From their mid-30s all your valued female students begin to experience the changes of perimenopause. They may be unprepared and missing opportunities for effective self-care. Some may be feeling desolate, in pain, fearful and/or full of self-judgment. In a world where menopause has now become a huge topic, these women are also barraged by conflicting information, disappointing healthcare, unrealistic promises and frightening headlines.
If we as yoga teachers unwittingly make promises based on poor evidence or misinformation, we join in this barrage. I believe we can (and should) do so much better. In developing this training, my greatest passion was that it be pragmatic, evidence-based, make no false promises and contain that which is achievable, effective and empowering for ordinary women in real ways.
So far, more than 300 yoga teachers from across the globe, have joined me – Niamh Daly (Yoga Alliance Continued Education Provider) – and graduated this course, certified by Yoga Alliance Professionals, since it began in 2020.
In the FAQs at the end of this page there is an extended answer to the question: “What is different about this course compared to other yoga for menopause trainings?”
Ensuring you know and can support the symptoms, biochemistry and anatomical changes of the stages of menopause, and the changing needs of a woman’s body.
Giving you confidence in your knowledge and understanding of the many physical social and symptomatic ways a woman can be affected from her 30s by the late reproductive stage, peri- and post-menopause.
Helping you know how to adjust your teaching language to effectively, and trauma-sensitively share your new, potentially life-changing knowledge and skills, because the way you teach her can make a huge difference to the ease or struggle with which a woman navigates these stages.
Teaching you effective ways to add to and adjust your current skills and passions, and helping you to create safe, inclusive and supportive classes and workshops.
Teaching you about the health concerns during and beyond the Menopause transition, and giving you practical and easy ways to increase support for bone, brain and pelvic floor health in your teaching.
It will also hold you in your life and professionally, so that you are able to support yourself as you teach when energy fluctuations, physical changes, or symptoms like brain-fog or hot flushes may begin to affect you.
There are no texts to be purchased. You will receive an 80 page manual with all the information you need, plus additional optional homework links.
A leading light in Menopause treatment and care, currently spearheading the campaign for balanced, multiple-study, research-based information about the use of HRT in the face of the current dramatic and polarising media headlines.
Trusted by Physicians & Physiotherapists, The Vagina Coach is the go-to expert for leading edge pelvic floor exercise programs.
Far from recommendations of extreme diets, Petra’s approach centres multiple-study-evidence-based adjustments tailored to support the vulnerabilities and needs of the changing female mid-life and later-life environment.
“This course worked brilliantly in the online format! The course felt intimate even though we were not actually physically together I was so happy at that.
The content has been brilliant and thought provoking, from the information on the menopause to the practicalities and limitations of teaching a class. I thoroughly enjoyed learning from Niamh and being with the other ladies.”
“Spending the weekend with the most intellectual, articulate, interesting women and the font of knowledge that is Niamh Daly. Thanks God I am a woman in her forties now in 2023”
“Dear Niamh.. in April (my oncologist) could see from my hip and shoulder x-rays that I had osteoporosis. It took until today to get a scan and the results show that in fact my bones are in good shape, only just into osteopenia, even improved from my last scan in 2019.
I am beyond delighted. Thank you for all your advice and guidance, both dietary and exercise; it certainly produced fantastic results!”
Costs: Early Bird (open until Dec 16th) €415. Full price €475. Self-paced €365
My work with the human body began with explorations in the Alexander Technique in the mid-1990s.
I have trained in Hatha Yoga, and studied and/or practiced most of the variations of Yoga from its most traditional roots in India, to new approaches and hybrids.
I continue to study: including with Donna Farhi, renowned Clinical Anatomist and fascia expert John Sharkey, Integral Anatomist Gil Hedley, Sarah Lo, Marlene ffrench-Mullen, Rebekah Rotstein and Lisa Petersen.
Primarily through Yoga in its most recognisable forms, and influenced by 5 rhythms dancing, somatic movement, mindfulness and anatomy, I have sought to tempt people away from dictatorial top-down regimes. So I have created methods to encourage self-agency and true embodiment, allowing the free expression of our nervous system through the physical and emotional body.
In addition to Yoga trainings, I also train Pilates and Fitness professionals, psychotherapists and counsellors via my CPD courses in Menopause Awareness & Strategies, and teach women and some men in classes, one-to-one and on retreats.
Although we can not speak to its undoubtedly multi-faceted cause, the rates of suicide in women peak between the ages of 45-54. Certainly, any history of depression may be exacerbated by perimenopause struggles. This may not represent many of your students, but it points to the possible changing levels of support a woman may need. As I entered perimenopause, this need was not being addressed in yoga.
So, I dived into my own research and noticed some aspects of yoga seemed custom made to support menopause. Yet I was discovering that there are aspects of menopause that mean yoga could worsen some symptoms! Certainly, yoga could be focused to support it much better.
It was 2015, when menopause was not on the map as it is today, so I began my mission to fill that space. I created Yoga for Menopause in 2015. After 5 years teaching workshops and classes supporting women’s menopause journey, I launched Certificate in Teaching Yoga for the Stages of Menopause back in early 2020. It was one of only two such trainings in the world.
“I’m just so grateful every day that I did that training, and that I didn’t attempt to go into supporting people, going through perimenopause without it. I’ve been able to talk with confidence and answer questions.”
“I literally didn’t sleep for five years during perimenopause… I didn’t have the tools to work within the yoga structure. I was just pounding through the sequencing just as I was taught and not giving myself some self love and a break.
And now …as a teacher… I want to see people responding to the body that they have and not feel like they have to fit into that cookie cutter.”
“I felt empowered from the training. Somehow something happened in that training where I’m like ‘take a step back, I have to tend to my energetic work and just spend time laying down on the floor and rolling around.’ I think that was very helpful.”
Designed to give you the knowledge and skills to be able to teach your students in an inclusive, respectful, knowledgeable and menopause supportive manner, It will help your students experience more agency, self esteem and joy.
The training Is targeted towards pleasure, strength and safety, with all practices intended to be achievable for all women, even those who don’t have time for a daily personal practice.
Certified by Niamh Daly and Yoga Alliance Professionals, this takes place over 3 weekends, 4 full days 10am-6pm plus one half day 10am-1pm Ireland time. Check your time zone here.
Begin anytime, and have access for a year. Completing your study of the required content, your one-to-one with me, and your assessments will allow me to certify you as a Yoga for the Stages of Menopause trained teacher, and attesting to 44 hours of CPD study.
The gift of confidence knowing that what you are saying, doing and teaching, helps and does no harm to either students in the Stages of Menopause, nor yourself.
to use as a resource through your years of teaching. “It’s brilliant and I will continue to use it as a reference tool and guide. Comprehensive and concise.”
Mary Conway. Yoga Teacher
*Self-paced participants receive it as a PDF
“So useful. Reinforced what we had learned together and provided the opportunity to bed it in more deeply by practicing at home.”
Lulu Winfield. Yoga Teacher
Post-course assessment, certification costs and a donation to Breast Cancer research
Fees include a free listing in Yoga for Menopause qualified teachers directory on the Yinstinct site.
Many students say that their fellow students have become part of their yoga teacher community, with new connections co-creating events and workshop partnerships.
Niamh welcomes your questions during and after the training, and offers mentorship at reduced rates for graduates. You can access all course material via the self-paced training for one year, also included in the price of the live trainings.
“The content in the manual was excellent, I feel much better equipped now on how to help a woman going through menopausal stages in her life. Clear, informative and factual, the… information you gave us was excellent“.
“Niamh’s courage in challenging the often times sweeping claims of the current yoga for menopauses teachings makes her, in my personal opinion, an authentic practitioner.
I have been involved in holistic health and yoga therapy for over 30 years, and I am truly grateful to find someone who is so genuinely passionate about women’s self-care”
“So many midlife women here absolutely love everything I learn in your course. It’s been a stepping stone in my own journey through it all as well & feel the path is much easier to navigate myself through it.”
Click the arrows on the left to reveal each answer to the questions you may have.
For Live Training: Niamh looks forward to welcoming you to the next Live Training of Yoga for the Stages of Menopause. She’ll be in touch by email within 24 hours with next steps after your payment is received.
For Self Paced: Niamh will be in touch within 24 hours with your login details and everything else you need to get started
44 hours total, made up of 31 hours live, and 13 hours homework.
The Certificate includes three components to successfully graduate:
Additional study hours to be completed outside of the delivery components of the Certificate are via an online gallery of lectures and classes, continued study of the Certificate Manual, and research and composition of your written piece.
It is one of the first two such trainings ever created worldwide, with over 300 satisfied Yoga Teachers who have graduated from all over the globe.
Approached from a therapeutic, rather than lineage-based style, this certificate teaches evidence-proven ways that yoga can support women through the stages of menopause and beyond.
No pose or sequence of poses has been seen in any study to address any symptom of menopause. This is one reason why the course does not teach you set sequences that claim to address menopause symptom by symptom.
It also avoids teaching set sequences or classes because most teachers taking the course are already skilled and experienced, either in their yoga teaching or life skills earned as you mature. So, you can teach an adapted enriched version of what you already love to teach, and maintain your curiosity and freedom to teach creatively. It will give you a structure upon which to build your classes, but it is not a trademarked franchise that requires you to credit me, or stick to a limited number of possibilities.
I am passionate to ensure you avoid learning incorrect, unfounded or inaccurate claims. Avoiding top-down lecturing, the course is taught in a pedagogical model of co-inquiry to keep your mind engaged. This ensures embodied learning, curiosity and passion.
This Certificate is certified and endorsed by Yoga Alliance Professionals. In addition to this, graduates are listed on a Yoga for the Stages of Menopause Certified Teachers Directory on Niamh’s Yinstinct website.
This is something you need to discuss with the association you belong to.
No – there is no research and therefore no evidence of any single posture or sequence which will alleviate menopause symptoms.
The claims that you may be reading about yoga to support menopause symptoms in online articles or in books are often unfounded, and may risk harm in the presence of increasingly common vulnerabilities.
The live online training is delivered online via Zoom.
The live in person training is delivered mainly face to face with one additional online session via zoom on a weekend following your in person contact hours.
The self-paced version is delivered via online access to an on demand library of classes and resources, and includes an additional one hour private mentoring session with Niamh delivered via Zoom.
The online training course takes place over 3 weekends, 4 full days 10am-6pm Ireland time, one half day 10am-1pm, plus homework.
You can convert this to your time zone here
No – graduates in overseas time zones which do not agree with Ireland have two options:
You will receive it to study within an hour of the end of the day’s teaching.
Yes you can. The Certificate is suitable for anyone who is trained as a Yoga teacher, or in training.
You can begin this certification as a trainee, and the official certification will be granted after you have graduated from your foundational Yoga Teacher Training with your main teacher.
Women in or approaching their menopausal years and with at least 2 years of Yoga practice who would like to attend to support their own journey are also welcome.
However, please be aware that the teaching certificate will only be granted to yoga teachers.
Niamh occasionally offers live in person training in Ireland in addition to the self-paced and live online training options. She is open to invitations to teach elsewhere if you have an interested group. This is dependant on numbers and distance.
Yes you will. It will be endorsed by Niamh, not Yoga Alliance Professionals.
You have one year access to the Self-Paced resources.
Once you complete the recordings, study the homework reading, have your one-to-one with Niamh and pass your assessments, you will be awarded your certificate of completion, which will attest to 44 hours of study and will certify you as a Yoga for the Stages of Menopause trained teacher.
Teachers have said they love how approachable Niamh is, and Niamh freely welcomes emails with simple questions. Bigger concerns can be addressed in a mentoring session.
Nimah is also happy to share your menopause events through her social media channels if you tag her @yinstinctyoga.
Niamh here for you! You can avail of my 1:1 support through my Personal Resource page here. These resources include group or private classes and retreats, and online membership. Yoga for the Stages of Menopause graduates can access some of these at a reduced price.
Of course! Please reach out to Niamh personally via email here, and ask away.
“Delivered with such warmth and wisdom. Felt very safe to share or ask questions and the flow between cognitive learning and physical practice was perfectly balanced. I felt nothing was lost by the virtual format.”
“Niamh has a no frills attached teaching skill which is inclusive, respectful, honest and open. I loved every minute of this training, and feel it is something we should all be exposed to.”
“Four beautiful days filled with information, nourishment and inspiration. And superbly facilitated! I must admit I loved being in the comfort of my own space at home and still felt very connected to the whole group.”
Join 300+ yoga teachers from across the globe from USA, Australia, the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe who have graduated with the Certificate in Yoga for the Stages of Menopause course since it began in 2020.