YogaX

Join us for our Weekly Integrated Holistic Yoga Seva Class at 6 pm on Wednesday.

An accessible practice for everyone, free to anyone.

These weekly classes are taught by YogaX alum, who are well-versed in teaching, integrated holistic yoga.

What is integrated holistic yoga?
A practice for everyone
A practice with profound benefits
A practice of intentional lifestyle choices
A practice of wholeness
A practice of integration

Click on the link in our bio to register
or register using this link:
https://stanford.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0oduurrD8jGdUfpv2ER-uculKmQ4QQ2s01 #/registration

Building a Bridge between Neuroscience and Yoga

Yoga has become increasingly mainstream and has found its place as an integrated modality in healthcare and education. The acceptance of yoga has been facilitated by an exponential increase in yoga research, showing yoga’s impact on a series of physiological parameters, brain activation, emotional states, body awareness, and cognitive functioning. Of course, the beneficial effects of yoga have been known for thousands of years and shared through sacred texts. However, to facilitate yoga’s integration into modern healthcare contexts, it is invaluable to understand these effects from a science perspective. A translational approach explains the mechanisms underlying yoga-based practices in a language that is understood by healthcare and educational professionals. This module aims to provide this bridge between modern neuroscience principles and ancient therapeutic yoga practices.

“Neurophysiological Foundations of Yoga-based Practices” covers neurophysiological and psychophysiological foundations of yoga-based practices. It outlines basic mechanisms underlying yoga-based movement, breath, and attention. It addresses neural bases of sensory awareness, pain perception, motor control, attention and emotion regulation. Strong emphasis is placed on nervous system regulation and coping ability. Parallels of yoga and Western science frameworks are elucidated.

The module is offered by Dr. Schmalzl, a Clinical Neuropsychologist, Cognitive Neuroscientist, and Yoga Therapist. Dr. Schmalzl combines her clinical and academic background with her passion for yoga as a healing modality. She believes that Western Science and Eastern Wisdom Traditions beautifully complement each other in their perspectives on how we function as human beings, and when combined provide a powerfully integrated and holistic approach for healing and thriving.

Please meet and celebrate one the first five YogaX IAYT-Q Program graduates – Dr. Mini Rattu. Dr. Mini, a licensed psychologist and yoga services provider shares her story of returning to the soulful and authentic yoga she encountered in her interactions with the Sikh gurudwaras she went to while growing up. The following is an excerpt from her blog. To read the full version go to the to alum blogs in our bio.

”Yoga has been a continuous part of my growth and discovering all the layers from the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of our Higher Self.  Since completing the 300-hour, YACEP, and IAYT trainings with YogaX, I have shared my learnings through several offerings including trauma and stress-informed CE workshops for yoga teachers and interested members of the general community. I also grew confidence in my ability to bring evidence-based yoga psychology into my private practice. Bridging the gap between neuroscience research and yoga has been an exciting thing to educate my clients on. Having tools to develop more insight into the mind and body, while accessing internal resources to optimize mental and physical health has allowed so many of my patients to embrace their inner strengths and become empowered in their health journey. And who doesn’t want that?”

All of us at YogaX feel so grateful and honored to have become an important part of Dr. Mini’s yoga journey and community

Hi All,

Could not wait to give you the exciting news ... Here is your sneak preview of Therapeutic Breathwork, due out in Fall. 🤗

Hugs, Chris

Join our next YogaX Info Meeting via Zoom on
7.17.2024 at 7p.

YogaX offers unique therapeutic yoga training programs geared specifically toward

✅ healthcare providers from diverse disciplines who seek to supplement their ongoing patient services with yoga or to serve as yoga professionals in a variety of healthcare and allied healthcare settings, providing yoga classes, therapeutic yoga interventions, and yoga therapy

✅ yoga professionals who seek to work in integrated and allied healthcare settings in collaboration with healthcare professionals

YogaX programs are based in deeply scientific, as well culturally and historically appreciative curricula that cover key contents related to yoga teaching and to therapeutic yoga services, drawing on traditional and modern yoga psychology and philosophy, modern psychological research and principles, evidence-based practices, neuroscience, and interpersonal neurobiology.

YogaX curricula are developed and taught by well-versed teachers

✅ with many years of teaching and therapeutic experience, qualified and experienced to teach yoga teachers and clinicians,

✅ registered with Yoga Alliance and/or certified as yoga therapists by IAYT (i.e., a minimum of E-RYT500 or C-IAYT)

✅ advanced credentials as related to teaching yoga as well as a healthcare specialization with an advanced degree (e.g., PhD, MPH).

YogaX offers several pathways toward providing yoga teaching and yoga therapeutics – depending on trainees’ professional desires and backgrounds.

✅ YogaX programs are registered with Yoga Alliance, creating eligibility for our graduates to become registered yoga teachers at the 200-hour or 500-hour level.

✅ YogaX offers a pathway accredited by the International Association for Yoga Therapists that allows qualified healthcare providers to become therapeutic yoga service providers via a 300-hour therapeutic yoga training.

🌟 SUMMER WORKSHOP 🌟
Integrated Holistic Yoga for Mental Health: Cultivating Emotional Resilience and Fortitude with Dr. Christiane Brems.

Current times have created high levels of physical, emotional, and mental stress for many, especially individuals in healthcare – whether as patients or providers. This training is dedicated to sharing yoga-based strategies for emotional health and mental resilience with healthcare providers and yoga professionals working with individuals who encounter health or mental health challenges.

The workshop explores how to tailor yoga strategies to optimize the capacity to deal with a variety of life challenges by exploring contextual and personal contributors to emotional unease and mental suffering. Based on the understanding of how difficulties arise, strategies for self-care and healthcare are developed grounded in the many aspects of yoga.

Movement, breath, mindfulness, meditation, and guided imagery are applied in ways that can be adapted to the specific emotional and mental needs of individuals, creating highly personalized self-care or wellness plans for emotional resilience and cognitive flexibility.

We welcome all healthcare providers and therapeutic yoga professionals interested in learning and applying therapeutic yoga principles and strategies to cultivate mental health and emotional resilience:

🗓️ Dates: July 27 -28 and August 24 – 25
⏰ Time: 8am - 5pm PT
💻 Location: Online synchronous training
💲Registration Fee: $800 for all non YogaX trainees (registration link in bio)
💲Registration Fee: $10 for paid 300-hour YogaX trainees (registration link in your Google homeroom)

Please join us for an enriching exploration of bringing integrated holistic yoga into mental healthcare.

Link in bio!

Join Dr. Christiane Brems for this 1-hour discussion about Yoga in Breast Cancer Care and Recovery

This free yoga-in-oncology lecture is brought to you
✅ by YogaX & The Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara
✅ on Friday, July 12, 2024 via zoom
✅ at 12:00 PM  1:00 PM

✅ Yoga has been shown to be a powerfully positive intervention for individuals dealing with breast cancer. In some people, it may reduce physical and emotional challenges that arise due to the diagnosis, its treatment side-effects, and its consequences in daily life and relationship.

✅ Physically, yoga has been shown to ameliorate inflammation, regulate cortisol, enhance immune function, manage side-treatment effects (such as pain, nausea/vomiting, and lymphedema), and increase strength, mobility, even bone mass. 

✅ Emotionally, yoga can help reduce depression and anxiety, enhance sleep, reduce fatigue, and decrease stress. 

✅ These findings support the importance of making yoga available in cancer care.  This Live, Learn, Lunch discussion about yoga for breast cancer focuses on an integrated holistic practice of yoga that considers the whole person and is adapted to the specific needs of people affected by breast cancer.

Live, Learn, Lunch is a monthly discussion sponsored by the SB BCRC on various topics designed to be inspiring while learning something new and relevant. All survivors and women on their journey with breast cancer, and their supporters and care providers, are welcome to attend.

Please meet and celebrate the first five YogaX IAYT-Q Program graduates – inspiring examples of YogaX’s mission to train individuals who will bring therapeutic yoga into healthcare:
 
Dr. Kate Cummins is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with brain injury patients, pro athletes and coaches, veterans, and individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Cummins, a registered yoga teacher and therapeutic yoga provider, integrates yoga into her clinical practices, especially with medical professionals, and Hollywood and music industry folks.

Dr. Marissa Floro is a counseling psychologist, who specializes in working with q***r folx of color, s*x and s*x therapy, identity exploration of biracial and bis*xual femmes, and q***r Asian American experiences.  As a certified yoga teacher and therapeutic yoga provider, Dr. Floro offers yoga to q***r/LGBTQ+ communities, college and AAPI populations within her healthcare practice.

Dr. Mini Rattu is a clinical psychologist, specializing in treatment of trauma, stress-related conditions, and anxiety disorders. Dr. Mini integrates her work as a therapeutic yoga provider with her mental health practice, also including psychedelic assisted therapy, mindfulness, and compassion cultivation. She enjoys participating in fitness competitions and traveling internationally.

Dr. Elika Razmjou is a clinical psychologist working in healthcare with individuals living with complex medical needs, chronic pain, Parkinson's Disease, and HIV/AIDS). Dr. Razmjou offers therapeutic yoga groups that complement medical treatments, empowering clients to cultivate awareness of mind-body connections, and promoting nervous system regulation. She also co-facilitates trauma-informed yoga groups within her healthcare practice.

Ms. Melissa Reeder is a clinical social worker working with diverse populations coping with psychosocial and environmental challenges. She utilizes trauma-informed practices to work with clients, including veterans, coping with addictions, trauma, and serious mental illness.  She integrates her therapeutic yoga skills with person-centered clinal approaches in healthcare settings, on interdisciplinary teams.

The YogaX Team is excited for you to meet our newest YTT300 alum, Dr. Marissa Floro.  Now an advanced yoga teacher and healthcare provider bringing yoga into clinical settings, Dr.  Floro (she/her) is a licensed counseling psychologist and Interim Co-Director of Stanford University's Weiland Health Initiative, who specializes in working with q***r folx of color, s*x and s*x therapy, identity exploration, and interpersonal relationships. Her work is focused on serving q***r folx, folx of color, and femmes. Her academic, advocacy, and writing work has paralleled this specialty: Dr. Floro has explored identity development of biracial and bis*xual femmes, q***r Asian American experiences, resilience within q***r communities, and solidarity efforts of intersecting communities. In a blog for YogaX, she shares several important insights and wisdoms about working with q***r communities.  Following is a teaser sharing excerpts from her blog. For the complete document, along with access to amazing content slides, click on the alum blogs link in the YogaX bio.

“I have learned much from YogaX, my yoga classes, and my q***r communities over the past 4 years. I have learned that there are specific considerations necessary to cultivate physical and emotional safety for LGBTQ+ communities. First, a trauma-informed lens is imperative; second, ongoing education in concepts of q***r identity and language is necessary; third, specific yoga principles and concepts may be particularly resonant with q***r communities; fourth, learning about history can be illuminating

Dear YogaX Community,
 
Just a quick note to let you know about some upcoming advanced training and social events that may be of interest. We hope some of you can attend all of these events and that all of you will attend some of these get-togethers. Let's start with the informal event and then go from there.  😊 
 
YogaX Social and Informational Hour on May 8, 2024 at Noon
Many of you have been with us for a while; some of you are new to YogaX; some of you may be pondering joining our growing community of individuals interested in bringing yoga into healthcare. We thought it might be lovely to get everyone together to exchange information about YogaX programs, share ideas and experiences, and have a Q&A with Geno and Chris. We will start with an overview of our 300-hour training programs (both YTT300 and IAYT-Q), hoping that current trainees will share their YogaX experiences. We are inviting active participation from new or potential trainees for whom this is an opportunity to learn more about YogaX and what we have to offer. Beyond that, we will let the process unfold. 😊 Feel free to drop in for the whole time or simply as you are available. 
 
Integrated Holistic Teaching Methods in Therapeutic Yoga, May-30 to June 2, 2024;  In-Person 30-Hour Module at Stanford
This upcoming module is open to all YTT300 and IAYT-Q trainees, YogaX alums, and other advanced yoga teachers or healthcare professionals. We are very excited about this experiential IN-PERSON event on our beautiful campus.
 
Integrated Holistic Therapeutic Yoga for Mental Health, July 27 - 28, 2024 and August 24 - 25, 2024;  Online synchronous 30-Hour Module  
This module is open to all YTT300, IAYT-Q, Mental Health certificate trainees, and healthcare providers interested in bringing yoga into their clinical practice.

Module syllabi are on the webpage.

We hope to see you soon.
Hugs,
Chris and Geno

YogaX and Yoga Alliance have joined forces to help define a deliberate path into the future of the yoga profession. Yoga Alliance and YogaX share a common goal: to bring yoga into more spaces where it is needed most.

We hope to hear from you, the incredible yoga professionals, who are doing the important work of bringing yoga to the world. Thank you for helping us identify and reduce existing systemic and institutional barriers to bringing yoga to everyone, everywhere, in every circumstance. 

Together, we - Yoga Alliance and YogaX - have launched an important survey that aims to uncover experiences, perspectives, and beliefs of current yoga professionals surrounding the integration of yoga into healthcare settings.
https://buff.ly/3VeKPX3

⭐️ New Collaboration + Exciting Opportunity Alert! ⭐️

We’re collaborating with for a groundbreaking survey.

Inviting all Yoga Professionals across the United States! Join us on an exploration into the integration of yoga in healthcare settings. Participate in the survey that aims to uncover experiences, perspectives, and beliefs surrounding yoga integration into healthcare settings.

The main goal? Reducing barriers for professionals so the practice can be shared in more spaces where it is needed most.

Your input this community and is essential to shaping the future landscape of yoga in .

Ready to make a difference? Take the survey today and be part of this insightful journey.

Go to Yoga Alliance’s link in bio to learn more and take the survey!

🌟Announcement: YogaX Trauma-Informed Yoga Workshop with Dr. Lauren Justice

We invite you to join YogaX’s 30-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga (TIY) workshop. This specialized training is designed to empower yoga teachers and healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to make yoga practices accessible to those with trauma-related symptoms.

🗓️ Dates: March 23-24, April 20-21
🕦 Time: 9 - 5:30pm all 4 days
💻 Location: Online via Zoom
🗣️ Presenter: Dr. Lauren Justice

Workshop Highlights:
🌿 Comprehensive Training: A 30-hour scientific exploration of Trauma-Informed Yoga principles for healthcare providers and/or experienced yoga teachers.
🌿 Accessibility: Guidance for creating inclusive classes and offering yoga for individuals who have experienced trauma.
🌿 Tools for Healing: Strategies to support emotional resilience and to create environments and relationships to encourage the perception of safety.
🌿 Body-Mind Connection: Explore, understand, and apply TIY principles that ground practice in integrated holistic yoga theory.
🌿 Integration of Practice: Participants explore intentional, accessible, beneficial practices of yoga to empower teachers to provide therapeutic yoga services for their students, clients, or patients.

Embark on a path towards fostering resilience and equanimity through the multifaceted practice of Trauma-Informed Yoga. Join Dr. Justice as she combines ancient wisdom with modern science in this enriching 30-hour workshop.

Register via link in bio!

Attention all healthcare professionals, YogaX and IAYT-Q are paving the way for you to become certified in therapeutic yoga practices! 🩺

Welcoming the FIRST and ONLY yoga therapeutic program in the nation for healthcare professionals, introducing YogaX IAYT-Q 300-Hour Program!

Join us for a one-hour continuing education and informational meeting with YogaX Director, Dr. Christiane Brems! Immerse yourself in an enriching conversation that fosters connection and discovery as we dive into the transformative world of therapeutic yoga and learn about the new YogaX IAYT-Q 300-Hour program!

FREE one Yoga Alliance continuing education (CE) credit under Dr. Brems YACEP registration!

• Date: Wednesday, February 21st
• Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm PT
• Location: Online via Zoom
• Speaker: Dr. Christiane Brems, YogaX Director, PhD, ABPP, E-RY500, C-IAYT

This is your exclusive opportunity to connect with a leader in the field, Dr. Christiane Brems, and learn about the ethics and professionalism of providing yoga services by understanding yoga credentialing and scope of practice.

Discover how you can be part of the pioneering YogaX IAYT-Q 300-Hour program, tailored for healthcare professionals like yourself.

Seize the chance to gain valuable insights, connect with YogaX leaders, and earn CE credits - all in one hour!

We look forward to having you there! Register now via link in bio to secure your spot!

Embark on the Study of Therapeutic Yoga Practices for Healthcare Providers
Due to increasing awareness of yoga and its therapeutic effects, the demand for incorporating yoga strategies and psychology into clinical settings has never been greater. To address this need, the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) and YogaX have created an educational opportunity specifically tailored to Qualified Healthcare Professionals (QHPs).

🪴IAYT has created a new 300-hour pathway for qualified healthcare professionals to gain a solid foundation in yoga principles and practical applications within a holistic approach to patient care. This IAYT-accredited pathway allows healthcare professionals to earn an IAYT-Q credential that certifies that they have gained the therapeutic yoga skills necessary to bring yoga strategies into their extant healthcare practice.

🪴YogaX is the first yoga therapy school to be accredited under this pathway and is now offering the only 300-hour pathway for healthcare professionals that leads to the new IAYT-Q credential. This innovative YogaX program is a pathway designed to equip and empower QHPs with the knowledge and skills needed to integrate therapeutic yoga practices seamlessly into their scope of practice.

The YogaX IAYT-Q 300-hour program, “Integrated Holistic Yoga Therapeutics in Healthcare”, is a flexible hybrid program (partially in-person; partially synchronously online) that emphasizes the fusion of yoga’s ancient wisdom with modern science. According to Christiane Brems, PhD, ABPP, ERYT500, C-IAYT, Director of YogaX and the IAYT-accredited program, describes the goal of a therapeutic yoga pathway for QHPs as the cultivation of a resilient healthcare ecosystem that prioritizes integrated and holistic wellbeing for patients and care providers alike.

Interested? Apply and learn more via link in bio!

Celebrating Shari Gent: YogaX's First 300-Hour Graduate!

Meet Shari, an exceptional student who embodies dedication and passion in both her profession and studies. Her resilience and commitment to YogaX's 300hr Yoga Teacher Training has left an indelible mark on our program. Discover Shari's journey, experience, and invaluable advice for future students considering our program

"My experience with YogaX was beyond my wildest expectations! Dr. Brems' approach and the support from the whole YogaX team has been an incredible source of inspiration. The approach helped me integrate my personal practice with my work as a yoga teacher and provided strategies to connect with my students to be fully present when teaching."

Join us in celebrating an extraordinary accomplishment! Shari has emerged as YogaX's pioneering 300hr student graduate, marking an incredible milestone in her and our journey.

Full story at link in bio!

So often, in our yoga practice and other wisdom traditions, we place all our emphasis on mindfulness in the present moment. In reality, a holistic and integrated practice has three streams of awareness. 

The first stream is paying wholesome attention to the Present. This includes practices of mindfulness and presence as life unfolds in each and every moment. It allows us to deeply honor and experience the joys and the suffering as they unfold in the here and now.

The second stream is paying wholesome attention to the Past. This includes practices that transform suffering, that look back and honor our deep roots in our experiences, communities, and histories. This looking back honors what and who has come before. Our learning and insight based in mindfulness (or remembrance) of the past can transform our perspective and thus our life (speaking individually and collectively), including our suffering. 

The third stream is paying wholesome attention to the Future. This includes practices of ethics, compassion, lovingkindness, and social justice. With these practices we look forward; we anticipate the impact of the current moment on the future, the future as it may unfold in our own life, and - more importantly - the future of our communities, our world, and our planet.

It is important in our spiritual and yogic practice to honor all three streams. If we simply live in the present moment, we fail to honor the past. If we simply live for the present moment, we forget to care compassionately about the future. We are embedded beings, embedded in community, embedded in experience, embedded in our human perception of time. If we can honor our past, our present, and our future with remembrance and awareness, we will become more compassionate, loving, and kind, as well as concerned about happiness, safety, and social justice for all beings and this planet.

Wishing all of you a beautiful transition into the New Year and an auspicious way of honoring each and every moment of your life - past, present, and future.

With love, 
Chris

Integration of yoga into healthcare settings presents an innovative and multifaceted opportunity to revolutionize at least some of the challenges within current healthcare systems. Yoga’s core principles are uniquely aligned with a commitment to comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated person-centered preventive and supportive care while enhancing provider wellbeing. The integration of yoga’s ancient wisdom into modern healthcare can create a more resilient healthcare ecosystem that places emphasis on integrated and holistic wellbeing and lifestyles for patients and care providers alike.

Want to read more? Click link for blogs in bio.

You heard it here first! YogaX will be offering free integrated holistic yoga classes to the Stanford community starting January 10th, 2024!

These weekly classes will be taught by YogaX alums who are well-versed in teaching integrated holistic yoga to Stanford students, faculty, staff, and friends.

What is integrated holistic yoga, you might ask? 🤔 It is -
🪴 A practice for everyone
🪴 A practice with profound benefits
🪴 A practice of intentional lifestyle choices
🪴 A practice of wholeness
🪴 A practice of integration

These yoga classes will be held every Wednesday evening from 6-7pm PT from January 10 - December 11, 2024 (excluding June & July). If you would like to join, please register using the Zoom link in bio.

Hope you will join us, see you there! Link in bio!

National Breast Cancer month is upon us and we would like to invite you to join Dr. Christiane Brems, PhD, ABPP, ERYT500, C-IAYT (YogaX director) and to:

Yoga With Intention – A Gentle Practice for Individuals Dealing with Breast Cancer 🎀

A yoga series developed specifically for individuals dealing with breast cancer, whether in recovery or post-treatment. All are welcomed, classes are taught in such a way that everyone is able to participate. Each class lasts 60 minutes and are all designed to support many aspects of recovery from breast cancer, with one aspect receiving special emphasis each month.

💗 Time: Thursdays, 9a-10a
💗 Classes are held every Thursday now until December 14, 2023

Themes throughout the yoga series:
✔️October 2023 – Accessing Your Ease: Focus on managing symptoms that create stress and tension, including digestive distress, pain, and discomfort
✔️November 2023 – Rediscovering Your Fortitude: Focus emotional wellbeing to help with anxiety, fear, depression, and other common emotions associated with cancer, as well rebuilding physical stability, balance, and strength

Friendly reminder that you are always in charge of your own practice and are invited to skip any offerings that do not serve you in the moment. Listen to your body, breath, and emotions throughout the practice to make your own choices about how to participate, how to move, and how to breathe. 🌸

Did we mention this is a FREE class? Sign up via link in bio!

Yoga helps reduce work-related stress and improves workplace well-being. 💟

This we invite you to take a moment to reflect on your occupation and its environment and to notice what self-care looks like to you in that space.

🌞 Are you taking time to intentionally move your body throughout the day?
🌞 Are you taking mindful breaks to refuel your mind, body, soul?

Job burnout is real and it’s a phenomenon that’s making headlines. Yoga is a great tool to reduce stress and bring self-care back into your life.

According to The Use of Yoga to Manage Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers in Systematic Review, which looked at 11 studies, concluded participants who practiced yoga techniques in mind, body, and soul found:

🪴 Improvement in physical problems
🪴 Improvement in quality of sleep
🪴 Reduction in overall stress levels
🪴 Reduction in burnout

We invite you to practice yoga in whatever way that looks like to you.

If you're looking for a place to start, our YouTube channel offers free recorded yoga classes that range from breathing and meditation practices to full-length movement classes.

Happy Labor Day from YogaX 💜

Sources - https://www.yogaalliance.org/Membership_Benefits/Upcoming_Online_Workshops/Yoga_in_the_Workplace
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6462946/

Spotlight on YogaX: bringing yoga into healthcare, one teacher at a time In early May 2023, the YogaX team met in the morning to transform a large conference room on Arastradero Road into a peaceful yoga studio. Twenty-two mats with a variety of other yoga props - blocks, blankets, bolsters, straps, and towels - made for an inviting environment. Soon after, 20 trainees a...