Yoga and the Pelvic Floor and 5 Diaphragms

Start Anytime. Go at your Own Pace.

*25 Hours CE with Yoga Alliance

*23 Hours APD with International Association of Yoga Therapists

In this 25 hour training, we will explore the health of the pelvic floor and the anatomy and function of the 5 diaphragms of the body. Trainees will learn how to teach students with common pelvic floor issues, such as pain, pelvic organ prolapse, and incontinence. We will also discuss working with those born with a prostate. The course is intended for yoga teachers, yoga therapists, health care professionals, midwives, doulas, fitness trainers, massage therapists, and just plain curious practitioners of yoga who want to deepen their practice.

The course includes:

20 hours of videos plus and additional time on reading and short homework.

Course Learning Objectives

Once course is completed you will be able to:

Describe the basic anatomy of the 5 Diaphragms beginning with the feet as
the foundation to diaphragmatic alignment.
Understand how the diaphragms of the body relate to one another, when mis-aligned how this can cause problems in breathing and pain syndromes and how to re-align through a yogic lens.
Understand the 3 layers of pelvic floor muscles and fascia.
Practice a variety of breath techniques for the health and balance of the pelvic floor and offer what’s needed to students based on assessments.
Become curious about pelvic floor pain and symptoms and how they relate to common pelvic floor conditions.
Guide students using trauma sensitive language, basic cues along with adjustments using yoga props.
Understand and develop the eyes to see the connection of all the
diaphragms of the body, accessory muscles and support the students in
feeling the value of practicing with holistic and whole body methods.
Discover asana and sequencing that will benefit both hypertonic (too tight) and hypotonic (too lax) pelvic floor conditions.

Topics to include:

In-depth anatomy of the diaphragms, pelvis, accessory muscle groups and fascia and how they relate to one another and to pelvic floor health.
How posture affects the breathing body, emotional body and the health of the pelvic floor.
Basics of identifying hypertonic vs. hypotonic muscles as well as locked long and locked short muscles groups.
Body reading.
The role of the breath and how it impacts the pelvic floor, surrounding
muscle groups and the emotional body.
Trauma sensitive and gender-neutral language.
Creating a “prescription” for clients to balances hypertonic or hypotonic
muscle groups.
Working with the pregnant client.
Working with cis-male clients.
Using Restorative yoga (passive poses) for increased breath awareness and
pelvic floor health.

Required Book: Pelvic Liberation by Leslie Howard.

All videos and assignments will be self-paced. Please keep in mind that the recommended time to be 60-70% complete will be one month, so that you will be prepared with questions and reflections, for the live calls.

Cost: $397 USD

25 hours Yoga Alliance CE credits. 23 Hour APD with International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Rachel Haskovec

Sam is amazing!

This was my first opportunity to study pelvic floor specifics in a yoga training. I loved how open the conversations were! Since this area of the body is rarely talked about , it was a safe environment to ask questions & hear other people’s experiences. Learning about the musculature of the diaphragms & surrounding muscles in addition to how we can effect changes in those muscles by having better posture & breathing properly was key to understanding overall pelvic health. It was helpful to learn about anatomical neutral & the contributing factors to the shortening or lengthening in the muscles in the pelvis.

The material covered is information that everyone needs to know about pelvic floor health. By teaching specific poses that address hypertonicity & hypotonicity it gives me as a yoga teacher the tools to help people address potentially painful symptoms.

I now incorporate this knowledge into my regular alignment classes & it’s terrific to have conversation strike up so we don’t feel alone or isolated within our own experiences.

Shanie Matthews

This may be one of the best CE courses I’ve ever attended. I’ve learned so much that will not only enhance my own life but my clients’ as well.

I am now sitting in vajrasana instead of easy pose at the beginning and end of my daily yoga, and it’s helping me feel so much more connected to my pelvic floor and breath. I also wanted to mention that I had always wished, in yoga therapy school, there had been more discussion about how to help someone out of inverted breathing. Your videos did that so beautifully, and I now feel equipped to support someone in that situation so much better.

Thank you so much for such a rich and educational course. In gratitude for the time and care you put into the program. You are truly helping the world be a more joyful place.

About Samantha Akers

Samantha is a C-IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist, E-RYT 500 Yoga Instructor and Massages Therapist with an extensive background in structural anatomy and is a certified Massage Therapist, as well as a certified Hatha, Kundalini, and Kids yoga teacher. Sam earned certification as a mindfulness teacher through the Mindfulness Institute of Berkley. She has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1999.

Sam's love of therapeutic yoga inspired her to open TheraYoga Studio, in Los Angeles Ca. From there she went on to develop the TheraYoga Method, which is not only a 200 and 300 hour teacher training, but also encompasses smaller trainings and workshops in Restorative Yoga, Mindfulness and Yoga for Special Conditions, Fascial Fitness in Asana and Yin Yoga.

Find out more about Sam here: https://www.therayogamethod.com/about

Marlo Drago

Sam’s soul oozes with love and gratitude and that spills over to her students. Her zest and love for what she does makes you feel safe, loved, and excited to delve into self-study. She taught me how to calm my mind, open my heart, and know that it will be OK.

Melanie Gingerich

I came to Therayoga with some spinal injuries and associated back and hip pain, and took a restorative yoga class with Samantha. After 12 years of being a yoga student, it was such a wonderful surprise to be introduced to this wonderful type of healing yoga. Samantha truly has a gift she empowers her students to take the best care of themselves!

Yes, I'm In.