Online Yoga for Mental Health Training

Yoga for Mental Health Teacher Training Online, 2020
Next course runs 14th October - 11th November (see below for details)

The intention of this course is to help yoga teachers practice and teach yoga in a way that supports their own and their students' mental health. This course reorients the focus from the teaching of poses and practices to using poses and practices as opportunities to sense internally, to explore curiously, and to respond compassionately to challenges and opportunities as they arise. This course is not a certification in teaching yoga for any particular diagnosis, nor is it about herding people with mental health problems together into a class. This course is about understanding mental health from a yogic framework and from the framework of recovery, it is about understanding how yoga works on a scientific and experiential level, and it is about knowing how to create a safe, ethically responsible, trauma informed environment in which to offer yoga. This course will give you a framework for understanding what yoga might be effective for a particular person at a particular time. This course will give you a framework of understanding so you can keep learning and the world of yoga for mental health.

Online versus in person trainings:
In person trainings offer a live, intensive, group experience. However they require travel and accomodation expense, and sometimes the intensive aspect of live group immersion can be intense and doesn't leave time for integration. Online trainings let you go at your own pace, listen to lectures again, and integrate the material into your practice. I am hoping that this online course gives us the best of both: time to digest pre-session lectures and to practically apply your knowledge in your own teaching and practice, and the live coming together of a group with the teacher. The led practices, live lectures, questions and discussions means the material is catered to the understanding of the group and doesn't feel generic. This is the first time I have run a course online, so I am sure that there will be lots of learning for me, and I assure you that participants will be given access to any innovations or improvements that emerge from the course.

Requirements for Registration:

200 hour Yoga Teacher Training Certificate, or Health Professional with clinical experience.
Minimum 6 months teaching experience or relevant clinical experience
Short Statement of why you want to take this training and what you intend to do with it.
Please note: this course is directed to teachers and therapist who want to offer yoga that supports mental health. It includes using yoga for self care and self regulation, but cannot, in such a short space of time, or with a group of this size, offer the continuity or personalised support for a person who is acutely unwell or in crisis.

Course Content:

The Yoga for Mental Health Teacher Training is designed to educate and support yoga teachers to offer classes that train resilience, self-regulation and self-empowerment through yoga. In a safe environment, with a supportive teacher, yoga is a means of finding and cultivating a positive healthy relationship with ourselves.
The concept of Recovery in mental health and the Yogic framework for mental health
Scientific explanation of how yoga supports mental health
Bottom up versus Top Down approaches are explained and explored in practice
Evidence based approaches and practices which support resilience, recovery and self-regulation.
Important contraindications and guidelines for anxiety and depression.
A definition and explanation of trauma informed care (this training does not focus exclusively on trauma sensitive yoga) and how to implement it in practice.

How Does the Course Work?:
Upon enrolment you will be sent links to:

the course manual,
weekly preparation resources and
practice resources

You are expected to familiarise yourself with the material for each weekly meeting prior to the zoom session. Each weekly session will include practice, lecture, application of knowledge, questions and discussion. You can email Maria wth questions or ideas at anytime throughout the course. The dates and times for the weekly sessions for the next course are below:

When will the next course run?
The next Yoga for Mental Health course starts Oct 14th:
5 Weekly online zoom sessions:

Wednesday 14th October, 6:00 am - 9:00 am AEST (20:00-23:00 London time) (15:00-18:00 New York Time)
Wednesday 21st October, 6:00 am - 9:00 am AEST (20:00-23:00 London time) (15:00-18:00 New York Time)
Wednesday 28th October, 6:00 am - 9:00 am AEST (20:00-23:00 London time) (15:00-18:00 New York Time)
Wednesday 4th November, 6:00 am - 9:00 am AEST (20:00-23:00 London time) (15:00-18:00 New York Time)
Wednesday 11th November, 6:00 am - 9:00 am AEST (20:00-23:00 London time) (15:00-18:00 New York Time)

Here is some feedback from recent students:

I found this course to be very educational and practical. It has informed me so much more on how to better hold a space for my yoga students to support their mental health, to resource and empower them. Including myself. This would definitely be one of the best investments I have made in furthering my education as a yoga teacher. I loved Maria's style of teaching. So down to earth and real.

This course is a fantastic opportunity to develop knowledge and skills related to yoga and our systems which are tied to our well-being, and how to apply them to people with varying types of mental health needs. The course is taught in a way that encourages learning from each other & provides lots of insight to add to your practice development.

The course prepares you for the mental health environment. Giving you an overview of the brain and how trauma, mental health and anxiety can be/look/feel. Looking at your yoga classes as inclusive to all these participants and how to safely allow people to join who may be vulnerable, anxious etc.

All the recorded material has been invaluable. Able to watch in your own time and repeat if you wanted to. I really enjoyed the balance of theory and practical. I found the breathing practices helpful. Then if questions arose from the videos there was the opportunity also to bring up at the live sessions.

Maria is a constant in a world of change, her knowledge, support for individuals to be perfectly perfect just as they are, her wisdom to continually question, debunk and learn is passed on passionately and expressively through her which allows our learning to be so juicy, rich and fun.

You will not be disappointed if you take any course with Maria. Maria is very approachable, extremely knowledgeable, delivering to a very high standard and professional manner. In other words she is real and isn't afraid to say if she doesn't know the answer, but will endeavour to seek the answer. The course is comprehensive and easy to negotiate with lots of bite size info and videos to work through at your own speed.

If you want to enrol, fill out the application at the bottom of the page.

Yoga for Mental Health Application form: Online Training 2020

Yoga for Mental Health Online Training