Friday February 28th, 2025

1pm-2pm ET

Orientation

How to navigate the online portion of the course, as well as community agreements for our time together. We’ll also review the course requirements, and introduce ourselves.

2pm-3pm ET

Introduction to Accessible Yoga

An overview of the training content and basic concepts of accessibility and equity in yoga. Also, covers different approaches to adapting practices. We'll explore how to keep the yoga in Accessible Yoga, by exploring the essence of yoga.

3pm-4pm ET

Integrated Accessible Yoga Chair/Mat Class

Sample integrated (chair / mat) asana practice class that begins in a chair and offers students a choice of staying in the chair or moving to the mat. This is a workshop that is designed to demonstrate how to teach multiple levels of students at the same time.

4pm-4:30pm ET

Break 

4:30pm-5:30pm ET

Accessible Asana Workshop

This is the first of our Asana Workshops where we'll discuss the main purpose and benefits of the practice and how to adapt them in creative and collaborative ways. We'll discuss how to start class, and what an intake process might be like, which we call the check-in. We'll also discuss centering practices, which get to the heart of yoga, as well as warm-ups focusing on major joints. We'll spend time discussing the importance of offering strengthening practices in Accessible Yoga, and explore creative ways to share them. We’ll also explore how to adapt Sun Salutation in chairs and at the wall.

5:30pm-6:30pm ET

Accessible Asana Workshop

This Asana Workshop will focus on Standing Balancing Poses, Backward and Forward Bends in a chair, standing, or on a mat. We'll consider how to use creativity based on a thorough understanding of the purpose of the practice.

Saturday March 1st, 2025

1pm-1:30pm ET

Practice Teaching

We’ll break into smaller groups to teach chair sun salutation to each other.

1:30pm-2:45pm ET

Accessible Asana Workshop

Asana Workshop on how to adapt inversions and twists in a chair, standing, or on a mat. We'll consider how to use creativity based on a thorough understanding of the purpose of the practice.

2:45pm-3:45pm ET

Making Breathing Practices Accessible

In this workshop, Jivana will begin by discussing the anatomy & physiology of breathing, as well as the fundamentals of the most common yoga breathing practices and how to make them accessible. We'll consider contraindications as well as benefits to these practices.

3:45pm-4:15pm ET

Break

4:15pm-5:15pm ET

Accessible Asana Workshop

This Asana Workshop will focus on adapting Savasana, Yoga Nidra, and how to end class. It will also be a time to follow up on poses we haven’t yet covered and to answer any asana or teaching questions that have come up.

5:15pm-5:45pm ET

Integrated Chair / Mat Teaching

Workshop on how to teach students on the mat and in the chair in the same class, focusing directly on the skills needed to master teaching multiple levels at the same time. 

5:45pm-6:30pm ET

Integrated Chair / Mat Teaching Group Practice

Practice teaching integrated chair / mat classes in small groups.

Sunday March 2nd, 2025

1pm-1:45pm ET

One-on-One Teaching & Consent

As we prepare to do the Bed Yoga practice, Jivana will discuss the nuances of teaching one-on-one private yoga sessions, and discuss the importance of consent and reflecting on power dynamics between teacher and student.

1:45pm-3pm ET

Bed Yoga

Jivana gives an introduction to bed yoga and he leads a bed yoga practice session. This session explores ways to adapt traditional asanas in bed, and how we can use creativity to explore ways to access some of the same benefits of the poses in a bed.

3pm-4pm ET

Making Meditation Accessible

In this workshop, Jivana will focus on how to practice and teach meditation in a yoga context, with an emphasis on the role of meditation in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. He'll also discuss ways to make the practice accessible, safe, and enjoyable, with attention to trauma-informed teaching. 

4pm-4:30pm ET

Break

4:30pm-5:45pm ET

Designing Classes for Special Populations - Final Project

This will be a discussion of the key elements needed to design and teach classes for special populations and in special locations. Then participants will have a chance to work in small groups and create class outlines for special populations and share them with the rest of the class.

5:45pm-6:30pm ET

Closing Circle

Final thoughts and inspiration from our time together.

Includes pre-recorded lectures:

• What Is Accessible Yoga?
  with Jivana Heyman
• Making Yoga Accessible
  with Jivana Heyman
• Adapting Asana
  with Jivana Heyman
• Working with Seniors
  with Jivana Heyman
• Common Medical Conditions
  with Jivana Heyman

Includes pre-recorded practices:

• 2 x 1-Hour Integrated
  Chair / Mat Sample Practices
  with Jivana Heyman (demonstrated from the chair and the mat)
• 20-minute Integrated
  Chair / Mat Sample Practice
  with Jivana Heyman
• 1-Hour Wheelchair Yoga Sample Practice with Rodrigo Souza
• 30-Minute Wall Practice for Balance with Jivana Heyman

Includes pre-recorded lectures:

• What Even Is Yoga?
  with Anjali Rao
• The Four Paths of Yoga
  with Jivana Heyman
• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 
  with Jivana Heyman
• The Bhagavad Gita
  with Jivana Heyman
• Yoga & Social Change
  with Anjali Rao

Includes pre-recorded lectures:

• Foundations of the Science of Yoga with Ann Swanson
• The Why (Connection between Science of Yoga and Accessibility & Safety in Yoga)
  with Ann Swanson
  
• Science-Backed Benefits of Yoga
  with Ann Swanson
  
• Research on Safety
  with Ann Swanson
  
• Teaching Safely
  with Ann Swanson
  

Includes pre-recorded lectures:

• Disability Culture & Communication
  with Dani Anderson
• Intro to Queer & Trans Considerations in Yoga
  with M Camellia
• Race & Equity in Yoga
  with kelley nicole palmer
• Wheelchair Yoga
  with Rodrigo Souza
• Trauma Conscious Yoga & Race-Based Traumatic Stress
  with Nityda Gessel
• Teaching Yoga for People with Larger Bodies with M Camellia
• Creating a Culture of Consent with M Camellia
• Neurodiversity & Yoga
  with M Camellia 
• Trauma-Informed Teaching & Incarcerated Populations
  with Amma Fandiño
• Considerations for Mental Health
  with Maria Kirsten †
• Conscious Marketing
  with Tristan Katz

Our new hybrid (in-person & online) delivery of our Accessible Yoga Training combines the benefits of our in-person training (which was our pre-2020 format for this course) with our new online delivery, which we began to offer in 2020. 

Trainees undertake a 3-day (15 hour) in-person training, led by one of our Accessible Yoga Trainers. This offers an opportunity to come together in community in person, and cover the most practical components of the training. The schedule for these 3 days will focus on adapting asana for the mat, chair, wall and bed, and how to lead integrated (chair & mat) classes.

Our upcoming in-person training will be led by Jivana Heyman in Astoria, New York City, February 28 - March 2, 2025.

Upon enrollment in this hybrid training, our trainees also receive access to our online portal, which includes 25 hours of additional learning via pre-recorded lecture and practice videos, reading, and homework, including our downloadable PDF course manual.

Topics covered in the pre-recorded videos include Introduction to Accessible Yoga, Yoga Philosophy, Science of Yoga, and a series of lectures with special guest presenters including Disability Culture & Communication, Wheelchair Yoga, Trauma Conscious Yoga & Race-Based Traumatic Stress, Teaching Yoga for People with Larger Bodies, and more.

Trainees will have a whole year of access to the online portal to work their way through the pre-recorded content, which can be commenced prior to the in-person training dates, but doesn't have to be completed in full before the live training begins.

After trainees have completed their in-person training, and all of the pre-recorded materials, they can complete a feedback survey about the course via our online portal, and request their certificate of completion for the course (40 hours).

All props are provided by our host studio (mats, chairs, bolsters, blocks, straps, blankets). 

We recommend bringing:

• a device or materials for note taking
• water and snacks (each day of training will include a scheduled 30 minute break)

The course manual is provided as a digital download (PDF) within our online course portal. To be as environmentally conscious as possible, hard-copy printed manuals won't be provided. If it is more accessible for you to work from a hardcopy manual, you are welcome to print one copy for your personal use.

If you are enrolled in the course and choose to print your manual at a professional print shop and require written permission (as our manual is a copyrighted document) please contact us and we can provide this.

A water fountain / bottle filler is available within the studio.

There are food and coffee shops available on Ditmars Blvd, a bodega 3 doors down from the studio, a diner on the corner, and a grocery store with prepared food about a block away. 

Yes, Sacred Space Studio (Astoria, Queens, NY) is a wheelchair accessible venue.

Studio doors are all 34" wide. (Double-doored front entrance doors are 30" wide each, and both can be opened for wheelchair access). Ramp is available. No steps throughout the studio (very minimal saddles at the doorways). Studio contains an accessible bathroom, plus a second smaller bathroom.

Studio has a HEPA-H13 filter (air purifier) that will run throughout the training.

Please note: The closest subway stop is the Ditmars-Astoria stop, which does not have an elevator.

Metered street parking is available in front of the studio, and there is generally street parking nearby. The closest municipal lot is on 33rd St between Ditmars and 23rd Ave (less than a 5 min walk from the studio).

Our host studio, Sacred Space Studio, is located at: 

29-05 21st Ave
Astoria, Queens, NYC
New York, USA

Parking: Metered street parking is available in front of the studio, and there is generally street parking nearby. The closest municipal lot is on 33rd St between Ditmars and 23rd Ave (less than a 5 min walk from the studio).

Public transportation: The closest subway stop is the Ditmars-Astoria stop (under 5 minute walk from the studio). Please note, it does not have an elevator.

After completing the in-person training, pre-recorded content and homework tasks, and certifying that all graduation requirements have been completed, you can request your certification to become an Accessible Yoga Teacher. As an Accessible Yoga Teacher, you are entitled to:

• Market yourself as an Accessible Yoga Teacher
• Use the Accessible Yoga Teacher logo on your website and in your marketing materials
• Use the Accessible Yoga name in your class listings
• 3 months free membership in the Accessible Yoga Ambassador & Mentorship program
• Ongoing membership in the Accessible Yoga Community Facebook Group where you can network and share best practices with other teachers

Additionally, you will receive a certificate of completion entitling you to 40 contact hour CEUs through Yoga Alliance or the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

No, there are no prerequisites and anyone can join us! However, if you have completed a 200-hour training prior to attending our trainings, you will become a Certified Accessible Yoga Teacher.

This 40-hour training alone is not enough to become a certified yoga teacher. If you are interested in teaching yoga but have not already completed a 200-hour teacher training, we recommend that you do so in addition to completing this course.

Part of the requirements for certification will be watching a series of pre-recorded videos. You can review these before the in-person training starts, or anytime before you request your certificate upon completion of the course.

There are no prerequisites and anyone can join us! However, if you have completed a 200-hour training prior to attending our trainings, you will become a Certified Accessible Yoga Teacher.

This 40-hour training alone is not enough to become a certified yoga teacher. If you are interested in teaching yoga but have not already completed a 200-hour teacher training, we recommend that you do so in addition to completing this course.

This training is worth 40 contact hour CEUs. This includes 15 hours of in-person training and 25 hours of self-paced pre-recorded lectures and practices with accompanying resources, homework tasks and required reading. Trainees receive 1 year of access to review online materials and complete course requirements to request their certification.

Attendance at the full 3-day (15 hour) in-person component of the training is required to receive your certification. If the live training dates / times / location aren't suitable, we recommend checking out our completely online Accessible Yoga Training option, with live, online training via Zoom and additional pre-recorded content.

No, unfortunately due to the nature of this training, in-person attendance is required, and the 3-days of in-person training will not be available as a live stream online. If the live training dates / times / location aren't suitable, we recommend checking out our completely online Accessible Yoga Training option, with live, online training via Zoom and additional pre-recorded content.

You will have access to the online student portal for 1 year from your enrollment date to access and review the pre-recorded content and resources. You will be able to download your course manual (PDF) to keep forever. 

Yes. This training is worth 40 contact hour CEUs. Eligible yoga teachers will earn CEUs through Yoga Alliance. Yoga therapists will earn CEUs through the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Upon completion of the course requirements, you will receive a downloadable certificate you can submit for credit.

Your student portal is web based and can be accessed through any internet browser, or via the Kajabi app on a smart phone / tablet.

Your online portal, where you access the pre-recorded course content, is web based and can be accessed through any internet browser, via various devices (computer, phone, tablet etc).

To easily access your course via a mobile device, you can download the free Kajabi app.

Kajabi is the platform we use to host the online portion of this course and create your online portal. Once you download the free Kajabi app, go ahead and sign in with the email you and password you selected upon registration in the course, and that's it!

With the Kajabi mobile app, you'll be able to access the course content right from your phone. The app also automatically saves your progress, even when you switch between sessions and devices. You can mark each session as complete when done to help you keep track of where you are up to in the pre-recorded course content.

The videos from the pre-recorded component of the training and manual are for your personal use. We ask that you don't share them with anyone who hasn't enrolled in the course. Each of our trainers often share wonderful free resources with overlapping information, and we encourage you to share those widely, or encourage friends / colleagues to take an Accessible Yoga Training if they might be interested in this content.

Our hybrid-delivery Accessible Yoga Training refund policy is as follows: 

• Request for cancellation of enrollment from the course prior to the commencement of the in-person training dates (after access to online training materials has been granted) will receive a 50% refund of the total course fee (if paid in full), or cancellation of pending payment plan installments equal to 50% of the total course fee.
• Refunds will not be granted once the in-person training component of the course has commenced.

If you have any questions about the course, or while completing this hybrid-delivery training, please contact us and we'll be in touch!