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Soma Yoga Institute: Yoga Nidra for Healing and Transformation

A 20-hour Yoga Nidra teacher training rooted in the therapeutic yoga lineage. Covers the ten-step framework for writing and guiding Yoga Nidra, working with Sankalpa, energy body anatomy, and voice delivery. Awards 20 hours of Yoga Alliance CE and 20 hours of APD with IAYT.

Duration: 20h
Certification: CE credits
Format: hybrid (self-paced and live online)
Skill level: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Career pathway: advanced training

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Course program

Yoga Nidra for Healing and Transformation by Soma Yoga Institute is an online training that teaches students to write and guide Yoga Nidra — the practice of deep, guided relaxation often called yogic sleep. The program blends ancient roots with current scientific research, preparing students to offer Yoga Nidra as a tool for healing, resilience, and personal transformation.

This course is open to anyone — yoga teaching experience is not required, and the FAQ confirms it’s not limited to yoga teachers. Existing Yoga Alliance-registered teachers and IAYT-credentialed yoga therapists can apply the hours toward continuing education. It suits practitioners who want to deepen their own Yoga Nidra practice and those preparing to guide others through the technique.

The curriculum centers on a ten-step framework for writing and guiding Yoga Nidra, with a focus on therapeutic adaptation and personalization of scripts. Students explore the current research on Yoga Nidra’s effects — including its role in reducing insomnia, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and mood disorders, and its capacity to outperform meditation for certain markers of cognitive and physiological stress.

The program then moves into the energy body, covering prana vayus, nadis, and chakras, alongside yoga’s frameworks for mental well-being and the emotions. Students develop skills for voice tone and rhythm to deliver Yoga Nidra clearly. The course also covers the effective use of Sankalpa — intention — to support purposeful transformation in students. Practical resources include an online practice library of gentle movements, pranayama, meditations, and mudra, plus a collection of Yoga Nidra scripts and practice teaching opportunities. Foundational business skills for offering Yoga Nidra to a community are also included.

The lead faculty member for the program is Liz Heffernan, C-IAYT and E-RYT 500. Liz is the founder and director of Soma Yoga Institute, with more than 25 years of teaching experience and training spanning Hatha, Kripalu, Integrative Yoga Therapy, Ashtanga, and Anusara traditions. She brings a therapeutic, biomechanically informed lens to the teaching of Yoga Nidra and yoga more broadly.

The format is hybrid. Pre-recorded video lessons, slides, lectures, and prerecorded practice sessions are paired with weekly live Zoom calls for lecture, Q&A, and group discussion — two scheduled call times are offered, and recordings are available if students can’t attend. The course is designed as a five-week program with about four hours of content and practice per week, but students work self-paced and receive lifetime access to the materials.

Meet your teacher

Liz Heffernan

Liz Heffernan is the founder and director of Soma Yoga Institute. An E-RYT 500 and C-IAYT Yoga Therapist with 25+ years of teaching experience, she specializes in therapeutic alignment, biomechanical safety, and adaptive yoga for all bodies.

Host reviews

Ellyn Gaughan

Verified user

I absolutely love the vibe of working one on one and everything learned in this module made it easy for me to put together sequences for my private client volunteer (who's still coming back for more). The benefit of working one on one is you really get to see results. Every time we meet we check in first and I'm just thrilled with the positive feedback from someone who really needed some positivity in her life.
Miriam Marshwood

Verified user

Peggy is a superb excellent teacher. Not only is she highly knowledgable and experienced in teaching and training others, she delivers material very well, easy to follow, and uses training tools such as slides and handouts which promotes the efficacy of her teaching. She is pleasant and gladly responds to questions with clarity and completeness. She is a great asset to the SOMA institute. I much love and enjoy her practices.