In this session we will cover the definitions of important terms such as: ‘trauma-informed’ ‘somatic practice’ ‘embodiment’ and more. You will learn how to create a trauma-informed self-care program for both yourself and your students, as well as some practical tips to integrate the strategies learned into your daily routines. In this session we will introduce some of the core concepts covered in the course like polyvagal theory, integrative yoga principles and creating safety.

Homework: Take with you into your week the polyvagal principle of ‘Story Follows State.’ In this 20-minute video you will learn how to monitor your mental narrative through the day and begin to use your inner storyline as a tool to regulate your state intentionally.

In this session we will tease apart some of the science behind mindful movement practices, breathwork and meditation. We will dive into the important topic of neural plasticity and learn how to facilitate lasting change and overall well-being. In this session you will begin to understand some of the different types of integration, and how to make use of them in personal practice and life. Through a combination of PowerPoint lecture and guided mindful movement practices we will explore polyvagal theory, the window of tolerance model and brain-heart coherence from an experiential framework.

Homework: This 20-minute video practice will allow you to start exploring some of the different types of integration such as Vertical Integration, Bilateral Integration, and Integration of Consciousness. You will be encouraged to watch for these moments of integration through your week and how they arise in different life situations as well as during your personal movement practice.

In this session we will cover the basics of a somatic approach to movement, meditation, and self-care. You will learn the difference between a top-down approach and a bottom-up approach to meditation and mindfulness-based movement. We will discuss several different types of self-care, self-love, and self-respect, and dive into all of them with different forms of practice. You will learn to track your system to know when (and how) to approach your body with gentleness and when to approach it with more encouragement or challenge.

Homework: Take with you into your week a 25-minute morning self-care routine and self-tracking exercises to monitor and modulate your nervous system state through the day.

In this session we will continue to get to know our nervous system states through a series of experiential practices. These guided movement experiments are designed to help you recognize your nervous system state in real time as well as how to shift your state intentionally. Through a series of regulating movements, breath practices and mindfulness meditation we will work together to monitor and name the different states and explore how they shift and change through our movements. We will also learn how to offer a menu of challenge level choices to our students (or our own bodies) to empower them to make informed choices for the most optimal and personalized practice possible. In this session we will also take a deeper dive into the emergent properties of the different states and how you can use them to create a nervous system map for yourself to navigate both your movement practice and your daily tasks.

Homework: This 30-minute movement practice offers mindfulness-based movement practices set up alongside nervous system tracking exercises. In this week’s homework we will practice tracking our nervous system and how it responds to different mindful movement practices and breath practices in order to create a detailed map of our own internal landscape.

This session will cover some basics of fascia anatomy, particularly anatomy of the vagus nerve and the fascial lines that are directly and indirectly connected to it. We will continue to add more nuance and detail to our personalized nervous system maps, this week adding in our postural holding or soft tissue tensional patterns and how to use mindfulness-based movements and self-tracking practices to unwind them. We will also explore the important topic of functional movement, how it relates to a mindfulness-based movement practice and how we can use functional movement exercises to incorporate our new maps into our daily lives, both on and off the mat.

Homework: This 30-minute movement practice will guide you through simple movements that engage the soft tissues fascially connected to the vagus nerve. We will continue with our self-tracking exercises to unlock and understand our holding patterns so we can begin to unravel and unwind them.

In this session we will begin to apply what we have learned in our own body-mind system to our students or loved ones. We will explore the relationship between body, mind, and heart within the larger context of your life purpose. We will also look at the tensegrity concept and how it can be a useful model for working with groups and incorporating our new skills into movement or mindfulness classes. You will learn how to bridge your internal experience with external reality in harmonious ways. This final session weaves together all of the material into a helpful model that will allow you to bring the harmonious relationship you have created in your inner world into your external relationships.

Homework: In this 20-minute video we will do a meditation for resolving inner conflicts using a combination of Hakomi, IFS and tensegrity principles

In this final 30-minute video you will receive a movement and meditation practice guide to help you to continue to navigate your practice in the most effective and nourishing way going forward.