
Ilana Nankin, Ph.D.
Dean, Professor
Teaching and Leadership
Nationally recognized Mindfulness, SEL and Yoga Teacher Training for educators, mental health professionals, yoga teachers, and changemakers.
✅ 100% Online, Optional Live Sessions
❤️ 20,000+ Grads from All 50 States
⭐ 4.76/5 Program Rating (3,267 Reviews)
Teachers, TAs, and school leaders who want to integrate wellness, mindfulness, and SEL into schools.
Counselors, social workers, and psychologists deepening their work with youth.
Community changemakers ready to lead with love, empathy, and impact
Practitioners looking to expand their impact to children, teens, and school settings.
Those committed to modeling emotional wellness at home and beyond.
“Breathe For Change had given me tools to create a safer space for my students. I can confidently say that I practice what I learned for the better of myself and my students! I have also grown in practice and in confidence in my leadership. In my move to a new district, I was sure it would take me years to jump in and lead professional development, but Breathe For Change offered me support and strategies that fueled me to jump right in!”
– Ashley L., English Teacher
300+ Research-Backed Strategies You Can Use Immediately: Practical tools to support your students’ social-emotional wellness drawn from our two comprehensive curriculum manuals: Mindfulness, SEL & Yoga Teacher Training Manual (MSY) and Social-Emotional Learning & Facilitation Manual (SEL*F). You will learn how to use these strategies for all ages – littles to adults, as well as accommodations to differentiate for different ability levels.
2 Nationally-Recognized Certifications: Earn credentials that boost your résumé, salary potential, and credibility as a leader in wellness education.
10+ Live Sessions Led by World-Class Experts: Join interactive workshops (plus optional office hours) that deepen your learning and help you integrate practices into your classroom and life.
A Framework for Lasting Change: Transform your self, relationships, and community impact with a proven approach to personal and professional growth.
A Nationwide Network of Passionate Educators: Tap into our vibrant online community through the Teacher’s Lounge to connect, collaborate, and grow with thousands of educators across the U.S.
Advance your career, increase your impact.
Gold-standard international 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
All training coursework counts toward your Master’s! You may also elect to add on graduate-level professional development credits for an additional cost.
Register today to lock in your discount and save your seat for your cohort of choice!
Weekday Evening Live Sessions [Zoom]Thursdays
August 21 & 28
September 4, 11, 18, 25
October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
November 6, 13, 20
December 4
4-6:30 PT • 5-7:30 MT • 6-8:30 CT • 7-9:30 ET
Early Bird Deadline: July 31
🔥 Limited Seats Left!
Monthly Weekend Live Sessions [Zoom]Saturdays & Sundays
September 6, 7, 20, 21
October 4, 5, 18, 19
November 1, 2, 15, 16
9-1 PT • 10-2 MT • 11-3 CT • 12-4 ET
Early Bird Deadline: August 20
✅ Seats Available
Weekday Evening Live Sessions [Zoom]Mondays
October 20 & 27
November 3, 10, 17, 24
December 1, 8, 15
January 5, 12, 26
February 2, 9, 23
4-6:30 PT • 5-7:30 MT • 6-8:30 CT • 7-9:30 ET
Early Bird Deadline: September 30
⏳ Almost Full
We make it easy to invest in your growth, on your terms:
Pay over time *Starting at just $25/mo*
Pay upfront *Save an extra $100 when you pay in full!*
Getting support from your school or district? We’ve got your back. Many educators use stipends or professional development funds. Book a call with our team and we’ll provide all the documentation you need.
20,000+ educators across all 50 states have graduated from Breathe For Change’s training, impacting the well-being of 20 million students worldwide and fostering school communities dedicated to positive, lasting change.
We’re proud to be supported by research from top institutions. Breathe For Change programs meet ESSA Level II Moderate research standards.
A study conducted by Harvard found our programs can play a protective role in maintaining mental health.
A study by Learn Platform found higher attendance rates and reduced chronically absent, especially among students with a history of absenteeism.
Dr. Ilana’s Nankin’s dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student social-emotional and academic outcomes.
A randomized controlled study conducted by Tulane University found that our programs may improve symptoms of anxiety among students.
A study conducted by a Ph.D. candidate at the Stanford Mind-Body Lab found reduced teacher stress and burnout enhanced efficacy.
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.
🧠 Foundations of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Mindfulness: Facilitate SEL practices that cultivate resilience, creativity, and emotional intelligence, empowering you and your students to thrive inside and outside the classroom.
🌬️ Breathwork, Meditation & Mindfulness for Daily Life: Strengthen your ability to stay grounded and present through breathwork, meditation, and reflection practices that support emotional regulation and well-being.
🧘♀️ Movement & Yoga for All Bodies: Learn inclusive, accessible yoga and mindful movement practices to nurture your own wellness and bring healing-centered practices into your school or community. Flexibility not required.
🩺 Anatomy, Development & the Body’s Inner Wisdom: Build a deeper understanding of the body’s systems and innate resilience to better support your students’ development and your own self-care.
❤️🩹 Trauma-Informed & Healing-Centered Teaching: Explore research-backed strategies to create safer, more supportive environments that center student agency, care, and connection.
🌍 Philosophy, Equity & Social Change: Honor the roots of yoga and mindfulness, embody their ethical principles, and integrate equity, community, and self-care into your life and leadership.
Our lead trainers guide and support you every step of the way. Each trainer brings a wealth of knowledge in mindfulness, SEL, and yoga, along with a deep dedication to educators like you. Together, they help you build resilience, foster connection, and develop practices that will support you now and in the future.
Dean, Professor
Teaching and Leadership
Professor
Yoga
Associate Professor
Psychology and Leadership
Dean, Associate Professor
Philosophy
Adjunct Professor
Social Emotional Learning
Lead Trainer
Austin, TX
Product Operations Manager
Bedford, MA
Production Lead
Palm Springs, CA
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.
Adjunct Professor
Social Emotional Learning
Dr. Salina Gray is an educator, researcher, and trauma-informed coach specializing in healing through resilience building. Her educational career of 25 years includes research and classroom teaching, serving students from elementary through graduate school.
Salina earned her doctorate from Stanford University in the area of Curriculum and Instruction in Science Education. Her research focuses on the intersection of racial and science identity with an emphasis on social justice science teaching. Her work has been disseminated at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, the Teachers for Social Justice conference, Free Minds Free People, and the American Educational Research Association.
Salina is trained in trauma-informed facilitation and has vast experience and publications in the field of social justice. She is a certified yoga instructor through Breathe For Change and is currently a mentor and social emotional learning expert facilitator in the organization.
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
Product 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)
We know this is a big decision. That’s why we offer free 1:1 calls with our team – real humans who are here to help you decide if this training is the right fit for your goals, schedule, and budget, plus answer any questions you have.
What can we help with?
✔ Finding the right fit program for your goals
✔ Getting funded by your school or district
✔ Understanding tuition and scholarships
✔ Mapping out your timeline and start date
✔ Exploring how our grads are using this for their careers
Meet with Bianca or Chris, Educator Development Advisors
Absolutely! Book a call with our team to talk through how to use PD funds for this training.
We have tuition assistance available for all educators right now through our Teacher Education Fund to bring the tuition from $3,000 to $999! Space is limited and only available while funds last.
Our training allows you to get your 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification and your Social-Emotional Learning Facilitator Certification. Upon graduation, you’ll be able to teach inclusive yoga classes to both adults and young people, and lead social-emotional learning and wellness experiences in your school districts, and organizations.
No worries, our program is built with flexibility in mind. If you need to miss a session, you’ll have access to a full recording that you can watch on your own time, whenever it works for you.
Absolutely! Our team is here to support you and answer any questions you might have. Book a call with our team here.
Let’s go! Save your seat here today.
Join the nationally recognized training designed for you. Empower yourself. Empower the world.