Yoga for Cancer Teacher Training

Cancer affects nearly all of us in some way. A diagnosis has a huge impact on one’s life and those of our loved ones, and the repercussions extend well beyond the physical body and the duration of treatment.

Just as no two people experience a yoga pose in the same way, no two people experience cancer in the same way. Pain and suffering are not always proportionate to the trauma on the body and are felt in a subjective and deeply personal way. This course aims to give you a grounding in the psychological, emotional and physical reality of cancer so that you can share yoga in a way that is physically and emotionally safe for the attendees. You will also learn specialised therapeutic movement for common physical limitations caused by the illness or by the treatment, and learn therapeutic applications of other facets of yoga practice in order to serve the whole person – body, mind, spirit and relationships.

If you’re looking for a way to evolve your skill set, develop a specialism or deepen your understanding of yoga, the Healing the Whole Person teacher training will provide you with experiential, in-depth knowledge of how you can help people to live better with cancer. The course is also suitable for those looking to work with people with other long-term or life-threatening illnesses. The course is designed, written and led by Morven Hamilton, a YAP accredited Senior Yoga Teacher and breast cancer survivor.

You will learn to:

• create unique holistic Yoga programmes for the individual on the cancer journey

• integrate people with cancer into your regular classes

• design courses for groups and individuals on the cancer journey

• apply Mindfulness concepts and techniques to your yoga teaching

• compassionately hold space for those who are potentially in physical, emotional, mental and spiritual difficulty

• explore your own personal responses to life-threatening illness and end of life.

Day 1: Exploring personal responses to cancer and its implications. Basic cancer biology and treatment. The immune system and yoga.

Day 2: Treatment side-effects and yoga practices to cope with them. Modifications. Creating class plans for individuals and groups.

Day 3: The impact of cancer on the whole person (body, mind, spirit and relationships). Restorative yoga. Patient Q and A with yoga practitioners who have had a diagnosis. Exploring identity and the cancer journey.

Day 4: Mindfulness for Health. Holding a safe and compassionate space. The importance of meaning. The Healing the Whole Person Approach in depth.

Day 5: Using Yoga nidra, mantra, visualisation and poetry in your class. Cultivating compassion. Business, marketing and ethics. 

Our next course dates are 27th – 31st October 2021.

5 contact days, days face to face with the lead instructor Morven Hamilton.

We’ll use props to recreate some of the physical movement restrictions that patients often suffer. Through this and other course elements, you’ll be encouraged in your own personal transformation towards an embodied understanding of the person with cancer.

• Presentation (teacher to student and peer to peer)

• Led practice

• Discussion

• Enactment

• Peer to peer teaching practice 

Day 1 9.00 – 13.00 14.00 – 17.00

Day 2 9.00 – 13.00 14.00 – 17.00

Day 3 9.00 – 13.00 14.00 – 17.00

Day 4 9.00 – 13.00 14.00 – 17.00

Day 5 9.00 – 13.00 14.00 – 17.00

– plus a follow up assignment of either an essay or a case study.

Morven Hamilton is an accredited senior Yoga teacher, Mindfulness teacher and breast cancer survivor.

Morven created the Healing the Whole Person approach to Yoga for cancer whilst working as a Yoga teacher and course facilitator at Penny Brohn Cancer Care in Bristol.

Morven has been teaching Yoga since 2008 and has worked closely with people affected by cancer for many years. During that time, she has seen Yoga radically transform the lives of people affected by cancer.

The Healing the Whole Person approach encompasses the whole person – body, mind, spirit and relationships. 

Debbie 2020 “I highly recommend this course for anyone with plans to help people heal with yoga as a teacher or heal themselves. The knowledge, skills and confidence you’ll gain by being taught in a caring, kind and compassionate style using props and adaptations that assimilate how a person living with cancer maybe experiencing so you feel yourself how they possibly do. Getting a question and answer session with 2 former people/students (cancer patients) who attended Morven’s courses was interesting and insightful.”

Rhiannon 2020 ” I left the course knowing lots about restorative yoga (having 0 experience before!) and HTWP, made some new friends along the way and felt like I had the building blocks to go out and teach to those on the cancer journey. I’ll miss everyone after our 5 days together and hope to stay in touch. My expectations were surpassed in every way and I am sure that anyone who partakes in the HTWP course in the future will not regret it one bit. Thank you Morven!”

Jill 2020 “I have just completed the Yoga for Cancer course and would like to say how interesting and rewarding it was to attend. Morven was an excellent teacher and covered every relevant aspect of the subject with great understanding. Participants are encouraged to take an active part in the course and student participation is essential. This helps to build confidence and experience required to become a Yoga for Cancer teacher, whilst at the same time feeling fully supported during the duration of the course. I was a truly inspiring course with a very inspiring teacher and I met some lovely like-minded people. Thank you Morven.

Course Participant 2019 “The course materials are really useful and will give us exactly what we need to take the work out into the world”

Course Participant 2019 “I loved the approach of experience together. Splitting out to smaller groups for a first discussion and then the optional sharing in the bigger group meant that we could bond easier, and also that we weren’t simply listening to a presentation but very much participated in the lesson discussions ourselves.”

Course Participant 2019 “Morven is a committed and compassionate educator with a wealth of knowledge and expertise which she shares with love and kindness…I would recommend this course to anyone who wishes to work with cancer patients and their families”

Course Participant 2018 “I found the course really informative. It helped me to let go of some of my pre-conceived ideas of how to approach and work with people who are affected by cancer.”

Course Participant 2018 “Thank you so much for your support through this workshop. It has not only been a lesson from a yoga point of view but from a personal view too. You have inspired me to strive forward and see I can help people.”

An 8-module course, 40 hours Vocational Teacher Training (35 hours contact time)

The cost is £660. You get a discount of £60 if you pay in full when you book the course. There are also payment plans available – email us or call us to find out more.

Course leader: Morven Hamilton SYT will teach 100% of the course. Contact us and we will arrange a free Skype consultation with your course leader, Morven Hamilton.

View course policy documents

View Trainee Code of Conduct

The Healing Journey – Alastair Cunningham

Being with Dying – Joan Halifax

Mindfulness for Health – Vidyamala Burch

The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel Van der Kolk

Yoga for Cancer- Tari Prinster