Special Yoga for
Special Needs
Senior Practitioner
Training Level One
Course Starts 2025
Open to graduates of our foundation training
The Magic Continues
Remember life before Special Yoga? You will have started the magical journey that is practising Special Yoga when you joined us on one of our Foundation Courses.
Having shared the practices with the special children and adults in your life you’ll know how effective they can be - especially when shared by you and the uniquely beautiful qualities you bring to the work.
Now it’s time to take a deeper dive into understanding yourself and how you show up to share with those in your care.
It’s time to expand your toolbox, authentically embody the practices and fine hone your skills.
By the completion of this senior practitioner training course you’ll be ready to hold a kinder and more useful space for the children and adults in your care.
You will have the confidence to translate your learning to whomever is in front of you, seeing and uncovering their true potential beyond the diagnosis or label, beyond whatever anyone told you their limitations were.
You’ll be ready for more magical moments.
What You’ll Learn
Start With A Refresher
Whether you started your journey with Special Yoga months ago or years ago we’ve got it covered!
The course starts with a refresher of the key elements of the methodology and a chance to share how you’ve been using them, what has helped develop your own empathy, patience and resilience and what has best supported those in your care.
Deepen Your Personal Practice
Time and again when running our courses we witness personal transformation - people come to the course looking for ways to support the child and come away having found a lifelong habit of self care. A training which is '“the most life changing that I have experienced, real heart centred yoga in it’s purest and most authentic form. I will forever be grateful” - Emily
Build On Your Foundation
On your foundation course you were introduced to foundational levels practices of Pranayama, Asana, Singing and Sound, Massage and Energy and Mindfulness.
Having embodied and employed these, you are now ready to be introduced to a more advanced level. You’ll practise each yourself to embody and understand how and when they are best used.
Adapt To The Situation
As you deepen your personal practice and your understanding and use of Special Yoga, your ability to authentically translate your learning to serve more diverse populations and abilities will grow. At this Advanced Level you’ll learn how to be completely adaptable to working with all conditions and be ready to support babies and adults.
Discover New Tools
Alongside the disciplines you’ve been using, you’ll be discovering more tools to add to your repertoire and it starts with an understanding of Polyvagal Theory. From here you’ll be introduced to Yoga Nidra, Relaxation and Restorative Yoga and as you learn to regulate your thoughts, emotions and actions you are better able to support those in your care to do the same.
Expand Your Reach
Towards the end of the course you’ll have the opportunity to learn how to develop, brand and market your business. We know it isn’t in everyone’s life plan to run a business so this module is optional. If you do take the plunge expect to come away with a business and marketing plan and to have been introduced to cost effective tools to bring it all to life.
One Course, Three Routes To Learning
Community Learning
You’ll already know that the Special Yoga community is a supportive learning environment. Together with your fellow students you’ll join a series of five live webinars lead by our most senior practitioners and teachers.
The four live study groups also provide the opportunity to to learn from each other as you work through study group assignments set specifically to draw out what you’ve all learned and help develop your skills to share.
Self Guided Learning
As soon as you book your place you’ll have access to the foundation level pre-recorded videos. There’s also a ‘revision’ section at the start of the course so you can remind yourself of the most important foundational practices. The course space exclusively for the students on this course can be accessed via desktop, tablet or mobile phone enabling you to access the self guided pre-recorded elements of the course at the optimum time for you to learn. The content is time released throughout the course so you can pace yourself as you go. You can access the videos for six months post course for ongoing support.
There are four personal assignments to work through with constructive feedback from your assigned teacher.
One To One Coaching
When you commit to our Senior Level Training L1 you’re starting on a pathway of potential which could lead you to our inner circle - you’ll be eligible to book onto the L2 advanced training and then may be invited to join a small group of study group leaders and trainers who help our mission become a reality - to support trainees online and to take our courses out into communities around the world because more practitioners mean we reach more special children and adults.
If you want to:
Progress your learning from Foundation to Senior level and step onto a pathway of potential.
Understand the true value of a great-centred embodied practice to being of service.
Enable deeper connections to the purity and innocence of the children in your care.
Develop a lifelong habit of Self Care, enhancing your wellbeing, resilience, empathy and patience.
………..then this course is for you
Testimonials for Special Yoga for Special Needs Level One
This course has opened my mind, it let me see our values and others', to equalise everyone, to see everybody has a right to shine and to comprehend that if we understand Special Yoga as it is, our little seeds and small actions can make big changes. Everyone is special and this course let me see it. - Cristina
Special Yoga has been a wonderful discovery for me and being able to share with my students is simply amazing! I feel so lucky and blessed. - Emma Jane
A course with Special Yoga will touch your heart and change your life. Completing this course will give you all the skills you need to confidently share Yoga with special children and at the same time bring an awareness of the value of practising self-compassion. - Rebekah
On this course I learnt so much about myself, I gained a huge insight into being an authentic learner that gave my personal practice a huge shift, and really changing my interaction and teachings with others. This course has given me so much confidence in myself to be in the best place with students I work with. - Laura
The 'Special Yoga for Special Children Advanced Level One' course at Special Yoga has enriched my practice. It comes highly recommended for professionals and relatives who seek understanding and knowledge about the nervous system, self-regulation, and strategies through therapeutic yoga. - Anne
Introducing Your Teachers
Christine Godwin
Christine is one of our Senior Practitioners with extensive experience both in supporting her beautiful child Jacob, who has downs syndrome, and other children and adults with special needs. With heartfelt commitment Christine supports the organisation in a variety of ways
Jyoti Jo Manuel
With her depth of knowledge and many years of experience, Jyoti Jo Manuel is recognised by many as one of the worlds leading authorities on therapeutic yoga for children. Her personal
yoga journey started in 1974 and she began teaching in 1989.
In 2002 Jyoti founded Special Yoga, a global organisation established to provide and develop sustainable and accessible yoga programmes for children with special and additional needs.
Special Yogas work reaches across education, therapeutic settings and within the home. Jyoti has travelled extensively implementing Special Yoga programmes in orphanages, social care, education and health care and for paediatric therapists and psychologists.
As founder, lead and spiritual head of Special Yoga she has trained senior practitioners to support the effective and impactful delivery of Special Yoga into local councils, academies and
individual special schools and specialist provisions to provide training in therapeutic yoga for children with special needs.
Tory Campbell
Based in Belfast, Tory is our Northern Ireland special yoga lead. She has worked with adults with learning disability and autism since 2008 and has been part of Special Yoga since 2015. She has experience of sharing yoga with children and adults who have a wide range of additional needs.
Tory is passionate about sharing the many benefits of yoga, meeting each person where they are at and helping them move towards their potential. She feels drawn to the energetic connection of working 1:1 with individuals, especially those who have more complex needs. As well as working 1;1, Tory loves offering family sessions, when appropriate, and witnessing how the shared experience can encourage the development of a regular home practice. Also, with her background in working with adults with learning disability, Tory loves sharing chair and mat yoga with this population.
On This Course You Get….
A Resource library containing the videos from your foundation training, this is available to you as soon as you book your place
Sixteen hours of live teaching, group study and coaching
Sixteen hours of pre-recorded video, written lessons and assignments at senior practitioner level
To learn from teachers with over 90 years of combined teaching experience
To share the joy of your exploration and use of Special Yoga with a supportive and understanding community
…..so book now
