BEcome a trauma informed YOGA TEACHER SOMATIC FACILITATOR AND GUIDE


Yoga TEACHER TRAINING

200Hr Yoga Alliance Certified

Unlock the potential of trauma-informed teaching with our comprehensive training programs.

By integrating trauma-aware practices, we empower educators to create safe, supportive environments where every student can thrive, fostering resilience and well-being for all.

From 4-month long training programs in New York City, to 21-day lifestyle immersions in Puerto Rico, embark on a journey of self discovery through our Yoga Alliance Certified 200HR Yoga Teacher Training.

NEW YORK CITY

January 11th - April 15th, 2024

Our 4-month in-person program, set against the vibrant backdrop of New York City, offers a deep dive into trauma-informed Yoga, Embodied Social Justice, Breathwork, and Ayurveda. This immersive experience will equip you with the skills to both practice and teach the full spectrum of Yoga, while guiding you on a transformative journey of self-discovery.

Through the lens of Yogic values and ethics, you'll learn to integrate these teachings into every aspect of your life, discovering how to truly live Yoga beyond the mat.

PUERTO RICO

February 1st - 22nd, 2025

Designed as a 21-day, all inclusive retreat our 200 hour
Yoga Teacher Training Intensive is perfect for individuals looking to break free from distractions and dive into a complete lifestyle immersion through Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda, Breathwork, Spirituality and Earth Medicine.

Offering an opportunity for self exploration, personal development and transformation, this trauma-informed yoga teacher training presents you with the tools necessary to develop your own personal practice or to step into your calling as master teacher, space holder and healing guide.

YOGA ALLIANCE CERTIFIED

Continued educational courses

TRAUMA-INFORMED SOMATIC WELLNESS

This Yoga Alliance Certified continued education training is a comprehensive 30-hour online course designed for those seeking a deep dive into trauma's impact on our neurology and physiology, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to either create supportive, trauma-informed healing spaces, or build their own personal resilience self-care practices for nervous system regulation.

Participants will gain both intellectual insights and profound embodied awareness, enhancing your ability to deliver effective somatic mindfulness practices.

Not limited to teachers and wellness facilitators.

Next Course

November
12th, 16th, 17th
19th, 23rd, 24th

Ayurveda Lifestyle
Foundations

Designed to introduce you to Ayurveda as a lifestyle that enhances your health and helps you cultivate harmonious living while helping rediscover your true nature, this course bridges ancient holistic wisdom with a modern approach to practically apply Ayurveda’s time-proven system of holistic healing in all arenas of your life.

From daily to seasonal self-care practices, guidelines on diet, activity, and rest, as well as proper use of your senses, together we will explore the pillars of Natural Medicine, Ayurvedic Diagnosis and Pharmacology in accordance with the three doshas: Vata, Kapha & Pitta.

Next Course

January 2025

UPCOMING TRAINING

UPCOMING TRAINING

January 11th - April 15th, 2025

Venue
The Sacred Movement NYC

200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in NYC
(4-month course)

With a focus on trauma-informed Yoga, Embodied Social Justice, Breathwork and Ayurveda, our 4-month in person program will not only grant you the necessary tools to successfully practice and teach the entire system of Yoga, but as embark on a journey of self-exploration through the eyes of Yogic moral values and ethics, together we will explore what is it to live the practice beyond the mat.

February 1st - 22nd, 2025

Venue
Hacienda Casa Campo, Puerto Rico

200-HOUR YOGA TEACHER TRAINING IN PUERTO RICO
(LIFESTYLE IMMERSION)

Designed as a 21-day, all inclusive retreat, The Sacred Movement’s 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Intensive is perfect for individuals looking to break free from distractions and dive into a complete lifestyle immersion through Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda, Breathwork, Spirituality and Plant Medicine.

“The body is a multilingual being. It speaks through its color and its temperature, the flush of recognition, the glow of love, the ash of pain, the heat of arousal, the coldness of nonconviction. . . . It speaks through the leaping of the heart, the falling of the spirits, the pit at the center, and rising hope.”

Clarissa Pinkola Estés

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Iraimer Ruiz Lopez
Founder and Lead Trainer
Holistic Healing & Somatic Wellness Coach

Founder of the Sacred Movement Academy and former director at Stanton Street Yoga NYC, Iraimer (Ira) is a 500 E-RYT dance-movement artist, certified trauma-informed holistic coach, and a certified facilitator of Integrative Somatic Trauma Treatment using the modalities of Yoga, Ayurveda and Transformational Sacred Breathwork.

As a Latina woman-of-color raised in marginalized and oppressed communities, her greatest mission is to create safe and inclusive wellness spaces that offer equitable holistic self-integrative tools for all individuals seeking to approach their healing process in a supportive, loving and welcoming environment.

Meet the Sacred Movement Collective

  • Chelsea Daniel

    SOMATIC YOGA TEACHER, PELVIC HEALTH SPECIALIST & AYURVEDA EDUCATOR

    Chelsea (she/her) believes that creating a safe and sustainable yoga practice through alignment for your unique body can encourage a much deeper mind-body connection. By focusing on mobility, (rather than solely on flexibility) alongside the breath, we can become aware of what’s really going on inside-- we can gather data about and become more connected to the ‘self’ - body, mind, and spirit.

    Chelsea adheres to the words by yin yoga teacher Bernie Clark, “we use the pose to get into the body, not the body to get into the pose.”

    She has trained in vinyasa yoga, pre and postnatal yoga, pelvic health yoga, as well as trauma informed children’s and teen’s yoga. Understanding anatomy and how it relates to the unique individual and their practice is a passion of Chelsea’s.

    She strives to guide people of all ages and stages of life in making the practice of yoga their own in a way that feels safe and supportive for them.

  • Emilie brockmann

    SOUND-MEDITATION FACILITATOR, RESTORATIVE & YIN YOGA TEACHER

    Emilie is a 500-RYT and Childbirth Educator based in Brooklyn, NY and trained under The Bhakti Center in New York City. For Emilie yoga is a lifestyle and a constant practice, it's reach goes far beyond the mat. She believes in a holistic and integrative approach to wellness, healing and presence as well as a deep connection to Self and intuition. Her soul is fed by the endless gifts of Mother Nature and connecting with others. The environment she creates is warm, nurturing, supportive and inclusive.

    She has a foundation in Ayurveda, Meditation, Restorative Yoga, Prenatal Yoga and Marma therapy, an Ayurvedic bodywork technique, that accesses energy centers and pressure points on the body to promote healing and vitality.

    She is a Sound meditation facilitator, encouraging mindful listening while playing overtone emitting instruments that produce frequencies that stimulate brain waves, calm the nervous system and expand consciousness.

    She is grateful for the teachings of yoga, its lineage, and grateful for the many teachers she has learned from on this path.

  • Margaryta Andryushchenko

    YOGA & MEDITATION TEACHER, BREATHWORK FACILITATOR

    Margaryta (Rita)Aleksandrovna Andryushchenko is a Native Ukrainian immigrant living in the United States. She is 99% of Eastern European descent and is fluent in English, Ukrainian and Russian, with conversational fluency in Spanish.

    She serves as a certified health and life coach, Prema Breathwork facilitator, and yoga instructor based in Alexandria, Virginia.

    Her greatest mission in life is to live in alignment with Love and Truth and to support people as they do the work to heal their trauma and find their way back home to themselves through somatic exploration, shadow work, mindfulness practices, and the transformative power of alignment in community.

    Graduating from The Sacred Movement Academy’s 21-day Yoga Teacher Training back in 2022, Rita is now an essential team member of of this collective, and creates a supportive trauma-informed environment that facilitates intimate mentoring, emotional processing, as well as personal and professional development.

  • Eric Aviles

    TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA & PRANAYAMA TEACHER

    Eric Avilés (he|his) is a recently certified 200HR yoga instructor in New York City. He is a 3rd generation Puerto Rican who grew up in the vibrant Puerto Rican community of Humboldt Park in Chicago.

    With a background in theater and video production, Eric is a passionate artist who has spent over twenty years using art to raise consciousness on social justice, race, and class issues, particularly within the black and brown working-class communities. Throughout his artistic journey, Eric recognized the importance of incorporating spirituality into his work. Eric embarked on the path to becoming a certified yoga instructor.

    He completed the rigorous 200HR training program with The Sacred Movement Academy in 2022, deepening his knowledge of yoga. Having dedicated his life's work to communities of color, particularly the working class and poor, Eric understands the importance of addressing past traumas and empowering individuals through yoga and art. As a certified instructor, he aims to bring the benefits of yoga to these communities, providing them with the necessary skills and tools for personal growth, physical well-being, and spiritual development. As a passionate artist and dedicated yoga instructor, Eric is committed to positively impacting his own life and the lives of others through the transformative power of yoga.

  • Kaleigh Calhoun

    AYURVEDA EDUCATOR, CHEF & MARMA THERAPIST

    Born and raised in New York City, Kaleigh is an Ayurvedic Practitioner specializing in the ancient techniques of Ayurvedic Bodywork, Marma Therapy along with Abhyanga, Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula Care and Ayurvedic food preparation.

    As a Marma Therapist, 200hr Yoga Certified teacher within the Bhakti Yoga Lineage, Certified Postpartum Doula Care Specialist, Kaleigh's path has been illuminated by her own experiences of resilience and transformation.

    Born with Hip Dysplasia, Kaleigh intimately understands the journey of navigating physical and emotional discomfort, pain and ultimately dis-ease, undergoing multiple reconstructive hip surgeries and ultimately a hip replacement. Yet, within these challenges, she discovered the radiant potential of healing through the practices of Yoga, Ayurveda, Marma and Mother Earth. These ancient modalities became her guiding light, leading her on a profound journey of deep healing and cultivating nourishment within her mind and body.

    Driven by her own experiences, Kaleigh's heart brims with a passionate desire to share these healing modalities with others, serving as a compassionate guide on their personal healing journeys. With a deep understanding and knowing of what living in dis-ease feels like whilst being blessed with the humbling experience of transmuting dis-ease she humbly extends her hand to offer support and companionship along the path to wellness and nourishment. 

  • Ruby Smith

    LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR, BREATHWORK FACILITATOR, TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA TEACHER

    Ruby is a licensed Mental Health Counselor, Breathwork facilitator and trauma-informed yoga teacher, originally from Nottingham, England, she has now lived in NYC for the past ten years. She gained her Masters in Mental Health Counseling in 2020 and from there completed her 200 hour trauma-informed YTT and Breathwork Facilitator certification under Sacred Movement Academy in 2021.

    Learning from her teacher Iraimer Ruiz and the community of teachers and students at The Sacred Movement Academy changed her life. The experience opened her heart and soul to the sacred path of Bhakti yoga, for this she is eternally grateful!

    Yoga has allowed Ruby to learn how to befriend her nervous system and build a toolbox that supports her through life’s ups and downs- she now feels deeply passionate about sharing what she has learned and supporting others along their journey. Ruby’s foundations lie in somatic psychology, nervous system regulation and self compassion. Her mission is to create spaces where people feel welcomed exactly as they are and feel supported in finding their own unique route to embodied safety and a connection to their inner peace.

  • Alexis Zaccone

    YOGA THERAPEUTICS & MEDITATION TEACHER, PRENATAL & POSTNATAL SPECIALIST

    Alexis is a native New Yorker, who first became acquainted with yoga in 2011, shortly after the loss of her mother and grandmother and then just newly graduated from Hunter College. At first, only looking for a physical outlet, but immediately felt a deeper connection mind, body and spirit, finding a healthy way to cope with grief, trauma and all of lifes struggles. Ashtanga was originally her physical moving form of meditation and later down the line Bhakti yoga cracked her heart open. Attracted to the ongoing ‘magic’ of yoga for years she received her 200 hour RYT certification through the Bhakti Center & Stanton Street Yoga in 2017. Since then continuing her yoga education, receiving qualifications for Yoga Nidra and various types of Meditation under the tutelage of master teacher Yogi Charu.

    Alexis also holds certifications in yoga therapeutics, concentrating on making yoga accessible to all bodies, and a true love for introducing the practice. During pregnancy in 2020, she dove into an empowering prenatal teacher training, becoming certified in pre/ postnatal yoga.

    She passionately enjoys sharing the endless benefits of yoga, connecting to the Divinity within all beings, while focusing on alignment, breath, building strength internally and externally, and awareness of the present. Her love of people carries over to her 20+ years in hospitality, currently finding a life of balance as a ‘nightlife yogi’, mother, and eternal student. She has immense gratitude to all of her teachers through lineages and the ancient roots of these life-changing practices.

  • Sasa Saltares

    SOUND MEDITATION FACILITATOR, TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA & PRANAYAMA TEACHER

    Sasa, is a BIPOC Latina woman born and raised in Harlem, New York City. Her 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate from the Sacred Movement Academy, solidified her passion for yoga.

    After being diagnosed with lupus, Sasa discovered the transformative power of bio frequency and sound healing, which she now incorporates into her practice to promote balancing harmony within her body. As a professionally trained trauma-informed yoga instructor, she creates a safe and inclusive space for individuals to explore their own healing journeys.

    With a deep commitment to wellness and social justice, Sasa honors the sacred connection between body, mind, and spirit in her teaching and sound healing practices.

  • Elizabeth (Liz) Garcia

    TRAUMA-INFORMED YOGA & MEDITATION TEACHER

    Liz is a Puerto Rican yoga teacher from Brooklyn, NY, and is passionate about sharing yoga with all people. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and Trauma-Informed Somatic Wellness training through The Sacred Movement Academy, and is a Yoga Alliance Certified 200HR RYT.

    She enjoys mostly teaching Vinyasa and Yin style Yoga, with a focus on bringing awareness to the breath and body in order to create mind-body connecting experiences, calm the mind, and remain present. Her goal as a teacher is to create a space of harmony, acceptance and care, as well as to teach in a way that empowers and gives people options to explore.

    Liz started practicing yoga in 2016 as a way to cope with the stress of her role as a middle school teacher, and quickly fell in love with the practice and how it supported her in reconnecting with her body, mind, and spirit.

    In addition to her yoga practice, Elizabeth is interested in how yogic philosophy can be applied to the modern western world, as well as the connection between chakra healing and yoga.

    Her long-term goal as a yoga practitioner is to further share the practice with all people, and to create spaces that introduce the practice of yoga to people and communities that have traditionally not been the target audience for the practice in western society.

    She also enjoys trying new recipes, organizing events, mild/moderate hiking, and participating in new experiences around NYC and beyond.