Texas A&M’s Rec Sports and Health Promotion departments are teaming up to provide a trauma-informed yoga session called “Healing with Friends,” aimed toward survivors of sexual assault and their allies.
This cross-departmental collaboration will be hosted both virtually and in-person in Room 2229 at the Student Rec Center on Tuesday, April 20, from 6-7 p.m. In order to maintain privacy, the virtual event will only show video of the instructor, not of any virtual or in-person participants. Additionally, the event will showcase local resources, such as the Sexual Assault Resource Center, to provide processing space for participants, and a raffle for a level one certification in Yogafit. The yoga session is exempt from Title IX reporting; however, Health Promotion is a mandated reporter outside of this event.
Health Promotion coordinator Denise Crisafi, Ph.D., said she is immensely proud of the constant work her department does to support survivors.
“Trauma-informed care is something we’ve always focused on at our university, especially through Health Promotion and our Counseling and Psychological Services as well,” Crisafi said. “I want our students to know [it] is not a one-off event for Sexual Assault Awareness Month; this is something we do all the time throughout the year.”
Open beyond A&M students and faculty, Crisafi said this skilled approach to healing has been helpful for local nonprofits as well as community members.
“We’ve had a lot of interest with the organizations we partner with: the Sexual Assault Resource Center, Phoebe’s Home and Unbound BCS,” Crisafi said. “Trauma-informed care and trauma-informed technique is really important, especially for individuals who may have long-term compounded or complex trauma.”
Working alongside Crisafi is Anna Taggart, fitness director of Recreational Sports. Taggart said exercise can be a great outlet for many, especially for those who have experienced trauma.
“We know that moving your body is a great way to release stress, to promote healing, fun, community wellness, all those things,” Taggart said. “I am very passionate about yoga and the healing benefits of yoga. I have been working on, for the past year and a half, to get my trauma-informed yoga training completed, so I can bring an event like this to the university.”
Taggart said she discovered her passion for yoga through her own training as an instructor and found the practice to be deeper than just physical movement. She said through her personal experiences she has realized the benefits yoga may provide to others.
“It’s amazing how much introspection you do [not only] when you’re training in yoga, but also when you’re doing yoga,” Taggart said. “It’s much more about the interpersonal and introspective experience versus the physical body. That’s why I truly believe that yoga is healing, because it’s done so much for me.”
In addition to this event, Health Promotion and Recreational Sports will be collaborating to bring future training, awareness and healing to A&M’s campus. Crisafi said Health Promotion is committed to the deeper understanding of students’ traumatic experiences.
“We work to normalize trauma-informed conversations throughout the year and help our campus get a good understanding of what that means. ‘Trauma-informed’ is a framework that means a complete and thorough understanding of how trauma impacts the body and the brain together,” Crisafi said. “We want our campus to know that this isn’t something that they have to wait until next April to see again.”
For those interested in joining the event virtually or in-person, visit tx.ag/HealingWithFriends, and check out the entire schedule for Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month.