Teaching Yoga for
Trauma, Anxiety, Depression,
& Body Image
50-hour Advanced Training
for Yoga Teachers
May 2024 ONLINE training
2024 IN-PERSON training in Sydney
Are you a yoga teacher or health professional wanting to feel confident and equipped to offer more specialised support for your students or clients, but are unsure exactly how to refine your skills to be most sensitive to working with complex and vulnerable situations and communities?
This 50-hour advanced teacher training is designed specifically for you.
THE TRAINING HAS REGULARLY BOOKED-OUT SINCE IT BEGAN IN 2018. IT IS RECOMMENDED TO BOOK EARLY OR JOIN THE PRIORITY LIST TO SECURE YOUR SPOT.
Learn through diverse methods
Integrate research and social justice
Connect through shared values
What is the training?
This 50-hour advanced training focuses on the specifics of working with Yoga for Trauma, Anxiety, Depression, and Body Image. The training is offered both online, and in-person as a residential or non-residential (stay offsite) option. All modules are integrated from a person-centred, ethics-oriented, social-justice perspective. The course is designed to create deep shifts in the way you think about yoga, social justice and mental and spiritual health, and support you to be a confident facilitator of safe and empowering spaces for yoga to be shared in the context of challenging personal and psychological experiences in the lives of your students or 1-1 clients. The course is registered for 50-hours advanced training with Yoga Australia and attracts both CPD and teacher training hours.
Who is it for?
The training is designed for yoga teachers and health professionals with a dedicated yoga practice who genuinely want to feel confident and equipped to offer more specialised support for their students and clients, but are unsure exactly how to refine their skills to be most sensitive to working with complex and vulnerable situations and communities. If you're among this community of practitioners, then this course is tailored specifically to train you in these areas so you can feel confident and clear in your approach to mental health, trauma, and body image in your yoga teaching or mental health/wellbeing work.
A certification of 200-hour yoga teaching is recommended to attend the course if you intend to teach yoga following the training (teachers-in-training who are currently completing a minimum 200 hour certification may also enrol). However, those in the health industry who have a personal yoga practice and wish to integrate the principles from the training into their clinical work are also welcome.
The training is designed to ensure there's plenty of opportunity for small and large groups discussions, as well as personal reflection, diverse learning methods and integration of content.
Based on contemporary research, social justice principles, and underpinned by the framework of the highly popular workshops and programs below (among many others), developed by your facilitator Sarah Ball who has been teaching yoga since 2003 and works 1:1 and with organisations and universities specialising in trauma, mental health, and eating issue/ body image recovery.
YOGA FOR ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
8-WEEK COURSE
THIS COURSE HAS BOOKED OUT CONSECUTIVELY SINCE 2016 IN THE ILLAWARRA.
TRAUMA SENSITIVE YOGA TEACHER TRAINING AND PUBLIC COURSES
A POPULAR 4 WEEK COURSE AND 1-DAY INTENSIVE TEACHER TRAINING EQUIPPING TEACHERS AND THE PUBLIC IN TRAUMA AWARENESS
BODY LOVE YOGA 1-DAY WORKSHOP
YOGA HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BOTH HARM AND HEAL OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH BODY IMAGE. LEARN HOW...
Modules and Topics Covered
Trauma Sensitive Yoga + Social Justice Principles for Yoga Teachers
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Yoga and Trauma: Understanding and applying the 4 primary principles of the Trauma Sensitive Yoga method
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Methods of working with the nervous system to create greater safety in individuals and groups
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Introduction to trauma informed practice as a wider social movement in the ‘helping professions’.
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How yoga can be adapted in specific contexts to support trauma sensitive principles
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A suite of simple teaching principles and practices that can be integrated into daily life, group yoga classes, and 1:1 yoga sessions
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Methods of teaching public yoga classes with a trauma-informed approach
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The scope of professional practice for yoga teachers in the field of mental health, trauma and body image.
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Bringing life experience to teaching: peer work and the appropriate use of self-disclosure and lived experience.
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Social Justice in Mental Health: The role of critical reflection in influencing how and what we teach
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Understanding power and privilege and intersectionality in yoga spaces
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Spiritual Bypassing – what is it, and how does it show up in the yoga world?
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Working with ‘shadow’ - our own and those of others
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Providing tools in the yoga space that encourage acceptance self-empowerment, connection, agency and change.
Yoga for Anxiety, Depression & Mental Health
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Mental Health through Multiple Lenses: yoga, western psychology and questioning pathology
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Narratives of mental health: Ways of thinking about anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues using social justice and narrative approaches
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How to adapt yoga for anxiety reduction
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How to adapt yoga to support depression
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The ecology of healing: The intersection of the koshas and ecological systems theory
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A bio-psycho-social framework for teaching yoga for mental health
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Working with the needs of the individual: avoiding a prescriptive approach
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When and why to avoid certain practices for specific mental health issues
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Specific practices and teaching methods that work with the nervous system to support relief from psychological and emotional experiences, including anxiety, depression, grief, anger, and burnout
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How to structure classes to cater to diverse mental health needs in one space
Yoga for Body Image
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Yoga and Body Image: How Yoga Harms, How Yoga Heals
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Unpacking the notion of the ‘Yoga Body’
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Identifying and responding to white privilege and the impact of racial injustice in yoga spaces
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Encouraging environments of body-positivity and body-acceptance in yoga classes, 1:1 sessions, and personal practice
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The Art of Facilitation: creating and sustaining a safe space
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Balancing acceptance and change in the yoga space
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Working with the damage wrought by the ‘transformation fantasy’ as it relates to the body and yoga in the west, while honouring the transcendent possibility of the practices
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Practical approaches to welcoming difference and diversity in yoga spaces
Trauma-Informed Facilitation Skills, Program Development, Personal Practice + Self-Care
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Codependence in yoga teaching: how to work with the distress of others without moving to save or fix
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Sustaining our own practice and passion for this work
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Designing your own trauma informed programs
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How to work 1:1 with experiences of distress
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The art of therapeutic presence: how to work with the distress of others without moving to save or fix
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Moving beyond imposter syndrome: readiness to teach and knowing when you're skilled enough to teach for specialised groups.
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Moving beyond "doing good" and unsustainable activism. Learning how to work collaboratively to bring about change.
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Personal practice considerations
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How to surround yourself with ongoing support in this work: Supervision and Sangha
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Cultivating active hope in the face of the difficulties of our students and communities
There is also plenty of time for discussion and questions, as well as ample opportunity to practice facilitating the methods and practices explored in the theoretical modules.
This course is registered for 50-hours advanced teacher training with Yoga Australia
Home study requirements to meet 50-hours of Training - (For In-Person Training Only)
The vast majority of the in-person course content (36 hours) is covered over the 4-day intensive. However, in order to meet the 50 hours of training and receive a certificate of 50-hours completion, the following activities are required as part of the in-person training (otherwise you will receive a certificate of 36-hours training).
NOTE FOR ONLINE TRAINEES: You are required to read the Emerson and Hopper book (see below) as pre-course reading. However, the entire 50-hours of curriculum is otherwise covered online.
IN-PERSON TRAINEES - YOU WILL NEED TO: Read the required text and at least one of the following recommended texts prior to the training. After you read each book, you are required to write a 250 word reflective summary of your key learnings from each book and bring the summary to the training for submission at the start of training. Please also keep notes of questions and key ideas as you read, to contribute to group discussions during the training.
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PRE-COURSE REQUIRED BOOK Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga by David Emerson and Elizabeth Hopper
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OTHER PRE-COURSE BOOKS: CHOOSE AND READ AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TEXTS, and write a reflective summary about it, as described above:
1. Yoga for Depression by Amy Weintraub
2. Yoga for Emotional Balance by Bo Forbes
3. Yoga and Body Image edited by Melanie Klein and Anna Guest-Jelley
4. Yoga and Psyche by Mariana Caplan
5. Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness by David Treleaven
IS READING BOOKS NOT FOR YOU? PLEASE NOTE: If you feel that reading/listening to these texts is not possible for you for ANY reason (this includes learning difficulties or other life circumstances that might inhibit you from completing this part of the training), please get in touch to discuss alternative methods of meeting additional study requirements. The training is intended to be adaptive for the needs of all participants, so please do get in touch if you feel the home-study component may pose challenges for you.
Also included in the training...
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Comprehensive course manual (pictured).
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Membership to a closed facebook group for ongoing peer feedback
and resource sharing beyond the training
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Optional priority booking for 1:1 mentoring with Sarah in-person
or on Skype following the training (limited number of spots available
as Sarah's clinic is often booked out)
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Certificate of completion for 50-hours of advanced yoga teacher training, registered with Yoga Australia.
Sarah Ball is a registered senior yoga teacher with Yoga Australia. She has been teaching yoga since 2003, practicing since 1995, and regularly facilitates on level 1 and 2 yoga teacher trainings as well as yoga therapy trainings. Sarah is also a qualified social worker, counsellor, and art therapist, specialising in mental health, social justice, positive body image, eating disorders, and trauma recovery, who has developed the popular Yoga for Anxiety and Depression 8-week course, 4-week intro to Trauma Sensitive Yoga, and Body Love Yoga workshop programs. Sarah also teaches the trauma informed practice and mental health subjects in the Bachelor of Social Work program at the University of Wollongong.
Sarah's yoga courses and facilitation are informed by her extensive ongoing training in a wide variety of yoga approaches. Her programs offer a fusion of trauma-sensitive, body-positive, hatha, vinyasa flow, Vini, yoga therapy, and yin yoga methods, with an emphasis on the power of yoga to inform and transform our lives beyond the yoga mat. She is also an affiliate member of the Yoga and Body Image Coalition and senior facilitator and program developer for Off the Mat, Into the World Australia.
Sarah runs a private clinic in Bulli NSW and on Skype, working with counselling and yoga teacher mentoring, specialising in 1:1 and group therapy for anxiety, depression, trauma, body image, emotional eating and eating disorder recovery.
Learn more about Sarah here.
Your Facilitator
Investment Options
Online 50-hr Training
$890 AUD early bird investment - single payment ($1150 AUD full fee) OR 3x $325 AUD early bird (monthly installments)
In-Person 50-hr Training 2024
2024 In-person Investment includes 4-day in-person intensive training held over two weekends (in the beautiful Egg of The Universe studio in Everleigh), a hard-copy of the training manual and certificate of graduation
PERSONALISED PAYMENT PLANS AVAILABLE FOR ONLINE TRAINING with a $300 direct deposit-. Payments must be completed in full two-months prior to the training date.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PAYMENT CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Training Schedule - In Person Training
The in-person training runs from 8:30am-5:30pm daily over 4 days, which in Sydney 2024 will be hosted over two weekends, with breaks for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.
Dates for the 2024 training will be the 3rd - 4th Aug & the 7th - 8th Sept of September. All information can be found at the booking link above.
What Graduates Are Saying...
"It is a must. Best training I have ever attended. The delivery was exceptional. Every yoga teacher will benefit from this training for self-enquiry, personal growth, and teaching. BEYOND BRILLIANT." Hayley Bennett - training graduate
"There is a reason that Sarah's offerings book out....this training is invaluable to yoga teachers who genuinely believe that 'yoga is for everybody'. Sarah will guide you to dive into these most important topics/issues. Best training I have every done. I cannot more highly recommend it." Kay Callaghan - training graduate.
"Sarah's training really highlighted for me the way that the current yoga climate can be harmful. I was nervous that I would be expected to wrap students in cotton wool and become overly politically correct, but Sarah showed that it's about safety, empowerment, and choice, rather than throwing out everything we love to teach. Sarah's depth of knowledge - and the way she referenced the work/research of others - reflects the commitment she has made to understand these topics thoroughly. It is deeply inspiring. Thank you Sarah for creating such a safe container for us to be vulnerable, share and learn from each other." Kirsty Wright - training graduate
"This course was awesome. Sarah created an incredibly safe space for learning. The information was delivered with authenticity and honesty. Plenty of rest breaks and options to opt-in or opt-out if things felt too much at any time. Sarah is a pioneer!" Lisa Brown - training graduate
"For anyone thinking about doing this training I say - DO IT! It was such a wonderful, deep, immersive 4-days. Sarah is an incredibly calm, generous and intuitive teacher - very inspiring to me as a teacher. I've learned so many things I can now share in my classes to come from a more inclusive and trauma-informed way towards everyone who attends." Kerri Pietsch - training graduate
“I have just spent four amazing days as part of Sarah’s yoga teacher training for ‘trauma, depression and anxiety and body image ‘ and would highly recommend this course to yoga teachers. Sarah is the most amazing facilitator and skillfully structured this course over four days to cover such big ideas. Her passion for weaving social justice into these ideas was clearly evident and Sarah’s passion buoyed the whole group of amazing women there. I’m looking forward to weaving Sarah’s knowledge and magic into yoga on and off the mat. This course will change your mindset about teaching yoga to EVERYONE and celebrates that yoga is for EVERYONE. Blessed for this experience and Sarah." Michelle Beck - training graduate
"OMG! What a truly incredible and amazing experience with inspiring content and an incredible group of dedicated yoga teachers whom I'm so privileged to learn with. You definitely won't be disappointed by this awesome opportunity to learn incredibly important content about the work we do as yoga teachers. Thank you Sarah. You bring such knowledge and compassion to the way you explain everything. The whole training was shared with such practical examples that were easy to understand and integrate. An unforgettable experience." Aimee - training graduate
"Sarah is very well read and has a wealth of yoga and mental health teaching experience. She has a kind and warm approach along with a passion for sharing knowledge on social justice and body image. She is a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful role model! She gives to the subject/training her heart and soul! I'm leaving the training feeling inspired to be even more committed to bring about change and awareness of mental health, trauma and body image through yoga. Amazing training!" Kai - training graduate
"DO IT!!! If you have a passion to incorporate yoga for trauma, mental health or body image into your teaching or practice, Sarah's training is for you. EXCEPTIONALLY facilitated. Sarah is incredibly open, honest and forthcoming in her wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience." Carla - training graduate
"Sarah is a melody of embodied presence. You rarely come across a yoga who walks that much talk. It feels like I have been openly embraced by ideas that were so close to me I didn't see them, until this course gave me permission. These topics are close to my heart and were delivered like a feast that might last forever." Kendra Boone - training graduate
READ MORE OF "WHAT PEOPLE SAY" ABOUT COURSES, WORKSHOPS AND TRAININGS
WITH SARAH HERE
Keen to join the training?
FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW, OR GET IN TOUCH TO ASK A QUESTION
March 2019 training graduates
More Pics From the Training
