Slow…Gracious…Embodied Learning
Integrative Somatic Studies Institute
A 200-Hr. Integrative Yoga & Bodywork Training Program
DUAL CERTIFICATIONS
6 Months Online Training
6 Days In-Person Experiential Practice
$5,095.00 CAD
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Touching is a physical act, yet appropriate within the psychotherapy room only if the act of touching engages or interacts with therapy in a way that improves mental health and well-being. In an Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™, we touch with SENSITIVITY, PRESENCE & HEART!
Touch & Bodywork in an Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™
TOUCH in an Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice (ISTP)™ is an important therapeutic tool in trauma work. We used touch as a resource and reparative process within a therapeutic relationship where touch had been withheld and/or used to violate. However, touch in trauma therapy is often hinged on one word: DON’T! More often than not, we are discouraged from touching our clients for fear of crossing boundaries, transference or countertransference, or allegations of wrongdoing (Older, 1977) and Wilson (1982).
Research suggests that touch support bonding and reducing experience of pain. Positive physical aspects of touch includes lifting mood in the treatment of depression, reducing anxiety, pain, relief, reduction in muscle tension, decreasing raised blood pressure enhancement of immune function, improving sleep, decreasing symptoms of sexual abuse, reducing aggression in adolescents, and improving weight gain in preterm neonates (Field, 2003; Westlanourd, 1993).
Touch in a therapeutic relationship requires experiential training, skills applications based on coherent theoretical perspective, and adequate supervision from someone who has had touch training. The challenge for therapists is that most do not have sufficient training in the specifics of touch in therapeutic practice. Additionally, touch in psychotherapy is not generally permitted under many licensing and regulatory bodies.
COURSE INFORMATION
Welcome to Integrative Yoga and Bodywork for Somatic Therapy. This is a 200-hour integrative yoga and bodywork training that provides you with a dual certification in Integrative Restorative Yoga and Thai Yoga Massage, so that you may register as both a yoga teacher and a bodywork practitioner. You will receive two certificates after this training: 100-hour Yoga Teacher Certification in Integrative Restorative Yoga for registration with the Canadian Yoga Alliance (Canada) and Namasta (USA) –
YEAR ONE ISTP This certification provides you with practice insurance that will support you while you are learning the advanced modalities in year two. 200-hour Certifications in Integrative Thai Yoga Massage and Integrative Restorative Yoga for registration with the National Health Practitioners of Canada, Namasta (USA), and Canadian Yoga Alliance.
YEAR TWO ISTP For 2024 participants, upon completion of the advanced coursework, you will receive two certifications allowing you to register as both an Integrative Thai Yoga Massage Practitioner (200 hours) and an Integrative Restorative Yoga Teacher (200 hours).
Starting in 2025, participants will be issued one 200-hour certificate in Integrative Thai Yoga Therapy, which will allow registration with NHPC, Namasta, and CYA in the categories of 200-hour registered yoga teacher and 200-hour Thai Yoga Massage Practitioner
Our 200-hrs. training Yoga & bodywork includes 2 practices:
1. Integrative Restorative Yoga Teacher (IRYT)™
2. Integrative Thai Yoga Massage (ITYM)™
This 200-hrs. designation in Integrative Restorative Yoga Teacher (IRYT) allows you to register the Canadian Yoga Alliance, Click Here to become a 200-hr. Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200). The 200=hrs. designation in Integrative Thai Yoga Massage (ITYM) will also allows you to register with the National Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC), View HERE.
To become a Thai Yoga Massage Practitioner with Namasta, View Here to become 200-hr. Thai Bodywork Practitioner.
For those trained in other somatic therapy models i.e. Somatic Experiencing or Internal Family Systems-Somatic or EMDR-Somatic who wish to register in the Yoga Bodywork training, please inquire, Click Here.
Dual certifications in Bodywork allow you to:
- provide touch and bodywork as an insured and registered professionals, i.e., Counsellor, Psychotherapist, 0r Practitioner,
- facilitate movement and breathwork as an insured and registered yoga teacher,
- issue insurance receipts (in Canada) to individuals with a health spending account.
Training in Yoga and Bodywork for Somatic Psychotherapy, weaves together the art of Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™, Thai bodywork, Ayurveda, and yoga therapy.
Using a hybrid learning model, certification requires the completion of:
- online studies in Thai bodywork, Ayurvedic Foundations and Ayurvedic Energy work, Functional Anatomy, and Integrative Restorative Yoga
- 3 live online group bodywork mentoring sessions with between-session email support
- 3 filmed practicums with feedback
- 27 documented bodywork practice hours, where students provide this work on practice clients or integrate this work into current client work sessions that you are already certified to provide
- attendance at the 6-day, in-person training
- The 6-day training will be held on April 1st – 6th, 202, Lantzville, on Vancouver Island British Columbia Canada. Daily sessions at the in-person training will run from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Accommodation and Meals are provided at the training site for an additional cost.
- 3 live online yoga mentoring sessions, to be attended while you are completing Integrative Restorative Yoga practice hours (Yoga study group sessions are currently not included in your tuition, Fees for the yoga study group are $60 for each 60-minute session.)
- 10 documented Integrative Restorative Yoga practice hours, where students provide this work on practice clients or integrate this work into current client work sessions that you are already certified to provide
- Minimum of 1 supervision 1:1 session, to be booked after all other requisites are complete (Supervision sessions are not included in the course tuition and may be booked directly by contacting Stefani Wilton, stefani@mandorlayoga.com.
Students are required to attend all sessions and to complete all assignments, video recordings, readings, quizzes, and practicum submissions in order to attain certification. Because the amount of time provided to you in person through supervision and the live training is limited, any time missed for these sessions must be made up at your own cost by booking private supervision time. Depending on your time availability, completion of this program can reasonably be completed within 6 months to 1 years time.
Completion of the Yoga & Bodywork training is required prior to attending level 3 Integrative Somatic Breathwork training. Mandorla Yoga Institute reserves the right to make changes to program requirements and curriculum as we respond to our evolving needs of student.
INTEGRATIVE YOGA & BODYWORK MENTORING DATES, 2024
April, 15th (1.5-hour session) – 8 pm MST (7 pm PST)
May, 12th (1.5-hour session) – 8 pm MST (7 pm PST)
June, 11th (2-hour session) – 8 pm MST (7 pm PST)des
After completion of Levels 2 in ISTP ISTP™ and Yoga & Bodywork, students can refer themself as Certified in ISTP™. A certifications in ISTP, will also allows students to register for Level 3, Integrative Somatic Breathwork in Fall 2024. Click Here (coming soon). Once Level 3 is completed, students will be invited to be listed on Integrative Somatic Studies Institute.
200-Hours Integrative Yoga & Bodywork Training for Somatic Therapy
(Prerequisite: Completion of Level 1 1 & Level 2 ISTP)
Note: Level 2 ISTP & Level 2 Yoga & Bodywork Trainings can be taken at the same time
About the Integrative Restorative Yoga Components of this Training
In Thai Yoga Massage, the yoga aspect of the practice is synonymous with bodywork. One is not distinct from the other. You, as the practitioner, are practicing yoga with the movements of your body, with your breath, and with your compassionate presence. As the practitioner, you hold what is called bhavana. This is the meditative intention that you hold for your client, like a fragrant emotional aroma. Your client is also practicing yoga, though in a receptive, passive way, as you support them in moving their body into spaces of sensation and stillness.
While the Bodywork content focuses on the foundational movements of Thai Yoga Massage, in the yoga content we weave energy work, asana, and bodywork into practice. This is where we integrate the practice of somatic processing and explore where compassionate touch fits into the psychotherapy model. Using foundational yoga therapy practices, in these lessons, we explore postures and their use for responding to the expressions of bodily sensation, through movement (vinyasa yoga), stillness (restorative yoga), and sensation (somatic yoga).
About the Integrative Thai Yoga Massage or Bodywork Component to this Training
The presence a teacher allows us to feel held and whole. It allows us to go to places that didn’t feel possible on our own. When we add the art of touch, done in a respectful way, it takes this experience to new depths. Thai Yoga Massage supports you in opening your body, releasing tension and allowing others to hold you. All healing and profound experiences on their own. This wisdom is weaved into all our programs, but is taken to fullness in our Practitioner training that is accredited with the NHPC
In Thai Yoga Massage, the yoga aspect of the practice is synonymous with bodywork. One is not distinct from the other. You, as the practitioner, are practicing yoga with the movements of your body, with your breath, and with your compassionate presence. As the practitioner, you hold what is called bhavana. This is the meditative intention that you hold for your client, like a fragrant emotional aroma. Your client is also practicing yoga, though in a receptive, passive way, as you support them in moving their body into spaces of sensation and stillness.
While the Bodywork content focuses on the foundational movements of Thai Yoga Massage, in the yoga content we weave energy work, asana, and bodywork into practice. This is where we integrate the practice of somatic processing and explore where compassionate touch fits into the psychotherapy model. Using foundational yoga therapy practices, in these lessons, we explore postures and their use for responding to the expressions of bodily sensation, through movement (vinyasa yoga), stillness (restorative yoga), and sensation (somatic yoga).
The full ISTP Integrative Yoga & Bodywork program includes dual certification in both bodywork and Integrative Restorative Yoga. The content of this training is a condensed foundational immersion into the yoga therapy concepts most needed to effectively provide somatic therapy work. Previous training in yoga or bodywork is not required. However, what is shared within this program goes beyond the usual scope of foundational 200 hour yoga teacher training programs and will deliver advanced content derived from Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy. Individuals with their 200 hour or 500 hour yoga teacher designation can request to have these hours applied toward advanced yoga teacher training hours through Namasta and the Canadian Yoga Alliance. Individuals who hold their 1,000 hour designation in Yoga Therapy and who have additional training in bodywork, or those who can demonstrate similar life experience, may request to have their prior course work reviewed for consideration
Stefani Wilton
BA, RMT, C-IAYT, CYA-YT, E-RYT500, YACEP
Yoga Therapist * Registered Massage Therapist * Somatic Therapist
Founder of Embodiment Yoga™ & the Mandorla Yoga Institute
I draw from my personal experience with trauma and my over 21 years of teaching yoga. I have traveled as far as Thailand to find the modalities that made my heart sing and integrate Massage Therapy (RMT 2200hrs), Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice (ISTP)™, Thai Yoga Massage, and Embodiment Yoga Therapy™ into my sessions. I hold a special place in my heart for neurodivergent individuals and endeavor to create a safe space for you, where you feel welcome and honoured for your strengths. I am passionate about inspiring and supporting you in reclamation, transformation, and resilience, and bringing incredible humans together. By leading with vulnerability and honesty from a place of fierce love, I help people return to their bodies.
Ratha Chek
MA., CYT, RCC Registered Clinical Counsellor,
Developer of Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™, Founder of Integrative Somatic Studies Institute
I have always been the type of person who are drawn to wholeness first and then then figure out the separate pieces after. For me, wholeness is what heals while separateness causes suffering. In my 25 years experience in Counselling & Psychotherapy I gained an in-depth understanding what healing entails ~ individuals moving into wholeness from separate or fragmented pieces of self. Although, most mainstream approaches continue to reinforce "separateness" For example, energy healer works with energy, physical therapists work with physical recovery, psychiatry & mental health works with psychological recovery, yoga therapists work with fascial releases and/or embodiment and so on. In my experience working with recovery, when we approach healing by treating only separate pieces of us, suffering linger. Healing calls for treating the whole person; breath, energy, tissue, physical alignment, and the nervous system.
This training is accredited with the following bodies
