Braiding Knowledge through breath, language, and movement: culturally rooted, trauma-informed Yoga for First Nations Women

This doctoral research weaves in several distinct cultural and philosophical knowledge systems, including Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, Indigenous knowledge of India through the practice of Yoga, and Western science of trauma theory and mindfulness. The primary research aim is to describe the process and impact of the First Nations Yoga Initiative (FNWYI), a trauma-informed, community program that combined virtual and land-based learning in an 80-hour curriculum piloted to a Cohort of twenty Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and other First Nations women who participated in the program. A range of qualitative methods were used to gain in-depth insights into the experiences of wellness, healing, and language learning experiences of participants through an Indigenous Research Paradigm, bridging intercultural wisdom and spirit-based inquiry that centers Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw ways of knowing alongside the Yogic tradition, and Trauma-Informed Yoga (TIY) principles. The yoga program was co-created, implemented, and evaluated alongside a First Nations advisory circle of learners, fluent Kwak̓wala speakers and knowledge keepers. A culturally-responsive framework offers ways of sharing parallel Indigenous knowledge systems and advances awareness into how First Nations women prioritize standing in their own roots and values of respect and reciprocity when honoring the roots of Yoga. The research project builds upon existing findings from the fields of culturally rooted and TIY training and education, as well as offering an Indigenized approach to community wellness, trauma healing and language revitalization. The FNWYI introduced embodied language-learning through the exploration of Kwak̓wala values, worldviews, ancestral practices, chants and songs to promote an intentional learning community. The research project emphasizes the identity-building process and decolonizing practices through the embodiment of ancestral language, ceremonial practices, and trauma-informed yoga. This study addresses a gap in TIY research and practice by centering the priorities and stories of First Nations women as they cope with varying degrees of trauma, grief and stress - magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘Braiding Knowledge through Breath, Language, and Movement’ provides a strategic framework and grassroots model for creating trauma-informed, culturally-rooted yoga programs, engrained with embodied language learning, ancestral healing practices, and virtual and land-based learning throughout

From Breath to Beadwork: Lessons Learned From a Trauma- Informed Yoga Series With Indigenous Adolescent Girls Under Youth Protection

This paper explores the promising practice of an emerging culturally adapted, trauma-informed yoga program for Indigenous adolescent girls. I draw from my experiential learning during a series of 12 yoga sessions over 2018 and 2019 with eight Indigenous girls (ages 13–17) from rural and remote Inuit communities in Quebec, Canada. Participants had experienced varying degrees of child maltreatment and interaction with the child welfare system, and they were all under the care of youth protection services in a residential facility. The yoga and mindfulness intervention provided weekly 60-minute sessions in the residential unit. Yoga sessions integrated a blended model of cultural teachings, group dialogue, and trauma-informed yoga. The approach included circle sharing, cultural teachings, gentle progressions of physical postures, guided meditation, breathing techniques, centring practices, and beadwork. This promising practice explores trauma-informed yoga as a strengths-based community strategy for relational healing that promotes cultural connectedness, safety, and resilience among Indigenous adolescent girls removed from their rural and remote communities to a residential facility in an urban area. This paper outlines an introductory framework for health professionals, paraprofessionals, program administrators, and staff working with Indigenous children and youth in residential facilities. Specifically, this promising practice builds on existing findings of trauma-informed yoga with adolescents, as well as movement and centring approaches through an Indigenous lens of relational healing

25. Blind Curves or Open Roads? Student Leaders Speak on the Future of Canadian Post-Secondary Education

In working to build a better, more just future, post-secondary institutions play a crucial role in shaping the students of today and tomorrow. Many institutions already employ a number of innovative programs aimed at broadening students’ horizons. We can now look forward to seeing these initiatives grow. As students, we outline our views on some of the challenges and possible avenues for change in post-secondary education. Efforts to strengthen student leadership, optimize experiential learning, and develop a more holistic educational approach are important. Current challenges to post-secondary education lie within aspects of accessibility, funding, relationship disconnect, and segregated educational approaches. Strengths and challenges encountered within post-secondary education can frame learning boundaries to be deconstructive or constructive. Both boundary modalities can play important roles in designing the future of post-secondary education in Canada.