Transforming Trauma: Anneke Lucas' Inspirational Story
Erica Saccente
Anneke Lucas is a Registered Yoga Teacher, founder of Liberation Prison Yoga, trauma survivor, and an inspirational figure. She was sold by her mother into a pedophile ring led by powerful politicians and aristocrats in her native Belgium, at the age of 6, and she endured repeated acts of sexual and physical abuse, amongst other traumatic atrocities. She eventually escaped to the United States, and began her process of healing and recovery through yoga practice and psychotherapy. In 2014, she founded the Liberation Prison Yoga non-profit organization, which brings trauma-informed yoga to incarcerated women and men, prison staff, and others whose lives are impacted by incarceration. She has a deep understanding of the psychological effects of trauma, the reasons why abusive behavior can be perpetuated into an unconscious cycle of transgenerational trauma, as well as profound spiritual Truths. Her story is a stellar example of Sutra 2.1 of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: Tapas Svadhyaya Ishwara Panidhana Kriya Yoga; Accepting pain as help for purification, study, and surrender to the Supreme Being constitute Yoga in practice. I highly recommend the following video and podcasts:
Watch a brief documentary about her life
Listen to her story (this interview goes deeply into her childhood trauma)
Another interview about her story
(Please be advised that the second two hyperlinks do feature graphic content and might be upsetting to some listeners.)