Most Yoga Therapy trainings
aren't built for the level of complexity
people are living with right now.
This one is.
We are living in times of harm on the level of systems, not just individuals.
Racism, displacement, climate grief, moral injury and collective burnout are not far away concerns. They are daily reality. All of us as care rofessionals, yoga teachers, therapists, nonprofits, and healers are working with this right now.
And yet, most yoga therapy trainings still treats suffering as individual and fixable.
This training starts from a different place.
This is Yoga Therapy for the world as it is.
Preparing you to meet yourself, others, and the world, where we are.
You want to help people in real ways.
Understand the nervous system more deeply.
Work with ancestral healing, identity, and culture.
Design offerings that are actually usable, in clinics, schools, nonprofits, private practice and community settings.
And you want to do it ethically,
without appropriating, overreaching, or guessing at your scope.
Most trainings don’t teach this.
They give you tools without the methodology or support to use them well.
We built this training to change that.
This training is built around a methodology of
Presence Based Collective Care - a somatic, relational and awareness based approach to yoga therapy that meets people inside the complexity of collective harm, not outside of it.
We've worked with thousands of people to create change.
This is yoga therapy for the world as it is.
Why Train in Yoga Therapy for Collective Care NOW
The methodology you train in:
Presence Based Collective Care
A somatic, relational, and awareness-based framework
to offer yoga therapy to individuals and groups navigating systemic stress, grief, trauma, and ongoing harm.
This training develops capacity through
Yoga Psychology
Capacity develops across layers of experience: body, relationship, mind, and awareness.
This is yoga as union. A lived capacity to remain present across all layers of experience.
SOMATIC
(BODY)
ORIENT - STABILITY
Develop capacity to land in body and environment. Somatic intelligence & decolonial wisdom
that is unshakeable
RELATIONSHIP
(CONNECTION)
CHOOSE - AGENCY
Shift from reaction to response.
Choice becomes available in relationship, action and presence.
AWARENESS
(UNITY)
PRESENCE - INTEGRATION
Remain connected despite circumstances. Embody yoga as unity, aware, awake & responsive.
PERSON
(MIND)
INSIGHT - DISCERNMENT
Understand patterns of mind and meaning-making. Awareness leads to discernment leads to wisdom.
What you'll be able to do
You don't just learn more yoga.
You apply it psychologically, therapeutically, responsibly, precisely, in real contexts with real people, using a methodology that actually holds complexity.
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Offer ethical, scope-aware yoga therapy support - short and long term, individual and group, rooted in Presence Based Collective Care.
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Practicums where you embody practices in the real world
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Work with common conditions: stress, sleep, pain, digestion, and anxiety
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Work with complex conditions: grief, burnout, trauma and moral injury
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Assess what's happening in a person's system - Meet clients where they are
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Integrate with other modalities - Therapy, somatics, social work or other healing modalities
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Design real-world workshops and offerings - Programs that are culturally grounded, grant-fundable, and usable in community settings.
Who you become
You become a practitioner of Presence Based Collective Care
A way of being a support with people carrying real harm.
Someone who can:
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Stay with what is difficult without doubting yourself or turning away
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Sit with grief that is ongoing, collective, and without resolution
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Name harm clearly, and hold space without neutrality or avoidance
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Make the invisible visible to surface patterns of disconnection, power, and conditioning
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Work relationally, not just individually, understanding how systems live in the body
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Support clients in developing awareness and agency rather than dependency
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Practice yoga as unity in how you listen, respond, and relate
“I want something rooted in social justice, not a gentrified version of yoga.”
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MODULE 1
Grounding the Practitioner
We open the container, yoga practices & yogic map of suffering, klesshas, samskara, avidya.
Walk away with:
• A personal sadhana
• Kleshas in your body
• Ethical foundation of care
MODULE 2
Foundations of Yoga Therapy
Learn kosha map, full PBCC methodology.
You gain:
•Your yoga psychology framework
• Nidra and mantra as therapeutic tools
• Presence based care
MODULE 3
Body Under Pressure
Nadis, cakras, energy systems & rrauma informed nervous system literacy.
We walk away with:
•Trauma sensitve asana and pranayama for harm
•Collective nervous system
•Energy assessment: what sustains vs. drains
MODULE 4
Therapeutic Yoga for Everyday Suffering
Stress, anxiety, sleep, pain, grief, burnout, assessment, supportive yoga therapeutic care.
Walk away with:
•Yogic practices for somatic harmony
• Care plan and decision-making tools aligned with our nature
MODULE 5
Relational Suffering: Belonging and Moral Injury
How harm ruptures connection, how we deepen in sangha + real relationships of care
We create:
• Ahamkara, karuna and metta
Group facilitation w/ yamas+ relational yoga practices
• Moral injury + collective grief frameworks
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MODULE 6
Collective Care in Times of Systemic Harm
Seva, karma yoga, dharma
Ahimsa as anti-oppression
Walk away with:
• Rest, restore, inspire
• Seva and karma yoga as practice frameworks
• Dharma grounded org. delivery
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MODULE 7
Hope in the Face of Genocide, Ecocide, Collapse
Space for ritual and repair, ancestral mantra, practices for integrating our year so far.
We create:
• Rituals for collective loss
• Tapas as transformative
• Decolonial and somatic practices for hope and alignment
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MODULE 8
Practicum Preparation
Find and secure practicum placement, preparation, ritual, and vision. We anchor what this year has prepared you to offer..
We create:
• Self trust and belonging
Long-term clarity
• Brahmacharya of energy and purpose
• Clear connection to your lineage and vision
TRAINING SCOPE
MODULE 9
Lineage, Repair and Responsibility
Svadhyaya and aparigraha, parampara as ethical spine. Roots honored, integration.
We create:
• Lineage integrity in your practice
• Right livelihood
• Svadhyaya and ongoing accountability
Preparation and reflection
MODULE 10
Supervised Delivery and assessment
Abhyasa explore your leadership voice, presence, and how you embody your authority grounded in lineage and purpose.
We create:
• Clarity on yoga leader presence and voice
• Practices for leading from your center and embodying authority
• Yoga Therapy Credential as a Practitioner of Presence Based Collective Care
Our Values &
Theory of Change
These are the principles we practice
Yogic roots, honored and alive We teach yoga as a complete psychological, philosophical, and ethical system, not a fitness practice or wellness trend. Roots are not optional. They are the practice. Every practice meets the world as it actually is.
Decolonial practice and somatic wisdom We honor the intelligence of the body, nervous system, and energy systems. We move at a pace that supports real learning
Transparency without perfectionism
We share honestly about our process, ideas, questions, blockers, growth, aspirations and challenges.
Sustainability over urgency
We reject urgency as a signal of worth and build at a pace that supports depth, impact, and long-term wellbeing for our students and communities they serve.
Collective growth
When one of us grows, we all grow. We uplift each other without competition or comparison.
LEAD ETHICAL, GROUNDED, TRAUMA-INFORMED REAL WORLD YOGA THERAPY
Who This Training is For
✨ This Yoga Therapy Training is for
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Yoga teachers ready to go deeper than asana, into psychology, therapy, and real-world application
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Therapists, counselors, and social workers who want to integrate yoga without appropriating it
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Healers and practitioners working at the intersection of wellness and social justice
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BIPOC practitioners reclaiming yoga's roots and bringing them to their communities
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Care professionals on the frontlines of harm, burnout, grief, displacement, moral injury
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Anyone who knows yoga is more than what Western wellness has made it, and wants to practice it that way
✨ This training is NOT for
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Those looking for a surface-level wellness certification
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Anyone not ready to engage with lineage, decolonization, and yogic ethics seriously
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Those who want quick tools without the depth to use them well
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Anyone who thinks self-care means face masks and wine — we're going way deeper
If you're nodding yes, welcome. We've been waiting for you.
"This training is a springboard."
- Kayla, Yoga Teacher
Spots are limited and application only.
A Letter from your lead trainer
I'm Susanna, and I'm offering this training because I need it too.
've trained 25,000+ people, written the book on embodying yoga's roots, and spent years developing a methodology for yoga therapy in times of real harm because most yoga therapy programs still aren't built for the world we're actually living in.
You want to delve into psychology, ethics, and real-world application, without leaving yoga's roots behind. You want to work with grief, nervous system regulation, ancestral healing, moral injury. You want a training that actually prepares you for the complexity in the world.
This is that training. I'll be with you directly, in weekly live sessions, monthly intensives with extraordinary guest teachers, and a supervised practicum where you practice in the real world before you graduate.
I'm gathering a small cohort of practitioners ready to do this work with depth, integrity, and genuine rootedness in yoga's traditions.
Will you be one of them?
Susanna Barkataki, PhD Scholar in Yoga Psychology Author, Embrace Yoga's Roots Founder, Ignite Yoga Institute
Training for Your Practice, Your People, & Your Purpose
Rooted in Authenticity
"Hearing the chakras and koshas described as 'maps of the experience of being human' was a huge insight moment. It completely shifted how I understand yoga."– LaShae, Founder
Real-World Care
"I finally feel like I have the language and tools to create a usefu Yoga Therapy program" – Abby, Yoga Studio Owner
Transformative Leadership
"This helped me step into leadership and impact my community in many ways " – Ashanti, Nonprofit leader
How It Works
Yoga Therapy certification, relational and rooted in the real world.
This is not a course you consume. It is a training and relationship you enter with a cohort, with mentors, with Susanna, and with the communities you'll eventually serve. The learning is not just in the content. It's in the practice of showing up and learning the methodology, together, over time.
How You Learn is the Methodology
This training moves through the same arc you'll eventually offer others. You don't just learn Presence Based Collective Care. you live it, across the year, in community.
Land — Months 1–3 You arrive and you receive the map the practices, the philosophy, the yogic roots. Before you can hold others, you learn to hold yourself.
Stay — Months 4–6 You deepen. You apply the methodology to real conditions, individual suffering, relational harm, collective grief. You practice staying present with complexity before you're asked to hold it for others.
Belong — Months 7–8 You integrate. You widen the field, to the hardest questions, the most unresolvable harm. You write your way into your own framework. The cohort becomes a community of practice, not just a class.
Return — Months 9–10 You offer. You deliver Presence Based Collective Care in the real world, supervised, supported, never alone. You graduate having already done the work.
Your Training Rhythm at a Glance:
Every month you have four touchpoints each one doing something different in your formation as a practitioner.
Live sessions with Susanna: Three hours each, live online. This is where we go deep into the methodology, the practices, the philosophy, and the tools. Expect practice, dialogue, inquiry, and community of learning
One mentor session A combination of 1:1 and small group mentorship. Your mentor holds you through the integration of the material — your questions, your edge, your development as a practitioner. This is where you get to be a student, fully.
One monthly intensive — retreat deep dive. One weekend morning or afternoon per month — three hours. Guest teachers, deep practice experiences, and immersive work that the weekly rhythm can't hold. These are the moments that change things.
Readings and homeplay Between sessions you'll have readings and homeplay, not homework in the traditional sense. Invitations to practice what you're learning before the next time we meet. To let it land in your body, not just your notes.
By year’s end, you’ve completed your Yoga Therapy training in purpose, supported by your people, sustained by your energy, ready for what’s next. From vision to legacy, build work that honors your values, body, and brilliance.
Small Group / Peer to Peer Connections
Once we get to know each other, you'll get a peer or small group of peers who are aligned with your needs and values to deepen connection and build accountability.
Shared Accountability
We support each other through our group chat, peer partnerships, and weekly check-ins. We hold each other.
Throughout the year, sessions can integrate ritual, nervous system practices, and decolonial wisdom, so strategy, soul, yoga's roots and impact are never separated.
Annual In-Person Retreat
We can co-create and plan two annual in-person retreats where we go deep, get to laugh, cry, strategize, rest, restore and really feel each other as we create our deep connections, strategies and legacies.
Year-Round Support
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WhatsApp community for daily sadhana, connection, wins, questions, accountability
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Yoga Therapy portal with all trainings, resources, and recordings so we can catch up on what we miss
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Peer partnerships for structured accountability
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Expect depth and realness and inevitable ahas and growth.
Investment
Payment plans and Buy Now, Pay Later available at every level.
Partial scholarships for Global Majority, BIPOC practitioners, frontline workers, and those with demonstrated financial need.
Getting Started
If you are interested, fill out the application form.
Together, lets grow our yoga legacy and leadership.
FAQs
How This Circle Works
Is this a yoga therapy certification I can use professionally?
Yes and it goes beyond the dominant clinical model of yoga therapy. You'll graduate with a Yoga Therapeutic training as a Practitioner of Presence Based Collective Care, trained to offer yoga therapy in individual and group settings, inside organizations, and in community contexts. This is therapeutic work. It refuses to reduce yoga to a diagnostic tool or separate it from the social conditions people are actually living in. It is not a medical or mental health licensure. Graduates are not trained to diagnose, treat mental health conditions, or replace clinical care; ethical scope is part of the training.
How is this different from other yoga therapy programs?
Most programs were built for clinic-adjacent, individual, diagnosis-based practice. This one was built for the world as it is — where suffering is relational, systemic, and ongoing. You'll work across individual and collective contexts, rooted in yoga psychology on its own terms. And you'll graduate having already practiced in the real world.
What are the Pre-requisites for this Yoga Therapy Training?
A 200hr is required and a 300hr or Trauma Informed Training is recommended. What matters more than hours is how and where you trained whether your foundation is rooted in lineage, ethics, and decolonial practice. If your 200hr was primarily fitness or wellness focused, we'd love for you to complete our 200hr, 300hr, or Trauma-Informed Yoga & Social Justice Certification first.
I'm a therapist or social worker, not just a yoga teacher. Can I apply?
Yes. Equivalent experience as a therapist, social worker, or community care professional is considered. We assess readiness holistically. You can tell us your story in your application.
How much time does this require?
Three live sessions with Susanna per month, one mentor session, and one monthly intensive one weekend morning or afternoon. Plus readings and practice-based homeplay between sessions. A certification that is designed to be sustainable and transformative. Trainings are always recorded so you can watch on your own time, though we recommend attending live whenever you can.
How much direct time will I have with Susanna?
This training is how you get the closest mentorship and support from Susanna. You'll get two 1:1 calls with Susanna, three live sessions every month for the full ten months, plus the monthly intensive. You are not handed off. Susanna is in it with you throughout, developing and cultivating your Yoga Therapeutic skills.
Will I learn to work with communities of color and frontline organizations?
Yes, this training was built for that. Modules 6 through 8 go deep into collective care, systemic harm, and organizational delivery. Your practicum in Modules 9 and 10 is where you deliver that care inside real organizations. You graduate having already done it.
Will I learn both 1:1 and group work?
Yes. Both tracks run through the full training, individual therapeutic care and group facilitation. You leave equipped for both.
What's NOT included?
Travel and lodging for retreats. You'll arrange your own accommodations, and we aim to support you.
Where will the retreats be?
The first one will be in the gorgeous mountains of Los Angeles.
What if I can't make live calls?
All calls are recorded and available in the portal, easy for you to get the info you need.
Is this just for yoga teachers?
No. This is for founders, leaders, wellness practitioners, educators, therapists, activists, healers, and changemakers building values-driven work.
Do I have to be a queer person of color?
We need all of us honoring the roots of yoga and sharing yoga therapy for all. Our teaching faculty are folks from within the lineage of Yogic traditions and center queer BIPOC leadership, and our training is available to all.
Do I need social justice training?
No. Just show up with openness and care deeply. We'll walk the rest together.
How long do I have access?
One full year. At year's end, you'll have the option to continue.
Refunds
30-day trial: Full refund if it's not the right fit. After 30 days: No refunds, but you can pause and return to a future training cohort.
How do I join?
Fill out the Yoga Therapy application.
More questions?
Email hello@ignitebewell.com
We know this year of Yoga Therapy will be incredible. We hope you are a part of it!
You're ready to offer care that meets the moment.
Let's build that capacity together.
Bring your whole self.
The longing to go deeper, the questions, the communities you're called to serve. Train in a methodology rooted in yoga's real purpose with a cohort who gets it and will move forward with you.
What changes for you in this training...
· You honor yoga's roots and can hold them confidently
· You trust your body's wisdom
· You bring yoga into grief, trauma, ancestral healing and moral injury
· You have peers who see you, hold you, and rise with you
· You share your gifts with communities that need them most
· Come for the methodology. Stay for the transformation, community and laughter.
Ignite's Impact
25,000+ students trained • 15+ years of experience • Global faculty • 3X Award Winning
