Yoga Therapy Today – The New Immigration Crisis: Creating Trauma-Informed Yoga Programs for Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and New Immigrants
The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) has published an article about Gina’s work with refugees in their summer 2023 issue of Yoga Therapy Today.
Asylum seekers, new immigrants, and refugees are displaced and adapting to a new culture as they attempt to create new lives in a new country. The past decade has seen a wave of people fleeing climate-related natural disasters, war, and starvation. These waves will continue as climate change affects food sources and causes natural disasters worldwide. Wars and gang violence continue to also cause people to flee their countries of origin around the world.
Data provided by the Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center show that rates of PTSD and major depression in settled adult refugees range from 10% to 40% and 5 to 15%, respectively, while children and adolescents have rates of PTSD as high as 50% to 90% and major depression ranging from 6% to 40%. Refugees may also suffer from panic attacks, adjustment disorder, and somatization. According to the center, the number of traumas someone has experienced, delayed asylum application process, detention, and the loss of culture and support systems all contribute to the risk of developing mental health problems (https://refugeehealthta. org/physical-mental-health/mental-health/).
Complex trauma is when a person has survived multiple traumatic experiences, often the result of such displacement. Yoga—arguably trauma-informed practices in particular—can help people learn to self-regulate trauma symptoms, so these new residents can function in society, make a living, and support themselves and their families.
In response to the ongoing immigration crisis at the border between Texas and Mexico, I founded Casa de Paz SLV in January 2019.
