Open House for 200-Hour BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training 2025
Online | Free
Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session, or join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.Join our live-online Open House to learn more about our third bi-annual scholarship-based 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). In an effort toward dismantling imbalance, IYISF is offering this Yoga Teacher Training in a two-module format: Module 1 with 100% BIPOC teacher trainers and participants and Module 2, for anyone who has taken Module 1 within the past 2 years or yoga teachers who want to certify as an Integral Yoga teacher.
The program’s lead trainers are Mia Velez and Rukmini Ando. The guest trainers in Module 1 are Marc Morozumi and Kamala Damaris Berrio, and in Module 2 Swami Ramananda and Arturo Peal.
Visit our website for more information about the 200-hour BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training.
Our curriculum is based on 40 years of Integral Yoga teacher training tradition coupled with harm-reductive and anti-racist practices. Students will learn skills to become knowledgeable yoga teachers for in-person and online classes.
At the 2 open houses:
⋅ Meet the members of this all-BIPOC teaching staff
⋅ Explore the importance of a program specifically designed to address systemic racism and lack of equity in the yoga community
⋅ Have all of your questions about the training answered
This high-quality training meets the Yoga Alliance standards.
We also offer a second open house on Tuesday, March 25, from 5:30–6:30 pm PT.
About our 2-part training:
Module 1, Yoga Immersion Program, provides a strong foundation for personal and spiritual development. Whether you want to teach others or take your own practice to a deeper level, this module will offer an authentic experience of living Yoga which includes well-rounded, in-depth yoga studies. Click to learn more
Module 2, Yoga Teaching Essentials, provides further understanding of Hatha Yoga and a thorough training in developing the skills necessary to become a confident, knowledgeable Integral Yoga instructor. This module has a newly expanded curriculum in anatomy, teaching methodology and professional development. Already certified teachers are welcome to join to refresh or deepen their teaching skills. Click to learn more.
Testimonials:
“This has been an amazing journey for me. It has helped me to be more accountable to myself and help me to hone my reflective skills even better.” – Jennifer
“Being in a space with everyone and getting to know everyone on a connected, deeper level, going through an intensive yoga training, and knowing that everyone is connected to you on some level is the most exciting part of the training.” – Rachel
“Feeling the benefits in my life, I’ve noticed my interpersonal relationships have been changing and even my relationship with myself. Those are influences in my life that I owe to this training.” – A.G.
Mia Velez, E-RYT 500, entered the Integral Yoga Sangha in 2016 through the kitchen by helping to cook Thursday community lunches and silent retreat meals. In 2018 she was certified as an Integral Yoga teacher to learn more of the IYI approach and be part of the lineage. Mia is a disciple of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu lineage and is highly influenced by her martial arts training. After completing her first 200-hour teacher training in 2008, she began to see undeniable parallels in Yoga and Kung Fu. When she began teaching Kung Fu in 2014, she incorporated Yoga insight and principles in her classes. Her goal in teaching is to connect with the students and to facilitate a safe space for exploration and self-inquiry. Yoga and Kung Fu are integrated into her daily life as a mother, a preschool teacher, and an advocate for gender, race, and class equality through multiple non-profit groups.
Nathalie Rukmini Ando is a Yoga teacher, trainer, and graphic designer, Brazilian of Japanese descent. She lived in Yogaville, VA, where she served as a Yoga teacher, program development director, leadership team member, online courses administrator, DE&I (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) Committee member, and Anti-Racism Task Force member. She has been practicing Yoga since 2004, teaching since 2010, and has been a Yoga teacher trainer since 2022. She is certified in Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Integral Yoga, Raja Yoga, Adaptive, Stress Management, Yoga of Recovery, Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Basics of Ayurveda, and Neuroscience & Yoga. As a teacher, she’s known for her clear instruction and her classes include fun, level-appropriate challenges. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and is a fine artist specializing in oil-on-canvas. You can see her artwork at natiando.art.
