Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training

The single most important issue for traumatised people is to find a sense of safety in their own bodies. Bessel van der Kolk

Mental health professionals at the forefront of work on trauma and PTSD, such as Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, often point to movement and yoga as a powerful tool for survivors of traumatic events.

Research has shown that yoga can:

• build resilience by calibrating the nervous system
• develop mindfulness and meditation as a way to reconnect with the body and breath, with perspective and distance
• cultivate a deeper body-mind connection for improved interoception
• release stored trauma that may show up as tension, aches or pains
• give people techniques and strategies for moments of overwhelm

On this 20-hour course you’ll gain the knowledge, skills and understanding to share yoga and movement in a trauma-informed way. Your classes will become more inclusive and more empowering for a wider range of people.

Who is this course for?

• Yoga teachers who want to be inclusive and meet more practitioners where they are
• Anyone who wants to understand trauma for their own practice and development
• Healthcare and education professionals, such as teachers, teaching assistants, therapists, social workers and nurses, who want to use breathing and movement in their work

The curriculum

The course blends trauma theory with the skills to share practices in a trauma-informed way.

Meet Laura

Laura is certified to facilitate Trauma Centre Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY), an adjunctive treatment for complex trauma and treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This form of yoga began at the Center for Trauma and Embodiment in Brookline, Massachusetts, drawing on the work of Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score) and David Emerson (Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy). Laura has been facilitating trauma-sensitive yoga for over 6 years.

The structure

A two-day course, Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5.30pm (15 contact hours). If you’d like Yoga Alliance accreditation, there is a 5-hour assignment to submit within 6 weeks of the course.

Included: a manual to take away, a certificate, and all props during the course.

Not included: lunch, snacks, travel and accommodation. We have exclusive discounts with local accommodation, which we’ll share when you book.

Cancellation policy

All money paid is non-refundable and non-transferable, except in reasonable and extenuating circumstances and only at the discretion of the course director. If you are absent through ill health, a doctor’s certificate is needed, and only a transfer to a later date will be considered (not guaranteed).

100% attendance is required. There are no refunds for hours missed or for not passing the course to a satisfactory standard. In rare cases, such as teacher sickness, we may have to cancel a training, so we strongly recommend insurance for any travel or accommodation costs.

Tutor: Laura Roffey