Aid & Development Worker Support

Humanitarian work is all encompassing. We are often away from traditional support systems and constantly flooded with deadlines, stress, and change. This career also brings a deeper sense of purpose for many making it more than just a job, but rather both a vocation and a lifestyle. Humanitarians often find it hard to take time off maintain self-care or even find the headspace to change jobs let alone prioritize their personal lives and mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Yoga Therapy for Aid & Development Workers offering was designed with my own personal experiences in the field in mind and taking into consideration cutting-edge research on the benefits of yoga therapy. Yoga therapy offers you a way to address cumulative stress and trauma through a biopsychosocial and spiritual lens.

Yoga Therapy for Aid & Development Workers

Getting external support can connect you back to your true self, build your overall vitality, and cultivate compassion for your own body, mind, and soul. Using a Yoga Therapy approach is so beneficial because of its ability to affect all levels and human systems simultaneously. By integrating yoga and meditation practices into your life you’ll not only feel better, but you’ll also gain tools to actively care for your own health, even if you are still deployed in the field.

Benefits of Yoga Therapy for Aid & Development Workers

Learn ancient mind and body techniques to combat anxiety and depression
Integrate new skills to manage stress
Improve somatic regulation
Build relaxation endurance and resilience
Develop clarity of mind through meditation practices
Create body-mind rhythmic balance and build vagal tone

Trauma informed approach

Yoga Therapy is based on a particular understanding of trauma, one that emphasizes its impact on the entire mind-body system. Though single-event trauma and complex, developmental trauma differ, both evoke the same nervous system response that involves the body’s instinctual fight/flight/freeze pattern. This is hardwired into the human nervous system to help protect us from harm. Under normal circumstances, this provides the energy needed to propel us to safety. However, when trauma occurs and we are unable to take effective action to stay safe, our bodies continue to evoke nervous system response, even when the trauma stops.

No matter what the cause of the trauma, yoga, breath, and mantra are time-tested approaches and clinically demonstrated to be effective in helping people reconnect with their body, reduce symptoms, and provide the support to move from a state of reactivity to an experience of safety and calm.

What is the difference between Talk Therapy and Yoga Therapy?

Whilst both approaches are great avenues for health recovery and wellness. Yoga therapy moves beyond just talk therapy to bring awareness and rhythmic balance to the mind, body, and soul. Often, we may not have the words to describe our feelings or emotions but by using movement, mantra, and meditation, we are providing relief for emotional and physical tensions.

I am interested in Yoga Therapy, what is the best way to start?

I offer a free 30-minute Discover Call. This session is designed for you to share your own unique journey, explore your wellness goals, ask questions, and see if we are a good match to work together.

If we agree to work together, we will start by gathering history, a diagnostic assessment, goal formulation and the collaborative development of a Wellness Plan. Over the course of our work we will develop a movement, meditation, relaxation, and lifestyle plan for you.

I’m working at headquarters right now, COVID-19 stranded or in-between assignments - is this service for me?

Yes. This sacred time serves as a container for you to cultivate a deeper level of self-awareness and to build your own wellness and self-care tools to use in your daily life, no matter where you are based.

How much time do I need to commit?

Together we will create goals and a time bound Wellness Plan which serves as the template for our work. Each session with me lasts between 60 minutes and 75 minutes. After each session, I will share a simple home practice for you to explore and integrate into your daily rhythm. Home practices can range from 3 to 30 minutes and are used to support your wellness goals.

Do I need to be flexible or have tried yoga?

No. My approach to Yoga Therapy is based on your own body. Rather than doing tons of movement (asana) that you would find in a typical yoga class, our time together is about bringing introspection to simple movements, meditation, and relaxation. No previous experience is needed.

I am not physically fit? Can I still do this?

Yes. You can absolutely do Yoga Therapy. This is an inclusive approach to wellness. All levels of fitness are welcome. This is for every-body and it is body positive offering.

Does this practice include religion?

Yoga therapy is designed to give you “hands on” experience of your highest consciousness. It is a method by which you can achieve the sacred purpose of your life. It is universal and nondenominational. Yoga Therapy is not a religion.

How long will it take me to feel better?

This depends on you and your wellness goals. It is important to remember, that this process is not predictably linear to getting and staying well, and even when clients are feeling successful, periodic setbacks do occur. These should be expected and are a normal part of the healing process. Change is possible. I ask you to please trust the process and stick with it and I will support you all the way.

Who is Nicole and what are her qualifications, experience, and commitment to ethical standards?

I am a Listened Social Worker (LSW) recognized for my ability to effectively design and lead programs that address sustainability, gender equity, and community development. Spending the past 16 years working in over 50 countries as an aid and development worker, I used yoga to maintain flexibility and strength in the most remote communities. Seven years ago, I found yoga to help manage my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, because of my work, and uncovered a new passion in sharing this powerful technology.

I am a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher from the Kundalini Research Institute, and currently halfway through a 3-year rigorous yoga therapy program that is certified through the International Yoga Therapy Association (IYAT). I hold certifications a wide range yoga therapy approaches, including trauma recovering, heart and cardiovascular health, structure and function grief and grief recovery, Ayurveda, yoga and research, assessment, and planning, among others.

I am member of IYAT and the National Association of Social Workers and hold a LSW through New Jersey, USA. To read more about my professional qualifications here.

All personal information and information related to your services will be kept securely and is strictly confidential unless you give written authorization.