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About Us
Excellence in Yoga Therapy Training
Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing provides excellence in Yoga Therapy training, born out of the in-depth knowledge in yoga, both practical and philosophical, that each tutor has.
This, along with years of experience working in yoga and yoga therapy, keeps our focus on transmitting the knowledge and practical skills of yoga therapy to you, in an accessible way and through live training.
The Story of Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing:
Where Timeless Wisdom Meets Modern Practice
​Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing was born from a deep desire to reconnect with the profound roots of yoga—a desire nurtured by our founder, Barbara. The vision is to offer yoga therapy training that delves into the rich philosophical and experiential depths of yoga, to honour the timeless wisdom of yoga and bring it into a contemporary therapeutic context.
Understanding that the art of yoga therapy lies in the ability to thoughtfully refer back to yoga's ancient sources and philosophical underpinnings. To bring this vision to life, like-minded colleagues, Sabine Dahn and Santoshni Perera formed a team united by a shared commitment to hold the essence of yoga at the heart of the training they provide, just as it is at the heart of their own practice.
The foundation of our training is rooted in the teachings of viniyoga, an approach developed by TKV Desikachar and based on the wisdom of his father, Professor T. Krishnamacharya—one of the most influential figures in modern yoga. Viniyoga emphasizes the individualised adaptation of yoga practices to meet the unique needs, abilities, circumstances, and interests of each student. In this approach, yoga is shaped to fit the student, rather than expecting the student to conform to a predefined notion of yoga.
At Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing, we believe that every person is unique and deserves a practice that meets them where they are; addressing the whole person—not just a collection of health issues. By focusing on individual needs, we offer a therapeutic practice that is deeply responsive and holistic.
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Yoga holds a vast and nuanced understanding of human existence—how we live and how we sometimes struggle. In our yoga therapy training, we draw from this wealth of knowledge, studying fundamental principles, texts, models, and personal experiences. We emphasize the importance of support and skillful communication between care seeker and therapist, ensuring that yoga therapy is not just applied but applied thoughtfully and effectively within the context of each individual’s life.
This approach allows yoga therapy to be a powerful tool across a wide range of health situations, always placing the person at the center of the healing process.
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Our Commitment: Excellence in Yoga Therapy Training
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At Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing, our mission is to offer you a place to grow. We bring together our collective experience, learning, and dedication to provide you with the highest standard of yoga therapy training.
​Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing draws together the learning, experience and work in the field of yoga therapy, that each tutor brings, to offer you a place to grow your own knowledge, understanding and practical skills.
Our commitment is to provide you with excellence in yoga therapy training, to enrich your understanding, your work and your personal engagement with yoga.
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Barbara Dancer has run a yoga therapy practice since 2007, is on the committee for the British Council for Yoga Therapy (BCYT) and is a Course Assessor for BCYT Accreditation.
She was Chair of BCYT between 2013-2016, working on the Core Curriculum as the basis for accreditation of UK yoga therapy training. She has taught yoga therapy privately, within the charity sector, in complementary health settings and within a publicly funded project.
She is currently running a project providing yoga to people with Long Covid via a support group structure.
She runs a BWY Module on Yoga Therapy (with Sabine Dahn) and one of her specialisms is Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs.
“I enjoy working with people, providing tailored support and empowering them to improved health. It’s fascinating and extremely rewarding work. On a larger scale, I would like to see yoga therapy “coming of age” and being part of community-based healthcare offering the important approaches of person-centred care and more involvement in one’s own health.
Barbara studied and was employed in environmental science and acoustics before working in yoga full-time. She still has a strong interest in all things environmental and loves getting outdoors and walking in her local area of the Chilterns.
Sabine Dahn combines her work as a yoga teacher and therapist with teaching ceramics and creating her own artwork. She has a particular awareness of yoga’s positive impact on mental health. She has collaborated with MIND, developed her own Mental Health Yoga Programme and delivered several training days on Mental Health for the BWY and Association for Yoga Studies. She is BWY CPD and Module tutor.
Sabine has worked as a yoga therapist on the haematology, gynae-oncology and children’s oncology wards at the Royal Sussex Hospital. She recently drew up a set of tiered courses for Yoga within the Learning for Health & Wellbeing section of Aspire Sussex Adult Education.
She is passionate about nature and accepting its gifts to care for our health whilst also protecting and sustaining our planet. This finds expression in her work as Wellbeing Advisor with the anthroposophical company Weleda.
Santoshni Perera is a yoga therapist, yoga teacher who also teaches Yoga Sūtra, chanting and meditation. She has a diploma in Āyurveda Diet and Lifestyle and is trained in Āyurvedic massage and is a BWY Foundation Course tutor. She practices insight meditation and regularly leads meditation workshops at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire.
She realised the beneficial value of yoga while being a prison yoga teacher, which she taught for nine years.
When working as a Community Development Officer for Ethnic Minorities in Dacorum, she helped set up an interpreting service and continues to provide translation support to Sinhala speakers. Her Sinhala language skills and understanding of Buddhist tradition provides additional insight into the complementarities to Sanskrit and the philosophy of yoga through the Yoga SÅ«tra.