Therapy Chat · Laura Reagan, LCSW-C

480: Bringing Yoga Into Psychotherapy With Nityda Gessel

April 28, 2025·42 min·3 clips

Nityda reveals why deep breathing can trigger trauma survivors, challenging common therapeutic assumptions.

This episode of Therapy Chat features host Laura Reagan and guest Nityda Gessel, a licensed clinical social worker and trauma-informed yoga therapist. They explore the integration of yoga into psychotherapy, specifically for trauma treatment. Gessel shares her personal journey from professional ballet dancer to therapist, explaining how her own trauma led her to discover yoga's healing potential. She clarifies that yoga encompasses eight limbs, including breathwork and meditation, not just physical postures. Gessel argues the goals of yoga and psychotherapy align in fostering self-discovery and reconnection to one's body. A key reason for integration is yoga's somatic focus, which helps trauma survivors rebuild a compassionate connection with physical sensations. She details how breathwork, or pranayama, can regulate the nervous system but may be triggering for some survivors, especially if their trauma involved suffocation. Gessel describes integrating yoga organically into sessions, such as inviting a client to notice bodily sensations when their emotional state shifts. She gives examples like using intuitive movement or structured poses to help clients process a tightness in the chest. Yoga practices can also bookend sessions for grounding or containment after intense work like EMDR. Gessel encourages clients to develop personal rituals, like one minute of morning breathing, to build predictability. She notes many therapists already use yoga elements like mindfulness without labeling them as such. The conversation distinguishes between taking a yoga class, receiving yoga therapy from a non-clinician, and receiving psychotherapy from a dually trained professional like Gessel. She emphasizes that while yoga classes support mental health, they are not a replacement for processing deep childhood wounds in therapy. Gessel's Trauma-Conscious Yoga Institute offers training for mental health professionals and yoga teachers on clinical integration. The tone is conversational and educational, blending personal anecdote with practical clinical guidance. Listeners interested in somatic therapy, trauma treatment, or expanding their therapeutic toolkit would find this episode valuable. Those seeking a purely theoretical discussion or who are uncomfortable with body-focused interventions might prefer to skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded look at breath work in trauma therapy, with a necessary caution built in.

Yoga is framed here as a clinical tool rather than a wellness slogan. Laura Regan discusses bringing pranayama and other yoga-based practices into psychotherapy, with close attention to nervous system regulation, trauma, and the point where breathwork can meet old survival…

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Why you'd press play

If you want yoga and breathwork framed as trauma-aware therapy, press play.

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