Tess O'Hern

C-IAYT 

Tess has her doctorate degree in Physical Therapy and worked as a PT, Therapy Manager, and Chief Therapist for California Children’s Services in Los Angeles and Orange Counties for 23 years. She created and developed programs for improved therapy services and co-created a new model of therapy service implemented county-wide for 6000 patients with special health care needs.

Tess received her Clinical Yoga Therapist Certification from Loyola Marymount University in 2012 and her C-IAYT in 2017.  She has provided yoga in-services to therapy staff at California Children’s Services and mentored pediatric therapists to incorporate yoga into physical and occupational therapy sessions. She presented on yoga therapy as a guest lecturer in California State University, Long Beach, Physical Therapy Program. 

She is a co-founder and co-director of the AlcheMe Yoga Therapy Program in Irvine, CA, and provides private yoga therapy to clients in person and online. Tess also collaborates with Megan McCarver, MFT, C-IAYT, in the Yoga Expansion Series (YES!), an online mentorship program.  She is currently serving as a volunteer on the International Association of Yoga Therapists Accreditation Committee.

Join Tess for ...

• The Anatomy of Yoga: Science, Synergy and Practice

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, C-IAYT, Ph.D.

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D. is a Corresponding Member of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School retiring as Associate Professor of Medicine and is Director of Research for the Kundalini Research Institute. He has conducted scientific research since 2001 on the efficacy of yoga for mental health, chairs the scientific program committee for the annual conference of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, is editor- in-chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy, medical editor of the Harvard Special Report Introduction to Yoga, and chief editor of the medical textbook The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care.  

Join Sat Bir for ...

• The Scientific Rationale and Evidence for Yoga for Prevention and Treatment of Mental Health Condition

Joy Miyatake

C-IAYT

Joy Miyatake is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Human Design Strategist, and founder of Joyful Presence®. Her work combines body-based trauma support, nervous-system regulation, somatic wisdom, and Human Design-informed strategy to help practitioners and leaders cultivate greater self-trust and grounded presence.

Join Joy for ...

• Your Practice Is Your Mirror: How Your Nervous System, Design, and Self-Trust Shape the Way You Serve

Reggie Hubbard

E-RYT 500

Reggie Hubbard is the founder and Chief Serving Officer of Active Peace. He has done many things, but is most proud of being a caring human, stroke survivor, teacher and wisdom steward, strategist, organizer, spiritual advisor, minister of sound, and devoted seeker of truth, compassion, health, well-being, and justice for all. Through Active Peace, he teaches people from all walks of life to cultivate well-being as a foundation rather than an afterthought, drawing on wisdom, movement, meditation, and sound.

Reggie deeply believes in the power of organizing, conversation, and the collective. His life’s work brings together community, well-being, and engaged citizenship in service of a more connected and balanced world. He has studied with leading teachers in yogic, meditative, and dharmic disciplines and holds the 500-ERYT, YACEP certification from Yoga Alliance with over 1,000 hours of study with teachers including Sri Dharma Mittra, Rod Stryker, Amy Ippoliti, Faith Hunter, and other gifted teachers along the way.  He is also a graduate of the MMTCP (Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program) 2023 cohort with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach as lead teachers.

Reggie has been a featured teacher and thought leader on civic engagement, new consciousness, and social justice for leading publications, podcasts, and platforms including: Be Here Now Network, Kripalu, Mind and Life Institute, Sedona Yoga Festival, SoundsTrue, Upaya Zen Center, Wellbeing Project, and Yoga Journal.  He holds a BA in Philosophy from Yale University, and is on the board of Netroots Nation and the Global Compassion Coalition.

Join Reggie for ...

• Leadership and Resilience from Embodied Practice:  Individual Healing for Collective Liberation

Dr. M. Mala Cunningham

Ph.D., C-IAYT; Yoga Therapist; postdoctoral work in Neuroscience and Integrative Medicine 

Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., is a licensed psychotherapist, author, educator, yoga therapist, and international speaker specializing in Integrative Medicine and Neuro-Yoga Psychology™. She previously served on the University of Virginia nursing and medical school faculty and founded certification programs in Cardiac Medical Yoga, Neuroscience and Yoga, and The Neuroscience of Mental Health. Contact her at www.cardiacyoga.com.

Join Mala for ...

• The Neuro-Yoga Psychology Model: The Science Behind How Yoga Heals

Cathryn Wilson

M.A., APCC, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500

Cathryn Wilson is a therapist, yoga therapist, trained Dance/Movement Therapist, and Director of Soma Yoga Institute. Her work explores the intersection of yoga philosophy, psychology, nervous system regulation, and embodied approaches to healing.

Cathryn holds a master’s degree in counseling and integrates contemporary therapeutic modalities—including somatic psychology, mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, expressive arts, and polyvagal-informed approaches—with the philosophical foundations of yoga. She has completed extensive training in yoga and yoga therapy and has also studied Indian philosophy at the University of Hyderabad in India.

At the heart of Cathryn’s work is an interest in how the wisdom of yoga can move beyond the mat and become a practical framework for navigating suffering, developing greater self-awareness, and living in closer alignment with one’s values. She teaches yoga teachers and therapists to engage with ancient yogic teachings in ways that are thoughtful, psychologically informed, and applicable to contemporary life.
 

Join Cathryn for ...

• Beyond the Mat: The Yoga Sutras as a Therapeutic Framework

Robert Guilmette

C-IAYT, E-RYT 500

Rob Guilmette is a Certified Yoga Therapist and E-RYT 500 who has taught professionally since 2013. He currently teaches yoga in a residential addiction-treatment setting, where he developed a curriculum specifically for people in recovery. His approach is informed by both his professional work and personal experience with substance use and recovery. For further contact email: rob.guilmette.yoga@gmail.com.

Join Robert for ...

• Yoga for People in Addiction Recovery

Susanne Murtha

C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, CPMC, NBC-HWC

Susanne brings 30 years of teaching experience to the practice of making yoga genuinely accessible for people managing pain. A Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and Pain Management Coach, she has worked with hundreds of individuals managing pain. As a Senior Health Coach and subject matter expert in Mindfulness at Hinge Health, she developed articles and shared yoga-aligned audio experiences to support members with chronic pain. Her work is rooted in a personal commitment, born from watching her own mother navigate chronic pain, to help others build sustainable strategies for well-being and life satisfaction — a commitment she has carried through 18 years bringing yoga to rural, underserved communities in the Adirondacks. Her book, Chair Yoga: Practices for Living Well and Easing Pain, will be available in early Summer 2027. Contact her at: susanne@yogahealsus.com

Join Susan for ...

• Tapping Into Chair Yoga and Your Nervous System for Living with Pain

Leila Stuart

BA, LLB, RMT (retired), C-IAYT

Jess Trudeau

E-RYT 500

Jess Trudeau, E-RYT 500 first began practicing yoga in 1999 as a young college student and fell in love with it’s creative nature. The practice has been her foundation through the carnival of life including motherhood and a tumultuous illness with Guilliane-Barre that left her temporarily paralyzed in 2016. She believes her yoga and meditation practice to be the shining light through any darkness on her path as it has helped her recognize the body’s phenomenal potential to overcome.

Join Jess for ...

•  Perimenopause & Beyond: Strengthening Through the Transition

Megan McCarver

 C-IAYT, E-RYT500

Megan McCarver, M.A., C-IAYT, E-RYT500, and IYA, is a dedicated yoga teacher and yoga therapist and has a curious beginner’s mind. Her practice is rooted in the Krishnamacharya lineage and inspired by her students, the Gitananda Parampara, Dr. Sangeeta Biagi, her mentor, and Buddhist traditions from Jack Kornfield, the Mahayana Lineage, and Ayurvedic and Yoga lifestyle by Arun Deva. Megan has contributed to many yoga therapy programs, presented at professional conferences, and written for yoga publications. Today, she offers private yoga therapy sessions, small group classes in medical clinics, mindful meditation online, leads retreats, mentors yoga teachers and healthcare providers, and is co-director of Mental Health and Special Populations and a faculty member at AlcheMe Yoga Therapy School. Megan loves community, and her teaching is described as traditional yoga with a spiritual emphasis on loving kindness, compassion, and application of worldview to transform healing to thriving.

Join Megan for ...

•  Meditation for Positive Mindset: Transform Healing to Thriving

   

Dr. Ela Manga

MBBCh(Wits), DCH(SA),DipObst(SA), CBP, Integrative Medicine Practitioner

Dr Ela Manga is an integrative medical doctor, author, speaker and breathwork practitioner. For more than two decades, her work has explored the relationship between the body, breath, energy, stress and our capacity to live well.

She is the founder and CEO of Breathwork Africa, an organisation dedicated to bringing the science and practice of conscious breathing into healthcare, leadership, communities and everyday life. Her work sits at the meeting point of modern medicine, neuroscience, embodied practice and ancient wisdom.

Ela is the author of BREATHE: Strategising Energy in the Age of Burnout, which explores how we can understand and work with our energy in a culture of chronic stress, and UMOYA: The Science and Wonder of Conscious Breathing, which offers a medical and experiential exploration of the breath, inspired by her work and experience in the South African context.

Her teaching is grounded in a simple premise: the body is not an obstacle to wellbeing; it is one of our most intelligent pathways into it. She speaks and teaches internationally, bringing together scientific understanding and lived experience in ways that are accessible, practical and deeply human.

She lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact her at www.drelamanga.com.

Join Ela for ...

•  Burnout to Breathing: Reclaiming the Intelligence of the Body and Breath

Christine McArdle

MA, Author, E-RYT 500

Christine dove into a yoga practice as a first year, elementary school teacher in 1990. It did not take long for her to understand the emotional balance, clarity of mind and strength she felt being in Yoga class provided essential therapeutic life tools that helped her manage the high stress of her demanding career. Since then, the study and practice of Yoga combined with the art and science of teaching have been her life’s work. 

Join Christine for ...

• Yoga Skills for Children's Emotional Regulation

Liz Heffernan

C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, E-RYT 500, MA

Liz Heffernan is a gifted international yoga teacher, a certified Yoga Therapist and long-term practitioner. She combines her in-depth knowledge of anatomy and bio-mechanically safe alignment principles with insights and practical wisdom gained from over 24 years of yoga teaching & immersive study.

She is the Founder and Director of Soma Yoga Institute, a world-wide and ONLINE yoga teacher training school that embraces a therapeutically-oriented, heart-centered approach. These programs, heralded by many as truly inspirational, combine modern day biomechanics and research driven science with ancient teachings and serve to teach adaptive Yoga for all BODIES as a practice for vibrant health, self-transformation and personal empowerment.

In her work as a yoga therapist, Liz specializes in helping seniors age gracefully and is highly skilled in adapting practices to meet the complex health challenges associated with aging. In collaborative partnership with Yoga 4 Brain Health she has co-founded the Memory Maintenance Yoga Teacher Training program that certifies Yoga teachers to help their communities delay the onset of memory loss related diseases through Yoga. Liz also served as a faculty-mentor for the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy supporting professionals on their journey to become yoga therapists.

Liz believes that the path of Yoga brings greater ease, not just to the individual, but to all beings everywhere, and ultimately uplifts planetary consciousness one conscious breath at a time.

Join Liz for ...

• Somatic Movement for Frozen Shoulder: A Nervous System & Fascia-Informed Approach

Becky Michalski

RN, BSN, C-IAYT

Becky Michalski, RN, BSN, C-IAYT, is a registered nurse, Certified Yoga Therapist, and founder of Rooted Radiance Yoga Therapy. With more than 20 years of nursing experience, she integrates clinical knowledge with therapeutic yoga and has worked within cardiac rehabilitation and cancer recovery programs.

 Join Becky for ...

• Meeting the Person, Not the Diagnosis: Lessons from Therapeutic Yoga in Cardiac & Cancer Care

Cheri Ryba

C-IAYT, FME 3, Author

Cheri D. Ryba, C-IAYT, FME 3, is an author and yoga therapist with more than 20 years of experience in movement, self-inquiry, embodiment, yoga, and women’s intimate health. She is the author of Pelvic Yoga Therapy for the Whole Woman: A Professional Guide and has additional training as a Somatic Sexuality Healing Practitioner. Her personal blog can be found at https://www.cheridostalryba.com/

 Join Cheri for ...

• Intimate Inquiry: Whole Person Pelvic Care, Sexuality, and Women’s Fulfillment

Erica Hornthal

MA, LCPC, BC-DMT

Erica Hornthal, MA, LCPC, BC-DMT, known as “The Therapist Who Moves You,” is a licensed clinical professional counselor, board-certified dance/movement therapist, and founder of Chicago Dance Therapy. She earned her MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago and is the creator of Kinesthetic Cognitive Therapy, an approach that bridges movement, cognition, and emotional health. Erica is the author of Body Aware, Body Talk, and The Movement Therapy Deck, and is dedicated to transforming how we understand movement as a powerful tool for mental health and healing.

 Join Erica for ...

•  The Body Knows: Movement, Trauma & the Intelligence of Healing

Robin Rothenberg

C-IAYT

Robin Rothenberg, C-IAYT is an internationally respected yoga therapist specializing in supporting people with respiratory, immune, and structural imbalances to regain their health through the combined tools of yoga and therapeutic breathing practices. Since the pandemic, Robin has particularly focused her work on assisting people with Long-COVID and is considered one of the top yoga therapists in the field on respiratory conditions. In addition to working with clients one-on-one, she trains yoga teachers and therapists to be better equipped to work with students with breathing issues, anxiety, and chronic stress.

Her text Restoring Prana: A Guide to Pranayama and Healing Through the Breath, presciently released in early 2020, has been hailed as one of the most thorough and well-researched books on the topic of pranayama. Restoring Prana, along with its practice companion, The Svadhyaya Breath Journal, serve as the training manuals for her 15-month Restore Your Prana Training Program designed for yoga teachers, therapists, and healthcare professionals. 

Robin has been interviewed on multiple podcasts regarding her knowledge of the breath. She currently serves as interim board president of IAYT. Learn more: https://essentialyogatherapy.com

 Join Robin for ...

•  Understanding Low Back Pain: A Functional, Therapeutic Yoga Approach

Peggy Profant

C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, E-RYT 500

Peggy Profant, E-RYT 500, and Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher, is a playful, passionate and adventurous spirit who is on a lifelong path of Yoga. 

Her first initiation into yoga was through Kripalu, and it gratefully changed the course of her life in her formative teen years.  Yoga provided balance, self discovery, and restoration throughout her academic years in college as she completed studies in Environmental Education and Dance.  

Peggy travelled to India to immerse in the practice of Ashtanga yoga where she met her life partner. Teaching yoga coincided with settling down, raising a family and becoming a massage therapist in 1998.  Later Peggy pursued the rigorous path to become a Certified Anusara Teacher in 2004 and began to delve into more studies of the therapeutic aspects of yoga.  Every class she teaches is a creative expression with meaningful and uplifting heart themes partnered with skillful sequencing and therapeutic alignment. An avid believer in the benefits of meditation, she volunteers her time after classes to lead meditations. Peggy is a thoughtful  and encouraging Life Coach and mentor to many students and yoga teachers in her community and around the globe. It is her wish to empower her students, friends and colleagues to overcome obstacles to self love and allow each person to joyfully offer their gifts back to humanity.  In addition to Yoga, Peggy finds her deepest joys through being in nature, travel and sharing time with family. Peggy founded and operated a premier yoga studio in Arcata, Om Shala Yoga, for 10 years, and co-founded World Family Yoga leading family retreats in Costa Rica. She has been leading workshops, retreats and Yoga Teacher Trainings since 2005. 

Join Peggy for ...

•  The Five Prana Vayus: Breathing, Energy & the Intelligence of the Body

Alicia Cuglietta

E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, TIYT

Alicia Cuglietta, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, TIYT, is a yoga therapist specializing in pelvic health, women's health, chronic pain, anxiety, and nervous system regulation. For more than a decade, she has used trauma-informed yoga therapy to support individuals experiencing anxiety and persistent pain. Over the past five years, she has focused her work on helping women with pelvic floor dysfunction through individualized yoga therapy that integrates movement, breath, and guided relaxation.

Alicia is also the creator and instructor of an IAYT-approved continuing education course on Yoga Nidra/NSDR for yoga professionals. She is passionate about translating pain science and yoga therapy into practical, accessible tools that empower practitioners to better serve their clients' unique needs. 

Join Alicia for ...

•  Beyond Kegels: A Nervous System–First Approach to Pelvic Health