
Ilana Nankin, Ph.D.
Dean, Professor
Teaching and Leadership
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!
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
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.
Flexible interest-free payment plans are available.
Note: Breathe For Change alumni receive additional tuition reductions.
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.
Dean, Professor
Teaching and Leadership
Professor
Yoga
Associate Professor
Psychology and Leadership
Dean, Associate Professor
Philosophy
Lead Trainer
Austin, TX
Dean, Professor
Teaching and Leadership
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.
Professor
Yoga
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.
Associate Professor
Psychology and Leadership
Sam is the Senior Vice President of Product at Breathe For Change and a member of the founding team. He started his career as an educator, first as an ESL teacher in the Middle East and later as a middle school science teacher in Washington, D.C. He is a successful entrepreneur in the education sector, where he’s held leadership positions at innovative companies in K-12 and higher education like Amplify, Coursera and Hone.
Sam is a certified professional coach, transformational leadership facilitator and certified yoga teacher (through Breathe For Change). He holds a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, with a concentration in mind, body and spirituality practices. He has facilitated workshops in leadership for tens of thousands of leaders across the globe over the past decade.
Sam lives in Boulder, CO and enjoys spending time with his growing family – his wife Talia and 2 young children, Jonah and Nora. Sam is a triathlete, and completed his first Ironman race in 2020. He loves to travel, meet new people with different perspectives, and is continually humbled by all there is to learn and experience.
Dean, Associate Professor
Philosophy
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.
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
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.