Transforming Trauma: Episode 138

Movement is medicine, but accessing its healing powers is often challenging for folks impacted by trauma. Some may have difficulty reconnecting with their bodies, while others might feel unsafe or unwelcome in traditional gym environments. Regardless of the reason, there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that practices like weightlifting can support trauma-affected individuals on their healing journeys. How might such a shift in focus and function transform traditional fitness spaces? And how do fitness professionals gain the training they need to become trauma-informed?

On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily is joined by Mariah Rooney, LCSW, co-founder of Trauma-Informed Weight Lifting, the one-of-a-kind non-profit program dedicated to the training and education of trauma-informed movement practitioners as well as research on the healing potential of weight lifting. The pair discuss the program’s structure, the neuroscience behind it, and how Mariah’s extensive participation in social justice practices led to its creation. Mariah also shares some case studies that highlight the positive impact that weight lifting has on a trauma-impacted individual’s resilience, sense of agency, and interoceptive awareness.

“The slowness and mindfulness that’s asked of a person in a certain practice (think: yoga or tai chi) can feel terrifying, particularly to people who have experienced a lot of trauma,” says Mariah. While puzzling over how to combine movement and mindfulness in a less threatening manner, “I kept finding myself standing alongside people that would talk,” she recalls. Many of those casual conversations included mentions of trauma. “I thought, why not make those practices more intentionally trauma-informed, and research them to understand how they help people?” From there, Mariah began incorporating weight lifting into her own fitness routine and eventually bringing it to others.

Mariah co-created Trauma-Informed Weight Lifting to study the effects of weight lifting on healing and to offer a more trauma-focused and inclusive approach to fitness instruction. “Relationships and community are a central part of healing,” she asserts, recognizing that practitioners with a foundational knowledge of trauma are essential to communal care. Shaping a new treatment paradigm, one that combats the isolating nature of trauma while also addressing the limitations and harms perpetuated by traditional gyms, could revolutionize the fitness industry.

Transforming Trauma is grateful to Mariah for creating an innovative approach to treating complex trauma and sharing it with healing professionals.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Center For Trauma And Embodiment At JRI
Prison Yoga Project
Fitness For All Bodies
Decolonizing Fitness
School Of Social Work – Winona State University

GUEST CONTACT AND BIO
Trauma Informed Weightlifting
Instagram
Website

Mariah Rooney, MSW, LCSW (she/they) is the co-founder and co-director of Trauma Informed Weight Lifting, a program of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment. She is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in treating the complex challenges that arise as a result of traumatic stress, attachment trauma, intergenerational trauma, and dissociation in children and adults. She is also an adjunct professor in the graduate School of Social Work at Winona State University, and a trauma-informed care consultant who supports systems change and capacity building efforts in systems of all sizes and types. As a previous Fellow at the Trauma Center at JRI she received extensive training in trauma and supported various project and research efforts.

Additionally, Mariah is a movement practitioner and somatic coach with extensive training in trauma-sensitive and culturally-informed yoga and meditation practices through Warriors at Ease, Prison Yoga Project, Insight Prison Project, Mind Body Solutions, and Trauma Sensitive Yoga. Her writing and research has explored trauma-informed considerations for personal trainers and fitness spaces, posttraumatic outcomes among combat veterans with histories of interpersonal violence, trauma-sensitive education, and inclusive practices for LGBTQIA+ clients in fitness and weight lifting.