Reaching In

Reaching Out

Join Our Online Training: Learn how to share yoga and mindfulness in a trauma-informed, anti-oppressive and relational framework

As New Leaf Foundation closes our doors, we remain committed to ensuring that our resources continue to benefit the community. We’re pleased to offer this training to the public for free until August 15, 2025. This course will be entirely learner-directed, with no faculty or staff support. While it’s great to credit sources you learned from, please note that this is not a certification course, and we ask that you do not reference your initiative as a New Leaf Foundation program.

Over 9 modules, you will learn about anti-oppression practices, the impacts of trauma, and New Leaf Foundation’s frameworks for offering yoga and mindfulness. Topics include considerations for fostering safer spaces, establishing healthy boundaries, strategies to effectively hold space and build engagement, and more.

You'll learn:

  • The significance of anti-oppression practices
  • Fundamentals of trauma and neurophysiology
  • Comprehensive framework for delivering yoga and mindfulness
  • Four trauma-informed techniques aimed at fostering resilience
  • Considerations for creating safer spaces
  • Strategies for building youth engagement
  • Strengths-based ways to work with challenges
  • Our set of 6 core teachings that shape our session content
  • How to build a session based on our class model

Shaped by invaluable contributions from youth, youth workers, trauma specialists, social justice advocates, and yoga and mindfulness facilitators, this comprehensive training includes 5 hours of video content, New Leaf Foundation’s Training Guidebook, an 8-week curriculum facilitation guide, a library of teaching tools, reflection questions, quizzes and a final assignment.

Frequently Asked Questions

This training is ideal for yoga teachers, yoga teachers-in-training, and seasoned mindfulness/yoga practitioners in service-oriented fields, particularly those working with youth such as educators or youth-service providers. You’ll find this training valuable if you seek deeper insights into trauma, anti-oppression practices, and inclusive, accessible approaches to offering mindfulness and yoga practices to others.

Not at all! While initially designed for New Leaf Foundation’s program facilitators, this training is open to individuals from various backgrounds. It has been valuable for educators, service providers, and anyone seeking to deepen their knowledge of trauma and anti-oppression practices.

While our methodologies were initially designed for youth aged 10-24, the content is flexible and can be adapted to various yoga service and non-service environments.

No, this training is not a yoga teacher certification program. It is intended as a supplementary course to complement a foundational 200-hour yoga teacher training.

No, this is not a certification course and we ask that you do not reference your initiative as a New Leaf Foundation program. All New Leaf programs—which have always been directly overseen and managed by our organization—have officially come to a close.

This training typically requires a commitment of approximately 2 hours per module. This includes video content, reading materials, and engaging in self-reflection exercises. In total, participants can expect to invest around 18-20 hours throughout the duration of the training.

The online training is led by past and current senior members of the New Leaf Foundation team. Our faculty includes Julia Gibran, jamilah malika abu-bakare, Laura Sygrove, Rochelle Miller, Amanda Nicholls, and Andre Talbot. With their extensive backgrounds in mindfulness, yoga, and youth advocacy, they bring years of expertise to guide participants through the training. You can read their bios here.

The training is comprised of 9 modules, each featuring video content, reading materials, and reflection exercises.

  1. Foundations & Frameworks: Provides an introduction to the online training, New Leaf Foundation, and our guiding principles.
  2. Connection & Boundaries: Centres relationships as the heart of our work and shares strategies for establishing healthy boundaries.
  3. Prevention & Intervention: Offers youth engagement strategies and strengths-based ways to address challenges.
  4. Power & Identity: Introduces anti-oppression, power, identity, and shares actionable ways to keep up with your anti-oppression practice.
  5. Trauma & Resilience: Provides an overview of how trauma affects our bodies, brains, and behaviours.
  6. Core Methodology: Discusses our four techniques for offering trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness.
  7. Program Objectives: Introduces our set of 6 core teachings and shares how to offer mindfulness practices to youth.
  8. Facilitation Tools: Outlines our toolbox of considerations for fostering safer spaces and details our yoga pose guidelines.
  9. Creating a Session: Explores our class model, yoga sequencing, and offers tips for how to start and end your program.
  10. Final Assignment

What Participants Say

“I found the instructors to be engaging and the material was clearly delivered. I enjoyed the additional readings, videos, and the manual. The manual is excellently written and accessible.”
Participant
Reaching In, Reaching Out
"I can apply these lessons to any class I teach"
Participant
Reaching In, Reaching Out
"I really liked the mix of videos, the teacher guidebook, reflection time and additional recommended resources."
Participant
Reaching In, Reaching Out
“Thank you for offering your wisdom and teachings in this format. As a mother with part-time yoga income, travelling to trainings is not something that is within reach right now.”
Participant
Reaching In, Reaching Out
"The content is clear, easy to follow and engaging. I really like the open forum discussions and consistent check-ins with participants."
Participant
Reaching In, Reaching Out
"I found the training very informative and felt that all the instructors were very knowledgeable but also open to feedback."
Participant
Reaching In, Reaching Out