Tugging the Heartstrings: Yoga Practices to Support Emotional Resilience
Over the course of this 2-hour session, Mary will discuss the relationships between heart rate variability, vagal nerve tone, and nervous system regulation. She will lead us on a tour of the brain regions and signaling systems related to emotions and their processing. Get ready to reframe how you think – and talk – about hormones!

The end of the calendar year is an emotionally intense period. Some of us feel absolutely knackered from the day-to-day grind, the fatigue amplified by the ticking of the New Year’s clock. Others carry added burdens of grief, fear, and loneliness. Still others need to pace themselves as they celebrate their favorite holidays. No matter where you land on the “December Demands Spectrum,” your practice can be dialed in to better distribute the load.
Join Mary for an online class dedicated to the science and practice of yoga for emotional resilience. We will practice several evidence-informed yoga and mindfulness techniques that help us shift from a reactive nervous system to a responsive one. Making these shifts unloads emotional pressure points, so we learn to connect more clearly to our needs. In turn, we improve the odds of seeing to our needs with less strain and worry.
What to Expect
Over the course of this 2-hour session, Mary will discuss the relationships between heart rate variability, vagal nerve tone, and nervous system regulation. She will lead us on a tour of the brain regions and signaling systems related to emotions and their processing. Get ready to reframe how you think – and talk – about hormones!
We will practice a gentle warm-up followed by restorative asana and pranayama. Please have 2 blocks, a strap and bolster, 5 to 8 blankets or thick towels, an eye cover, 2 small towels or pillows (to support wrists/hands), and a nonslip mat.
Who is it for?
Yoga teachers, yoga practitioners - anyone interested in learning more about yoga and emotional resilience.
Attendance and Replay
This workshop will be recorded should participants not be able to attend the live session. The link to the recording will be accessible for 3 months.
Meet the Teacher
Mary's teaching is informed by the perspectives and understanding gained in credited coursework in anatomy, physiology, biology, kinesiology, cadaver dissection and therapeutic movement. She earned a master of science in yoga therapy at Maryland University of Integrative Health. She is registered as a certified yoga therapist with IAYT, and also a certified iRest Level 1 teacher. Her scope of practice includes physical postures, breathing exercises, restorative yoga, and mindfulness techniques such as meditation and heart-centred communication.
Mary primarily studies with Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT. She serves as Judith's senior anatomy and therapeutics teaching assistant at workshops around the United States. Judith, Lizzie Lasater, and Mary co-teach several digital courses. She has authored a book, Teach People, Not Poses, which invites us to get the lay of our anatomical land and find our own pathways on the mat.

Tugging the Heartstrings: Yoga Practices to Support Emotional Resilience
9th December 2025 • Online Live • Mary Richards
- Details and booking

Urban Vajrayoga™ Retreat with Professor Robert Thurman and Dr John Campbell
8th November 2025 • The Studio Space • Face to face • Prof. Emeritus Robert Thurman John Campbell, PhD
- Details and booking

Yoga and Neurophysiology
30th November 2025 • Online Live • Stanford Wong
- Details and booking

Advanced SATYA: Regulating Blood Pressure, Regulating the Heart | Online Immersion
5th November 2025 • Online Live • Tias Little
- Details and booking

Guiding Meditation
14th January 2026 • Online Live • Graham Burns Isabell Britsch
- Details and booking

Restorative Yoga - A Beginner’s Guide to Teaching and Self-Practice
5th November 2025 • Online (Pre-Recorded) • Adelene Cheong
- Details and booking

Meditation Roots and Shoots
18th November 2025 • Online Live • Graham Burns Isabell Britsch
- Details and booking

Yoga & Somatics for Healing & Recovery Online Training
25th February 2026 • Online Live • Charlotte Watts
- Details and booking

Yoga & Somatics for Healing & Recovery in-person workshops: London 2026
30th May 2026 • The London School of Capoeira • Face to face • Charlotte Watts
- Details and booking

The Connected Body: Experiential Anatomy of the Fascial System
10th November 2025 • Online Live • Leila Stuart
- Details and booking

Menopause Yoga Teacher Training
1st November 2025 • Online Live • Petra Coveney
- Details and booking

Birthlight Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training
28th November 2025 • Blended • Kirsteen Ruffell
- Details and booking

Meditation Myths De-bunked
14th October 2025 • Online Live • Graham Burns Isabell Britsch
- Details and booking

Mindful Yoga in Supportive and Palliative Care and into Bereavement
1st November 2025 • Online Live • Kate Binnie
- Details and booking

A Yoga Therapy Intensive (London)
22nd October 2025 • The Arc Centre • Face to face • Gary Kraftsow Sold out
- Details and booking

Yoga for Burn-Out and Fatigue Conditions: Trauma sensitive and subtle yogic approaches to support overwhelm and exhaustion
19th October 2025 • Online Live • Charlotte Watts Leah Barnett
- Details and booking

Meditation Teacher Training
14th October 2025 • Online Live • Graham Burns Isabell Britsch
- Details and booking

Meditation is All in the Mind (or is it?)
11th February 2026 • Online Live • Isabell Britsch
- Details and booking

Yoga & Somatics for Healing & Recovery online workshops
9th November 2025 • Online Live • Charlotte Watts
- Details and booking
Birthlight Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training
17th October 2025 • Online Live • Kirsteen Ruffell
- Details and booking

Yin Yoga Teacher Training: Minds, Meridians, Moments (In Person)
24th November 2025 • West London Buddhist Centre • Face to face • Norman Blair
- Details and booking