This reminds me of my friend Cassie who was abused by her father as a young child, and she was a yoga teacher and once we were doing a spinal twist- and I did an adjustment pressing on her hip and opposite shoulder and she leapt up ran to the bathroom in tears and said she had a hard time with anyone touching her in yoga because of her father inappropriately touching her as a child.
I had never thought to ask permission to make an adjustment for someone in yoga.
There’s this other part where I’d done yoga in New York at Jivamukti for many many years and then taught yoga, and I remember a handful of times when teachers would ask permission to lay hands on someone for an adjustment and sometimes they would ask the student directly and sometimes they would blanket ask before the class started for a show of hands of anyone who did want adjustments. Back then I was completely unaware of how traumatic it is for someone to touch you without permission, because adjustments for me were always welcome and helpful. Where Cassie was extra extra protective was people who have scoliosis who do yoga. She specialized in teaching yoga for people with scoliosis and she explained if someone had scoliosis the level of violation they feel from someone touching or manipulating their spine is often waaaay more than someone who doesn’t have scoliosis. I was a pediatrician in NYC and in my residency the scoliosis patients who had major back surgery with giant rods put in their spines who come to the Peds ICU at St Vincent’s and it always seemed barbaric/ horrific the amount of pain they had from surgery. And the nurses would be mean as snakes to them if they were in pain. It was shocking how inhuman the whole thing was.
My friend Cassie died of cancer in September 2020. She had extensive metastases to her spine and couldn’t walk or sit up for the last few months in the hospital. And her partner described that experience of being in the hospital as her being a piece of meat. She’d lost 70 lbs. it was just the worst.
I think anyone who’s been a patient in the hospital has experienced medical assault and trauma on some level.
Aa my friend’s father who was dying after months in the hospital and multiple heart and lung surgeries told his daughter “They took a perfectly good chest and ruined it.”
Glad you’re writing about this. I shared your post with my friend who’s in school to get her doctorate in physical therapy. I hope their training includes trauma informed care.
I relate I relate I relate. I needed your words-- processing these things in my body as well. Or, need to more actively, really. My friend Elissa Bassist’s memoir “Hysterical” discusses this too-- it seems like we are all being slammed back into our bodies and memories, and we truly have to address them with clear eyes to discharge them.
Wow I'm so sorry this happened. I hope you can tend to your body and soul as you navigate this 💓
Thanks so much, Nisha ❤️
This reminds me of my friend Cassie who was abused by her father as a young child, and she was a yoga teacher and once we were doing a spinal twist- and I did an adjustment pressing on her hip and opposite shoulder and she leapt up ran to the bathroom in tears and said she had a hard time with anyone touching her in yoga because of her father inappropriately touching her as a child.
I had never thought to ask permission to make an adjustment for someone in yoga.
Oh wow, yes, that is so hard! Definitely always good to ask permission.
There’s this other part where I’d done yoga in New York at Jivamukti for many many years and then taught yoga, and I remember a handful of times when teachers would ask permission to lay hands on someone for an adjustment and sometimes they would ask the student directly and sometimes they would blanket ask before the class started for a show of hands of anyone who did want adjustments. Back then I was completely unaware of how traumatic it is for someone to touch you without permission, because adjustments for me were always welcome and helpful. Where Cassie was extra extra protective was people who have scoliosis who do yoga. She specialized in teaching yoga for people with scoliosis and she explained if someone had scoliosis the level of violation they feel from someone touching or manipulating their spine is often waaaay more than someone who doesn’t have scoliosis. I was a pediatrician in NYC and in my residency the scoliosis patients who had major back surgery with giant rods put in their spines who come to the Peds ICU at St Vincent’s and it always seemed barbaric/ horrific the amount of pain they had from surgery. And the nurses would be mean as snakes to them if they were in pain. It was shocking how inhuman the whole thing was.
My friend Cassie died of cancer in September 2020. She had extensive metastases to her spine and couldn’t walk or sit up for the last few months in the hospital. And her partner described that experience of being in the hospital as her being a piece of meat. She’d lost 70 lbs. it was just the worst.
I think anyone who’s been a patient in the hospital has experienced medical assault and trauma on some level.
Aa my friend’s father who was dying after months in the hospital and multiple heart and lung surgeries told his daughter “They took a perfectly good chest and ruined it.”
Glad you’re writing about this. I shared your post with my friend who’s in school to get her doctorate in physical therapy. I hope their training includes trauma informed care.
Oh Ida, I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. Thank you for sharing her story here. Thank you so much for sharing what I’ve written as well ❤️❤️❤️
I relate I relate I relate. I needed your words-- processing these things in my body as well. Or, need to more actively, really. My friend Elissa Bassist’s memoir “Hysterical” discusses this too-- it seems like we are all being slammed back into our bodies and memories, and we truly have to address them with clear eyes to discharge them.
Thank you for your words 🙏
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I’ll have to read the memoir you mention! ❤️