Free, No-barriers yoga aims to help healing for Indigenous trauma survivors in Regina
Free, No-barriers yoga aims to help healing for Indigenous trauma survivors in Regina
Shyla Gable (Right) leads a spiritually informed yoga class meant for Indigenous trauma survivors at the Mâmawêyatitân Centre in Regina. (Brianne Foley/CTV News)
“Getting in touch with yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically if we’re talking about the medicine wheel, is really a big part of our healing journey as Indigenous people.”
Shyla Gable began teaching yoga in 2019 and wanted to address a specific audience; Indigenous trauma survivors.
“I wanted to create something that was accessible to Indigenous people, you know we all know where the Mâmawêyatitân Centre is, this program is free, so there’s no cost. Yoga memberships are expensive … and again, just accessible in the body,” she told CTV News.
She offers these free, no-barriers classes bi-weekly, focusing on energy, breath, and dealing with the impacts of trauma. She sees anywhere from four to 12 people every class, ranging from mid-twenties to mid-sixties.
By creating a safe space, Gable’s class allows participants to take part in different levels of yoga, while partaking in a group activity aimed at strengthening and healing.
“You know I look at yoga as a ceremony, so we’re coming together, we’re sitting in ceremony together, creating good energy and connecting to our breathe, connecting to our ancestors, moving our bodies in a safe way.”
Trauma-informed yoga has been a practice since around 2002, with the goal of creating a mind-body connection to those who have experienced trauma while taking back ownership of their physical bodies.
Gable said a trauma based approach to yoga allows for a safer, more accessible practice especially for Indigenous trauma survivors, as it addresses their unique needs.
“Science shows that trauma gets stored in our tissues, in our body, and when we take some time to really connect to our breath, move our body in a safe gentle way, we can begin to heal, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically,” she explained.
“And when we find that balance inside we can have a better relationship with ourselves, with Creator, with the land and with our families.”
Gable also teaches yoga at a workshop held by All Nations Hope Network called Healing and Strengthening Indigenous Sisters and Two Spirits.
This course is a trauma informed workshop that incorporated Gable’s yoga to present accessible information around history, traditional Indigenous roles, and colonial violence, while teaching tools to assist with the healing of trauma.
“It’s important for this [program] to exist because we’re trying to raise awareness and we’re constantly trying to honour the lives of Indigenous people in general … our workshop is a ceremony that honours our bodies and to release any energy that doesn’t serve to our highest good,” Kaitlin Bird, councillor advisor for the MMIWG2S+ Project, told CTV News.
Bird said the course is open to any and all people who want to learn about the on-going epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirits, as well as survivors.
“We all know someone who is missing and murdered, even if it’s not a direct connection, we all know of someone, at least here in Saskatchewan,” Bird said.
Having this open discussion of teaching, while incorporating yoga as a healing tool is a newer approach for All Nations Hope, and Bird believes in the continual practice.
“If your spirit is calling to you to keep attending these workshops it’s because your spirit knows that it needs it, it feels for it … and it’s also a good introduction to Shyla, because she does free workshops like that all the time.”
For Gable, seeing growth and confidence in her students is reward enough.
“What’s really beneficial for me to see the students come back every week and notice those changes in their own energy in their own way of being … being in touch with those parts of themselves that maybe they were never aware of or never noticed before, so it’s really rewarding in that way.”
Finding their identity again after experiencing trauma is necessary for the healing process, as both Gable and Bird agree.
“Knowing how to pray, or knowing what the customs are for ceremonies, or even knowing a bit of the language, these things are very interconnected to their identity,” said Bird.
As for Gable’s free yoga classes, they are now held bi-weekly after losing government funding.
But participants in the class told CTV News they need the classes weekly in order to stay on track with their healing journey.
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
A scientist at CAMH says video games have similar addictive features to gambling which cause social isolation of the individual and dependency on the activity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
The federal Liberals are trending downward on three key measures while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has surpassed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when it comes to the question of who Canadians would prefer now as their prime minister, according to Nanos Research.
Students at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine are reluctant to speak up when faculty make racist comments, according to a new report from the human rights commission.
A Mass Casualty Commission report that came out on Thursday following a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020 may have a local impact on the RCMP Depot model being phased out.
Two Manitoba hunting outfitters have been fined thousands of dollars and lost their licenses after a four-year investigation revealed numerous violations of the wildlife act.
A judge has acquitted a now-retired priest of forcing himself on a residential school student more than 50 years ago, saying she believes an assault happened but could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt who did it.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has yet to answer direct questions about a growing scandal of her alleged interference with the justice system, but her deputy premier has responded the media about the issue.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has yet to answer direct questions about a growing scandal of her alleged interference with the justice system, but her deputy premier has responded the media about the issue.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
Premier Doug Ford is slamming federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault as a “real piece of work” in the wake of public remarks he made suggesting that Ontario has “no plan to fight climate change.”
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
Police have released video of a suspected arsonist who allegedly caused thousands of dollars in smoke and water damage to a building in Vancouver's Chinatown last weekend.
Just a week after Airbnb tightened regulations for Quebec listings following a deadly fire, hosts may already be bending the rules. Airbnb now requires its hosts to provide a six-digit policy number with their listing, obtained when a tourist lodging is registered with the provincial government. But a scroll through the Airbnb website suggests users are falsifying their permit numbers to sneak past the authentication process.
A lawyer for the United States government told Quebec's highest court today that the country should be immune from prosecution for the infamous brainwashing experiments at McGill University from the 1940s to the 1960s.
It's been two weeks since a major fire ripped through a heritage building in the heart of Old Montreal, killing seven people and forever altering the lives of families across the globe. For the families of those who died, the grieving process is only starting.
A 32-year-old man from Campbell River, B.C., has been sentenced to four years in prison for the beating death of a 59-year-old homeless man in October 2020.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says designated landing zones should be available for aircraft in harbours following a crash between a floatplane and a water taxi in Tofino in 2021.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
Gun policy comments made by then-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in a contentious call to Nova Scotia RCMP officers after the mass shooting in 2020 did not amount to political interference, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) final report concludes.
There are exciting plans for Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Sudbury. Built in 1927, the former church was sold after its congregation dwindled and will be transformed into a concert hall.
Shyla Gable (Right) leads a spiritually informed yoga class meant for Indigenous trauma survivors at the Mâmawêyatitân Centre in Regina. (Brianne Foley/CTV News)
