Trauma Sensitive
YogaFaith Teacher Training

Called the Yoga Pastor, Michelle Thielen, R-CYAMT, is a speaker, author of Stretching Your Faith and traveling yogi who has been teaching somatic movement through dance and yoga for over 20 years. A student of Peter Levine’s Somatic Experience (SE), and Eric Walrabenstein’s therapy for psychological wounds, Michelle is passionate about helping the world heal from trauma to live a life of purpose.

As a Trauma Sensitive Yoga Therapist and meditation expert, Michelle has been instrumental in aiding with the restoration of those who suffer from trauma, intense anxiety or depression into healing and freedom. She travels around the world aiding in the rescue efforts of human traffick victims as well as raising awareness about the epidemic. She holds certifications with the American Council of Exercise, is a Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists and founded the Christian Yoga Association in 2018, to build a bridge between faith-based yoga practitioners and educators.

She has 3 200-hour Certifications, 3 500-hour Certifications, Certified in Yoga Therapy with the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and a Minister through Christian Global Outreach Ministries. Michelle has been the lead trainer of almost 200 Teacher Trainings.

See MichelleThielen.com for more information and scheduling.

Jody Thomae is an author, worship leader, and teacher of embodied prayer and creative worship. She has been involved in worship arts ministries since 1997 and is the author of “God’s Creative Gift” and the forthcoming book, “The Creator’s Healing Power.” Her passion is for the revelation of God to be made real through the prophetic and creative portrayal of the message of Christ’s unfailing love, in order to help sustain the hearts of the broken and weary.

She is particularly interested in how God uses creativity and embodied movement (including yoga) in the formative and healing process. She is a graduate of Ashland Theological Seminary. She has taught yoga for over 15 years and leads a gently challenging Vinyasa flow (or slow, energizing flow) yoga class that is ROOTED (grounded in form, alignment, intention) and REACHING (stretching towards personal goals, dreams, destiny). [email protected]

Amy resides just outside of Perrysville, OH with her husband and three children. Yoga has been in and our of her life for nearly 20 years. In 2010, the Lord brought yoga to the forefront of Amy’s life and that is when she began to embrace it as a form of personal worship. When she found YogaFaith, Amy knew this ministry was a divine match to her hearts longing to be an ambassador for Christ to people in need of healing. In 2017, she completed her teacher training with YogaFaith (R-YFT) and is also a certified restorative yoga instructor(R-R). These faithful steps are leading her to others to find wholeness and oneness with Christ.

In her teaching, Amy focuses on healing the body and spirit though body work, primarily though a gently flow, restorative practice, and trauma informed yoga to compliment talk therapy. These modalities have forever shaped her testimony and personal ministry to help others on a path of natural healing the way Christ intended. Amy is passionate about taking Jesus out into the world through yoga so others can find restoration in mind, body, spirit and soul.

Michelle’s aim is to teach people how to feel better in their bodies, heal from trauma, and accept God’s overwhelming goodness and grace. She helps her students to acknowledge and correct poor alignment; use the breath to calm the nervous system; and stretch and strengthen the body and mind. She desires for each student to find success in their yoga practice, regardless of their skill level, abilities, or age.

Yoga strengthens Michelle’s relationships with God, family, and herself. She began practicing to connect with myself in a positive way and gain balance after enduring 5 concussions and traumatic relationships. Although she still occasionally battles with anxiety and depression, she uses yoga to develop good habits to recuperate much faster and have a healthier outlook of life overall.

Michelle recognizes she’s a work in progress and the path Jesus placed her on will take a lifetime to complete. She chooses to approach it one breath at a time.