Want to get on the path towards Anatomy Samadhi?

Get access to my free lesson and learn how yoga can be so much more than just "stretching".

Hi, I'm Denise!

I’m a 500hr ERYT Yoga Teacher who’s been teaching 200/300hr YTTs for over a decade.

I’ve been involved in the “movement and healthcare” world for over 4 decades and have been everything from a Aerobics Fitness Instructor to a Personal Trainer, Massage Therapist, and even Director of a Massage College with two campuses.

I’ve combined these experiences with my passion for movement science and clinical research into a new paradigm of “anatomy based” continuing education for yoga teachers.

Over the past two years I’ve created over 250 educational videos for yoga teachers that are distributed on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube – with a combined total of over 4,000 hours watch time!

The teachers who train with me end up taking a different approach…

Instead of spending hours studying muscle names, where they attach and the movements they create…these teachers are using a simple set of cues that apply to all postures (as well as all other physical activities).

Instead of getting overwhelmed by endless contradictory opinions and styles (which I call the “Eternal Crossroads”)…these teachers use the key skills & tools from the worlds of anatomy, exercise physiology and movement science. Unlike “yoga style fads”, these “best practices” never change.

And instead of basing their professional education on what they are interested in…these teachers understand that seeing their students make progress is what builds confidence and makes it fun to teach yoga.

These teachers are on the path towards "Anatomy Samadhi"

They are no longer scared of anatomy.

They are confident in spotting potentially injurious movement mechanics.

and Their students trust their knowledge and respect them as a professional.

The movement template

A New Approach to Walking the Path Towards Anatomy Samadhi

So you graduated from YTT a while ago. Maybe you just completed your first 200hr training a few months ago, or maybe you’ve taken multiple trainings over the past 5-10 years.

You’ve had those moments second guessing yourself before class…wondering which postures to use, wanting to give your Students an quality experience, hoping that whatever you come up with is also going to give them some benefit in their life off the mat.

If you’re like most teachers, you’ve probably thought during these moments that you really need to “learn more anatomy”.

Instead of just picking postures you are good at, using a pre-built sequence from your teacher, or just winging the whole thing and trusting the universe – you could be absolutely certain that your class provides everything your students need to challenge their bodies safely and help them get better at every other physical activity they do.

The question is…how do you get there?

I help teachers who lack confidence...

If you are unsure about whether your students are heading towards injury, if you find yourself struggling to answer questions about why their left hip hurts in forward fold, or if you are afraid to give your students direction because “you can’t make judgments because every body is unique” – this is for you.

Maybe you’ve taken a few anatomy workshops, but you aren’t confident enough to say “Your hip hurts because of this. I want you to try doing this instead.”

Maybe you are fresh out of your first 200hr YTT and realize you have waaay more questions about “anatomy” than you did before you became a teacher.

All you know for sure is you need to make a change.

...become competent Teachers that know their stuff!

While everyone else is taking the slow, frustrating approach to anatomy (like memorizing individual muscle movements and learning useless technical words like scapulothoracic rhythm – which your students are never going to understand, even if you eventually do)…

You can be the one who knows the exact thing that makes your students say “This is the first time I’ve done a forward fold without knee pain for years! How did you do that??”

You can be someone who knows exactly what your students should be working on to get the most out of their time in class, and show them how to do it safely.

You get to experience the elation of knowing your students are making undeniably positive changes in their practice and the rest of their life.

Why is the Movement Template the best way to get to Anatomy Samadhi?

You and I both know there are endless options for “learning more anatomy”.

Single day workshops. Weekend intensives. Trips to Bali. Online courses. Yoga apps. Youtube.

These options can work.

But chances are, if you are reading this, you are have already tried a few of those things. You aren’t starting from square one, but you can’t seem to put all the pieces together into a coherent “worldview”.

You already know how to lead a class that people enjoy. You know the basic cues to get people into the “standard” poses.

Your goal isn’t to just learn anatomy for the sake of learning anatomy, it’s to give you the assurance that you are “playing by the body’s rules” and actually helping your students get better at yoga (not to mention maintain all the movements they need to have a high quality, independent life in their later years!).

Your goal is to help your students create undeniably positive improvements in their body. Your goal is to be able to show your students exactly what they need to work on. The Movement Template can help you do that.

Which leads me to the key difference between my approach and everything else you’ll find on the internet…

All the training inside the Movement Template takes the best information from world renowned specialists, physiotherapists, and researchers, and makes it accessible to yoga teachers. You’ll be learning from someone who understands and loves the movement science world just as much as the yoga world.

That means I’m not going to teach you all the useless, boring stuff that other anatomy teachers will repeat over and over again (the psoas inserts onto the lesser trochanter of the humerus bone and helps hip flexion – blah blah blah).

Instead, I’m going to give you a practical method that teaches you how the body moves across all activities. You are going to have skills that you can learn within a half hour and start applying to your classes the very same day.

The Movement Template

Core Components

Foundations First

Instead of showing you tips and tricks to wiggle into postures, my lectures are designed to give you a strong foundation. They are handcrafted with on-screen graphics to ensure you're connecting all the right dots and picking up the most important points.

Action-Focused

This isn't a passive experience with a bunch of theory that is difficult to bring into your class. Experiential Exercises help make the theory real through effective drills and practices. And you'll learn while actually enjoying yourself!

Systematic

I teach you the most important things, in the exact order you need to know them. This isn't for people who think that you'll get the same outcome as long as it called "something yoga". My style of teaching is methodical and jam packed with information. That means if you put in the effort, you'll get the results.

Mindset

Before we get into the nitty gritty details, I'm going to help you build a new mindset that goes far beyond the common "yoga is stretching" paradigm. Yoga is your opportunity to be on the front line of physical healthcare!

I get results. And so do my students.

I’m not another teacher trying to make an online training because the studio is in lockdown. Here’s why you can trust me:

Four decades of experience in movement science, personal training, massage therapy and YTT instruction.
Over 250 free educational videos already available on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube with over 4,000 hours watched.
A ridiculous passion for movement research, which means you get to learn all the "best practices" without ever needing to decipher a paper (unless you want to!).
I have successfully taught my methodology through in-person trainings as well as the Movement Template Online Masterclass (see student reviews below).

The proof is in the practice

This was the first time I taught many of these “Student” Teachers, they hadn’t had a class with me before. Notice how steady they are? That’s because I’m telling them exactly what they need to do to make the body stable, strong and safe.

Don't take my word for it. Here's what my Teachers have to say...

Barbara

200 hr YTT, 40 year practitioner.

“I think that the information Denise is providing should be part of every Yoga Teacher Training program…and brought to the attention of people who practice yoga.”

Donna

200 hr YTT

“I’ve learned that it’s not so much about being ‘perfectly aligned’ – it’s about being Active and strong in your body!”

Rashida (and friends!)

200 hr YTT, “newish” teacher

“I’m literally feeling – ‘Where have you been all my life, Denise?’ and I can’t wait for the next course to come up because in my mind, I’ve already signed up for it.”