Stretch & Stabilize Training
This YACEP Certified, weekend training is for yoga and group fitness teachers who want to support a broader range of students. Drawing from several movement traditions, the training follows the familiar rhythm of a yoga class while introducing functional conditioning practices that build strength, mobility, and resilience.
Strength without mobility creates restriction. Flexibility without strength creates instability. Stretch & Stabilize trains both.
For over a decade I worked with high level athletes, including the Olympic men’s and women’s Canadian Rugby teams and athletes training through the Canadian Sport Institute. While working with these students, I noticed their bodies didn’t bend and twist in the same way I was used to. It became a personal mission to try and figure out how to help support these student’s bodies, and in that pursuit, this class was born. It was a labour of love working with a dear friend and teacher Alicia, to develop the concepts around this class, and it has morphed over the years into this wonderful style that serves students of all ages and mobility levels.
Overtime this class became the place to go to if you were stressed, if you were recovering from an injury, lacked mobility, or needed to focus on joint integrity. We blended principles from FRC® & Kinstretch®, Modo Yoga Fit, Pilates and Barre while maintaining the same breath focus that calmed the nervous system. Over the years, the original sequence has been tweaked and adjusted, expanded on and further developed. It’s now at a place where I get to train others on how to teach this non-yoga inspired movement class to carry these ideas and concepts into their own studios and communities.
CREATE ACCESSIBLE PRACTICES
Redefine How
You Teach Bodies
Key Learning Takeaways
- Integrate 5 different movement philosophies into your teaching today
- Learn new cueing strategies that will change the way your students move
- Develop new sequences to start teaching immediately
- Refine your understanding of how breath affects the body’s ability to build strength and maintain flexibility
Your Target Student Audience
- Elite Athletes looking for millisecond advantages
- Yoga students who have injuries due to hypermobility
- Men who often feel left out of the movement world due to lack of flexibility
- Runners, Cross-fitters, Weight resistance trainers, Pre-and post Pregnant mothers, anybody with a body
Who this Training is For?
- Yoga teachers, Pilates and barre instructors
- Personal Trainers & Group fitness coaches
- Movement educators who want to broaden the way they support their students.
- Physiotherapists and rehab/prehab specialists
- Students who wants to deepen their knowledge of how to care for their own body
40%
OF ADULTS AVOID YOGA BECAUSE THEY AREN’T FLEXIBLE ENOUGH
1 in 3
ATHLETES EXPERIENCE MOBILITY LIMITATIONS
60%
YOGA PRACTITIONERS IDENTIFY AS HYPERMOBILE
0
CLASSES TEACH HOW TO BUILD STRENGTH INSIDE OF FLEXIBILITY
40%
OF ADULTS AVOID YOGA BECAUSE THEY AREN’T FLEXIBLE ENOUGH
1 in 3
ATHLETES EXPERIENCE MOBILITY LIMITATIONS
60%
YOGA PRACTITIONERS IDENTIFY AS HYPERMOBILE
0
CLASSES TEACH HOW TO BUILD STRENGTH INSIDE OF FLEXIBILITY
40%
OF ADULTS AVOID YOGA BECAUSE THEY AREN’T FLEXIBLE ENOUGH
1 in 3
ATHLETES EXPERIENCE MOBILITY LIMITATIONS
60%
YOGA PRACTITIONERS IDENTIFY AS HYPERMOBILE
0
CLASSES TEACH HOW TO BUILD STRENGTH INSIDE OF FLEXIBILITY
What You'll Learn
This 15-hour training blends lecture, discussion, movement practice, and teaching application. Each section builds from foundational concepts into practical teaching tools you can immediately apply in your classes.
Yoga Alliance Continued Education Provider
Darci Nyal, E-RYT 500, holds a YACEP designation with Yoga Alliance which means at the end of the program, you’ll receive a certificate that can be used to continuing education requirements.
Understanding the principles behind the Stretch & Stabilize method.
Trainees explore the relationship between strength, mobility, breath, and nervous system regulation, and how these elements interact in group movement settings.
Key topics include:
- The relationship between strength and flexibility
- Mobility versus passive stretching
- Effort and recovery cycles in movement practice
- How breath supports regulation during strength and mobility work
- Who this style of class tends to support most effectively
How the Stretch & Stabilize method translates into a teachable class format.
We’ll explore how the principles of the training show up in real teaching environments. Trainees learn how to guide effort-based movement practices, pace intensity, and support students exploring their own range of motion safely.
Key topics include:
- Cueing techniques that emphasize effort and awareness
- Accessibility considerations within group classes
- Trauma-informed approaches to movement instruction
- Connecting the intention of the work to how it is taught
- Creating an environment that encourages curiosity rather than force
Exploring the mechanical principles that influence mobility and joint stability.
Develop a clearer understanding of how range of motion is shaped by joint structure, muscular restriction, and neurological factors. Movement demonstrations help bring these ideas into practical context.
Key topics include:
- Active versus passive range of motion
- Muscular restriction versus bone-on-bone compression
- Recognizing hypermobility versus limited mobility
- Strength development at end range
- Breath, diaphragm function, and intra-abdominal stability
- Training concepts informed by mobility systems such as PNF, reciprocal inhibition, and CARs, PAILS & RAILS
Learning the method through live classes, observation, and teaching practice.
Experience 3 live Stretch & Stabilize classes during the training + 8 pre-recorded classes sent to your inbox weeks before the training begins. These classes serve as a live demonstration of the methodology adapted for this training. It affords you the opportunity to observe pacing, cueing, sequencing, and the relationship between strength, mobility, and breath within a full class structure. Trainees will also practice guiding short movement segments so the concepts explored during the training can begin translating into their own teaching.
Key topics include:
- Observing class structure and pacing
- Building coherent movement threads within a class
- Developing sequences that balance strength and mobility
- Practicing cueing and guiding mobility work
- Receiving feedback through collaborative teaching exercises
INVEST IN YOU
What's Included
Trainees leave this training with practical tools for teaching strength-based mobility work and integrating the Stretch & Stabilize philosophy into their own classes.
This includes:
-
Ready-to-use class sequences
-
Practice teaching and collaborative feedback
-
Comprehensive teaching manual with resources to support continued learning
-
15-hour Yoga Alliance Continuing Education certificate (YACEP)
INVEST IN YOU
Join the Next Training
The next Stretch & Stabilize training takes place in Whitehorse and is open to yoga teachers, movement educators, and curious practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of strength-based mobility work.
May 22–24, 2026
Friday 5:30–8:30 PM
Saturday & Sunday 11:30 AM–6:00 PM
Location: Grace Space
12 spots available
Early Bird: $300 | Regular: $370
Early Bird savings available until May 1st.
DARCI NYAL, E-RYT 500
Meet the Teacher Behind the Training
Darci Nyal is the founder of Amitié Yoga and an E-RYT 500 instructor who has spent over a decade teaching yoga, movement, and teacher trainings across Canada. Her work blends traditional yoga practices with modern movement science, with a focus on helping students build strength, mobility, and resilience in their bodies.
Darci’s teaching style emphasizes clarity, curiosity, and practical tools that teachers can immediately bring into their own classes.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. This training is open to yoga teachers, movement educators, personal trainers, and curious practitioners who want to better understand strength-based mobility work. Some teaching experience is helpful but not required.
Yes. Participants who complete the training receive permission to teach the Stretch & Stabilize class format in studios, gyms, or community settings.
Yes. This training is registered as 15 hours of Yoga Alliance Continuing Education (YACEP). Participants will receive a certificate upon completion.
No. The training introduces the concepts step-by-step and focuses on practical applications you can begin exploring immediately in your own practice or teaching.
Please bring comfortable clothing for movement, yoga mat, a notebook, and a water bottle. A printed manual will be provided.
To keep the training interactive, spaces are limited to 12 participants.
If you are unable to attend, cancellations made 14 days prior to the training will receive a full refund minus stripe processing fees at 4% of the total amount paid. After this time, your registration can be transferred to a future training or a person of your choice.
Yes. Stretch & Stabilize trainings are offered periodically. If this training fills, you can join the waitlist for the next offering.
No. This training is designed for yoga teachers and movement educators who want to expand their understanding of strength-based mobility work. It does not qualify participants to diagnose, treat, or rehabilitate injuries.
Yes. The sequences and concepts shared in the training are intended to support your teaching. You are welcome to adapt and integrate them into your own classes while maintaining your own voice and teaching style.
Participants are encouraged to work at their own pace and modify movements as needed. This training focuses on exploring concepts rather than pushing physical limits, and observing can be just as valuable as participating.