![](https://breatheforchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/team-ilana.jpeg)
Ilana Nankin, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
San Francisco, CA
In Social-Emotional Learning, Mindfulness, & Yoga
Please complete the application below and get connected with our Educator Development Advisors. On your call, you’ll talk through your goals, explore funding options, and get answers to any questions you have!
Full Tuition: $6,000
Inaugural Tuition: $3,000*
*For first 100 enrollments of 2024. Flexible interest-free payment plans are available.
In this experiential program, we will explore the art and science of mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and yoga, and put theory into practice to create positive change.
You will learn research-backed strategies to integrate mindfulness, movement, and community building techniques into your life and your classroom, school, and community. For you and your students, these strategies can help to build focus, reduce stress, effectively navigate challenging emotions and situations including trauma, support lifelong wellbeing, and lead to more successful teaching, learning, and academic outcomes.
Upon graduation, you will be empowered as a leader of wellness and social-emotional learning for your classroom and school community.
This certificate consists of 30 ECTS (equivalent of 15 graduate-level credits) that can be applied toward a wide range of professional advancement opportunities and salary increases. 80% of U.S. districts accept graduate level degrees and/or credits toward payscale advances.
Certificate of Specialization in Social-Emotional Learning
Certificate of Specialization in Mindfulness and Yoga
200-hour Foundational Yoga Teacher Certification (CYT-200)
Qualified to Register Through Yoga Alliance (RYT-200)
Social-Emotional Learning Facilitator Certification (SEL*F)
Learn how to support your own mental and physical health as a busy educator, gain transformative social-emotional learning and mindfulness tools to integrate seamlessly into your classroom, and become certified to teach yoga to young people and adults.
Enhance your own physical, mental, and emotional well-being by cultivating a yoga and meditation practice
Teach trauma-informed, accessible yoga classes and meditation practices to adults and young people
Integrate researched-based and CASEL aligned social-emotional learning practices into your instruction
Design and facilitate wellness workshops and professional development for your school, district, or organization
Join a community of educators and leaders using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change
Weekly Wed/Thurs Training [Zoom]
June 12 & 13
June 26 & 27
July 10 & 11
July 17 & 18
July 24 & 25
July 31 & Aug 1
9-3 PT • 10-4 MT • 11-5 CT • 12-6 ET
Weekly Mon/Tues Training [Zoom]
July 1 & 2
July 8 & 9
July 15 & 16
July 22 & 23
July 29 & 30
August 5 & 6
9-3 PT • 10-4 MT • 11-5 CT • 12-6 ET
Monthly Weekend Training [Zoom]
October 19 & 20
November 16 & 17
December 7 & 8
January 4 & 5, 2025
February 1 & 2, 2025
March 1 & 2, 2025
9-3 PT • 10-4 MT • 11-5 CT • 12-6 ET
Our research-backed curriculum brings a unique blend of neuroscience, mindfulness, somatic healing, yoga, psychology, and social emotional learning. Our curriculum has been utilized by over 100,000 educators to support 5,000,000+ learners–and its benefits have been verified by research from Harvard, California State, and Tulane Universities.
Facilitate social-emotional learning practices and workshops
Deepen your connection to your breath, body, emotions, and thoughts
Practice and teach the physical practice of yoga for your community
Learn and honor the history of yoga and embody its ethical principles
Form a deeper understanding and appreciation of the power of your body
A study conducted by Harvard found our programs can play a protective role in maintaining mental health.
A study conducted by Learn Platform found that our programs reduced educator-reported stress and burnout, while improving global health, SEL, self-efficacy, and challenging student behaviors.
Dr. Ilana’s Nankin’s dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student social-emotional and academic outcomes.
A study conducted by the California State University of Fullerton found our programs can improve focus and attention.
A study conducted by a Ph.D. candidate at the Stanford Mind-Body Lab found reduced teacher stress and burnout and enhanced efficacy.
A randomized controlled study conducted by Tulane University found that our programs may improve symptoms of anxiety among students.
Over 15,000 educators have become certified through Breathe For Change, driving positive impact on the lives, learning, and well-being of 20 million students around the world.
Higher education is an investment in your career and we are committed to making our program accessible. Our team is here to help you understand the costs and provide resources available to make your education affordable, including payment plans and financial assistance options.
*For first 100 enrollments in 2024
Flexible interest-free payment plans are available.
200-hour Alumni receive additional tuition reduction for our inaugural class.
As a student of our inaugural class, you will receive a special reduced discount on the full tuition.
We offer flexible interest-free payment plans.
Utilize your district’s ESSER and other federal funds to bring Breathe For Change to your school or district.
Many Breathe For Change graduates have successfully funded their teacher training through a DonorsChoose project.
Founder & CEO
San Francisco, CA
Director of School & District Partnerships
College Station, TX
Head Trainer
Oakland, CA
Professional Development Lead
Baltimore, MD
Lead Trainer
New York, NY
Lead Trainer
Austin, TX
Meditation Trainer
Los Angeles, CA
Founder & CEO
San Francisco, CA
Dr. Ilana Nankin—the Founder & CEO of Breathe For Change—is an award-winning entrepreneur, teacher educator, and former public school teacher committed to using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change. Ilana earned degrees in both psychology and education at UC Berkeley, and received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at University of Wisconsin. Her dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student learning, and the positive impact that wellness and social-emotional learning can have on teachers and students’ lives. Inspired by her research, Ilana founded Breathe For Change, a movement on a mission to enhance the health and well-being of educators, students, and entire communities. Breathe For Change offers the world’s only 200-hour Mindfulness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training specifically for educators, and provides wellness and SEL professional development for schools, districts, and organizations. Since 2015, Breathe For Change has certified 10,000+ educators through their 200-hour training, who are now positively impacting the lives and well-being of over 2,000,000 students around the country.
Director of School & District Partnerships
College Station, TX
Kelli spent more than 29 years in public education with roles ranging from classroom teacher to building principal to district Director of School Leadership.
After earning her doctorate in curriculum from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, she began to work to design a new teacher induction program for Texas schools that was grounded in positive behavior, systems, mindful practices, and social emotional health. During the years that she served as a district director, a professional development, she always grounded her professional development presentations and trainings in mindful practices regardless of the content being delivered, so that every educator that she had the privilege to lead received tools for their own well-being that then informed their professional practices. She’s also a 500-ERYT yoga instructor, is a certified Masters of wisdom meditation teacher, and is certified by The Chopra Center as an Ayurvedic health coach. All of these yoga tools inform her practices as an educational leader.
One of her greatest strengths is coaching and empowering school leaders to create environments of health and well-being for their staff so that ultimately staff are doing the same thing for the students and families they serve. She firmly believes that without wellness being kept as a priority at the leadership level, schools will never perform at the level of expectations that our state legislature is setting for them.
Head Trainer
Oakland, CA
Michelle Cordero, Breathe For Change’s Head Trainer, has devoted the last 3 decades to deepening her connection to and sharing the powerful practice of yoga with the world. Michelle has led retreats, workshops, and teacher trainings internationally, and was voted “Best Yoga Teacher of the East Bay” by Oakland Magazine. She is certified at the highest level with the Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500 & YACEP credentials.
Michelle’s greatest passion is inspiring educators to teach yoga in an inclusive and accessible way. She teaches with a sense of humor, curiosity and compassion. Michelle’s classes are inclusive, gender affirming, trauma-informed and uniquely tailored to meet the needs of each student regardless of experience, age, gender, or body shape.Michelle has contributed greatly to the development of Breathe For Change’s 200-hour Training, 300-hour Training, Professional Development offerings, and Educator Collective events.
Michelle has her Master’s Degree, a certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy and is a Certified Wellness Coach and Craniosacral Work practitioner, and has trained with the Trauma Center’s Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TC-TSY) program and the Trauma Informed Resilience Oriented Approach (TIRO). She also completed a 75-hour Skill in Action training with Michelle C Johnson, focused on the intersection of Yoga and Social Justice. Michelle is inspired and honored to be guiding you along your yoga teaching journey.
Professional Development Lead
Baltimore, MD
Shatera is a Special Educator and Breathe for Change graduate who’s love for yoga stemmed from her struggles with Sickle Cell Anemia. Shatera was born with a disease that impacts the red blood cells’ ability to carry and transfer oxygen efficiently. This has meant a frayed relationship with her body and physical activities throughout childhood into adulthood. Years ago, Shatera discovered asana through classes offered at a local gym, stating that “It was the only class I could complete without feeling inadequate or embarrassed. In fact, I left those classes feeling centered and emboldened.”
Grateful for this resource, she’s become devoted to sharing it with others. Especially after Shatera noticed that she was often the only one that looked like her in the gyms and studios she practiced in. This encouraged Shatera to earn her RYT200 from B4C in 2018, with the aim of helping more Black folx to meet on the mat – inviting their minds and bodies to reunite, as she’s been blessed to experience. Since then, Shatera began teaching asana and meditation classes, and implementing wellness practices into her curriculum and structures as Dean of Culture at a 6-12 NYC public school, and within her day to day life and interpersonal relationships.
Now, Shatera has reached RYT500, and serves as a curriculum designer for schools and after school programs all over the nation that challenge the current inadequate and inequitable status quo of the traditional education system. She offers services that rise from the intersection of wellness and education at byShatera.com
Lead Trainer
New York, NY
Brie is a self described lover of life. She truly believes there is no better way to honor the gift of life than to maximize your potential mentally, spiritually and physically. This is what led her to her the yoga practice and continues to keep her coming back to her mat. At the core of all of her values is equity. She believes that we, all, each being, deserves the opportunity to be our biggest and brightest selves and maximize our capability and fulfill our true purpose. Her mindfulness practice has pushed her professionally in the areas of educational activism and social awareness, because at the core of the practice is the deep awareness. Brie has been in the field of education since 2010. While volunteering during her undergraduate years at Spelman College was inspired to become an education. She developed a passion and understanding for working with students with disabilities. This prompted her to apply to the New York City Teaching fellows to pursue her master’s in Special Education at Hunter College. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the demands of working in a school were not only impacting her, but her colleagues and students, as well. The demands of education drew her to the yoga practice. In July 2017, she chose to deepen her practice by pursuing her RYT-200 Certification. She now shares mindfulness techniques with people of all ages and currently is a lead trainer at Breathe for Change.
Lead Trainer
Austin, TX
Rabia Meghani (she/her) is a Medical Researcher, Behavioral Therapist, Educator, Yoga Therapist and a student of Kathak. Rabia’s formal education is in public health, epidemiology and education. Merging her knowledge of disease and education with the ancient science of Yoga and Ayurveda, Rabia aims to make these practices accessible to the masses while honoring the roots of the science. Her passion lies in integrating yoga and mindfulness in K-12 and higher education spaces.
Rabia uses her knowledge of yoga, ayurveda and mindfulness to help those experiencing physical and emotional ailments. When it comes to healing, Rabia believes that one size does not fit all. This is why she works on the full person and caters her practices to each and every individual. Currently Rabia is working on creating mindfulness and yoga tools to be made accessible in K-12 and higher education settings. Her hope is to lobby for systemic change to make these nervous system healing modalities accessible to all. To learn more about Rabia, please visit www.rabiameghani.com
Meditation Trainer
Los Angeles, CA
Kirsten Rogers is a meditation trainer and proud member of the Breathe for Change team. She became a yoga teacher in 2017 with the intention of sharing this practice with people of color and communities that have historically had little exposure and access to yoga. She is a co-creator of Black to Yoga, an organization with the mission of making yoga and wellness more accessible for Black people. Kirsten has deepened her practice and understanding of yoga through trainings in trauma informed yoga, non-violent communication & meditation and yoga for teens. She is honored and grateful to share this indiginous practice and explore healthful ways to feed the mind, body & soul.
Breathe For Change has become a member college of Woolf, a global collegiate Higher Education Institution based in Europe whose degrees and credits are recognized in over 50 countries, including the United States.
Being a member college of Woolf is analogous to Rockefeller College being a member college of Princeton University, or Branford College being a member college of Yale University. Through our partnership with Woolf, Breathe for Change will be able to offer accredited degrees and credits.
Accreditation Pending
Kindly be informed that this program is undergoing accreditation* from the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA). Should you wish to express your interest to register for this educational program, please contact us via this admissions form. A student agreement [for this accredited program] inclusive of payment of registration and tuition fees shall only be signed upon approval of accreditation of this educational program, by the MFHEA. *Accreditation is a form of certification in which the MFHEA will verify that an academic or vocational program meets minimum academic and vocational standards. Accreditation ensures that the qualification a student works so hard to obtain meets quality standards, and that it will be recognized as such by other educational institutions and employers. The decisive state of accreditation is the mapping of the program to the Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) – further information on the MFHEA and the MQF/EQF may be obtained from www.mfhea.mt