Ignite Your Hands to Approach Assists as a Conversation

Touch is our first language—the body’s oldest and most direct form of communication. Long before we learn to speak, we feel safety, trust, and love through our skin. In the practice of yoga, touch can become a profound exchange for greater presence, inner guidance, and connection.

Modern research confirms what yogis have known for centuries: mindful touch has measurable effects on the body and mind. It lowers blood pressure and heart rate, calms the vagus nerve, boosts oxytocin and endorphins, and helps the body shift from survival mode to rest and repair. Touch can be grounding, awakening, and deeply human—a bridge between the seen and unseen, the physical and the soulful.

Join Miles Borrero and Justin Green for a four-day immersion where you’ll explore the art and intelligence of hands-on assists—and how to see a body clearly and translate that seeing into a skillful, consensual conversation through touch. You’ll learn how to use your hands to help students feel grounded, aligned, and at home in themselves.

In this retreat, you will explore:

• The anatomy of seeing: how to read bodies and movement with clarity and empathy
• Principles of safe, effective, and trauma-informed touch
• How to use touch to guide awareness rather than impose form
• The science of touch: how mindful contact reduces stress, lowers cortisol, and supports healing
• How to build trust and consent in every interaction
• A renewed sense of confidence, presence, and intuition in your teaching and in your hands

Through guided practice, partner work, and discussion, we’ll look closely at how to assess different bodies, understand anatomy in motion, and adapt our hands to customize assists that are safe, clear, and appropriate for each individual student. We’ll also explore and discuss the energetic and emotional dimensions of touch and how it regulates the nervous system, deepens trust, and awakens connection.

NOTE: This course is certified for 25 hours of Yoga Alliance Continuing Education credits. It is designed for yoga teachers, bodyworkers, movement educators, and dedicated practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of the body and refine the art of offering hands-on assists with confidence, skill, and heart. Participants should be prepared to give and receive touch.