength is the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads tending to elongate, as opposed to compressive strength, which withstands loads tending to reduce size. In other words, tensile strength resists tension (being pulled apart), whereas compressive strength resists compression (being pushed together).

  1. In addition to the basic effects, what are the benefits of stretching?
  • Stretching stimulates the production of tissue lubricants.
  • It helps muscles rebuild “with healthy parallel cellular structure.”
  • Stretching expands connective tissue that is within and around muscle, and stretching connective tissue improves flexibility.
  • “Because our fascial system is a major organ of proprioception, the health of our fascia is directly connected to how developed our ‘inner vision’ is.” (Jenni Rawlings)
  1. What is passive / passive static stretching? Give an example.
  • Many non-yoga sources define Passive Stretching as using an outside force such as a partner. 
  • Most yoga sources likely mean what Ray Long calls Passive Static Stretching, which he defines as relaxing into the stretch such as in a Restorative Pose.
  1. What is active / active static stretching? Give an example.
  • Many non-yoga sources define Active Stretching as contracting the muscle in opposition to the targeted stretching muscle. Thus, this is a way of using knowledge of the Reciprocal Inhibition spinal reflex to deepen a stretch. 
  • This is what Ray Long calls Active Static Stretching, with the same definition.
  • An example:  In Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend), contract the quadriceps to deepen the stretch in the hamstrings.
  1. What is dynamic stretching? 
  • Resistance stretching is done with contraction while lengthening (eccentric contraction). The intention is to work with fascia. 
  1. What is Resistance stretching?
  • Dynamic stretching is done with movement. It uses repetitive movement to invite increasingly deeper stretches, such as with vinyasa flow.
  1. How are facilitated stretching and PNF related?

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is also called Facilitated Stretching.

  1. What is PNF?
  • A muscle group is passively stretched.
  • Then it is contacted isometrically against resistance while in the stretched position.
  • It is then passively stretched again.

Stretch-Related Reflexes

Answer Key

Vocabulary Mix & Match

STRETCH-RELATED REFLEXES (1)→GSpinal reflexes that impact muscle length and tension: the Stretch Reflex, the Golgi Tendon Reflex and Reciprocal Inhibition
SPINAL REFLEXES (2)→CReflexes that bypass the brain, happening unconsciously
STRETCH REFLEX (3)→DMessages from proprioceptors cause a muscle to contract; designed to prevent muscle tearing from a forceful action or going beyond normal range
GOLGI TENDON REFLEX (4)→BWhen tension on a tendon exceeds a certain amount, the muscle automatically releases, preventing the tendon from being torn
RECIPROCAL INHIBITION (5)→FWhen an agonist muscle contracts, the antagonist relaxes
CLASP KNIFE REFLEX (6)→HAnother name for the Golgi Tendon Reflex
INVERSE STRETCH REFLEX (7)→AAnother name for the Golgi Tendon Reflex
MUSCLE SPINDLE STRETCH RECEPTOR (8)→EAnother name for the Stretch Reflex
MYOTATIC REFLEX (9)→JAnother name for the Stretch Reflex
SPINAL CORD REFLEX ARC (10)→IAnother name for the Stretch Reflex
  1. The reflexes relevant in stretching are spinal reflexes. Why is that significant?
  • The stretching-related reflexes of concern are spinal reflexes, which means they are reflexive actions that bypass the brain.
  • Spinal reflexes are “primitive and simple.” These are reflexes that happen in a fraction of a second.
  1. What are the three spinal reflexes related to stretching?
  • The spinal reflexes that impact muscle length and tension are: the Stretch Reflex, the Golgi Tendon Reflex and Reciprocal Inhibition.
  • These are unconscious motor responses to sensory stimuli.
  • These neurological responses cause either contraction or relaxation.
  1. What are some other names for the Stretch Reflex?
  • The Stretch Reflex is also called the Myotatic Reflex, the Muscle Spindle Stretch Receptor, and the Spinal Cord Reflex Arc.
  1. What is the muscular effect of the Stretch Reflex?
  • It is a very fast reflex that causes a muscle to contract.
  • It occurs because of messages from muscle spindles which are proprioceptors that convey information from muscle to the spinal cord.
  1. What is the purpose of the Stretch Reflex and a common example?
  • It is designed to prevent muscle tearing caused by a forceful action or by taking the muscle beyond its normal range.

If you fall asleep in a lecture hall or a theater and your head drops suddenly, then shoots back up, that is an example of the stretch reflex. The spindle cells in your neck muscles detect the dangerously rapid stretching of the muscles… which triggers a reflexive contraction of those muscles and pulls your head back. This protective reaction prevents your neck muscles from being torn by an overly rapid stretch. – Craig Williamson

  1. What learning can we apply from knowledge of the Stretch Reflex?
  • The key learning for practice is that forcing a stretch or stretching rapidly intensifies the firing of the muscle spindle, causing the muscle to contract, thus inhibiting the possibility for deepening the stretch.
  1. What other names refer to the Golgi Tendon Reflex?
  • The Golgi Tendon Reflex is also called the Inverse Stretch Reflex and the Clasp Knife Reflex.
  1. What do Golgi tendon organs do?
  • Tendons contain receptors called Golgi tendon organs that measure the amount of tension and effort occurring within the tendon.
  • While muscle spindles measure “change in a muscle’s length, Golgi tendon organs measure the amount of force produced on the tendinous area where they are located.” (David Keil)
  1. What is the muscular effect of the Golgi Tendon Reflex?
  • Like the Stretch Reflex, the Golgi Tendon Reflex is a protective response, but its action is the opposite. 
  • When tension on a tendon exceeds a certain amount, the muscle automatically releases, preventing the tendon from being torn off the bone.
  1. What are two ways to stimulate the Golgi tendon organs?
  • In addition to tension, the Golgi tendon organs are sensitive to manual stimulation. “If you manipulate any musculotendinous junction in the body vigorously, its Golgi tendon organs will reflexively cause their associated muscle fibers to relax. This is one of the reasons why deep massage is relaxing.” (David Coulter)
  • In practice, isometrically engaging the leg muscles in a long-held strong standing pose such as Virabhadrasana II, for instance, may trigger the reflex, causing the hamstring muscles to release more easily into a stretch such as a seated or standing forward bend.
  1. What is Reciprocal Inhibition?
  1. How can we use knowledge of the process of Reciprocal Inhibition to deepen a stretch?
  • We can use knowledge of this reflex to deepen stretches by first holding a mild stretch until the body has acclimated (so as to avoid contraction from the Stretch Reflex) and then engaging the opposing muscle to go deeper. (Bandha Yoga)

Stretching Issues & Techniques

Answer Key 1.2

  1. Not every student needs to increase their range of motion. Expand on the importance of working with students to address their particular needs.
  • Of critical importance is helping each student to learn to practice in a way that helps them to address their unique imbalances — where and to what degree they personally need strengthening and stretching.
  • While some students require focused stretching to increase their range of motion, others need more strengthening and to be mindful of overstretching.
  • The consequences of overstretching are potentially injurious and in extreme cases like Jill Miller’s need for a hip replacement, they can be dramatic.
  • We hope you help students to identify their tendencies and personal needs, and encourage them to practice in a way that is optimal for them.
  1. Very flexible students may need to guard against pursuing “flexibility for its own sake.” How might these students redirect their focus during stretching?
  • With very flexible students, they may need to guard against a tendency toward repetitive deepening into poses that naturally come easy — to avoid pursuing “flexibility for its own sake.”
  • With these students, in addition to addressing strengthening needs, their focus during stretching can be redirected, as Rachel Land so helpfully describes, to “maintaining mobility, balancing range of motion and releasing tension.”
  1. Name six signs that could indicate overstretching.
  • Feeling burning while stretching
  • Hearing a popping sound while stretching
  • Aching muscles
  • Pain such as sciatic pain
  • Excessive clicking and popping of joints
  • Other signs of joint instability
  1. What condition makes students more prone to overstretching?
  • Please note that pregnant students are particularly at risk for overstretching.
  • See here for more.
  1. Jill Miller has been transparent about the issues resulting from her history of overstretching. What happened from overstretching and what was her diagnosis?

When we stretch a muscle, upwards of 40 percent of the actual stretch is coming from the elongation of its fascia! With too much stretching, the fascial tissues lose their ability to recoil and the inherent elasticity of these connective tissues disintegrates and becomes less functional as a result… I probably would have just kept stretching myself into oblivion had my yoga mentor and biomechanics expert Glenn Black not stepped in. His diagnosis: muscle weakness due to overstretching. He said that I needed to restore the power in my muscles to stabilize my joints. This explained why I could never quite find a comfortable position or “sit still” unless I was practicing. Stretching would give me a temporary feeling of release and relief, as it is truly beneficial for relaxing the nervous system, improving circulation, etc., but my overall muscle tone had been stretched to the point that I had become terribly unstable at many of my joints. – Jill Miller, Yoga Tune Up, Is Too Much Stretching Bad for You?

  1. What are some stretching practices that do NOT improve flexibility?
  • Short-term and infrequent stretching do not lead to improvements in flexibility.
  • Focusing on individual muscles as opposed to a myofacial approach will tend to be ineffective in many cases.
  • Stretching using efforting will tend to invoke the Stretch Reflex which will inhibit stretching gains.
  1. Name two safe and effective strategies for improving flexibility.

Experts now believe that the most safe, efficient and effective ways to improve flexibility are to:

  1. What specific stretching techniques may improve flexibility? 

The following expert-recommended stretching techniques are designed to increase elasticity of connective tissues and optimally use the stretch-related reflexes.

  • Utilize Mindfulness & Visualization
  • Practice Long Holds
  • Utilize Progressive Deepening Techniques
  • More Expert Recommendations
  1. How is it possible that mindfulness contributes to effective stretching?

Rachel Land explains the anatomy and physiology connected to the reason that mindfulness contributes to effective stretching:

Because so many of our nerve endings are embedded in fascia, it’s almost like an extension of our nervous system. Dr. Schleip describes fascia as “one of our richest sensory organs… certainly our most important organ for proprioception.” So the more a practice includes a proprioceptive awareness of the body, the more involved the mind is in the movement, and the more effective fascial work will be. – Rachel Land, How “Fit” Is Your Fascia?

And Shawn Kirby provides an observational perspective:

By bringing attention to an area of the body, such as the bone or the skin, that is inactive during a movement, you allow the muscle to let go. It seems odd, almost unscientific, but the mere act of bringing your conscious attention to an area or even type of tissue in your body can trigger that release. You have made a crucial shift: from an ego-centered activity — stretching your muscles — to observing the body from a place of witness. – Shawn Kirby, Rethink Flexibility

  1. Provide three key teachings related to mindfulness during stretching.
  1. Avoid jerky or quick movements (to avoid the Stretch Reflex and invite the Golgi Tendon Reflex).
  2. Move mindfully (for effective fascial work).
  3. Utilize concentration and visualization (to optimize the reflexes that support deepening a stretch).
  1. Although doing a vinyasa or short static hold of a pose can warm up the body and make it easier to stretch, why isn’t this enough to improve flexibility?

Nina Zolotow explains:

Although doing a mini vinyasa or short static hold of a pose can warm up your joints and make it easier to stretch your muscles during a given yoga practice, practicing this way won’t create lasting changes in your flexibility. In a day or two, your muscle will return to the same length it was before you stretched it (its resting length). However, recent research shows the protein titin in muscles changes shape and may contribute to a stretch lasting for several days when you hold the stretch for around 90 seconds. In addition, slow, gradual, longer stretches, where your muscles finally lengthen after you overcome the stretch reflex, address fascial tightness as well as muscle tightness. – Nina Zolotow, Yoga for Healthy Aging, Static versus Dynamic Poses

  1. Why are long holds necessary for addressing postural tension and making flexibility gains?
  • Hold stretches for a prolonged period of time to impact the Stretch Reflex and Golgi Tendon Reflex, and to address postural tension held in muscles and fascia.
  • Practice long holds with muscles engaged in a lengthened position to stimulate Golgi Tendon Reflex.
  1. Describe progressive deepening techniques.
  • Slow, dynamic movements may be used to warm up joints followed by a long hold (as recommended above) to effectively increase flexibility.
  • Begin with a sensation of mild stretch (80%) for a few breaths to “acclimate the muscle spindle and reassure it that you are stretching safely.” Then go deeper into the stretch by engaging the opposing muscles. (Bandha Yoga)
  • Utilize PNF stretching.
  1. What other expert recommendations — that are often naturally accomplished in a well-rounded asana practice — will contribute to effective stretching?

A well-rounded asana practice will often naturally accomplish these practices, but to be clear, these are additional expert recommendations for effective stretching:

  • Practice stretches (and myofacial release as well) with more gentleness than force (to avoid the nervous system being sensitized and instead prompt relaxation of tissues).
  • Practice relaxation techniques (to counter chronic stress reactions that cause a myriad of negative effects).
  • Stretch often enough for the body to adapt,  and over a continuous period of time for the longer-term requirements of fascial change.
  • Focus on longer myofasical chains (whole body movement) rather than isolated movements.
  • Practice variation in movements, directions, speeds and loads.
  1. In addition to stretching, myofascial release may be a necessary and effective practice. What are some examples of myofascial release techniques?

Considerations include:

  1. Is myofascial release recommended before, during or after a regular practice?

Myofascial release can be effective anytime — before, after, or during your regular practice. – Allison Candelaria

How Yoga Supports Health & Physiology

Answer Key 

  1. Describe four perspectives from which yoga can be described as supporting health.
  1. Prevention & symptom relief
  2. Support along with other treatments
  3. Balancing stability & ease
  4. Impacting bodily systems & processes
  1. In what ways can yoga serve a preventative role?

Baxter Bell MD explains that yoga serves a preventative role in two ways: 

  • Overall healthcare – Yoga’s positive impact on strength, flexibility, balance, agility and stress relief naturally serves a preventative role in conditions caused by a sedentary lifestyle and/or stress — conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, balance issues, and so on.
  • Particular conditions – Bell notes that a person with a higher risk for osteoporosis, for example, can emphasize practices to build bone and muscle strength.
  1. Give examples of how yoga provides symptomatic relief.

Yoga is very effective at relieving symptoms. Dr. Bell observes that:

  • Sometimes yoga promotes symptomatic relief without impacting the underlying cause, such as low back pain caused by a ruptured disc, for example.
  • Other times, yoga addresses the symptoms and also leads to a cure of the condition, such as stress-related headaches or digestive problems.

Based on an extensive and ever-growing library of research, we know that:

  • Yoga has a very long list of symptoms it addresses, such as low back pain, depression, headaches, chronic pain and much more.
  • Yoga provides relief for a wide range of conditions that underlie chronic pain (e.g. migraines, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, cancer, etc).
  1. How can yoga techniques be used along with other treatments?

Baxter Bell MD describes how yoga can be used along with other treatments:

  1. Medical condition prevention
  2. Symptom improvement
  3. Rehabilitation support
  4. Stress management
  5. Relief of symptoms related to chronic conditions, life-threatening illness and hospice care
  1. How does yoga help to address imbalances related to health conditions?
  • As Olga Kabel notes, yoga can be adapted to address imbalance on any level — physical, mental or emotional — and can support imbalances on any end of the spectrum, from “too tight” to “too loose.”
  1. Name bodily systems that are supported by yoga practices.

Another way to look at how yoga supports health is how it impacts our body and its physiology. In this view, we think of the body in terms of such systems as these:

  1. Skeletal System
  2. Muscular System
  3. Nervous System
  4. Mental Health
  5. Emotional Well-Being
  6. Respiratory System
  7. Digestive System
  8. Cardiovascular System
  9. Immune System
  10. Lymphatic System
  11. Endocrine System
  12. In what ways does asana support muscular and skeletal health?

Asana practice addresses strength, flexibility, balance, agility and posture.

  1. Improving muscle strength can help with any condition that causes weakness (e.g. sarcopenia, chronic fatigue syndrome, recovery from broken bones or other lack of use such as having been bedridden as a result of illness or surgery).
  2. Improving bone strength can help with osteoporosis and osteopenia.
  3. Improving flexibility can help with any condition that causes stiffness (e.g. osteoarthritis or parkinson’s disease).
  4. Improving balance can help with any condition that impacts balance (e.g. frailty from aging and inactivity, multiple sclerosis, parkinson’s disease, peripheral neuropathy from diabetes, and poor eyesight.)
  5. Improving agility can help with any condition that affects nimbleness and response time, including any condition that affects balance and slowing of brain-body nerve conduction.)
  6. Improving posture helps with problems caused by poor physical alignment (e.g. carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain).
  1. Describe yoga’s impact on stress and stress-related diseases.
  1. Yoga reduces chronic stress, helping to prevent and/or manage stress-related diseases (e.g. heart disease, digestive disorders, etc.).
  2. Yoga is also an aid for other conditions that are caused or exacerbated by stress (e.g. anxiety and depression).
  3. Stress management helps reduce inflammation which may address inflammation-related problems (e.g. most forms of arthritis and gastrointestinal conditions).
  4. See Yoga for Healthy Aging’s Using Stress Management Techniques for Medical Conditions for various approaches to physical vs emotional disorders.
  5. See also: Yoga & Mental Health, Yoga & Anxiety and Yoga & Depression.
  6. See Yoga for Healthy Aging’s Reducing Cellular Stress with Yoga for information on cortisol, adrenals, stress and yoga. 
  7. Learn more: Nervous System & Stress.
  1. How does yoga impact mental health?

The very purpose of yoga practice according to the Yoga Sutras (to bring about “the cessation of fluctuations of the mind”) is clearly intended to affect mental health. These are some of the specific ways it does that:

  1. Yoga balances the nervous system – Yoga is beneficial in part because of its proven ability to impact the nervous system and bring stress relief.
  2. Yoga affects brain chemistry – Dharma Singh Khalsa MD explains that “yoga and meditation can alter the very biochemistry of the brain more directly and efficiently than regular exercise.” Not only does yoga stimulate the Relaxation Response, it also invokes a balance of stimulation and relaxation via glandular secretions of endorphins and adrenaline. (Amy Weintraub)
  3. Yoga brings attention to the present moment – Present moment awareness is a key element of relieving symptoms related to many mental health concerns, including anxiety.
  4. Yoga cultivates self-awareness without judgment – Meditation and mindfulness teachings help the practitioner to invoke the observational distance necessary to release identification with emotional patterns. This brings the student vital knowledge, increased acceptance and peace, and a pathway for change. “If you are willing to take a step back and observe your mood, you are practicing self-awareness. From here, you can better manage and even overcome your depression by developing  a practice that suits your feelings.” (Amy Weintraub)
  5. Yoga leads to an embodied experience – Embodiment is key to yoga’s impact on one’s sense of well-being. And, as clinical psychology Bo Forbes has found with her patients, embodied insights tend to have a lasting effect on emotional balance and mental health.

See also: 

  1. Explain the role of yoga in promoting emotional well-being.

To achieve emotional well-being requires the recognition that emotions are healthy and normal, and the willingness to allow emotional energy to move through without excessive resistance. To feel feelings, we must focus on the body. This is in contrast to being caught up in thought, whether judgment, fix-it mode, or layering on additional feelings of frustration or shame in response to simply having emotions.

Yoga teachers often use phrases such as “come back to your body,” “feel where your body is in contact with the floor,” and “feel your torso expanding with the inhalation.” These are invitations to:

  • Bring the mind back (from an external focus or from scattered or obsessive thinking), and
  • Turn attention to the inner state of being.

This essential practice is to be grounded, embodied or “in the body” which means to be aware of bodily sensations and the inner experience.

For much more specificity, see Emotional Well-Being & Yoga.

  1. In what ways do yoga practices support digestive health in general?
  1. Digestive health is supported by overall well-being, of course. Mindful yoga practices support nervous system balance, stress reduction, pain management and more. Learn more: Why Yoga Works.
  2. The digestive system works best when the nervous system is in a balanced state, which for most people means spending more time in rest and digest mode (as opposed to flight or fight mode). Yoga has a positive effect on the nervous system, thereby promoting proper digestive system functioning. By reducing stress and calming the nervous system, yoga helps to calm an irritated digestive system.
  3. Yoga can also teach students to listen to their body, helping them to gain the skills to more easily identify which foods or other factors aggravate their digestion.
  1. What more specific effects may yoga have on digestion?
  1. Healthy Gut Bacteria – Stress management may also play a role in maintaining healthy gut bacteria, which influences the metabolism of certain nutrients in food, regulation of the immune system, and experiences of hunger, satiety and sleep.
  2. Organ Health – Asanas can benefit the digestive system by supporting good circulation to the digestive organs, strengthening the muscular support around the organs and stimulating good elimination. “Increased blood flow to the small (and large) intestine means stronger intestinal contractions, more digestive enzymes, and chyme moving along with a bit more vigor.” (Olga Kabel)
  3. Effective Esophagus Functioning – “Restorative poses where your head and chest are higher than your belly and standing yoga postures can improve the functioning of your esophagus, and stress management practices will help both you and your esophagus relax.” (Yoga for Healthy Aging)
  4. Symptom Relief & Prevention – For conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, a yoga practice can help to bring the digestive system back into balance during an acute flare up and can extend symptom-free periods. (Yoga for Healthy Aging)
  5. Shortened Recovery Time – Restorative practices, relaxation techniques and pranayama can help to shorten recovery times from flare ups and from surgery. (Yoga for Healthy Aging)
  6. Which yoga practices may help to improve lung function?
  • Yoga asanas, breath awareness, and pranayama can help improve lung function to foster general health and can help with respiratory diseases (e.g. mild asthma and COPD).
  1. How can yoga impact the immune system?
  • Yoga can boost immune system functioning, supporting those with immune system disorders (e.g. HIV/AIDS and adrenal insufficiency).
  • Yoga can help foster healing from a wide range of illnesses (e.g. flu, auto-immune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer).
  • Learn more: Yoga & The Immune System.
  1. How does yoga affect the circulatory system?
  • Research shows that yogic techniques have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health in general, as well as high blood pressure specifically.
  • One key way that yoga supports cardiovascular health is through stress relief and balancing of the nervous system.
  • For students with heart disease, yoga therapy is likely called for as opposed to generalized yoga. Yoga teachers are advised to refer students with heart disease to a yoga therapist for an individualized plan.
  • See Heart Health & Yoga for details on the research that has shown these effects of yoga:
    • Review of 37 randomized control trials: Effective for cardiovascular health, reduced BMI, reduced cholesterol (2014)
    • Improved balance, regulated blood pressure & improved cardiovascular health (2014)
    • Reduced need for healthcare services by 43% (2015)
    • Reduced risk in those with mild to moderate hypertension (2002)

Trauma Introduction

How Trauma Affects Physiology & More 

Answer Key 

  1. What is trauma?
  • Trauma is an experience that is deeply distressing or disturbing, causing psychological overwhelm.
  • Trauma is “an overwhelm of our natural defensive responses that creates something like an injury in our autonomic nervous system, which affects its ability to self-regulate.” (Peter Levine PhD)
  • Trauma overwhelms the individual’s ability to cope or integrate the ideas and emotions involved in the experience. It “disconnects us from all sense of resourcefulness or safety or coping or love.

Trauma radically changes people… in fact they no longer are “themselves.” It’s excruciatingly difficult to put that feeling of no longer being yourself into words. – Bessel van der Kolk, MD

  1. What may cause trauma?
  • Anything experienced as threatening can be interpreted by the body-mind as trauma.
  • Trauma may involve a single experience such an assault or a severe auto accident or natural disaster. Or it may be the result of repeated events such as psychological, physical or sexual abuse.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a direct victim of the traumatic event. Being exposed to violent and dangerous situations through the media or indirectly can affect some people so deeply that they develop symptoms of PTSD. – Amen Clinics

  1. What is PTSD and how is that differentiated from trauma in general?
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a particular diagnosable disorder that may be short-term or chronic.
  • With 30 years of awe-inspiring clinical work and research on trauma, Bessel van der Kolk explains the different manifestations of trauma symptoms among those who experience a natural disaster vs. repeated child abuse, for example. He explains how PTSD is differentiated from “Developmental Trauma Disorder” or “Complex Trauma.” See van der Kolk’s extensive body of published work for more information.
  • Whenever possible, we will refer to trauma in general as opposed to PTSD only, since PTSD is a subset within the topic of trauma response.
  • But please note that when you are reviewing various sources, you may see statistics and information speaking specifically to diagnosed PTSD only.
  • And in other cases, particularly in casual use, the term PTSD may incorrectly be used to refer to the trauma response in general.

PTSD IS NOT A PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUE, IT’S A BRAIN ISSUE

PTSD is usually referred to as a psychological issue, but even though PTSD can impact your psychological wellbeing, it is not a mental disorder. It’s important to understand that struggling with symptoms of PTSD is not a character flaw or a sign of personal weakness. Advanced brain imaging shows that PTSD is a biological problem in the brain. – Amen Clinics

  1. How is PTSD different from a TBI (traumatic brain injury)?

Patients with PTSD and TBIs can both have mood and personality changes, anxiety, depression, and other devastating warning signs. But when we take a deeper look, we see that patients with TBI have decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, and cerebellum. These are the parts of the brain that manage self-control of mood and behavior, memory, and coordinated movement. Patients with PTSD on the other hand, have increased activity in the limbic system, basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes. These regions are involved in fear processing and emotional regulation, sensory processing, and integration of information. Those are some big differences, ones that can make or break progress if they aren’t accounted for. – Mark Hyman, MD

  1. Describe specific ways in which people who have experienced trauma are affected. Include how trauma changes the way in which people experience themselves.

Traumatized people live in a world that’s different from people who have not been traumatized. Their world looks different in every conceivable measure, whether it’s brain or mind or body. It’s a different planet. – Bessel van der Kolk MD

  1. A person exposed to trauma will experience elevated stress hormones. With people who have experienced trauma, their nervous system takes much longer to return to balance and their response to stress goes into overdrive in daily life, “spiking quickly and disproportionately” in response to mild stress.
  2. The prolonged stress response caused by trauma contributes to such wide-ranging problems as memory and attention issues, irritability, depression, hyper-vigilance, angry outbursts and sleep disorders. A person may be plagued with nightmares and intrusive thoughts, reliving the trauma over and over again. “These symptoms often create considerable disruptions to a person’s life, interfering with employment and social relationships.” (B. Grace Bullock)
  3. Further, a person may suffer from “long-term health issues, depending on which body system is most vulnerable in a particular individual.” (Bessel van der Kolk MD)
  4. Trauma causes people to lose the feeling of being embodied.
  5. Trauma changes a person’s brain in a way that makes communication of what one is thinking and feeling more difficult.
  6. Brain areas that transmit feelings of terror shut down, causing the survivor to also lose the ability to register other emotions and sensations that are the foundation for self-awareness.
  7. Trauma causes people to lose their sense of purpose and direction.
  8. Traumatized people experience many painful physical symptoms. “What I could not know until I experienced it was how all-encompassing, how physical the experience of PTSD is, and how long it takes to heal from it.”
  9. Trauma affects the flow of energy in the body, creating abnormal sensation or lack of sensation.
  10. Further describe the physical experience of trauma.

Trauma hurts! I’m not talking about injuries, and I’m not talking about emotional pain. I’m talking literally about the physical body’s reaction to traumatic stress. When the mind becomes overwhelmed, the body follows suit. Universally, people with overwhelming stress and trauma experience these physical symptoms: crushing headaches, gastrointestinal distress, nonspecific abdominal pain, joint pain, muscular tension, and insomnia. These symptoms can then give rise to other issues, such as nerve pain, autoimmune diseases, obesity, heart disease, chronic fatigue, and overall weakness… Unless you have faced trauma head on, it is very difficult to understand. Some doctors believe their PTSD patients are overreacting, especially if memories of the trauma are hazy or from very early in life. In the absence of empathic understanding, negative feelings and judgments arise easily. Symptoms are minimized, and patients can end up feeling bewildered, misunderstood, or belittled. – Susan Pease Banitt, The Trauma Tool Kit

  1. According to research, how does trauma affect the brain and a person’s ability to express themselves?
  • Trauma changes a person’s brain in a way that makes communication of what one is thinking and feeling more difficult.

Research points to the fact that trauma survivors are deeply disconnected from their core being — the feeling of being embodied — and this seems to be a great source of the suffering associated with complex trauma and PTSD. In essence, this research on the brain suggests that traumatized people do not have a reliable self, a feelable self, a foundation from which to safely experience themselves, relationships, and the world around them… [When] trauma patients were exposed to traumatic reminders, researchers found “a relative deactivation in the left anterior prefrontal cortex, specifically in Broca’s area, the expressive speech center in the brain, the area necessary to communicate what one is thinking and feeling.” So, neuroscience not only presents a picture of traumatized people being alienated from their bodies but also indicates that they may be unable to talk about their experience because of the impact to Broca’s area. – David Emerson, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy 

  1. A person’s response to trauma is not cognitive. What happens instead?
  • Healing trauma requires “understanding the physiological response to threat, and how trauma manifests in the body-mind.” (Hala Khouri)
  • Our response to trauma is not cognitive. It is “your body resetting itself in response to a stressful experience, interpreting the world as a more frightening and dangerous place.” (Lynn Malcolm)
  • As a result of overwhelm and a flooding of emotions, “a circuit breaker is thrown that allows us to survive the experience fairly intact, that is, without becoming psychotic or frying out one of the brain centers. The cost of this blown circuit is emotion frozen within the body. In other words, we often unconsciously stop feeling our trauma partway into it, like a movie that is still going after the sound has been turned off. We cannot heal until we move fully through that trauma.” (Susan Pease Banitt)
  1. Describe issues associated with trauma disclosure.

The process of disclosure can be extremely painful for the teller.

  • If the victim has not completely healed the trauma, it may be excruciating and potentially re-traumatizing.
  • Even if the teller has long since healed the trauma, others may react in dysfunctional, negative or harmful ways, thereby causing added pain for the teller. 

My colleague Theodora Wildcroft said, “I can’t speak my truth without hurting other people.” I’m slowly starting to get it. The person who has disclosed their trauma is a social liability… What they have to report about what happened to them… shames that entire community. The denial is the clue. Those who are able to get past the simple denial phase must ask whether they were dissociative or complicit, or both. The trauma survivor announces, for the collective: “No, we are not okay.”… It’s really hard to hear what [trauma survivors] have to say. It resonates too close to the bone of our own memory, or it violates the visions of general goodness that we’ve come to cherish. It shows us more clearly the differences in our experience, and how much more challenging love is than what we thought. It’s really hard for another reason that Anneke Lucas told me about: “Sometimes we can’t acknowledge the trauma of others,” she said, “until we acknowledge the ways in which we ourselves have been traumatized.” – Matthew Remski

  1. How can we be better listeners with those who disclose trauma?

Mathew Remski explains these keys to being better listeners with those who disclose trauma:

  1. Recognize our reactions, our unwillingness to listen, and why.
  2. Be willing to face our own unacknowledged or unhealed traumas, and become aware of how they limit our ability to accept the truths presented by others.
  3. Be willing to be impacted.
  4. Endeavor to completely, patiently, truly listen.
  5. Commit to “being-with” without making it about your own experience, without trying to orchestrate how the person discloses and without trying to fix anything.