The Courage to Rise ― Using Movement, Mindfulness, and Healing Foods to Triumph over Trauma

A prescriptive and transformative plan to use yoga to heal pain, anxiety, depression, and other manifestations of unresolved trauma, by an internationally acclaimed yoga teacher.

Whether or not we're consciously aware of it, no one is spared from trauma. And the damage can stem from a range of sources including severe emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, war, neglect, betrayal, abandonment during childhood, minor automobile accidents, invasive medical and dental procedures, and natural disasters such as earthquakes or fires. Whatever the case of your trauma, renowned yoga instructor Liz Arch is willing to bet that it has touched you or someone you love.

Following her own traumatic experience with domestic abuse, Liz became a highly visible spokesperson for the capacity of yoga to heal those who have suffered from various types of trauma. In The Courage to Rise, Liz shows that without productive ways to expunge trauma from our system, it can stay in us on a cellular level, coloring our daily lives and even causing us to subconsciously retraumatize ourselves. When we arm ourselves with the tools of movement, mindfulness, and good nutrition, we can become more grounded and more aware of those things that are happening within us, and where they stem from. We can then utilize productive methods to dig down into the root cause, rather than getting caught up in a vicious cycle of continued trauma and destruction.

This sensible guide for healing trauma naturally and overcoming its symptoms—including anxiety, panic, and depression—offers a triad approach to recovery by addressing the three areas where trauma lives:

1) The body. Liz shows readers how to move trauma out of the body—out of our tissues and out of our muscle memory—through a series of 14 signature Primal Yoga movement sequences.

2) The brain. To address the mental aspects of trauma, depression, and anxiety, she walks readers through a series of meditations and mindfulness practices.

3) The gut. She looks at mood-killing food culprits like caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and gluten; examines the best whole foods to stave off depression and anxiety; discusses the pros and cons of supplements for brain and gut health; and offers twenty-five delicious and nutritious recipes.

The Courage to Rise gives invaluable insight into understanding the nature of trauma and shares practical and effective tools readers can immediately implement to begin releasing trauma, strengthening their emotional resiliency, and transforming pain into their greatest power.