6 Benefits of Simple Chair Yoga

Joann Lutz, MSW, LICSW, E-RYT, C-IAYT, is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists, an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance, and a Certified Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist.

She is also certified in EMDR and Psychosynthesis. She had a private practice in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she incorporated trauma-informed yoga into groups for combat veterans, clients recovering from psychiatric disorders, and others. She has practiced and taught Integral Yoga for over 35 years, and was a guest teacher at Omega Institute; Harbin Hot Springs; Rowe Conference Center and Sivananda Yoga Retreat, Bahamas, among other venues.

Joann completed 40 hours of trauma-sensitive yoga training with The Trauma Center in Boston, MA. She has been training mental health professionals to bring trauma-informed yoga into their practices nationally and internationally for the past 7 years, bringing this work to universities, conferences, hospitals, ashrams and yoga centers. Her CEU course, “Bringing Yoga into Social Work Practice,” was published by the National Association of Social Workers, Ma. Chapter, in 2014.

Her paper, "Classical Yoga Postures as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Autonomic Nervous System Regulation" was published in Proceedings of the Yoga and Psyche Conference (2014), by Cambridge Scholars Press. Her book, Trauma Healing in the Yoga Zone, is forthcoming from Handspring Publishers.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Joann Lutz receives compensation as a consultant, workshop presenter and trainer. She receives royalties as a published author. Joann Lutz receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Joann Lutz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.