Yoga for Neurodivergence | LIVESTREAM
Charli Van Ness | 10am–6pm | 29-30 Aug 2026 | 20 hours | £325
Are you a yoga teacher, facilitator, or wellness professional looking to deepen your understanding of neurodiversity?
Join our 2-day live online course, “Teaching Yoga for Neurodivergence,” designed to equip you with the knowledge, tools and confidence to create inclusive, sensory-aware, and empowering yoga experiences for neurodivergent students . The training offers insights relevant to working with both children and adult students.
Through interactive workshops, practical teaching exercises, and expert guidance from a psychotherapist specializing in neurodivergence, you’ll explore topics like sensory processing, emotional regulation, adaptive cueing, and nervous system literacy. By the end of this course, you’ll have a ready-to-use framework for teaching yoga safely and compassionately to a diverse range of learners, while honoring the unique needs, strengths, and experiences of each individual.
This course can be taken as a stand-alone course or it can be allocated as a 20-hour elective module on our 300-hour yoga teacher training programme.
“1 in 5 people are neurodivergent — is your yoga class ready for them?”
“Did you know many neurodivergent students experience classes differently? Lighting, sound, movement cues and language all impact their ability to focus and feel safe.”
Yoga for Neurodivergence overview
This training is for yoga teachers and wellness professionals who want to teach in a way that truly honors difference. Whether you’ve noticed neurodivergent students in your classes, are neurodivergent yourself, or simply want to make your teaching more accessible, this course will give you the understanding, language, and tools to do so with confidence and compassion.
You’ll learn how to recognize sensory and emotional needs, adapt your cues and sequencing, and create yoga experiences that support regulation, autonomy, and belonging for every student.
Who is the course suitable for?
Yoga Teachers & Trainee Teachers
- Certified yoga teachers who want to adapt their classes for neurodivergent students.
- Trainee yoga teachers currently in training who want to build inclusive skills early.
- Teachers who have noticed ND students in their classes and want more confidence supporting them.
Yoga Therapists, Mindfulness Teachers & Somatic Practitioners
- Professionals working therapeutically or somatically who want to integrate ND-awareness into 1:1 or group sessions.
- Those exploring trauma-informed or polyvagal-informed practice seeking a neurodiversity-affirming extension.
Movement & Wellbeing Professionals
- Pilates, dance, somatics, or bodywork instructors who want to understand how ND needs affect movement, attention, and sensory processing.
- Life coaches, breathwork facilitators, or mindfulness trainers who want to expand accessibility.
Educators & Mental Health Practitioners (Allied Fields)
- Occupational therapists, counsellors, or psychotherapists who incorporate yoga or mindfulness into their work.
- Educators or support workers in schools, higher education, or community wellbeing who use yoga-inspired movement.
This training may not be for you if:
- You are seeking a clinical qualification or diagnostic training (it is not diagnostic or therapeutic in nature).
- You are looking for high-intensity vinyasa or physically demanding teaching — this course focuses on sensitivity and inclusion over performance.
“This training warmly welcomes neurodivergent teachers and practitioners. Your lived experience is valued as a key part of collective learning and representation in this space.”
oga for Neurodivergent Course Content
Day 1 : Foundation + Lived Experience
Understanding Neurodiversity
- Neurodiversity paradigm vs. deficit models
- Overview of key neurotypes (ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, etc.)
- How social and sensory environments shape experience
- Reflection: assumptions and unconscious bias
The Neurodivergent Body in Yoga
- Sensory processing, interoception, proprioception
- Movement variability and embodied empathy
- Somatic exploration: “Listening through sensation”
Guest Lecture with Psychotherapist (2 hrs)
“Psychological Wellbeing, Regulation, and Yoga for Neurodivergent Minds”
- Understanding executive functioning, anxiety, and emotional regulation
- How masking, burnout, and rejection sensitivity show up in body/mind
- Therapeutic principles teachers can apply ethically (without “therapy-ing”)
- Building safety, trust, and agency in class settings
- Q&A and short grounding integration
From Insight to Embodiment
- Group discussion: translating psych insights into teaching practice
- Sensory-safe environment checklist
- Practice: designing inclusive class frameworks
Day 2 : Integration, Adaptation & Practice
Adapting Yoga Practices
- Asana: choice, pacing, proprioceptive feedback
- Breath: regulation vs. overstimulation
- Meditation: offering options for focus and stillness
- Language and cueing for diverse cognition
Nervous System Literacy & Co-Regulation
- Polyvagal-informed teaching in accessible language
- Tools for grounding, sensory reset, and stimulation
- Mini-practice: co-regulation through presence
Case Studies & Group Work
- Small groups: analyze neurodivergent student profiles
- Create adaptive class plans and communication strategies
- Share insights in main group
Practicum
- Each participant teaches a 5–7-min neuro-inclusive segment
- Peer feedback + facilitator support
What else is included?
- PDF Manual
- Access to the LiveStream Recording
- Reading + Podcast Recommended Lists
Are you interested in this Course?
Charli Van Ness Teacher Biography
Teacher Trainer, E-RYT-500 hours
Charli Van Ness (E-RYT 500, YACEP) has been teaching yoga since 2005, leading Classes, Workshops, Retreats, and Teacher Trainings with a heartfelt focus on accessibility, inclusion, and wellbeing for all. She is the Founder of Yoga Rhythm (est. 2005) and the Yoga Rhythm Teacher Training School of Excellence (est. 2007), and collaborates with The Shala School of Yoga on both their 200-hour and 300-hour Teacher Training programmes.
As a neurodivergent teacher with ADHD, and a mother of four children one with ADHD and Dyslexia, and another with Autism (Fragile X Syndrome) Charli brings deep personal insight, empathy, and understanding to her teaching. Her lived experience has profoundly shaped her approach to yoga as a tool for nervous-system regulation, sensory balance, and self-acceptance in neurodiverse minds and bodies.
Charli has taught both adults and children who are neurodivergent, creating safe, nurturing, and playful spaces that celebrate difference and encourage authenticity. Her Yoga for Neurodivergence approach weaves together mindful movement, breathwork, sensory integration, and sound to support focus, connection, and emotional wellbeing.
Beyond yoga, Charli shares her healing modalities including Sound Energy Medicine (VibroAcoustic Therapy) and Womb Mandala Healing, delivered in group and private settings. She also leads YACEP and CPD trainings such as KulaKids Yoga Teacher Training, Tibetan Sound Energy Medicine Teacher Training and Women’s Wellbeing CPD Training.
A passionate mover since childhood, Charli is also a trained dancer, acrobatics teacher, and climber blending creativity and embodiment in all she shares. Living simply and joyfully in South Devon with her husband, four children and two dogs, Charli’s ethos is rooted in compassion, community, and curiosity inviting everyone to meet themselves exactly as they are.
Qualifications : 300hrs Yandara Advanced Yoga Training (Mexico & Hawaii), 200hrs Power Yoga Training (UK), CPD 6 Days Yoga Therapy Training, Yoga Nidra Training (UK), Sound Energy Medicine (VibroAcoustic Therapy Training) (UK), Meditation Training (UK), AcroYoga Dance Training (UK), NATD Acrobatics Teachers & NATD Tap, Ballet, Modern & Disco Teachers, Physical Education & Biology Advanced Level.
Highlights: Creator & Founder of Yoga Rhythm (est.2005) & Yoga Rhythm Teacher Training School of Excellence (est.2007), 1st British Advanced Training Scholarship Award Winner with Yoga Alliance International (2016), Produced Yoga Rhythm Foundation Series DVD voted one of the Top 10 Fitness DVDs by FitPro. Produced Natural Fertility Booster series 3xDVD Boxset recognised by the Western Medical Health Industry. Featured in Magazines, Tabloids & on the SKY Media Network.
Natalie Wilkie Teacher Biography
MA, MBACP Accredited, EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner
Natalie is an experienced and accredited psychotherapist with almost 20 years of experience working with young people and adults in private practice, the NHS, specialist addiction services, and secure institutions. She holds an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling from Regent’s University, London, and is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the EMDR Association (Europe and UK).
Her approach is integrative and psychodynamic, with a strong emphasis on emotional safety, embodied awareness, and compassionate exploration. Natalie draws on advanced training in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Safe and Sound Protocol (Polyvagal-informed practice), and a wide range of trauma and attachment-based modalities. She is also trained in Solution Focused Therapy, Relationship Counselling, and Compassionate Mind Training.
Natalie has completed extensive continuing professional development (CPD) in trauma and neurodivergence, including work with ADHD and autism, dissociation and DID, and somatic approaches to trauma treatment. Her studies with the NICABM, NScience, PODS (Positive Outcomes for Dissociative Survivors), and the Girl with the Curly Hair Project reflect her deep commitment to understanding how trauma, sensory experience, and attachment shape emotional wellbeing.
As a guest lecturer on Teaching Yoga for Neurodivergence, Natalie offers a compassionate, psychologically informed perspective on how neurodivergent experiences intersect with regulation, embodiment, and therapeutic safety. Her teaching helps yoga professionals create spaces that are not only inclusive but deeply supportive of nervous system health and authentic self-expression.
Course Dates
This is a one-day course in the studio
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Saturday 29 Aug 2026 IN STUDIO
10am-6:00pm
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Sunday 30 Aug 2026 IN STUDIO
10am-6:00pm
Pricing
- The cost is £325 for the full day training
- To reserve your place, please >>click pink BOOK button below >> sign in or input your details and choose payment method
- Support Us in Keeping Course Fees Accessible. We are extremely grateful if you could opt for Bank Transfer (BACS Direct Debit) at checkout — this is not a standing order. This secure and straightforward one-off payment method made from within our software (no need to visit your Bank app) helps us minimize high card processing fees, allowing us to keep our course prices down. Thank you for your support. 🙏
- If you do not pay in full, please ensure that you save your bank details so we can process the final payment of £175. This will happen 21 days before the start of the course and receipts will be sent to you when the payment has been taken.
- *Due to external circumstances if the in-studio course can't go ahead then students will automatically be credited and can book another full day training with Charli or email to request a refund
- 300 hour students get a 10% discount on this training if they have booked three trainings with us (priced at £395 or more) including core module 1 or 2. Email us if this is the case and the discount will be applied when the balance is taken.
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Terms & Conditions
- Trainings at the Shala School of Yoga are independently run by the teachers, and all payments for training services are processed by the Shala School of Yoga on behalf of the individual teachers hosting the course.