New Year's Awakening & Radical Resilience

Dear One,

These times. They'll throw even the most well-regulated and well-medicated among us.

Our nervous system doesn't really differentiate between chronic stress and trauma. But then again, our nervous system doesn't really differentiate between perceived safety and actual safety. Because the world has never objectively been safe, at least not for most identities. But nervous systems can find a sense of safety within the chaos. A sense of okay-ness within the not-okay-ness.

The trick is ... where the h*ll is that nervous system switch to get us out of fight-flight-freeze-appease and into rest-digest-heal-reveal? Well, finding your regulation intervention is a very personal journey. But I do have some workshops coming up to help you stumble into soothing, sustainability, and resilience. Here's what we got:

• New Year's Awakening 12/31 at 6-7:30pm ET

• in-person at JP Centre Yoga OR via livestream, PLUS recording for 48hr

• Mindful embodied flow to help you connect to your layers of self -- energy, body, mind, emotion, and higher self. Plus journaling to help you uncover intentions and authentic needs for each part of you as you move into 2022.

PLUS

• Radical Resilience : Yoga Therapy Series 1/6, 1/13, 1/20 & 1/27 at 5:30-6:30pm ET

• virtual series PLUS recording available for 1 whole week

• Coping skills meet yoga philosophy to help you find your footing in the world. Each week we'll work with a different theme, blending embodied poses and self-inquiry. You'll have the recording so you can practice in between live sessions! And yes, there will be PowerPoint as we learn about different tools, tricks, and nervous system hacks. :)

For some personalized one-on-one nervous system regulation support, drop in for a yoga therapy session. Learn more here, or hop on my scheduling page, or respond to this email with your questions.

More details are below, along with other opportunities for practice, training, and mentorship.

Resiliently and lovingly,

~Alex

PS: If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

You are a permeable membrane

Dear One,

Hi. It's me.

I hope this email finds you in a moment where you can remember to breathe. To notice where your shoulders are. What your jaw is doing.

Remember, you are a permeable membrane.

As you move through the world, the world moves through you.

How can you meet it? What do you need to sustain, nourish and comfort yourself, so that you may sustain, nourish and comfort your part of the world? What do you need to evolve and disrupt within yourself, so that you can help evolve and disrupt what's not working in our world?

Below you'll find offerings to help you replenish what's being drained, and refocus what's being scattered. Self-care for the sake of awakening to our humanity, our creativity, our resilience -- personally and as a collective force for growth and change.

<3

~Alex

PS: If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

PS #2: On a personal note, it's been a while! I have been resting (in the way that fibroid removal surgery makes you rest; yay I did it!). I have been learning (in the way that an MSW program and internship makes you learn). And I have been reconnecting with the things that fuel me (in the way that a pandemic will make you re-assess everything). I hope to reconnect with you soon ... drop me a note if you're so inspired! <3

Tending to your mind/body filtration system

Dear One,

Maybe because my wonderful therapist is Californian, we came up with a pool metaphor. It goes something like this.

I am a pool. When my filtration system is working, my water stays relatively clear. When my filtration system is backed up, or offline, the water gets murky.

Sometimes I neglect my filtration system and it stops working well.

Sometimes life happens in a way that outpaces my filtration system.

Sometimes I try to throw a tarp over the pool and yell "Please just STOP and give me a chance to catch up with all this sh*t!"

And sometimes other things are needed, like learning how to swim in murky water, or practicing patience and acceptance with my filtration system, or calling in a support crew.

May this long-winded metaphor be a reminder to tend to your filtration system.

Things like putting the damn self-care into your calendar, placing the journal and pen by your bed, making the appointments in advance, finding ways to substantively catch up with your mind, body, emotions, and spirit.

May this be a reminder to remember what you need, and a nudge to negotiate creatively with reality to make inroads towards meeting that need.

If mindful yoga is part of your filtration system, here are upcoming ways to practice together:

• This Friday 5/14 at 5pm ET (or via recording): a re-calibrating 90min Flow & Restore practice, hosted online via JP Centre Yoga

• Fridays in June (or via recording): weekly 60min Embodied Self Care: Flow & Restore class series

• Also on Fridays in June (or via recording): 16-hour professional training in Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy (this includes Embodied Self Care class series)

Finally, I know many of you are feeling the depth of the Covid crisis in India, and finding ways to honor the cultural interconnection with your yoga practice. By now I'm sure you've seen many opportunities to donate. Here are links compiled by Susanna Barkataki if you're looking to send some support.

If this newsletter inspires anything for you, I'd love to know. Virtual life can sometimes feel like speaking into the void ... I'd love to know what lands.

With a big breath, appreciation, and a virtual high five from my little heart to yours,

~Alex

PS: If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Soothing from the outside in

Dear One,

When our nervous system is chronically in shutdown or fight/flight, our system does all kinds of automated and pre-patterned things to approximate safety.

Among many other survival mechanisms, our fight/flight/shutdown brain ramps up this annoying thing: NEGATIVITY BIAS.

Negativity bias *helps* us imagine, scenario-plan, and physically/emotionally/mentally brace for all possible bad things. It's different from truth telling -- it's interpretive and leans towards worsts.

In spite of what some self-help memes might say, we often can't just think/talk/choose our way out of it. It's hard to generate #positivethoughts or #gratitude when your mind is busy anticipating the worst. So instead of expecting our negatively biased brain to soothe us from the inside out, we might need to soothe from the outside in.

Here are some things you could try.

1) Recognize the negativity bias. Call it out. Get to know its voice, quirks, belief patterns. Track it to discern how it's different from your truth and wisdom. Practice taking it with a grain of salt, to not believe every thought it generates. And explore appreciating the way this well-meaning survival response is trying to protect you by keeping your guard up.

2) Soothe from the outside in, rather inside out. Get curious about what soothes and nourishes you. Notice what has only temporary effects, and what has a longer soothing shelf life. Notice what induces a physical or energetic hangover, and what creates physical or energetic refueling. Notice what feels like a privileged luxury, and what feels like a human right.

Some inspiration:

• a soothing yoga pose, movement, or other physical expression

• a weighted blanket, warmth, comforting clothing, or coziness

• focusing on lengthening your exhales

• certain foods or beverages

• authentic human connection

• a welcome distraction

Ways to practice together: If you're looking for some group practices to help shift your nervous system state, keep reading below. You'll also find updates about yoga therapy, the BIPOC scholarship fund, and Alex's children's yoga book. Coming up next:

• Flow & Restore bi-weekly series starts 2/13

• Pandemic Partner Yoga happening 2/14

From my nervous system to yours,

~Alex

PS: If your system has the capacity for books right now, Buddha's Brain offers a pretty accessible getting-to-know-you of the nervous system. If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Starts Sunday : Embodied Self Care

Dear One,

Sometimes self-care looks a whole lot like adulting. Especially in a pandemic. It's not always indulgent, fun, or motivating. Sometimes self-care is a freakin' chore that our nervous system isn't up for. And yet the more we tend to our full selves (energy, body, mind, emotions, and higher self), the more resilient our nervous system can be.

The January Embodied Self Care Series is an experiment in nervous-system-responsive self-care. Less should's, more attunement. No forced gratitude practice. No assumptions about what's "good for you." It's a different kind of discipline. It's gently loving, witnessing, and caring for the various parts of yourself that you'd otherwise shove under the couch cushion.

Tomorrow is the kick-off class:

Embodied Self Care: Weekly Flow & Restore Series
Sundays in January from 2-3:30pm ET
(practice live or via recording, available for unlimited playback for 7 days)
For deeper presence, mental/emotional stamina, and nervous system tending

And if you're thinking about the 50-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy Training, register by 1/3 at 1pm Eastern to get free enrollment in January's Sunday series!

And thanks for receiving my many emails, social media posts, and carrier pigeons. It's weird being a yoga teacher these days. I'm so grateful for yoga in Zoomland to help us stay connected, to ourselves and each other.

From my nervous system to yours,

~Alex

PS: If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Bridging the distance within

Dear One,

We will not spiritually bypass our way out of 2020. We will not love-and-light our way into 2021. We will be real. We will be present. We will be in touch with ourselves, and the world. We will hold the pain alongside the fury and the joy and the boredom. We will hold the complexity of being okay and not okay at the same time.

Or we'll try. It's a practice, after all.

Here are some practices for body-heart-mind-soul regeneration over the next month. I know I need it.

New Year's Awakening
12/31 from 6-7:30pm ET (+ recorded)
Flow, Restore, & Meditative Reflection with Journaling throughout

Embodied Care: Weekly Flow & Restore Series
Sundays in January from 2-3:30pm ET (+ recorded)
For deeper presence, mental/emotional stamina, and nervous system tending

50-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy Training
Select weekend days January 30 - March 28
For current/aspiring yoga teachers, therapists, and healing professionals

Thank you for all you're doing and sacrificing in service of personal and public health. We were not built for this kind of distance. But in the meantime, we can try to bridge the distance we feel from our Selves.

~Alex

Our liberation is tied up together

Dear One,

Sometimes we think we're helping someone else, when really we are (also) helping ourselves.

When we work towards racial equity in yoga, we're actually working towards a cultural shift in the wellness industry. Inclusive, welcoming, diverse, safer, body-affirming, trauma-informed yoga spaces are ultimately better for everyone.

So this Saturday, let's pool our individual efforts to make a big collective impact. Join us *virtually* for a special JP Centre Yoga fundraiser class in support of BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training Fellowships! Flow with Johnathon Holmes, restore with me, and community mat chat with Chanelle John. Practice live at 1-3pm Eastern, or via recording (available for 48 hrs).

All $ raised will go towards scholarships and mentorship for aspiring yoga teachers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). See details below, along with info about the New Year's eve workshop, January Flow & Restore series, and Yoga Therapy Training.

Because our liberation is tied up together.

~Alex

Priority registration now open

Dear One,

If you've ever thought about yoga therapy training, let's talk about this:

50-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy Training + Practicum
Online with yours truly, Alex Bauermeister
January 30 - March 28, 2021

Priority registration is now open to folx on my email list before I start promoting in social media land! See below, along with December class announcements and a sneak peak at the January flow & restore series.

Riding the waves alongside you,

~Alex

PS: If you do the Instagram thing, let's connect at @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Grief & evolution in the yoga industry

Dear One,

Reminder: grief will sometimes reveal itself easily. But it's also a master of disguise, cloaking itself in another emotion, nesting in your mind, burrowing in your heart, sitting on your chest.

There's so much to grieve in this moment. So much has been lost. Within the yoga industry, it's not just the ability to come together in collective, face-to-face, breath-to-breath practice. The losses are personal, communal, cultural, political, economic, spiritual, relational. The ruptures are also shedding light on long-standing cracks in the system.

If there's something for the yoga industry to gain, it's an awareness of itself. An awareness of its systemic biases, shortcomings, problematic practices. A chance to evolve. And with evolution comes new tools.

For yoga teachers (or teaching-curious practitioners), I have two trainings coming up to expand your toolbox and support you in your own evolution and growth:

• Trauma-Inclusive Yoga Teaching: Mini Training with Alex 10/18

• Restorative Yoga Immersion & Skills Training with Alex & Brenna 11/6 - 11/9

For all, here are upcoming classes that provide care for your mind, body, heart, energy and nervous system to navigate this incredibly complex time:

• Flow & Restore: Nervous System Reset 10/18

• November Restorative Series: 5 Sundays via JP Centre Yoga Online

Weekly anti-oppression practice space, aka Office Hours, continues on Wednesdays in October.

If you're moved to, send me a note! My nervous system will thank you for the interaction and connection.

~Alex

PS: If you'd like to connect on Instagram, follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Protective, not defective

Dear One,

Sometimes we're so good at adapting to the world that we forget to remember what we're missing.

So. If you don't love who you are right now, there's a reason. If you don't love how you're coping right now, there's a reason. In survival mode, what seems defective is actually protective, as Resmaa Menakem would say.

You might feel very far away from yourself. Self-care is about getting closer to yourself, coming back towards the part of you that can be steady, sturdy, and flexible beneath the waves. It's a freakin' discipline.

Some ways to practice coming back to ourselves this week: Anti-Oppression Office Hours Wednesdays, and Flow & Restore this Friday for a Nervous System Reset (with unlimited replays for 2 weeks).

Right there in the practice with you.

~Alex

PS: If you'd like to connect on Instagram, follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

[Virtual yoga classes and human growth offerings for nervous system regulation and transformation]

Ways to refuel this week (& beyond)

Dear One,

When so much is being asked of us, we need all the refueling stations that we can get.

WEDNESDAY: One more Office Hours session August 19th at 12pm EST, then starting up again September 9th. This is anti-oppression practice space for white folx working to untangle our insides and outsides from white supremacy culture. White anti-racism affinity group space supplements the social justice growth process, and drop-in's are welcome. Learn more and register

THURSDAY: I'll be teaching another Flow & Restore class for a Nervous System Reset (and the recording will be available for 14 days). This is for anyone who feels like their self-care practice is in the sh*tter. For anyone who knows they need stillness, but stillness feels impossible. For anyone who knows they need to move, but the heaviness feels non-negotiable. For anyone who kinda remembers what wisdom feels like, but seems to have forgotten the lock combination. Live on Thursday 8/20 @ 6-7:30pm EST, or register to practice via recording. Sliding scale $0-$25. Learn more and register

I'd also love to give a shout-out to what's sure to be a powerful training starting this week with an amazing teacher, Kelley Palmer: Race & Equity in Yoga: Disruption as a Practice. Registration closes Monday 8/17.

Right there in the practice with you.

~Alex

PS: I'm doing a lot of communication via Instagram at this time, so I welcome you to follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Disentangling from dominant culture

Dear One,

Our dominant culture tells us that we are meant to be productivity machines. That we only deserve to rest once we've exerted. That our mind is who we are. That the only way to know, is to overthink. To be a human doing, not a human being.

But there's more to you than that.

You have a body that deserves care and appreciation.

You have energy levels that need nourishment and resets.

You have a mind that needs gentle checks and balances.

You have emotions that need space to flow and breathe.

And you have a deeper kind of discernment, intuition, and higher self that wants to be in relationship with you, to signal truth, guidance, and unhurried, wise action.

I hope you'll join me for upcoming practices that help us nourish these layers of self (Koshas), and disentangle dominant culture from our bodies, minds, hearts, and nervous systems.

Read below about weekly Wednesday Office Hours for Anti-Oppression Work, and the upcoming virtual Flow & Restore: Nervous System Reset class this Friday 7/24 at 6pm EST (live and recorded).

From my humanness to yours,

~Alex

PS: I'm doing a lot of communication via Instagram at this time, so I welcome you to follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy. And for some music to help you ride the waves of this time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Race & Racism in the Yoga Industry

Dear One,

I’m honored to be supporting Chanelle John of Hive Soul Yoga this Saturday in facilitating a candid conversation about race and racism in the yoga industry. Open to all in the yoga sphere -- students, teachers, and studio owners. JP Centre Yoga is hosting us and holding space for this important reckoning, self-study, and community growth. I hope you'll join us -- virtually via Zoom. Details are below and here.

If you’d like some embodied preparation, check out Resmaa Menakem’s ON BEING podcast interview. He speaks about his book, My Grandmother’s Hands, on racialized trauma, and how starting the healing process within our own bodies is key.

Fierce love,

~Alex

PS: I'm doing a lot of communication via Instagram at this time, so I welcome you to follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy.

PPS: If you need some music to help you ride the waves of this stormy time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister. Just started a new one today called "Brave New World".

Surviving the moment

Dear One,

These layers of trauma are acute and complex. They're subtle and obvious. They're personal, cultural, historical, intergenerational, political, individual, communal.

My work as a yoga teacher is to help you navigate the moment, so that you can be an agent of transforming the moment. Small, incremental shifts of progress, through the thorny briar.

And yeah, sometimes the best we can do is survive it, with whatever brilliant survival skills our systems are programmed for.

Whatever your sphere of influence is, I hope you use your own power, privilege and nervous system availability to help someone else navigate the wild terrain.

Below are some upcoming opportunities to practice together. <3

~Alex

PS: I'm doing a lot of communication via Instagram at this time, so feel free to follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy.

PPS: If you need some music to help you ride the waves of this stormy time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Dislodging Impostor Syndrome

Dear One,

This Thursday, we're getting specific: impostor syndrome, viewed through a trauma-informed lens. This virtual workshop will include yoga to help you get out of your head and into your body, coupled with self-study, journaling and discussion prompts to help you get from Fear to Fierce. Details below!

~Alex

PS: I'm doing a lot of communication via Instagram at this time, so feel free to follow @alexbauermeisteryogatherapy.

PPS: If you need some music to help you ride the waves of this stormy time, check out my public playlists on Spotify under abauermeister.

Fear to Fierce: Transforming Impostor Syndrome

Dethrone your inner critic and transform impostor syndrome so you can do the meaningful work the world needs of you. In this workshop, Alex will guide meditation, embodiment and journaling to help you get at the roots of your roadblocks and get unstuck. You’ll cultivate a middle ground between humility and confidence, contentment and innovation, wisdom and drive. We’ll apply a trauma-informed perspective to self-doubt, fear and perfectionism, so that you can move forward with compassionate understanding for the needs of your unique nervous system.

We’ll connect through Zoom. Come with your journal, a comfortable seat, and space to stretch and move to support inner reflection and self-inquiry. We’ll close with some optional community sharing and discussion to inspire each other’s courage and joy. This workshop is designed for anyone struggling with impostor syndrome in their current or aspirational work.

Thursday May 14th from 6-7:30pm Eastern Standard Time ** Workshop will be recorded, so you’re welcome to join live or tune in to the recording. You can access the recording to practice on your own time for 7 days after the workshop.
*** I have one birth doula client in May. If their birth coincides with the day of this workshop, it will be rescheduled to Monday May 18th from 6-7:30pm EST.

Sliding scale:

• $35 full fee

• $25 if you’re somewhat financially impacted (use coupon code DISCOUNT10)

• $15 if you’re severely financially impacted (use coupon code DISCOUNT20)

Coping during Covid

Dear One,

As you watch yourself react to the state of your world, please remember : the range of normal is long and wide.

It's normal to cry, suddenly, for "no reason".
There's always a reason, even if it takes an indirect route through your brain.

It's normal to not feel much -- or to numb yourself towards feeling less.
The shutdown/freeze response is our body's way of managing overwhelm.

It's normal to start ALL the home beautification projects.
Your mobilized fight/flight energy needs an outlet.

It's normal to realize you're actually fine, and to feel guilty about it.
Inequity is real, privilege is real, and feeling guilty is your brain's 1st step to mobilize you towards actively sharing resources.

It's normal to have stress dreams.
Your brain is negotiating with danger IRL and needs to do scenario planning.

It's normal to be angrier than usual.
Your fight response gathers strength in rage, aggression and defensiveness.

It's normal to be worried about yourself and others.
We are wired to get stressed about threats to our survival ... worry helps us figure out how to survive and care for each other.

It's normal to hoard things you don't yet need.
Your nervous system wants to keep you as safe as possible. It might not trust that your community will take care of you. It might need you to teach it about collective care vs. self centered care.

It's normal to wish for a different number of people living with you.
Feeling trapped in your environment can wreak havoc on your system.

It's normal to sleep more. Or less.
Sleep can be a great escape hatch (flight) or a byproduct of shutdown (freeze). On the other hand, hypervigilance might keep you up, on edge, protecting your nest.

It's normal for your self-care-for-mental-health-care routine to crumble.
Stillness might not feel safe, movement might not feel possible, your practice might not translate to a screen, feeling your body might be incompatible with a trauma response. The couch might feel safer than going outside.

We're in it. And when we're in it, practicing compassion towards your own nervous system responses, and towards others', sets off a domino effect that can make trauma less traumatic.

From my nervous system to yours,

~Alex

Your inner software update

Dear One,

As you go through this life, you'll sometimes find yourself with your protective responses stuck in the ON position.

Your protective responses are AMAZING. Every manifestation of your fight/flight/freeze response is designed to keep you safer, less vulnerable and more protected, no matter what the unintended consequences might be.

But those protective responses were probably designed by a younger nervous system that had less power, fewer options and more vulnerabilities than you do now. The unintended consequences might be getting in the way of your current life and relationships. So every few years, we need to download a software update to our nervous system's protective responses. We must design new ways to keep ourselves safer, well-boundaried and aligned with our integrity.

Yoga Therapy helps to create an inner software update by recalibrating your body, mind and emotional connections and reactions. When working with yoga therapy clients, one of the first interventions on the mat is often to appreciate those protective responses for the services they have provided throughout your life.

Like, wow, Inner Critic, you're really trying to look out for me by anticipating anything bad anyone else could say! Thanks for that.

Oh sweet generalized anxiety. You're doing a great job trying to alert me about all the dangers of the world. I hear you.

Hey there shutdown response, it's so kind how you try to buffer me from the pain of the world. I appreciate you.

Hello inner dragon slayer, thanks for trying to protect me when you get into fight mode like that. Let's see if we can find other ways to honor my boundaries.

When we meet our protective responses with appreciation, we start to differentiate between our fight/flight/freeze software and our actual true nature. And when we start to nourish, feed and amplify our true nature, we can follow an inner compass that's calibrated to wisdom, not fear.

From my nervous system to yours,

~Alex

Honoring your body's YES, NO and MAYBE's

Dear One,

Yoga is *not* one-size-fits-all. There's no cure-all pose for anxiety. There's no magical movement that dissipates depression. There's no breathing practice that ensures perpetual zen. There's not even a sure-fire pose to conquer back pain.

That being said, deliberate breathing and conscious movement can indeed create a shift within us. But just because the yoga teacher offers it, doesn't mean that it's necessarily right for your body or nervous system. Feed it through your own filters. Get curious. Is your body saying YES to this? Is it a clear NO? Is it a MAYBE? And what kind of space is the teacher giving you to honor your YES/NO/MAYBE? If they're not offering that space, you might have to take it for yourself. Which can be *hard*, especially given the neurologically-wired *appease* response that we might be contending with in the teacher-student power dynamic.

One of the core intentions in my yoga teaching is to help you in the tricky practice of discerning and honoring your YES/NO/MAYBE's. Come join me at JP Centre Yoga for weekly Tuesday night Flow & Restore, or at an upcoming workshop (see below). And if you're a yoga teacher, therapist or other healer trying to empower your students and clients in their own self-attunement process, join me at an upcoming training.

From my heart to yours,

~Alex

From self care to collective care

Dear One,

You might be awakening to the awareness that "self-care" can feel like swimming upstream in a culture that's designed to drown us. As @kkellyyoga says:

"Self-care ... is limited when it doesn't take into consideration the wellbeing of others. Collective care is bigger and bolder. It says that our well-being is bound up with one another."

From whatever power positions you hold in the world, I hope you're continuously equipping yourself with tools, inspiration and self-healing to make your community contributions more aligned with your truth and values. Our power positions are always relative to the contexts we're in. Maybe your sphere of influence is your family. Maybe it's your work environment. Maybe it's your kid's school. Maybe it's the yoga class you teach. Or the tone you set with your neighbors. The way you support your clients.

If you're a healing professional or simply at a career cross-roads, the upcoming "Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy" foundations training Feb. 1-2 at the BCCP Newton might be just right for you. To fill your own cup, to immerse yourself in the values of individual and collective healing, and to hone your skills in bridging and repairing the mind-body-emotional worlds within us.

Keep reading below for upcoming professional trainings as well as yoga workshops, like Partner Yoga coming up Feb. 16. Radically Restorative is sold out for Jan. 18, but open for enrollment Feb. 9!

From my heart to yours,

~Alex

Dear Yoga Teacher

Dear Yoga Teacher,

Working with humans means working with trauma.

As yoga teachers, we have the unique power and privilege of holding space for students who come to the mat with challenging and humbling human experiences. So I've designed an ONLINE COURSE in TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA TEACHING to help you gain confidence and capacity for embodying the values of a trauma-sensitive, empowerment-based and resiliency-building yoga teacher.

We start January 8th and run for 6 weeks. Will you join us on this learning journey? As a special reward for reading this email, newsletter readers receive $20 off when you register by 12/31 with discount code NEWSLETTER. For anyone who has taken ANY of my trainings in the past, you can save $40 when you register by 12/31 with discount code TRAINEE.

As yoga teachers, and as humans, we're never not learning. Keep scrolling down for more details about the online course along with other upcoming trainings, including Intro to Trauma-Infomed Yoga Therapy in Boston Feb. 1-2 and Art of Restorative Assisting Mar. 28-29 in Boston. And some workshops coming up as well for you to refill your own cup, like New Year's Awakening Dec. 31 at JP Centre Yoga from 6-8pm.

From my heart to yours,

~Alex

MORE ABOUT THE ONLINE TRAINING in TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA :

Whether you’re an experienced or new yoga teacher, this course will give you lots of nourishment, inspiration and practical tools. Through 9 hours of live online video training, group discussion, case examples, PowerPoint slides, handouts and tip sheets, you will:

• Learn to navigate a trauma-informed approach for facilitating the beginning, middle and end of yoga classes.

• Understand the guiding principles of a trauma-informed teaching process, and adapt it to your personal teaching style, authentic voice, and even your marketing presence.

• Gather social media resources, research articles, and recommended reading to enhance your life-long learning journey.

TRAINING SCHEDULE : 6 consecutive Wednesdays at 1pm - 2:30pm Eastern Standard Time Zone. These video conference webinars will be live and interactive, but also recorded in case you need to miss a few and want to catch up later.

January 8 @ 1pm - 2:30pm EST

January 15 @ 1pm - 2:30pm EST

January 22 @ 1pm - 2:30pm EST

January 29 @ 1pm - 2:30pm EST

February 5 @ 1pm - 2:30pm EST

February 12 @ 1pm - 2:30pm EST

Video training topics will include:

• What do I need to know : about people, bodies and nervous systems to be trauma-informed?

• Beginning and ending classes : what are the bookends of a trauma-informed practice?

• The middle : how can my yoga teaching embody a trauma-informed ethos?

• Putting trauma-informed practices into action : awkward lessons, trouble shooting and creative solutions.

• Gathering student feedback : What’s my impact? How do I know?

• Case studies : learning from status quo, re-imagining what’s possible and making it a reality.

• Space to respond to the unique themes arising in the group, along with Q&A and mentoring around examples from the field.

COST : $165. For financial aid applications, email alex@intrayogatherapy.com. This course provides 9 virtual hours of Yoga Alliance continuing education credits.

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SUPPLEMENTAL WORK : To get the most out of this training, here are resources to start exploring now. And even if you can't join the course, I highly recommend these resources for navigating life and work!

• Read or listen to books about trauma and the nervous system, such as Buddha’s Brain, and/or My Grandmother’s Hands, or books on this list.

• Understand how trauma and healing is bound up in disrupting oppressive cultural and social systems, such as this article.

• Educate yourself about the sociocultural evolution of yoga through Indian-American perspectives, such as the Yoga is Dead Podcast (available on Spotify).

• Follow related topics on social media, such as @the.holistic.psychologist, @integrate_network, @susannabarkataki, @matthewlicata, #accessibleyoga and #traumainformed.