As wellness practitioners and health care providers, it’s important that we take time to dismantle our own implicit bias, assumptions, and old programming in order to support all of our clients and all bodies, all the time, no matter what.

Unless you have been on the receiving end of discriminatory practices, you may not be as aware of all of the ways in which the health and wellness industry perpetuates white supremacy, heterosexism, and cissexism.

Soul Strong Yoga is honored to host wellness educators Kelly Marshall and Kyra Thrilkill of Transforming Wellness for a facilitated discussion on how you can best support transgender and gender diverse clients in your practice.

This 2-day virtual workshop is intended for bodyworkers, yoga teachers, dance instructors, somatics practitioners, health care providers, personal trainers, acupuncturists, dietitians, energy workers, and any other folx looking to expand their current education and create access and a safer space for our transgender and gender diverse community.

During this workshop, you will:

• Learn client-centered practices that focus on how to offer services to transgender and gender diverse clients in a trauma-informed, safe, and affirming way
• Begin to examine and deconstruct your own internal bias and concepts of gender, race, size, and embodiment
• Explore trauma through the lens of Polyvagal Theory
• Develop inclusive vocabulary and employ what you have learned in group discussion

By the end of this workshop you will:

• Be able to engage in thoughtful discussions with your peers about gender, race, size, and embodiment and how these things intersect with the health and wellness industry
• Have a thorough understanding of the basics of Polyvagal Theory
• Be able to spot discriminatory practices and structures that are currently upheld in the health and wellness industry
• Feel empowered to begin working with your colleagues and your community to dismantle discriminatory practices within your line of work

LPCs, LCSWs, psychotherapists, yoga therapists, and yoga teachers can earn 3 CE credits when they participate in this program.

Learn more about Kelly Marshall: Kelly Marshall is a wellness educator and has worked in varying capacities as a massage therapist since 2007; clinically alongside chiropractors and physical therapists as well as in various spa environments.

A registered yoga teacher since 2012, and a certified Yoga Therapist since 2016, they specialize in facilitating a safer space for clients and students to reconnect with their bodies and drop into a deeper state of awareness in order to heal.

With Transforming Wellness, they offer individual and corporate education. As an educator, they focus upon creating a safer space of healing and empowerment for individuals in the LGBTQIA+ population, and those who are addressing trauma, anxiety/depression, body and gender issues, and more.

With Spectrum Wellness, they offer mindfulness coaching, individual and group yoga instruction and Yoga Therapy.

Learn more about Kyra Thrilkill: Kyra Thrilkill was a founding member of the Texas GSA Network and has been a Reiki practitioner since 2007 and a massage therapist since 2011. Shortly after graduating at The Lauterstein-Conway Massage school, she moved to Houston to pursue a clinical focus in post-surgery work, inspiring her to open a private practice for 5 years, focusing on working with post-operative care and professional opera/classical singers.

Since then, she's returned to Austin to be closer to her family. In her free time, she spends a lot of her energy working on her body of watercolor paintings, increasing her repertoire on the violin and cello, studying Yoga and functional movement, and activism/advocacy work for the transgender and LGBTQ community. She is a RYT 200 Yoga instructor, and graduated from the trauma-informed Waking Yoga teacher training in 2020.

Learn more about Transforming Wellness: Transforming Wellness is a project that was launched by racially diverse queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming wellness practitioners and educators.

As a collective, we aim to create comprehensive wellness and health workshops and trainings focused on equipping practitioners and providers with the necessary skills and education to revolutionize and radicalize their private practices and public corporations to be culturally responsive to the needs of marginalized bodies and identities.

Health and wellness is a human right. We are committed to all human beings, human bodies and all human races having the resources, the access, and the ability to connect with educated and informed providers in order to receive care.

You will receive a Zoom link 30 minutes prior to the workshop beginning to your email address.