![](https://breatheforchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/team-ilana.jpeg)
Ilana Nankin, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
San Francisco, CA
Enhance Your and Your Students’ Well-Being and Social-Emotional Learning
Please fill out the short form below to apply and connect with one of our Educator Development Advisors. On your call, you’ll explore funding options, learn more about the training, and get answers to any questions you have!
Tuition: $2,999 $999 with our $2,000 Back-to-School Discount
21/200 Seats Available!
Thanks to the help of our partners in our Teacher Education Fund, we’re currently able to subsidize $2,000 of your total tuition through our Tuition Assistance program. Space is limited; only available while funds last. Interest-free payment plans available. Apply now to take advantage of this opportunity!
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
International gold standard yoga teacher certification that enables you to register through Yoga Alliance (RYT 200)
Qualifies you to lead SEL, mindfulness, and wellness practices, workshops, and programs in your school, district, or organization
This training can be applied toward a Post-Graduate Certificate or Master’s Degree. Learn more.
Weekly Thursday Training [Zoom]
October 17 & 24
November 7, 14, & 21
December 5, 12, & 19
January 9, 16, 23, & 30, 2025
February 6, 13, 20, & 27, 2025
March 6, 13, & 20, 2025
4-6 PT • 5-7 MT • 6-8 CT • 7-9 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
Monthly Weekend Training [Zoom]
February 8 & 9
March 8 & 9
April 5 & 6
April 26 & 27
May 17 & 18
June 7 & 8
9-3 PT • 10-4 MT • 11-5 CT • 12-6 ET
Over 15,000 educators have become certified through this training, driving Breathe For Change’s positive impact on the lives, learning, and well-being of 20 million students around the world.
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.
We offer $1,000 off for every educator to make our training accessible to as many educators as possible.
We offer interest-free payment plans at $199.90/month.
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.
Completing this training will make you eligible to earn our Certificate, worth 30 ECTS (15 credits.)
Completing this training will complete Module 1 of our Master’s program upon accreditation.
Our Certificate and Degree programs are undergoing accreditation from the MFHEA to offer a Post-Graduate Certificate and a Master’s of Education in Transformative Teaching and Leadership (M.Ed.) This will provide educators opportunities for career advancement, professional recognition, and salary increases.
Learn more about our accreditation process and status here.
Founder & CEO
San Francisco, CA
Head Trainer
Oakland, CA
Professional Development Lead
Baltimore, MD
Lead Trainer
New York, NY
Lead Trainer
Austin, TX
Community Operations Manager
Bedford, MA
Production Lead
Chicago, IL
Meditation Trainer
Los Angeles, CA
Middle School Teacher
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.
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
Community Operations Manager
Bedford, MA
Izzi has been practicing yoga in various spaces since 2008, and has always worked within the realms of education and service. While living in Denver, CO, she worked as an Early Childhood Lead Teacher, completed a Master’s Degree in Education and Human Development, participated in over 500 hours of Yoga Teacher Training with The River Yoga, supported her first Breathe for Change 200-hour training, and led weekly classes in deep stretch meditation, candlelight vinyasa, and power vinyasa. Izzi is now living in Massachusetts, and – alongside her work with B4C – she is a Lecturer in Human Development and Family Relationships, teaching online undergraduate courses for the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development. In addition to all of the inspiring B4C trainers she has worked with, her mentors in yogic training and practice include Dr. Christa Kuberry (Yoga Alliance Vice President of Standards), Christen Bakken (let it be Meaning Full), Anthony Davis (Shapeshift Wellness), Steph Winsor (stephwinsor.com), Kady Lafferty (Yoga Alliance Director of Standards; Big Booty Yoga), and Samy Mattei (Yoga Mattei)
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.