Subtle® Yoga Trainings for Behavioral Health Professionals

Description

Subtle® Yoga courses are a unique offering of holistically-oriented, mind-body behavioral healthcare. You are welcome to take any Subtle® Yoga modules on an individual basis or sign up for all three modules in the series at the reduced rate.

Subtle® Yoga is an exceptionally adaptable, person-centered approach to yoga practice which may be tailored to meet the needs of clients with differing abilities. It fosters the development of attention and mindfulness, and promotes spiritual development in the context of any belief system. Please dress in layers and wear comfortable clothing in which you may freely move. You are welcome to bring a yoga mat.

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Subtle® Yoga for Chronic Pain
Friday, April 10th, 2026

Chronic pain poses a significant public health problem which is complex, difficult to treat, and, according to some estimates, costs the United States more than $600 billion per year. Research suggests that, due to the risk of opioid abuse, addiction, and diversion in the treatment of chronic pain, a broad and integrated approach is essential. Chronic pain is best understood as a psychophysiological behavior pattern that cannot be separated into distinct, independent psychosocial and physical components. An approach to chronic pain that incorporates evidence-based somatic and cognitive interventions such as yoga can help clients reduce stress, control pain, and use less medication.

Studies have shown that chronic pain leads to structural brain alterations, including decreased gray matter volume within nociceptive inhibitory pathways and reduced white matter integrity affecting neural connectivity. According to Catherine Bushnell, scientific director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Practicing yoga has the opposite effect on the brain as does chronic pain."

In this one-day workshop, participants are introduced to Subtle® Yoga techniques which may help reduce chronic pain and foster neuroplasticity, including chair yoga practices, meditation, breathing practices, grounding, and self-massage. The opportunity to practice yoga during the workshop will help participants learn to guide clients through basic yoga techniques to improve client outcomes.

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Applying Subtle Yoga® Clinical Techniques for Reducing Anxiety and Depression
Thursday and Friday, August 13th and 14th, 2026

Approximately 23.08% of American adults experienced a mental illness in 2024, equivalent to nearly 60 million people. In April 2024, 21% of US adults reported experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms (US Census Bureau). On an annual basis, mental health issues cost the US economy more than $280 billion, with an impact comparable to that of a recession (Sperling 2024). On both anxiety and depression measures, the US. ranks just below Monaco, Finland, and Gabon on depression and just below Peru, Greece, and Cyprus on anxiety. Statistics over time reveal a continued decline in mental health, relative to anxiety and depression, both overall and in relation to other countries.

Research has shown that Yoga reduces stress hormones, increases neuroplasticity, reduces emotional reactivity and rumination, increases attention regulation, mind-body awareness, and resilience.

In this training, a history of the yoga tradition and its evolution in the United States will be reviewed to provide insight into yoga's key theoretical principles and its relationship to behavioral health theory and practice. Through an integration of traditional knowledge with scientific findings, participants will learn the neuroscientific underpinnings of the physiological and psychological connection between yoga and mental health. Even more importantly, moving from theory to practice, participants will learn how to implement accessible Subtle® Yoga techniques including postures, breathing, meditation and ethics. Skills to support the application of yoga across the spectrum of behavioral health care (treatment, aftercare, prevention, and health promotion) will be presented. Case studies incorporating yoga into behavioral health care will be provided, as well as a highly-relevant research review.

Subtle® Yoga is an exceptionally adaptable, trauma-informed approach to yoga practice. It is person-centered and may be tailored to meet the needs of clients with differing abilities and preferences. It fosters a balance between psychological, spiritual, and physical function, and provides a foundation for mindful awareness.

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Subtle® Yoga for Trauma, Addiction and Recovery
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - November 11th, 12th and 13th, 2026

The National Council for Behavioral Health (2022) reports that 70% of adults in the United States have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. That's 223.4 million people. Research consistently demonstrates a substantial overlap between the experience of trauma and the presence of substance use disorders. General population surveys indicate that approximately 75% of individuals who meet the criteria for a substance use disorder have also experienced a traumatic event at some point in their lives. This high percentage underscores the strong association between these two conditions within the broader community. Notably, the rates of trauma exposure are even higher among individuals actively seeking treatment for a substance use disorder, with some studies reporting that up to 95% of them have a history of trauma. This data underscores the importance of treatment approaches which both acknowledge and address this reality.

Yoga offers a holistically-oriented, cost-effective approach that complements current treatment strategies for mental health and substance use disorders. Murali Doraiswamy MBBS, a Duke University researcher, conducted a systematic review of yoga in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. He concluded that, "If the promise of yoga for effective mental health care was found in a drug, it would be the best-selling medication worldwide."

Yoga is currently being incorporated into the Veterans Administration's treatment protocols for PTSD and complex trauma. It is also being employed as an adjunctive therapy in addiction treatment and recovery centers across the United States. In this 3-day training, participants will be able to explore the intersection of Subtle® Yoga and addiction and trauma recovery. Subtle® Yoga techniques are presented to encourage resilience, self-regulation, self-soothing, and to facilitate healing of the nervous system and brain. Participants will be introduced to a yoga-informed, biopsychosocial-spiritual model that addresses treatment as well as recovery, prevention, and health promotion. Principles of trauma-informed yoga are emphasized, as participants integrate Subtle® Yoga into individual and group sessions designed to help clients tolerate and shift unwanted feelings in the body, and to experience the body as a friend and ally in the healing process.

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Target Audience

Mental health professionals including Substance Use Counselors, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Psychologists, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, School Counselors, and other professionals interested in this subject

Faculty

• Brett Sculthorp, LCSW, LCAS, CPS
• Kristine Kaoverii T. Weber, MA, c-IAYT, eRYT500