Sheilah Laffan is helping those who have experienced trauma by healing body and soul through yoga
Hamiltonian Sheilah Laffan’s yoga studio is geared toward helping those who have experienced trauma
Sheilah Laffan’s philosophy is simple: hurt people hurt others.
Laffan knows about the importance of healing. Since 2013, she has been through two cancer diagnoses, a stroke and struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
That’s why Laffan, 53, started the Quite A Stretch Yoga and Zumba studio, a yoga studio geared toward people who suffer from mental or physical traumas. Through yoga, Laffan hopes to help others who, like her, are survivors of mental illness, disease, trauma or anxiety.
Laffan’s 10-week “Yoga for Warriors” course uses yoga postures, breathing exercises and meditation to help participants ease the effects of stress or trauma. Often, Laffan says, people who have been through difficult experiences tend to dissociate from their bodies — and her class offers a safe space for them to reconnect with their physical selves.
“This program is about healing from the bottom up. We believe very strongly that when we experience any trauma, no matter what it is, it sticks within us, and we end up carrying it with us all of the time,” she said. “Our goal during the 10 weeks is to really open you up and start to connect you back with your body.”
Everything in Laffan’s classes has been carefully tailored to prevent any triggers that may re-traumatize her students. The studio blinds are drawn, but participants are always seated facing the door to know that they’re able to leave at any time (and they’re also able to see anyone who may come inside). The music Laffan plays doesn’t have lyrics to avoid any negative word associations. She gives her students warnings about any hip-opening poses and always gives them the option to skip any exercise that may make them feel uncomfortable.
She also leaves an hour after each class for her students to process, regroup or just chat over a cup of tea. What her students may choose to share about their lives and experiences is completely up to them.
“I do not need to know about your trauma — we all carry it. We all have experienced something that has jarred us to our core,” she says.
For Sue Meigs, “Yoga for Warriors” has offered her a chance to heal from the inside out. Meigs recently suffered a death in her family and has found that yoga has offered her an outlet to help process her grief.
“You notice the difference,” she said. “The more you do it, the better you feel.”
Laffan’s path to becoming a certified yoga instructor wasn’t easy. In 2013, she was working as a manager of continuing medical education at McMaster University when she noticed a tickle in her throat. After it persisted for several weeks, she went to the doctor. A diagnosis of Stage 4 throat cancer soon followed.
Laffan went through 40 rounds of radiation and five, five-day rounds of chemotherapy. With her treatment seemingly a success, she went back to work — but a year later, on Christmas Eve 2014, she awoke with massive swelling on the side of her neck. Her cancer had returned, and this time, Laffan needed a radical neck dissection, a surgery that removes nearly all lymph nodes on one side of the neck, part of the jugular vein as well as muscle and nerve tissue.
After a year of recovery, Laffan was feeling healthy. She was working out, taking care of herself and had been certified as a Zumba instructor.
But on Dec. 23, 2015 — almost a year after her second cancer diagnosis — Laffan had a stroke. One day, she was teaching a children’s Zumba class and discovered she couldn’t move her legs. She tried to speak, but her words were nonsensical and garbled. Once again, she ended up in the hospital.
“I asked the universe, ‘What do you want me to do?’ And the answer was,
“This program is about healing from the bottom up. We believe very strongly that when we experience any trauma, no matter what it is, it sticks within us, and we end up carrying it with us all of the time.” SHEILAH LAFFAN
‘Slow down,’ ” she said.
It was then that Laffan realized she needed to make some major life changes. She trained for hundreds of hours to become a certified yoga instructor. One day, while at a yoga conference, she attended a workshop about the “Yoga for Warriors” course and instantly found her calling.
Today, she is running five 10-week “Yoga for Warriors” classes, all of which she expects to sell out. The demand shows that her classes are filling a gap in Hamiltonians’ lives, she said.
“We’re really about trying to empower our community to try and heal,” she said.
For more information about “Yoga for Warriors,” visit quiteastretchyoga.com or contact Laffan at 905-906-8598 or quiteastretchyoga@gmail.com.