Built from my own experience navigating the world of yoga through medical trauma, and the deep knowing that no single pose fits all, I have worked in yoga therapy and integrative mental health for over ten years. My trauma-informed approach centers on choice, consent, and respect for each person’s pace.

My work invites people to relate to the body’s cues as useful information: a source of insight that supports inner knowing, self-trust, and nervous system regulation. This vision led me to found Sakala School of Integrative Teaching, offering professional education that bridges neuroscience, contemplative philosophy, and trauma-informed methodology. Across all programs, Sakala School emphasizes applied, body-based learning and trauma-informed facilitation skills designed for direct use in clinical, educational, and community settings.

I invite you into this same approach.

My name is Judy Thompson, and I’ve designed Witnessing Beauty, a 200-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training now in its sixth cohort, to reflect what I’ve learned across these years of study and practice. I hold a Master of Science in Yoga Therapy, and my graduate training in applied neuroscience shapes everything we explore together: trauma-informed principles, nervous system physiology, and facilitation skills taught within a clear scope.

I developed the curriculum, I teach the core content, and I’m still learning alongside every group that shows up. What holds this work together is a simple truth: that we all carry an understanding of our own deepest sense of wholeness and well-being.

This training is an invitation to discover your own voice as a teacher, at your own pace, with your own questions, in your own way.

I hope you’ll join me!