Focused on Foundational Trauma-Informed Skills + Career Pathways
Why Viniyoga is Our Foundation
Viniyoga (Sanskrit for “appropriate application”) is a trauma-sensitive methodology that adapts yoga practices to the unique needs of each individual—body, breath, mind, and nervous system.
At the Life of Wellness Institute, we teach Viniyoga because it prioritizes function over form, equipping teachers with foundational skills to serve diverse populations. Our graduates go on to specialize in areas like trauma recovery, eating disorder recovery, prison yoga, mental health recovery centers, or 2SLGBTQI+ spaces. Which may require pursuing advanced certifications (e.g., Prison Yoga Project or Eat Breathe Thrive, Yoga 4 Cancer, and Yoga of 12 Steps Recovery).
Yoga Therapy: A Science-Backed Framework
Yoga Therapy integrates Patañjali’s philosophy with modern neurobiology, offering adaptable tools for nervous system regulation and trauma-sensitive practice.
Objectives of Yoga Therapy:
Reduce Symptoms: Teach breathwork for stress resilience.
Manage Challenges: Build skills to adapt practices for anxiety or chronic pain.
Improve Function: Foster agency through mindful movement.
Shift Perspective: Avoid spiritual bypassing with evidence-based frameworks.
This foundation prepares you to pursue specialized training in fields like eating disorder recovery or trauma therapy.
What Makes Viniyoga Unique
Rooted in the Yoga Sutras, Viniyoga emphasizes adaptation over dogma. Practices include:
Breath-Centered Movement: Regulate the nervous system for trauma-sensitive spaces.
Repetition & Stay: Cultivate body awareness without coercion.
Sequencing as a Science: Design inclusive classes for diverse needs.
Personalization is guided by:
Dharma: Align practice with social justice values (e.g., accessibility).
Swabhav: Honor each student’s lived experience and current capacity.
Life-Stage Adaptation: Teach yoga as a lifelong practice. Krishnamacharya’s teachings emphasize adapting practices for different phases of life—whether supporting teens, seniors, or those navigating chronic stress.
Embracing Life’s Stages
Yoga Sutra 3.6 reminds us that every journey is unique.
In Yoga for the Three Stages of Life, Srivatsa Ramaswami (Krishnamacharya’s student) writes:
“During the early part of life, yoga builds self-confidence. In middle age, it sustains health. Later, it deepens into philosophical study.”
How We Apply This:
Youth: Teach body awareness and emotional regulation tools for classrooms or community centers.
Adults: Adapt practices for caregivers, frontline workers, or those managing chronic pain.
Seniors: Offer chair yoga or breathwork for mobility challenges.
This life-stage focus prepares you to work ethically across communities while respecting individual needs.
“During the early part of life, learning yoga as a physical art form is most beneficial for the self-confidence and discipline it instills. In middle age, yoga should focus on physical therapy and maintaining optimum health as far into life as possible. In the last stages of life, the practitioner will be ready to focus on the ultimate goal of yoga--true understanding of the philosophy behind it and the realization of truth.”
Foundations for Socially Conscious Careers
Our 200-hour training prepares you to:
Teach in community centers, shelters, or studios with trauma-informed tools.
Pursue advanced certifications in prison yoga, eating disorder recovery, addiction recovery, cancer recovery, trauma recovery, or 2SLGBTQI+ inclusivity.
Advocate for accessible, decolonized wellness in your community.
Our Lineage: Adaptation as Tradition
Śri Krishnamacharya & T.K.V. Desikachar pioneered personalized yoga. We honor their work by:
Emphasizing trauma-informed foundations over prescriptive cues.
Training teachers to adapt practices for marginalized communities (e.g., refugees, neurodivergent students).
Melanie Taylor’s Journey:
Melanie (she/her), Director of Education at Eat Breathe Thrive, has 32 years of experience applying Viniyoga across life stages:
Neurobiology: Integrates nervous system regulation into teacher training.
Mentorship: Guides graduates to ethically serve communities before specializing.
Explore Viniyoga’s Core Principles
Dive deeper with our video series on adapting yoga for trauma-sensitive, socially conscious teaching:
Function Over Form: Prioritizing accessibility over aesthetics.
Breath & Adaptation: Nervous system regulation tools for all bodies.
Yoga 4 Cancer, Trauma Recovery & Beyond: How our graduates use these foundations to pursue specialized certifications.
