The Breathe Network’s course, Embodied Healing: Trauma-Informed Yoga and Meditation for Sexual Assault Survivors, is co-taught by a team of 16 instructors, all of whom are seasoned professionals in the realms of trauma, psychology, sexual assault, yoga, and meditation. We have designed this course to be an accessible and empowering way for survivors to embark upon or deepen their healing through sustainable and holistic practices.

Over the 8 modules, you will learn about trauma-informed yoga and meditation from a variety of lenses and instructors, and that learning will be bookended with an accessible introduction to cutting-edge insights on stress and resilience physiology, managing triggers and flashbacks, self-care, and more.

We invite you to learn more about the amazing community of teachers that will be your guides and resources during the length of this healing immersion and perhaps, beyond.

Module 1 – How Trauma Impacts the Nervous System and the Wisdom of Survival Part 1

Since 1998, Jessica Schaffer, Nervous System Health Educator, has been guiding people towards a more authentic relationship with their bodies and their overall health. Jessica maintained a successful private practice in Portland, Oregon for 20 years where she offered support for individuals seeking personal growth and transformation. She now offers educational and wellness programs that teach people about nervous system regulation and resilience. She is passionate about introducing people to the concept of stress physiology and helping them cultivate tools to better manage and regulate their nervous system responses to stress and trauma. In addition, she runs a professional training program for practitioners who want to incorporate the Nervous System RESET approach into their clinical practices. A graduate of The Oregon School of Massage, Jessica holds a license in Massage Therapy. In addition, she is recognized as a Master Teacher in the Usui Shiki Ryoho lineage of Reiki and has been teaching since 2002. From 2014-2017, she was a Certification Trainer and representative of TRE® (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises®) where she honed her understanding of working with the body’s natural recovery response of tremor release. Ultimately, her unique methodology of working with the body and its natural recovery response lead her to the creation and curation of the Nervous System RESET approach which was launched in 2017.

Module 2 – How Trauma Impacts the Nervous System and the Wisdom of Survival Part 2

Mind-body medicine has been the central focus of Peter Gold’s academic and clinical career. His master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation both examined how the body can be used to engage, heal and transform the psyche. By working with the roots of issues – in addition to their manifestations – core dynamics are addressed and transformed so that life can be a richer, more meaningful and more fluid experience. In his clinical work, Peter focuses on supplementing traditional talk therapy with meditative movement. He maintains a private counseling practice open to kids, adolescents, adults and couples. Integrating movement into talk-therapy is his specialty.

Nkem Ndefo is the founder of Lumos Transforms and the creator of the Resilience Toolkit. She is a skilled practitioner, dynamic speaker and valued strategist. Nkem is known for her unique ability to connect with people of all types by holding powerful healing spaces, weaving complex concepts into accessible narratives and creating synergistic and collaborative learning communities that nourish people’s innate capacity for healing, wellness and connection.

Module 3 – The Benefit of Integrating Mind, Body and Soul Inclusive Practices within Trauma Recovery Part 1

Kate Busby is an Oregon Medical Board Licensed Acupuncturist committed to helping people who are suffering and want to find healing. She believes in the original meaning of the word health, which comes from the Old English hælþ, meaning “wholeness, being whole, sound or well, integrity,” For Kate, healing doesn’t just mean alleviating symptoms. By definition, healing is about integration and connectedness. Because of this, her practice is focused on holistically treating the impacts of trauma on the body. She works to support a return to physiological regulation and a felt sense of safety while repairing the ways untreated shock and developmental trauma disrupt healthy physical and emotional functioning. She is also trained and certified in Somatic Experiencing (SE), a biophysiological method of trauma resolution created by Peter Levine, as well as Somatic Resilience and Regulation, a method of trauma healing specifically oriented towards developmental trauma created by Kathy Kain and Steve Terrell.

Ryan Maher is a licensed and board certified psychotherapist in Seattle, Washington and he is the creator of Inner World Therapy. He works with couples, adolescents and adults navigating life stressors, complex anxiety, depression and general un-fulfillment. Specific concerns often include relationships, identity, spirituality, grief, impulsive or compulsive patterns, sexuality and major life transitions. Ryan also specializes in working with adults who’ve experienced difficult childhoods, developmental trauma and sexual violence. He brings warmth, compassion and an affirming energy to the therapy process.

Module 4 – The Benefit of Integrating Mind, Body and Soul Inclusive Practices within Trauma Recovery Part 2

Jane Clapp is a mindful strength and movement coach, trauma-informed embodied resilience educator, and Jungian analyst in training. As an expert educator and mentor, internationally recognized speaker, author, and media consultant, Jane takes an interdisciplinary approach that goes beyond mindfulness, to enmesh each client’s physical condition with the psychological and emotional aspects of themselves. After more than two decades in the health industry—and through extensive personal and professional exploration—Jane has shaped a multifaceted practice that weaves together a variety of movement and therapeutic paradigms into a fluid yet practical and effective methodology. Riffing off of a biopsychosocial model, Jane considers the body and movement as some of the most powerful alchemic tools for shaping the mind and believes that, with enough support and resourcing, each of us has the power to free ourselves from the shackles of past struggles, traumas and health issues that limit both our recovery process and our potential to lead happy and bountiful lives. With training in a wide range of wellness modalities—including various strength and conditioning methodologies, master-level Reiki training, ELDOA Method, Tensegrity Touch Therapy, yoga, pre- and post-natal fitness and personal training, as well as Torture, Trauma Psychosocial Impact & Mental Health from the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture—Jane works to create safe spaces for people to show up, be seen and share their authentic, courageous selves in all their messy glory and complexity. 

Jennifer Patterson is a grief and trauma worker who uses plants, breath, and words to explore survivorhood, body(ies) and healing. She is an herbalist who makes remedies and has a consultation practice, facilitates 1:1 and small group breathwork sessions, and a writer and writing workshop facilitator. Her practice supports people of all genders who are looking to address trauma, grief, loss, depression, anxiety, substance use and misuse, c-PTSD & PTSD and more, as well as those who are looking to invite in more clarity, purpose, intentionality, joy, connection to themselves and/or spirit, and ease into their lives. She has worked with many different people navigating a whole host of what comes our way in life. Much of her work has been directly in service to and with survivors of sexual violence, in particular queer, transgender and gender non-conforming survivors. She is the editor of and contributing writer to Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from within the Anti-Violence Movement and the author of The Power of Breathwork: Simple Practices to Promote Wellbeing.

Module 5 – Understanding Trauma-Informed Yoga and How it Can Increase Resilience After Trauma

Mark Gerow is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) certified in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. He uses Emotional Freedom Technique, trauma sensitive tools based on Somatic Experiencing, Forest Bathing, trauma-sensitive yoga, and tension and trauma releasing exercises, as well as various meditation and breath techniques to help clients manage anxiety, pain, relief, triggers, insomnia and other symptoms. He was the Mind Body Spirit Director at Mountainside Treatment Center in Connecticut and is also the founder and creator of Lunar Rhythms Yoga. He draws on a very diverse background including his service as a survival instructor in the US Air Force, his work as an actor in New York City and his unique blend of flowing yoga which combines various styles and other elements such as chakras, ayurveda, yoga therapy and organic movement.

Zabie Yamasaki, M.Ed., RYT is widely recognized for her intentionality, soulful activism, and passionate dedication to her field. She is currently the Program Director of Trauma Informed Programs at UCLA and is the Founder of Transcending Sexual Trauma through Yoga, an organization with the mission of empowering survivors to heal through the practice of yoga. Zabie is a leader in the field and a key player in establishing trauma-informed yoga as an effective and evidence-based healing modality for survivors of sexual assault. Her trauma-informed yoga program and curriculum for sexual assault survivors is now being implemented at over 25 colleges campuses and trauma agencies including the University of California (UC) system, Stanford, USC, University of Notre Dame, and Johns Hopkins University. Zabie received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Social Behavior and Education at the University of California, Irvine, and completed her graduate work in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs at The George Washington University. Zabie received her 200-hour yoga teacher training certification through Core Power Yoga and attended a 40-hour workshop on trauma-sensitive yoga instruction through the Justice Resource Institute at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She is currently writing the book: Trauma-Informed Yoga for Survivors of Sexual Assault which will be published by W. W. Norton & Company and is expected to be released in 2022.

Manisha Tare is a healing arts practitioner focused on supporting people to heal trauma through connecting with their bodies through offering modalities such as cranial sacral therapy, therapeutic yoga, somatic and embodiment practices. She helps her clients to feel the connection between their minds, bodies and spirits. These modalities facilitate the release of old, outdated patterns, address structural and energetic mis-alignments that may be the cause of physical and emotional pain. They help create a sense of safety and grounding in people’s bodies. Manisha studied occupational therapy at New York University and holds a master’s in public health from Columbia University. Her clients often come to her with symptoms such as headaches, pain, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety as a result of stress, a history of trauma, experiences of grief or loss or an overall lack of balance in their lives.

Module 6 – Understanding Trauma-Informed Meditation and How It Can Increase Resilience After Trauma

Melissa Berry Appleton has been a student of yoga and meditation for over 20 years. Her classes invite people to explore inner landscapes of the body, outer landscapes of the world, passion and creativity, and wise alignment in breath. Currently Melissa is in Buddhist chaplaincy training at Upaya Zen Center. Her current work explores a woman’s aspect in family life, 21st Century Feminist Perspectives, cultural anxiety, addiction, consumption of information technology, time and the greater impact on the future of our world. Melissa lives in Kelowna B.C. and teaches yoga classes, workshops, retreats and is also a member of The Breathe Network.

Lisa Erickson is an energy worker specializing in women’s energetics and sexual trauma healing, and author of Chakra Empowerment for Women from Llewellyn Publishing. She helps women maximize and balance their energy during key life transits such as pregnancy, post-partum, perimenopause and menopause, including balancing the mother-child energy line. She also works with women to heal emotional wounds on an energy level from abuse and assault. She is certified in mindfulness meditation instruction and trauma sensitivity, and has trained in a variety of healing modalities including with internationally acclaimed healer and author Cyndi Dale. She is certified in Feeding Your Demons through Lama Tsutrim Allione. She is a member of the International Association of Meditation Instructors, the American Holistic Health Association, the Energy Medicine Practitioners Association, and The Breathe Network, a non-profit dedicated to supporting holistic healing and healers for sexual trauma survivors. Lisa is passionate about helping any woman connect with their energy bodies. 

Hiroko Demichelis is a registered clinical counselor in the province of British Columbia Canada and a certified expert in the use of neurofeedback and biofeedback. Her credentials also include training and cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR, an evidence-based trauma healing technique. She also trained in mindfulness at Bangor University in the UK. Hiro is also an accredited counselor with British Columbia’s Crime Victim Assistance Program and a member of The Breathe Network.

Module 7 – Compassionate Collaboration with Your Body: Resourcing Before, During and After Triggers and Flashbacks

Laura Khoudari’s mission is to increase access to somatic based treatment for women living with trauma, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain in order to help them restore a healthy nervous system, get in touch with their innate resilience, restore their quality of life, and thrive through strength coaching and personal training.

Module 8 –  Self-Care: Nourishing the Nonlinear Process of Healing

Lara Veon is a Holistic Psychotherapist with a private practice in the Chicago land area. She’s a body-inclusive practitioner. Her clinical work is grounded in somatic psychotherapy and emphasizes the healing of the mind, body and spirit connection. She holds a Master’s degree in Community Counseling from Loyola University Chicago and a Master’s degree in teaching from Webster University. She has supplemented her education with postgraduate training in somatics, equine assisted psychotherapy, trauma and neuroscience. In addition to her clinical practice she provides trauma-informed counseling consultation for Beacon Academy, an independent High School in Evanston, Illinois and Mindful Practices, an organization bringing yoga and holistic wellness programs to schools and educators around the world.

Greg Wieting is a healer and trauma expert. For nearly 20 years he’s run a private healthcare practice resolving trauma patterns to heal chronic pain, anxiety, depression, migraines, insomnia, autoimmune disease and more. He developed PRISMA – a healing system that fuses that latest advances in trauma and neuroscience, energy medicine, somatic and mindfulness based practices, healing touch and advaita vedanta philosophy. He teaches PRISMA to both healers and leaders on the front lines of societal change. 

Facilitator

Molly Boeder Harris is the Founder and Executive Director of The Breathe Network, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and a trauma-informed yoga teacher and trainer (E-RYT). Her own experiences of surviving sexual trauma catalyzed her to enter the trauma healing field in 2003, beginning with her work as a medical and legal advocate with children and adult survivors, a violence prevention educator, and later, as a yoga instructor specializing in working with survivors of sexual trauma. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Studies and a Master’s Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies, which inform the way she holds individual and collective forms of trauma, oppression, and healing close together in her work. Over the last 2 decades of her career and her ongoing healing trajectory, she has found that the practices that encompass the whole person – body, mind and soul – while also attending to the ways in which both trauma and resilience can manifest physiologically, offer the greatest possibility for embodied justice and social change.

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