The Minded Institute

The Minded Institute We are a world leader in yoga therapy, providing research-based professional training. We hope you enjoy learning with us!

The Minded Institute is an international leader in yoga therapy and mind-body training. We wholeheartedly believe that yoga therapy and aligned disciplines can play a vital role in prevention, management, and treatments of various mental and physical long-term conditions. To support this mission we provide expert education to help yoga and health professionals in the service of this goal and work to translate the benefits of yoga therapy to health services. https://themindedinstitute.com/product-category/courses/

All of our courses incorporate a yogic therapeutic perspective, the psychological and physiological understanding of conditions and related yoga practices, up to date research, and guide for best practice - based on years of clinical experience. As the body-brain-mind connection is often crucial in unearthing the benefits of yoga therapy we also like to do a deep dive into neuroscience when appropriate!

16/03/2026

Designed for practitioners working with young people, in this seminar, psychotherapist and yoga therapist Michelle Fury explores how yoga therapy can support emotional regulation and relational safety in children and adolescents.

Date: 25th March
Time: 6.30-8pm UK Time

https://f.mtr.cool/uyruqtbozm

How does yoga affect the brain? Next week, neurologists, neuroscientists and yoga practitioners come together to explore...
16/03/2026

How does yoga affect the brain?

Next week, neurologists, neuroscientists and yoga practitioners come together to explore how yoga interacts with the brain and nervous system.

Across four days, sessions examine topics such as trauma and stress physiology, vagal regulation, neurodegeneration, neurodiversity and brain longevity, focusing on the science and mechanisms behind yoga practices.

We’re pleased that Minded founder Heather Mason will be speaking at this year’s conference on:

The Science of Breath Retention: From Physiology to Cellular Adaptation
Thursday 19 March | 6pm UK

The conference runs 19–22 March and begins with a free presentation pass, giving 24-hour access to each talk.

Link in bio or comment NEURO and we’ll send you the registration link.

Integrative Yoga Psychotherapy is a relatively new field, and many practitioners are curious about what the training act...
13/03/2026

Integrative Yoga Psychotherapy is a relatively new field, and many practitioners are curious about what the training actually involves.

On Saturday 28 March, we are hosting a free live panel discussion where current trainees and graduates of The Minded Institute’s Integrative Yoga Psychotherapy programme will share their experience of the training and how it has shaped their professional practice.

Chaired by Heather Mason, the conversation will explore:

• Why practitioners chose to train in Integrative Yoga Psychotherapy
• How the training integrates talking therapy with yoga therapy
• What it is like to pioneer an emerging therapeutic field
• How working with body, breath, and mind transforms clinical work

Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the panel.

Free to attend. Recording available.

📅 Saturday 28 March
⏰ 4–6pm UK
📍 Live online

Register via the link in the comments or comment IYP to receive the direct link in your DMs.

Today Heather Mason presented to clinical psychologists and physiotherapists on the Pain Management Team at Guy's and St...
12/03/2026

Today Heather Mason presented to clinical psychologists and physiotherapists on the Pain Management Team at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, one of the most respected chronic pain services in the NHS, known internationally for its innovation in pain care.

The invitation itself signals something about where the field stands. These clinicians are already teaching breathwork to their patients. Their questions were not about whether breath practices belong in pain care; they wanted to understand the mechanisms, expand their techniques, and sharpen their practice. That represents a genuine shift: breathwork moving from recognition to rigorous clinical inquiry.

The invitation came through Dr Patrycja Jakubiec, a clinical psychologist on the team and a graduate of the Minded Institute's Yoga Therapy Diploma.

Patrycja trained with Minded in 2015. Nearly a decade later, she is the reason a leading NHS pain team invited a yoga therapist into the room. That is not incidental; it is exactly what happens when health professionals train in yoga therapy. They bring it back into the systems where they work, influence colleagues, and gradually shift what those systems offer patients. Clinical psychologists have been training with Minded since 2009, and this is what that investment looks like over time.

Seeds take time. But they grow and sometimes into something far beyond what you planted.

Thank you, Patrycja, for your curiosity, your dedication to this field, and for being the kind of clinician who doesn't just learn something and leave it there.

Elaine Collins is recognised as an inaugural recipient of the Robin Monro Awards for creating the world’s first psychoth...
11/03/2026

Elaine Collins is recognised as an inaugural recipient of the Robin Monro Awards for creating the world’s first psychotherapy diploma specifically designed for yoga therapists.

Co-creating Integrative Yoga Psychotherapy, she helped establish a coherent professional pathway that unites embodied therapeutic practice with psychotherapeutic theory and clinical rigour.

By addressing the long-standing divide between talking therapy and somatic practice, this programme enables practitioners to become dually qualified and work within an integrated therapeutic framework. It represents a significant step in the professional evolution of yoga therapy and its relationship with mental healthcare.

The Robin Monro Awards recognise pioneering, field-shaping contributions to the profession.

Read more about Elaine’s work and the Awards via
themindedinstitute.com/robin-monro-awards

Heart rate variability is increasingly discussed in yoga, mind–body health, and integrative medicine, yet it is not alwa...
10/03/2026

Heart rate variability is increasingly discussed in yoga, mind–body health, and integrative medicine, yet it is not always clearly understood.

In this short presentation, Heather Mason explains what heart rate variability actually measures and how breathing, the vagus nerve, and the autonomic nervous system influence this important cardiovascular marker.

Understanding HRV helps clarify how yoga can influence nervous system flexibility, psychological resilience, and cardiovascular health.

This 20-minute talk explores:

• HRV and autonomic flexibility
• the role of the vagus nerve
• respiratory sinus arrhythmia
• why elongating the exhale increases HRV

How often do you use breathwork intentionally to influence nervous system regulation?

Watch the full presentation on our YouTube channel - link in comments

Anxiety is present in most of our lives, and for some it becomes debilitating.While single sessions can offer relief, su...
04/03/2026

Anxiety is present in most of our lives, and for some it becomes debilitating.

While single sessions can offer relief, sustained change often develops through repetition. Working with the same practices over time allows familiarity, confidence, and practical application to build gradually.

This March, Heather Mason is offering a structured four-week online yoga therapy series focused on anxiety. Across four live sessions, practices are introduced and revisited rather than replaced, allowing skills to develop steadily.

The full series is offered at £40 to keep this work widely accessible.

📅 10, 17, 24 & 31 March 2026
🕙 10–11am UK
💻 Live online

Details in the comments or comment "ANXIETY" to receive the direct link.

Dr Sonali is recognised as an inaugural recipient of the Robin Monro Awards for establishing what is believed to be the ...
03/03/2026

Dr Sonali is recognised as an inaugural recipient of the Robin Monro Awards for establishing what is believed to be the UK’s first structured NHS yoga therapy referral pathway.

Working within primary care, she designed and embedded a formal referral route enabling GPs to identify and refer patients directly for supervised one-to-one yoga therapy delivered through The Minded Institute’s collective of trained practitioners.

By integrating yoga therapy into routine GP practice and generating structured outcome data within clinical governance frameworks, this initiative moves beyond recommendation into implementation. It demonstrates how yoga therapy can function responsibly and collaboratively within mainstream healthcare.

The Robin Monro Awards recognise pioneering, field-shaping contributions to the profession.

Read more about Dr Sonali’s work and the Awards via
themindedinstitute.com/robin-monro-awards

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and yoga therapy share a common aim: helping people step out of automatic patterns and...
01/03/2026

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and yoga therapy share a common aim: helping people step out of automatic patterns and move towards a life guided by values rather than avoidance.

ACT offers a structured behavioural framework for working with cognitive fusion, emotional avoidance, and rigid self-narratives. Yoga therapy works directly with the body, breath, nervous system, and perceptual field in which those patterns are lived.

When integrated well, they form a clinically coherent pathway. Embodied awareness is not left as insight alone. It becomes translated into deliberate, values-led behavioural change.

In this 90-minute seminar, Dee Opp, senior member of The Minded Institute team, yoga therapist, psychotherapist, ACT practitioner, and sensory processing specialist, will:
• Outline the theoretical foundations of ACT
• Demonstrate core ACT processes in practice
• Show how these processes can be applied within yoga therapy sessions
• Explore how embodied regulation strengthens psychological flexibility
• Clarify how values work can extend change beyond the session

This seminar is designed for practitioners who want structure, depth, and clinical integration rather than parallel techniques sitting side by side.

Tuesday 3rd March
6.30pm–8pm UK time
Live online via Zoom
£20
Recording included

Menopause is not a niche topic. It is a central stage of women’s health that every woman will move through, yet it remai...
27/02/2026

Menopause is not a niche topic. It is a central stage of women’s health that every woman will move through, yet it remains inconsistently understood in professional settings.

Comment "menopause" to be sent the direct link.

Hormonal change affects far more than reproductive function. Oestrogen decline alters brain function, sleep architecture, autonomic regulation, inflammatory pathways, cardiovascular risk, and bone metabolism. Psychologically and socially, many women are navigating shifting identity, changing roles, and healthcare systems that have historically under-served them.

For yoga professionals, this requires more than general awareness.

On 7th March 2026, Lindsey Brown leads a one-day CPD exploring menopause through a clinically grounded yoga therapy lens. The training examines neuroendocrine physiology and maps specific therapeutic tools directly onto that physiology, supporting confident and structured professional application.

This is a 7-hour live online CPD with certificate.

📅 Saturday 7 March
🕙 10am–5pm UK
💻 Live online | Recording Included

Details via the link in comments.

The cue to “fill your lungs” is widespread in yoga teaching.It is well intentioned. It is also anatomically inaccurate.M...
26/02/2026

The cue to “fill your lungs” is widespread in yoga teaching.

It is well intentioned. It is also anatomically inaccurate.

Maximal inhalation overrecruits accessory breathing muscles and introduces effort into what is meant to be a regulating practice. Proper breathing for yoga is diaphragmatic, paced, and sustainable.

The opening section of our latest article is shared above. The full discussion explores lung volumes, receptor responses, and the physiological implications of cueing language.

Read the full piece via the link in the comments.




Liz Oppedijk is recognised as an inaugural recipient of the Robin Monro Awards for pioneering evidence-based accessibili...
25/02/2026

Liz Oppedijk is recognised as an inaugural recipient of the Robin Monro Awards for pioneering evidence-based accessibility in care settings.

Through the development of structured Chair Yoga methodologies, clinical assessment tools, and published research within care homes, Liz has helped move accessibility from intention to implementation. Her work demonstrates measurable improvements in mood, anxiety, and social engagement, including for residents living with dementia.

By embedding research-led practice within ageing and social care contexts, she has expanded who yoga therapy is truly for, widening access for older adults and individuals living with complex long-term conditions.

The Robin Monro Awards recognise pioneering, field-shaping contributions to yoga therapy.

Read more about Liz’s work and the Awards via
themindedinstitute.com/robin-monro-awards

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220 Arlington Road
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NW17HE

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