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.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
As the federal government looks to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., an eastern Ontario mayor says his city needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers arriving through irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
An alleged victim of a former staff member of Legacy Christian Academy can now be identified after she successfully petitioned in court to have a publication ban lifted.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s provincial budget, school divisions in Saskatchewan were expecting funding levels to increase, with the province repeatedly touting its $1 billion surplus.
Manitoba First Nation police have arrested a man connected with a shooting on March 19 on Long Plain First Nation that resulted in the community going on lockdown.
Manitoba’s labour force is growing at a rate to supply enough workers for available positions into 2026, according to the province’s labour market outlook.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Emergency crews responded to a call for a stabbing on Hartsmere Drive, off Stittsville Main Street, at approximately 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Two police cruisers guarded the parking lot of the Trustee M. Curry Park late Thursday evening.
The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est has announced plans for a four-day school week pilot-project this fall, becoming the first school board in Ontario to offer families a shortened school week schedule.
Following a court appearance Thursday, a B.C. woman facing more than 20 charges – including manslaughter – in connection with alleged druggings of men who used escort services was remanded into custody.
The man killed in West Vancouver earlier this week was a retired urologist who was involved in several legal disputes over valuable real estate, CTV News has learned.
For the first time, the owner of a building in Old Montreal has responded to questions about the fire — through his lawyer — addressing allegations that the building was unsafe.
The political class at the National Assembly has condemned the 'violent' and 'hateful' remarks that columnist Gilles Proulx allegedly made about Quebec solidaire MNAs during Richard Martineau's show on Qub radio in recent weeks.
A Victoria man’s life of crime has turned into one of survival, hope and advocacy amid ongoing conversations in the community about how best to tackle public safety matters.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
Potato farmers on Prince Edward Island are taking the federal government to court due to the decision to restrict the movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes.
The co-owners of a new liquidation store in North Bay, Samuel Quesnel and Chloé Boivenue, say they want to bring a treasure hunt shopping experience to the city.
The ‘Catch the Ace’ jackpot is still up for grabs in Hagersville. There was no winner Thursday night so the total prize money is now an estimated $1,526,067.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
Shyla Gable (Right) leads a spiritually informed yoga class meant for Indigenous trauma survivors at the Mâmawêyatitân Centre in Regina. (Brianne Foley/CTV News)
