Facilitator Voices: Karin Rossi

I share this profile from my home office where I, like most of you are sheltering in place. I work as an independent contractor at an inpatient drug and alcohol facility and I miss the work desperately. The decision to not consider myself an “essential worker” was a very difficult one to make as I believe the work we do with our clients is beyond essential. I have been doing this work for over four years; I started even before my official certification.  After reading Dave’s two books, I made the decision to make a complete shift in my style of teaching yoga at the facility.  I then began to pursue the cert process which crystallized the pedagogy of the program. In the past two years my company created the “Breaking Free Trauma Track” and has pursued becoming a trauma informed facility.  As a facilitator, I see populations specifically identified as having trauma as well as those who have not been.  But as we say in the addiction field, everyone that comes through our doors has some degree of trauma, especially addicts who are now seeing so many of their friends overdose.

My intention each work day is to get out of my own way; ego must be left at the door.  For me, I must abandon “my” agenda because I never know who will grace my doors.  I make it clear from the start that no one is required to participate but that they are always welcome to stay in the space and read or rest; this helps to set the stage for non-coercion. Perhaps my favorite of the five core elements is shared authentic experience.  This element is something that has translated well into many aspects of my life; this element is where I get to explore agency in my body which, for me, is the only way I can understand how to honor your agency. I don’t know if I will have a job to return to when this is over; that will have to be okay. Things are shifting and the universe will take me to the next place where this work will be more vital than ever.