Pain Psychology in Yoga Therapy: Exercises for Self Care

An estimated 20% of adults live with some form of chronic pain, and suffers of chronic pain are often turning to integrative medicine solutions like yoga and yoga therapy to help them live healthier more accessible lives.  Join Somatic Psychologist Dr. Chris Walling, PsyD, C-IAYT, SEP as he introduces the latest research and techniques for yoga therapists in working with chronic pain.  Practical strategies will be introduced in helping clients who live in chronic pain gain greater quality of life through breath work and psychoeducation on working through pain cycles

The Art & Science of Change: Motivational Strategies for Success

Learning how to truly care for our clients - especially those that challenge our skills as a wellness professional - requires motivational skills often beyond the conventional approach.  Learn how to instill client change without confrontation, argument, shame, and wasting precious time through an evidence-based approach used throughout the allied health professions!  Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a research-based strategy to help overcome ambivalence and adjust your language, attitude, style and pace to identify and promote lasting change!

Friday, October 7th:  6 - 8:30 pm ET

The Art & Science of Breath: Heart Rate Variability

As a biomarker for resilience, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a powerful tool to optimize health and performance and help minimize stress and inflammation.  This foundational course will help introduce HRV as a measure to help analyze HRV and use it as a viable tool across multiple breathing exercises (pranayama) to help serve as a pre and post measurement for yoga therapists in the continuum of care

Saturday, October 8th: 9 - 10:45 am ET

Yoga Therapy Today: Clinical Applications & Research 

As the global burden of mental disorders expands post-pandemic, mind-body medicine is increasingly used for treatment and prevention of mood and cognitive disorders worldwide. The use of daily yogic meditation has been studied at multiple laboratories throughout the United States as a cost-effective and accessible intervention to help improve brain health and promote increased resilience. This class will explore the challenges and advances in mind-body medicine today to address the biological mechanisms of stress-related conditions. Through a quest to help build a scientific evidence base for multi-disciplinary applications of yoga therapy, the student will compare and contrast the popular research methods, and evaluate the epistemic responsibilities of yoga therapy practitioners to include often-subjugated yogic knowledge into their research focus. This module will focus on redistributing power to agents that typically have been excluded from participation in contemporary yoga therapy research, while exploring the basics of research design and method.

Saturday, October 8th: 1:30 - 4 pm ET

The Body Never Lies: Trauma Skills for Clinical and Movement Professionals

Where are the resources to inform society of the profound and physical and mental impact of the trauma of our times?  Where is there information on the consequences of such chronic, traumatic stress on social behavior, on their relationships, and on their personal connectedness?  Join Clinical Research Fellow Dr. Chris Walling from the Kinsey Institute’s Traumatic Stress Research Consortium as he explores the poly-vagal informed approaches to mitigating the consequences of the stress of our times.  

Sunday, October 9th: 11 am - 1:30 pm ET

Dr. Chris Walling, PsyD, MBA, C-IAYT, SEP 

is a licensed clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and researcher.  Dr. Walling is an Adjunct Professor of Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and is the Research Chair & Past-President of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. He is a Clinical Research Fellow at the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium located at Indiana University where he also serves on the International Advisory Council at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Dr. Walling is the Vice President of Education & Outreach for the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation and serves as Dean of Faculty at the Embodied Philosophy Institute. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the International Psychoanalytic Association. Dr. Walling maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, California.

PYI’s Continuing Education Courses are:

• Taught by PYI's esteemed yoga therapist faculty and world-renowned guest teachers

• Eligible for Continuing Education credit with Yoga Alliance

• Integrated into our larger programming where possible, honoring our lowest PYI Grad Rate for students enrolled in the 300 Advanced Yoga Teacher or 850-hour Yoga Therapy Program

• Eligible for our BIPOC Leadership Scholarship discount for applicants (limited)

• Unlike other schools, select CE Course are eligible for partial applied credit towards our  300 Advanced Yoga Teacher or 850-hour Yoga Therapy Program - saving you time and money

• Take only one course, and you are eligible for our lowest PYI grade rate for all PYI programming going forward - a $500+ savings