When the Teacher Becomes the Student:

Beginning a 6-Week Trauma Yoga Journey

There are moments in life when the teacher becomes the student.

Today, I begin a 6-week Trauma Yoga journey at BeingMe Yoga Studio, and I step into it with uncertainty, vulnerability, and hope.

This is not a fixed program for me yet — it is a living experience that will unfold week by week. What I share here is the beginning of that journey.

Although I am still early in my yoga teaching path, movement has been a constant thread throughout my life. I have been teaching Pilates for many years and have remained committed to my own practice through Pilates, yoga, and karate. Movement has grounded me, strengthened me, and carried me through difficult seasons.

As the founder of The Body Genius, I spend much of my time guiding others back into connection with their bodies. This journey is an opportunity for me to step into that process myself — not as a teacher, but simply as a student of my own experience.

But grief is different.

For the past eight months, grief has been living inside my body in ways I am still learning to understand. Losing my daughter has changed me profoundly.

Some days I feel exhausted and heavy. Other days I feel disconnected or numb. And often, what shows up most strongly is anxiety — held deeply in my nervous system, sometimes triggering migraines, sometimes leaving me feeling constantly on edge.

What has surprised me most is that grief has not arrived in the way I expected. I struggle to cry. I struggle to access the emotional release I thought would come naturally. Instead, there is a quietness — and sometimes a questioning of whether I am “grieving correctly.”

There are moments when emotion breaks through. But more often, I feel as though something is held beneath the surface — in my breath, my muscles, my joints, my body.

Logically, I continue with life. I show up for my family, my work, and daily responsibilities. From the outside, things may appear steady. But internally, I know there is deeper work unfolding — work that cannot be rushed or avoided.

My body tells the story even when I cannot fully express it in words: fatigue, tension, depletion, and a nervous system that feels constantly activated.

While my existing practices — Pilates, yoga, and karate — have supported me greatly, I sense there is another layer I cannot access alone.

That is why I chose to begin this Trauma Yoga journey.

For the next six weeks, I will be participating in a Trauma Yoga series led by Dale de Klerk at BeingMe Yoga Studio. What drew me here is simple: for once, I do not need to hold space for others. I only need to arrive as myself and allow myself to be held in return.

There is something quietly powerful about that.

My hope is not that this journey will “fix” anything. Instead, I am curious about what may emerge when I create space for my body to speak without expectation.

About Dale & BeingMe

Dale de Klerk • Founder of BeingMe Yoga Studio & School

One of the reasons I felt comfortable beginning this journey is the philosophy behind BeingMe Yoga Studio.

Founded by Dale de Klerk, BeingMe was created as a sanctuary where yoga is approached with gentleness, curiosity, and compassion rather than performance or perfection.

After facing his own cancer journey in 2010, Dale experienced first‑hand how movement, breath, and mindfulness can support healing and resilience. That experience continues to shape the way he teaches today.

Over the years, he has guided students of all ages and backgrounds, creating spaces where people can reconnect with themselves in ways that feel safe, accessible, and deeply supportive.

As someone stepping into this Trauma Yoga journey while navigating grief, what resonated most with me was not a list of qualifications, but the intention behind the space itself: a place where there is no expectation to perform, fix, or achieve anything — only an invitation to arrive exactly as you are.

Returning to my own story, I realize that choosing this space is as much about trust as it is about healing. Trusting Dale, trusting the philosophy of BeingMe, and trusting myself enough to step into vulnerability.

Why This Journey Matters to The Body Genius

At The Body Genius, I often speak about movement as medicine.

Through Pilates, yoga, rehabilitative movement, massage therapy, and martial arts, I have seen how movement can restore strength, mobility, confidence, and connection.

But this experience is reminding me that movement is not only physical.

The body carries everything we live through — stress, grief, fear, resilience, and joy. And these experiences shape how we breathe, how we move, and how we relate to ourselves.

This journey aligns deeply with the philosophy behind The Body Genius because it explores the connection between body, mind, and nervous system. It reminds me that healing is not always about fixing what is broken — sometimes it is about creating enough safety to feel what is already present.

I am undertaking this journey for my own healing, for my family, and for my wellbeing. But I am also doing it as a lifelong student of movement — to better understand trauma-informed practice and the role movement can play in emotional healing.

If these reflections help me support even one person more deeply in the future, then this journey will have meaning beyond myself.

Looking Ahead

Over the next six weeks, I will be sharing reflections from this Trauma Yoga journey through The Body Genius Journal.

These reflections are not intended as professional advice or therapy. They are simply my personal experiences as a mother, a wife, a movement professional, and a human being learning to navigate grief.

I do not know exactly what I will discover along the way.

I do not know whether I will find the release I am searching for.

What I do know is that healing requires courage, and courage often begins with showing up.

So this is me showing up.

One breath.

One movement.

One week at a time.

And perhaps that is all healing really asks of us.

Not perfection.

Not answers.

Not a destination.

Just the willingness to keep showing up, even when the path ahead is uncertain.

Because healing is not about moving on. It is about learning how to carry love, loss, and life together — and continuing to move forward with grace.

My mantra remains: “Movement creates momentum.” Even the smallest step forward is a victory.

“Karate for courage, Pilates for stability, Yoga for peace — together, they carry me, and perhaps they can carry you too.”