Indigenous perspectives of trauma-sensitive yoga using community-based and consensual qualitative frameworks

Indigenous communities endure intergenerational and ongoing traumas. Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) is an empirically supported yoga-based intervention for complex trauma. To become a TCTSY facilitator, candidates complete a 20-hr training followed by a 300-hr certification program. This community-based research documented the first Indigenous TCTSY Facilitator Training Cohort's perspectives on TCTSY's acceptability, feasibility, and utility.

Protocols were developed with community partners, and researchers engaged in reflexivity practices and Indigenous cultural learnings. Twenty interviews were conducted with 15 adult interviewees: 14 program participants (13 women) who completed the 20-hr training and one program mentor. From the 14 program participants (11 Great Plains Tribal Nations, with four Tribal citizens and seven descendants), 10 enrolled in the 300-hr training, and three completed the full certification. Interviews were analyzed using the consensual qualitative research method.

Most participants reported the training positively impacted their approach to trauma care and some aspects (e.g., body-based modality) aligned with current healing approaches. Common training takeaways included learning about the effects of trauma and the value of invitational language. Participants endorsed intentions to integrate TCTSY for personal and community healing; examples of integration included smudging/burning of medicines (e.g., sage), land-based practice for connection to nature, and intentional movement within ceremony space. Program improvements included additional emphasis on yoga history/philosophy, collaborations with elders, and acknowledgment of current community trauma.

A community-based research framework provided opportunities to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of TCTSY for Indigenous communities in a culturally relevant and trauma-informed way. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).