Healing at McAuley Residence with Susannah Sanfilippo

by Nicole Chaison, SCY Board Member

I had the privilege of attending one of Sea Change Yoga’s classes recently, taught by Susannah Sanfilippo. It was a virtual session over Zoom, of course, with the women who live at the McAuley Residence, a transitional program for women in recovery run by Northern Light Mercy Hospital. McAuley Residence has houses in Portland and Bangor and is unique because it’s “the only comprehensive program in Maine for families affected by substance use disorders that allows women to have their children live with them,” according to the web site, and “offers a holistic approach to recovery, including physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness, financial responsibility, and parenting, career, and education support.”

I experienced this holistic approach in Susannah’s class, as she led a dozen women—some who had their little ones with them—through an hour of healing yoga and meditation. Susannah, who has been teaching trauma-informed yoga at McAuley for nearly a decade, and since 2015 with Sea Change, welcomed us to the Zoom session by name as we joined. She checked in and met each woman where she was at, reminding us that this is an hour of self-care, that everything she offers is optional, and that we should focus on what feels good to us in the moment. She reminded us that yoga means union, and when our breath is in union with our hearts and body, we can see clearly, and that’s where healing happens.

Susannah doesn’t bring an agenda to her classes; instead, she is present and listens to what might be needed, offering tools for what the participants are experiencing. After asking if any of the women wanted to do anything specific, she pulled a “contentment” card out of her Angel Card deck, and initiated a meditative discussion on how the card resonated. She then crafted the class around the needs that she heard. 

After our discussion, we began with self-massage: temples, jaw, neck, and shoulders. Susannah said that in an ideal world, the women would be able to receive massage at the house, “because an important part of recovery is getting the nervous system balanced. For many people, a good massage can be an incredibly healing experience and a reminder to the body how trust and relaxation feels. So, since my ideal world has not yet lined up with reality, I try to give some time for self-massage, which studies have shown to be super-helpful, too!”

Next, we placed our hands over our hearts, taking five deep breaths together. Susannah explained ujjayi breath as “ocean breathing,” and I loved how she said that this posture and breathing “softens the scars, and you can hear it, so it keeps you present-minded, not future-focused.” Next, with our hands at our hips, we also did long, deep breathing, or 360 breath, as Susannah put it, reminding us that “when your brain thinks you’re content, it doesn’t send out cortisol, it sends out calming and soothing chemicals.” We also drew smiles in the air with our noses while smiling, which made me feel truly happy, and then we went on to do a series of stretching and yoga poses. Susannah reminded us that we could practice while seated in a chair or on a mat. One of the participants practiced some of the poses with her baby on her belly. Susannah combined her instruction with insight and good humor, sprinkling nuggets of wisdom throughout the practice, but never being dogmatic or over-explaining anything. The class flowed with ease and grace and healing.

Before our practice ended, we rested, and Susannah put on “Earth and Air Meditation,” music by Calm Whale.  She read meditative affirmations from a book that she has been reading called "Triggers: How We Can Stop Reacting and Start Healing" by David Richo. The author’s belief is that looking at the roots of what "triggers" or provokes us can help us find emotional healing. My favorite lines Susannah read were, “I smile at my scared ego and shrug off its relationship fears. I let go of my fear of aloneness, or of time on my hands.” 

After gently guiding us out of our meditation, Susannah asked if anyone had a quick reading they would like to share—one woman did: a reading from The Language of Letting Go—and then checked in to see if anyone wanted to say anything about the meditative affirmations. She closed class by encouraging us to notice the signs of spring all around: the crocuses, robins, and blooming trees. 

Doing yoga together in a community space is optimal, and both Susannah and the women at McAuley Residence are excited for in-person classes to begin again. I was super impressed by Susannah’s ability to create an engaging, intimate, warm, and connected space for all of us to practice together over the Zoom platform. Susannah prefers practicing with the women in person, but she also is happy that Zoom offers an opportunity for both the Portland and Bangor McAuley houses to practice together. She adds: “I think that since folks are on their own turf, surrounded by their own stuff, they might feel more comfortable. Most of the children are in the rooms with their moms and get to see what yoga looks like, which is great!” She talked to me later about how virtual instruction has impacted her classes: “With Zoom, we are doing much less active asana, and lots more seated movements. It also morphs with what I am learning/discovering in my life and more importantly, what I'm hearing from the students. If they ask for more of something and less of something else, that is the direction we go in.”

Susannah started practicing yoga in her 20's, learning through the Iyengar tradition, and was certified by an Iyengar/Kundalini instructor about ten years ago. She acquired certification to teach yoga for veterans, yoga for 12-step recovery, yoga for asylum seekers, as well as Laughter Yoga, and she continues to learn by taking workshops in trauma-informed practices. She reflects on her work with the women at McAuley Residence and with Sea Change: “It is a privilege and an honor to work with the students I have. I am also very, very, very appreciative of the wise and compassionate collaborative leadership with my dear colleagues at Sea Change Yoga. I feel completely supported. So much work goes on behind the scenes. I am on the programming committee, and I'm continuously pleased at the thoughtfulness and very intentional decision-making that is based on the impact we have with our students. I am also proud of Sea Change's constant evolution to create a structure that is more than just inclusive. We are all actively looking at and dismantling all the ways in which white supremacy is showing up personally and at the institutional level. The very foundation of yoga is Ahimsa, or Non-violence, and I view Sea Change taking on Ahimsa very seriously as a true leader in our community.”