Holding Space
Yoga, the Nervous System & Trauma-Informed Teaching
A 25-Hour Continuing Education Training for Yoga Teachers & Space Holders
April 16th-19th, 2026
An invitation to slow down, notice more and teach from a place of presence
Yoga teachers hold space for many layers of human experience: breath, movement, emotion, transition, curiosity, grief, and resilience. Every student arrives with their own story and their own nervous system. Our presence, pacing, environment, and language influence how students may feel and engage with the practice.
Holding Space: Yoga, the Nervous System & Trauma-Informed Teaching is a 25-hour training for teachers who want to deepen their awareness, inclusivity, and nervous-system understanding. It invites you to slow down, pay attention in new ways, and teach from a place of grounded presence.
This training isn’t about perfection or memorizing a list of rules. It’s about exploring what becomes possible when we attune to ourselves, our students, and the space between us. You’ll leave with practical tools, embodied confidence, and a renewed connection to why you teach.
Why This Work Matters
Students come to yoga seeking steadiness, grounding, and connection. Many are navigating stress, transition, or internal experiences they may not name out loud. How we teach: our tone, pacing, and the environment we set, can support agency, ease, and choice.
Trauma-informed yoga is not about diagnosing or fixing.
It is about:
✧ understanding how the nervous system works
✧ honoring autonomy and choice
✧ using language that empowers rather than pressures
✧ creating accessible, predictable structures
✧ being aware of power dynamics
✧ recognizing how environments shape experience
This training blends the roots of yoga with a clear understanding of the nervous system to help teachers create spaces where people can move at their own pace, listen inwardly, and feel welcomed as they are.
At its core, this training is a study of awareness, of your own nervous system, the collective energy of the room, and the subtle ways your choices influence a student’s experience.
Together, we explore:
✧ what it truly means to hold space
✧ how to teach with students rather than at them
✧ how to cue without assumption
✧ how to offer choice without overwhelm
✧ how to read the room while staying in your own body
You’ll learn through lecture, movement, somatic exploration, group dialogue, reflection, and real-world teaching scenarios.
What Makes This Training Unique
✧ Clear, accessible nervous system education
✧ Practical yoga foundations integrated with modern awareness
✧ Embodied learning woven throughout the weekend
✧ Teaching labs, language exploration, and partner work
✧ Real-life vignettes and nuanced classroom scenarios
✧ A warm, grounded, collaborative environment
✧ Gentle grounding practices and somatic exploration
✧ Dialogue rooted in nuance, curiosity, and respect
✧ Community connection and shared learning
You’ll leave with grounded tools, embodied confidence, and a renewed connection to your teaching purpose.
Training Curriculum Overview
1. Nervous System Foundations
A clear, accessible introduction to Polyvagal Theory, stress responses, co-regulation, and how teachers can recognize and support different nervous system states, including their own.
2. Trauma-Informed Teaching Principles
Exploring agency, choice, scope of practice, power dynamics, inclusive language, and the natural overlap between trauma-informed and accessible teaching.
3. Embodied Teaching Skills
Learning to teach from presence and a grounded place through regulation tools, sensory awareness, attuned pacing, consent-based touch, and reading the room with nuance.
4. Applied Practices for Regulation
Experiential movement and stillness practices: grounding flow, yin and restorative elements, breath-work, somatic resourcing, and mindful transitions.
5. Ethics, Boundaries & Sustainability
Understanding your role as a space holder, maintaining boundaries, preventing burnout, and cultivating sustainable teaching practices.
6. Teaching Vignettes & Real Scenarios
Discussing real classroom experiences involving identity, inclusivity, emotional expression, consent, body diversity, and co-teaching dynamics with space to explore skillful responses.
Who This Training Is For
✧ Yoga teachers (200hr+)
✧ Teacher trainees
✧ Yoga therapists and bodyworkers
✧ Wellness facilitators and space holders
Ideal for teachers who value inclusivity, nervous system understanding, presence and who prefer experiential learning.
No trauma-informed background required. Just curiosity, an open mind and a desire to teach with integrity, intention, and care.
Training Schedule
April 16th-19th, 2026
25 hours total
20 in-person hours at True Self Yoga, Olympia
5 hours at-home integration and reflection
In-Person Schedule
Thursday: 5:00–8:30pm
Friday: 10:00am–5:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am–5:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am–3:00pm
Each day begins with a grounding practice to help you experience regulation and presence before teaching from that place.
What’s Included
✧ 20 hours of in-person training
✧ 5 hours of at-home training
✧ A comprehensive manual + reflection prompts
✧ Language refinement, teaching labs, and partner exploration
✧ Guided somatic practices and grounding movement
✧ Real classroom scenarios and group discussion
✧ Access to a supportive teacher community
✧ A 25-hour Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Certificate
Pricing
A tiered pricing structure allows participants to choose the rate that aligns with their current resources:
✧ Community Rate — $350
A reduced rate for those who need financial accessibility.
✧ Standard Rate — $425
Reflects the true, sustainable cost of the program.
✧ Supporter Rate — $500
Helps make the training more accessible for others.
No application required you choose the tier that fits your current capacity.
About Me
I’m Ellie (she/her), an RYT-500, E-RYT 200, and YACEP educator who has been teaching yoga since 2019 and practicing since 2016. I live and teach on the lands of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Nisqually, Squaxin, and Chehalis, land also known as Olympia.
I’m bilingual (English + Spanish) and originally from Costa Rica. My background shapes the way I teach: with curiosity, cultural awareness, and a focus on relationship and presence. I’ve always been someone who notices the subtleties in of a space, of movement, breath, and tone and I encourage teachers to lean into that same curiosity: to pause, observe and sense what’s unfolding and consider how even small shifts in language or approach can transform the experience for students.
I’ve taught classes, workshops, retreats, and continuing ed programs with an emphasis on inclusivity, nervous system awareness, and embodied learning. I care about how environment, cueing, and teacher regulation influence a student’s experience, and I love creating spaces that feel inviting, grounded, and thoughtful.
This training comes from years of lived experience in yoga rooms, therapy spaces, trainings I’ve attended, and my desire to offer something clear, embodied, and genuinely useful.
My approach is collaborative, compassionate, and rooted in continuous learning.
