Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Healing & Nervous System Regulation Certificate
With world-leading teacher Dr. Arielle Schwartz and special guests Deb Dana & Gil Hedley.
“We cannot simply talk or think our way out of traumatic stress.”
There is an undeniable correlation between stress, trauma, and our health. Individuals with a history of trauma are more likely to develop chronic illness and pain conditions. As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk aptly states, “The body keeps the score” and we cannot simply talk or think our way out of traumatic stress.
In order to better understand the connection between stress, trauma, and our health, we must turn our attention to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve can be thought of as a bi-directional information highway that communicates between the mind and body. Imbalances in the vagus nerve and physiology of the autonomic nervous system can lead to feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, depression, or dissociation.
Stimulating the vagus nerve helps to regulate both sympathetic hyper-arousal and parasympathetic hypo-arousal. The best ways to naturally modulate these nervous responses are through breath and movement.
This 3-part 30-hour Certificate Program explores the benefits of Therapeutic Yoga and Applied Polyvagal Theory as related to trauma recovery with world-leading teacher Dr. Arielle Schwartz and special guests Deb Dana and Gil Hedley.
You are invited to step into a journey of empowerment, to learn the power of Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Healing and Nervous System Regulation.
This 3-part Certificate training will guide you through an experiential journey through therapeutic yoga for trauma healing, nervous system regulation, and overall wellbeing.
Therapeutic yoga allows you to attend to the interrelationships between mind, emotions, physiology, and behavior while inviting you to recognize the inherent wholeness that resides within your spirit. Together, we will explore how conscious breathing, vagal toning, mindful movement, and meditation practices help rewire the nervous system towards greater health.
Through the lens of interpersonal neurobiology, somatic psychology, and ancient yoga philosophy you will explore the mental, emotional, and physical repercussions of stressful or traumatic events. Many of the symptoms of stress and trauma are due to imbalances in the autonomic nervous system. Since our symptoms are as much physical as they are psychological, we need body-centered interventions to rebalance the body and mind. Yoga helps to address physiological imbalances through practices that allow you to sense your body, change how you breathe, move stuck energy, and rest into stillness.
Within this course, you will learn tools to enhance your personal yoga practice and, if you are a therapist or yoga teacher, to benefit your work with others.
You are a yoga teacher who wants to be more trauma-informed to support your students and discover nervous system regulation practices that you can add to your class sequences.
You are an existing yoga student seeking greater nervous system regulation to support your own wellbeing.
You are new to yoga but curious to learn a gentle, somatic approach to support your healing journey.
Each session guides you through an experiential yoga practice and illuminates the science that supports the practices. You will learn how and why therapeutic yoga works. All classes offer opportunities to move and breathe on your yoga mat. While Dr. Arielle Schwartz will offer modifications, these classes ask that you take personal responsibility to ensure that you are physically capable of engaging in a range of yogic breath and movement practices. You will always be offered choice to opt out of any practices that are not right for you.
Rewire your response to stress, one breath at a time
Join Arielle Schwartz, PhD, CCTP-II, E-RYT, internationally sought-out teacher, therapeutic yoga instructor, and leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma as she guides you through Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Healing and Nervous System Regulation. Within this course you will learn how to:
A guided path from regulation to resilience
Level 1: Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Healing and Nervous System Regulation
Within the first ten hours of this training you will develop an understanding of the 8-limbs of yoga for trauma recovery, explore key elements of interpersonal neurobiology and polyvagal theory as applied to yoga. You will learn about how yoga impacts your autonomic nervous system via the vagus nerve which serves as a bi-directional information highway between mind and body—more importantly, you will learn breath, movement, and awareness practices that become the building blocks of a life-changing daily practice. Each class offers lecture, practice, and group discussion. Classes are offered on a yoga mat, however accessible modifications and chair yoga alternatives are offered.
Level 2: Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Healing and Nervous System Regulation
In Level 2, Dr. Arielle Schwartz deepens your journey of therapeutic yoga for trauma healing and nervous system regulation with topics that expand into the connection between stress, trauma, and your health. We will apply core principles of body-centered psychotherapies into therapeutic yoga. You will also learn brain and body integration practices including bilateral movements and reflex integration and practice these sequences on the yoga mat. You will come away with compassion-based practices to work through barriers to wellness.
Level 3: Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Healing and Nervous System Regulation
In Level 3, Dr. Arielle Schwartz helps you to compassionately explore how dissociation can show up in a yoga practice and discover pendulation strategies to navigate nervous system states. You will learn how to integrate parts work therapies to work with your internal family system through body dialogues on the yoga mat. We will deepen the journey with restorative practices and a trauma-informed approach to meditation and yoga nidra. This course concludes by teaching you tools to personalize the model to create therapeutic yoga practices for yourself, a student or a client including learning a model for a 6-week group class.
Meet your Faculty
Arielle Schwartz, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, internationally sought-out teacher, certified Kripalu yoga instructor, and leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma.
She earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Fielding Graduate University and holds a Master’s degree in Somatic Psychology through Naropa University.
She is the author of eight books including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook, Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery, Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga, and The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma.
She is the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy in Boulder, Colorado. She is dedicated to offering informational mental health and wellness updates through her writing, public speaking, social media presence, and blog.
With over twenty years as a therapeutic yoga teacher, Dr. Schwartz believes that the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart. Discover more at www.drarielleschwartz.com and www.resilienceinformedtherapy.com
Deb Dana, LCSW is an author, clinician, and consultant specializing in using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and create ways of working that honor the role of the autonomic nervous system. She developed the Rhythm of Regulation Clinical Training Series and lectures internationally on ways Polyvagal Theory informs work with trauma survivors. She is a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute, clinical advisor to Khiron Clinics, and an advisor to Unyte.
Deb’s clinical work published with W.W. Norton includes The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client Centered Practices, and the Polyvagal Flip Chart. She partners with Sounds True to bring her polyvagal perspective to a general audience through the audio program “Befriending Your Nervous System: Looking Through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory” and her forthcoming print book Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory.
Gil Hedley, Ph.D., has been teaching integral anatomy via dissection labs, keynote events and lecture tours since 1995. Gil has created an approach to anatomy coherent with the holistic body philosophies of body explorers from various treatment modalities, as well as teachers from the yoga, pilates, and fitness industries. He has documented this approach through the four feature-length videos of The Integral Anatomy Series, which he has shared with the world via free access on YouTube and his website, www.gilhedley.com where ample additional free content is also available to support his mission of "rebranding" the human body as a gift.
Open to anyone drawn to this work
This course is open to anyone interested in the application of Polyvagal Theory from a multidisciplinary holistic approach. We will use psychology, meditation and yoga to embody these practices and learn to apply them in our everyday lives.
Already taken one of the Levels? Register for the Individual Training Levels
Learn at your own pace, with lifetime access
This 30-hour certificate program includes 12 two-and-a-half-hour online sessions that are available to watch online and on-demand at your own pace via your online Content Library, which you will gain immediate access to upon registration. You will also receive access to an Online Community Forum. Additionally, when you register for the Full Certificate program, you will receive 5 hours of bonus content.
The online learning platform will host all the information about the course including:
Video / Audio: Within the online learning platform, students may watch the video within their online library or download the video or audio to their computer. They will have lifetime access to the content.
Live Captioning / Transcripts: Captioning was only offered during the live sessions. Transcripts are offered in English.
Requirements to receive the Certificate of Completion:
There are no homework assignments during the program. Please see Certificate of Completion for further details.
Enroll in the individual training sessions for $237 each, or save $114 by enrolling in the training bundle.
Take all three trainings online
Upon registration you will receive a welcome email with details on how to access the program. You will have lifetime access to the on-demand training sessions.
Register for the individual level trainings
Frequently asked questions
Who is this program designed for? + −
This course is open to anyone (i.e. yoga teachers, therapists, parents, teachers, etc.) interested in the application of Polyvagal Theory from a multidisciplinary holistic approach. We will use psychology, meditation and yoga to embody these practices and learn to apply them in our everyday lives.
This is an education program and not a licensure program.
What are the dates, schedule and time commitment? + −
This 30-hour certificate program includes 12 two-and-a-half-hour online sessions that are available to watch online and on-demand at your own pace via your online Content Library, which you will gain immediate access to upon registration. You will also receive access to an Online Community Forum. Additionally, when you register for the Full Certificate program, you will receive 5 hours of bonus content.
Schedule:
Level 1: December 12 & 13, 2026, 11am – 1:30pm and 2 – 4:30pm ET each day (10 hours total), plus January 7, 2027, 2 – 3:30pm ET: Interview with Deb Dana on Nervous System Regulation (1.5 hours)
Level 2: January 9, 10, 16 & 17, 2027, 11am – 2pm ET each day (3 hours per session, 12 hours total)
Level 3: February 20, 21, 27 & 28, 2027, 11am – 2pm ET each day (3 hours per session, 12 hours total), plus February 25, 2027, 2 – 3:30pm ET: Interview with Gil Hedley on Fascia and the Vagus Nerve (1.5 hours)
All sessions will be available to watch online and on-demand at your own pace.
Homework: There are no homework assignments during the program.
Do I need to attend live or am I able to watch recordings? + −
All sessions are available online and on-demand so students may watch in their own time. Please note, captioning was only available during the live sessions.
How can I interact with the instructors? Will I receive guidance? + −
During each of the live sessions, the instructors had a Q&A period where students could ask questions. A private online community forum is also provided to you for this certificate.
Do you offer scholarships? + −
No scholarships are available for this program.
Do you offer refunds? + −
We offer a Registration Guarantee which means that if you register but decide the course isn’t right for you, we’ll refund your course fee — no questions asked — up to 48 hours before the course start date, after which no refunds are available.
How can I access the online course and recordings? + −
Online Learning Platform: Once you register, you will receive access to our online learning platform which will include all the information about the certificate, including:
• Program details
• All the online sessions
• Supporting materials provided by your instructors
• Your Online Community Forum
Accessibility | Video / Audio: Within our online learning platform, you may watch the videos within your online library or download the videos and audio files to your computer. You will have lifetime access to the content.
Accessibility | Live Captioning / Transcripts: Captioning was only available during the live sessions. Transcripts are offered in English.
Will I receive a certificate? + −
All students who complete all three levels of this program will receive a certificate of completion.
Will Continuing Education hours (CEs) be offered? + −
Please fill out your interest form below.
Register your CE interest →“Learning Applied Polyvagal theory has felt like a revolution! The practices and tools have been invaluable in supporting my own healing and my work with others. Thank you.”
