Here is something I wish more people knew: the practices of yoga have always been about meeting people where they are.
Not forcing them to be somewhere else. Not pushing them to be better, stronger, more flexible, more enlightened. Meeting them exactly where they are. In their bodies, in their nervous systems, in their lives.
This is not a new idea. The ancient texts speak of adapting the practice to the individual. The Yoga Sutras describe a path that is responsive to the student’s needs, capacities, and readiness. Even Ayurveda teaches us that each person is unique, and that healing happens when we honour that uniqueness.
Modern neuroscience and psychology give us language like titration, pendulation, and the window of tolerance to describe what yoga has always known. That healing happens in relationship. That our capacity to be with life is shaped by our nervous system. And that meeting people where they are is not a technique—it is a way of being.
The words are new, many developed in the 70s-90s. The wisdom is ancient. And together, they give us a way to talk about this work that is grounded, precise, and deeply human.
Window of Tolerance
https://www.calm.com/blog/window-of-tolerance#1The window of tolerance, coined by Dan Siegel in 1999, is the range in which we can be present, grounded, and connected to ourselves. When we are inside it, we can feel our feelings, think clearly, and stay engaged with life. When we are outside it, we slip into hyperarousal (anxiety, panic, hypervigilance) or hypoarousal (shutdown, numbness, dissociation).
This is not a failure. It is a sign that our nervous system is doing exactly what it was designed to do—protect us from threat. The problem is that the threat is no longer there, but the nervous system does not always know that. It is still responding to a world or environment that no longer exists.
The work of yoga—and of trauma-informed practice—is not to eliminate these states. It is to care for ourselves when this happens, and over time, to expand the window. To build the capacity to be with more of life without being thrown off balance. To stretch the edges so that what once felt overwhelming becomes something we can be with.
Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth
This is where resilience and post-traumatic growth come in.
Resilience is about bouncing back. It is the ability to return to a baseline after stress or adversity. It is important, and it is not the whole story.
Post-traumatic growth is something different. The term was coined in 1995 by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun. It is not about returning to who you were before. But rather, the depth, wisdom, and compassion that can emerge when we have been through something difficult and have found a way through. It is about the changes that can happen when we face the hard stuff and come out the other side. Not unscathed, but transformed.
When we work with the window of tolerance, we are not just helping people return to a baseline. We are helping them expand their capacity to be with more of life, the hard parts, the beautiful parts, the ordinary parts. We are helping them develop the internal resources to be with discomfort without being consumed by it. And we are helping them build the capacity for post-traumatic growth.
This is not about pushing through. It is not about forcing ourselves to feel more than we are ready to feel. But rather, about creating conditions in which expansion can happen naturally over time, with support. It is about trusting that the system knows the way forward, and that our job is to create the conditions for it to find its way.
Titration
Titration is the practice of offering just enough. Just enough challenge, just enough support, just enough information for a given person in a given moment.
The term originates from chemistry, referring to the process of gradually adding a solution to determine the exact amount needed to reach a desired reaction. In trauma-informed work, it was adapted to describe the careful, gradual approach to working with the nervous system. It is the opposite of the “no pain, no gain” approach. The opposite of pushing through. It is the opposite of assuming that more is better.
Titration is about paying attention to what is happening in the moment and responding accordingly. It is about offering an invitation, not a command. It is about trusting that the person in front of you knows their own capacity better than you do.
In yoga, titration shows up in the way we cue. The way we offer choices. In the way we invite someone to notice what they are feeling, without needing to change it. In the way we slow down, check in, and adjust.
Pendulation
Pendulation is the practice of moving between states of activation and rest.
The term was developed within the field of Somatic Experiencing, a body-based approach to healing trauma founded by Peter Levine. It describes the natural, rhythmic process of moving between contraction and expansion, between arousal and settling. A process that allows the nervous system to release tension and find a new balance.
It is the rhythm of the practice; the inhale and the exhale, the effort and the ease, the movement and the stillness. It is the recognition that we cannot stay in one state forever. That we need to move between expansion and contraction, between engagement and rest, between being with difficulty and being with ease.
In trauma-informed practice, pendulation is a way of helping someone move between states without getting stuck at either end. It is a way of building capacity, of expanding the window of tolerance, of helping someone develop the flexibility to be with more of life.
Meeting People Where They Are
When we understand these concepts, we stop asking people to “just relax,” “just breathe,” or “push through resistance.” We stop seeing their responses as something to fix. And we start seeing things like behaviour, resistance, and thoughts as information.
We start offering space and practices that help people notice their patterns and states with curiosity and radical acceptance rather than judgment. We offer opportunities to start building the capacity to be with experience without being overwhelmed by it. And most importantly, we meet people where they are, not where we think they should be!
This is what yoga has always been about. What the ancient texts teach us. This is what modern neuroscience confirms.
And this is the foundation of everything we teach.
The Invitation
If this resonates with you, I want to invite you to explore our Introduction to Trauma-Informed Yoga module. It is a place to begin—to learn the skills that allow you to meet yourself and others where they are.
You can learn more here:
https://www.lifeofwellness.ca/introduction-trauma-informed-yoga/
And if you want to read more about why these skills matter—and what it actually means to meet people where they are—you are already here. This blog post is a start.