Become a Certified JourneyDance Facilitator
A leader in transformational movement.
You felt it on the dance floor. The way movement cracked something open, the way music moved you past what words couldn't reach. This training cohort is how you learn to hold that space for other people. Toni Bergins has certified over 1,000 JourneyDance ® teachers across the world. This is the program she built to do it.
The 2026 - 2027 cohort is capped at 30 people — if you've been thinking about it, now is the time.
YES! REGISTER TO BECOME A JOURNEYDANCE FACILITATOR
Hear from our JourneyDance Facilitators
"It is impossible to express what a profound and transformative experience JourneyDance teacher training is! After teaching fitness dance and yoga for 25 years, I have finally found my home in JourneyDance! Other dance and fitness trainings have tried to put me in a box, but JourneyDance is the opposite--it helps me break out of all kinds of boxes and build classes and programs that follow a powerful and empowering JourneyDance flow while I can also make it authentic and unique to my needs and the needs of my community. Through the teacher training I have been able to continue my own healing process with countless new tools, and most importantly, with a safe container to express myself and a community to support me in my life's work of education, embodiment, and empowerment. Toni Bergins is an accessible, evolving, and authentic visionary force and her team is empathetic, down-to-earth, inspiring, and supportive. They encourage their teachers to be all these things as well. JourneyDance is not just dancing--it is a healing modality--and it has prepared me to take my skills, passions, and visions to a whole new level."
- Sarah Hentges
Become a JourneyDance Facilitator....
This training is for yoga teachers, movement guides, therapists, coaches, and workshop leaders who want to add a certified embodied practice to their work. You don't need a dance background. You need a real desire to hold space for other people's healing and a willingness to do your own.
Over 7 months and 3 modules, you'll learn the JourneyDance ® flow, trauma-informed facilitation, voice empowerment, somatic practices, and the ritual structures that make a JourneyDance ® class transformational. You'll finish with a Facilitator certification and the foundations to hold JourneyDance ® sessions anywhere in the world.
JourneyDance ® has trained facilitators across the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and beyond.
You're not just adding a credential — you're changing how you work with people entirely.
Here's what's included...
- 3 training modules spanning September 2026 through April 2027
- Hybrid options for Modules 1 and 2 (in-person or online)
- 3 live online mentoring sessions in January, February, and March 2027
- 5-day in-person practicum at The Thyme Retreat Center to close out your training in April 2027
- Trauma-informed and DEI curriculum with specialist faculty
- Shared teaching experience with feedback from expert JourneyDance ® facilitators
- Your JourneyDance ® Facilitator certification upon completion
- Access to recordings within 72 hours of recorded sessions
- Scholarship options available for those with financial need
The JourneyDance ® Embodiment Experience Module 1 only
September 21 - 25, 2026 at The Thyme Retreat Center you will dive into the foundations, philosophy, and practices of JourneyDance ® and learn:
* Embodiment practices
* The JourneyDance ® flow and qualities
* Voice empowerment tools
* Evocative rituals and structures
* MindBusting™ techniques
Full JourneyDance ® certification requires all 3 modules — this is your first step.
$1900.00 (USD$)
$1500.00 (USD$) EARLY BIRD PRICING UNTIL JULY 15, 2026
OR
6 Monthly Payments of $250 (USD$)
Does not include Room and Board. Accomodation details will be sent after registering for training.
The JourneyDance Complete Experience Modules 1, 2 & 3 begins September 2026
This is the most common path. Most students who join register for all 3.
Module 1 IN PERSON or HYBRID OPTION AVAILABLE at The Thyme Retreat Center
September 21 - 25, 2026
Module 2 IN PERSON or HYBRID OPTION AVAILABLE at The Thyme Retreat Center
November 9 - 13, 2026
Module 3 IN PERSON at The Thyme Retreat Center
April 6 - 12, 2027
Mentoring Sessions will be held
Jan 10, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
Feb 7, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
March 14, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
$4400.00 (USD$)
$3250.00 (USD$) EARLY BIRD PRICING UNTIL JULY 15, 2026
or
8 Monthly Payments of $410 (USD$)
Does not include Room and Board. Accomodation details will be sent after registering for training.
The JourneyDance ® Extension (Modules 2 & 3 only)
Modules 2 & 3 For those who completed Module 1 at Kripalu or a previous cohort.
Module 2 IN PERSON or HYBRID OPTION AVAILABLE at The Thyme Retreat Center November 9 - 13, 2026
Module 3 IN PERSON at The Thyme Retreat Center
April 6 - 12, 2027
Mentoring Sessions will be held
Jan 10, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
Feb 7, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
March 14, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
$2900.00 (USD$)
$2500.00 (USD$) EARLY BIRD PRICING UNTIL JULY 15, 2026
or
6 Monthly Payments of $420 (USD$)
Does not include Room and Board. Accomodation details will be sent after registering for training.
JourneyDance ® certification requires all 3 modules because depth is what makes this different. You're not getting a weekend stamp — you're getting 7 months of embodied training that prepares you to hold space for other people's healing.
Confirmed 2026 - 2027 Dates of Teacher Trainings
Module 1 at The Thyme Retreat Center
September 21 - 25, 2026
Module 1 ONLY IN PERSON AT KRIPALU
July 19-24, 2026 {Registration for this training will be done through Kripalu click here for details}
Module 2 at The Thyme Retreat Center
November 9 - 13, 2026
Module 3 near the Berkshires, MA
April 6 - 12, 2027
Mentoring Sessions will be held online
Jan 10, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
Feb 7, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
March 14, 2027 10 - 12:30 EST
Two of the three modules require in-person attendance.
We offer hybrid modules for international students and anyone for whom travel isn't possible.
Don't Wait to Register!
Where will the training be held...
JourneyDance ® Teacher Training will be hosted at The Thyme Retreat Center in Salisbury, CT — a beautiful 85-acre wonderland for creativity, explorations in nature, and human connection.
Room options range from private to double occupancy, with stays running $1,200 to $1,900 and including food for your time there. Full accommodation details are sent after you register.
Two of the three modules require in-person attendance. Hybrid is available, primarily for international students and anyone for whom travel isn't possible.
Hear from our most recent JourneyDance cohort...
Who is leading JourneyDance Teacher Training?
Toni Bergins - Founder of JourneyDance
25 Years of Transformational Movement Experience
Toni Bergins, MEd, founder & creator of JourneyDance ® and the Embodied Transformations Method coaching program anchors her professional practice at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, She has been on faculty and a Luminary Program Presenter for over 25 years. As an artistic alchemist and passionate catalyst, Toni has helped thousands of people break out of their boxes and move into new stories through embodied practice and emotional empowerment. Toni’s humor, wild expressiveness and authenticity make JourneyDance ® accessible to all, and she has trained over 1000 JourneyDance ® Teachers internationally.
One Dance Changed My Life!
In June 1993, I was in grad school at NYU for a Masters in Education.
I worked my way through school at a public relations firm for Art & Culture and in my spare time I took yoga, dance, improv and comedy classes.
And I was having a hard time because I was dealing with body image issues, disordered eating, self-abuse and severe mental negativity.
I was conditioned into a perfectionist mindset that meant:
I would never be good enough
My self worth was only felt through external approval
Self-hatred ran deep in my family of origin so I had grown up with that conditioning
On top of that…
I had become obsessed with exercise and dieting that was preventing me from having deep relationships and maintaining friendships..
My wild emotions frightened me, so I numbed them out.
I was drinking, smoking, partying, and (dancing in clubs was my favorite release…)
No one knew what I was going through behind my mask. Underneath I knew I had some serious problems and I needed help. I was stuck in the perfectionist culture of the success train, trying to fit into societal norms and the achievement trap…
I was failing at healthy relationships…
In a search for hope, I began my spiritual quest. I went to many many therapists. And it wasn’t until I met a Gestalt therapist who helped me uncover my childhood trauma and the dysfunction that I was trying to hide with my perfectionism.
To deepen my own healing, I decided to go to Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health for a personal retreat.
It wasn’t until the dance/movement session that I realized just how disconnected from my body I truly had been and how limited I was because of it.
In that monumental moment of my first free form dance I found myself, literally, crying on the floor in a puddle of tears and realizations… I felt self-love for the very first time, and in that I knew I could heal what I thought was brokenness into someone whole!
Then I experienced how much better life could be. I was hooked.
I never stopped dancing from that moment on….
I found love for my body, a new profound love for what I hated and tried to control, for so many years. I felt my sensations, my sensuality, my whole being, I fell in love with my body and my life.
I found room for my emotions, my heart, my soul’s expression….on the dance floor…
I knew at that moment that music and movement would be my medicine for reconnecting to my body, this one and only temple that I live in!
And then things all started to fall into place, my life was coming together, I felt like something clicked and I was home and I was whole. That’s when I started studying every type of movement I could, every type of psychodrama, theater, and voice work! Then I started teaching classes.
I entered a deeper understanding into my own healing, and I witnessed others having deep healing experiences of their own.
I owe it all to finding my body on the dance floor for the first time in years. I returned from dissociation to fully inhabit myself…
That’s when I knew I needed to offer this so others could heal like I did…
Imagine if you led one dance that changed the course of someone’s life. Imagine if a phrase you said while dancing like “Listen to the whispers of your heart…what does your heart really need?”, or “You are beautiful, you are amazing, you are enough” opened a new possibility for them and they really heard it for the very first time?
Meet our Training Staff ...
JourneyDance Facilitator
Lena Warchol
Lena is on a mission to empower women and communities through movement, self-expression, and healing.
Brazilian-born and raised, she is a yoga and JourneyDance® guide, storyteller, Reiki Master, and trauma-informed movement guide. A 500-hour Yoga Alliance–registered teacher and Faculty Teacher at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Lena weaves yoga, dance, and meditation to help people release fear, awaken confidence, and embody joy. Rooted in her Brazilian heritage and her own healing journey, she creates safe and inspiring spaces for transformation, guiding students to reconnect with body wisdom, authentic expression, and radiant self-trust.
Trauma Awareness Faculty
Lorena Norwood
Lorena has been a JourneyDance ® Facilitator since 2012. Lorena is a graduate of Smith College with a B.A. in Clinical Psychology. She has been supporting families and individuals across the lifespan in strength-based human services for 30 years. She developed and delivered trauma-informed interventions in the areas of domestic and family violence and addiction recovery while working at the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium for 10 years. She brought this to her work at the Salasin Project and provided weekly JourneyDance ® classes for 8 years to the Franklin County Community. She has combined her knowledge and understanding of trauma informed practice with JourneyDance ® and continues to teach weekly classes at
Terradyne Wellness Center in Head of Jadore, Nova Scotia, Canada, where she resides
with her partner and where she can be found beachcombing year-round.
JourneyDance Trauma Awareness Facilitator in Mexico
Rodrigo Gonzales Zazoya
Rodrigo has more than 25 years of experience in the field of dance, and is a dancer and choreographer who graduated from the National Center for Contemporary Dance. Additionally, he has a master's degree in Guidance and Human Development at the Humanist Institute of Gestalt Psychotherapy, as well as being trained in Psycho-Body Dance Therapy and Hakomi Psychotherapy. He is the first certified JourneyDance™ facilitator and trainer in Mexico. Rodrigo has also studied "Body, Trauma, and Addictions in Gestalt" with Michael Clemmens (USA) and has completed the "Trauma and Gestalt Diploma" at the Marist University of Querétaro. He currently serves as the coordinator of the body area: Humanity at the center "Utopia Gestalt," and he is the creator and teacher of the Humanidanza Training program, which has produced 5 generations of students. Rodrigo currently offers practices, intensives, and workshops in JourneyDance™ and other disciplines, as well as provides conferences, classes, and workshops at universities, companies, and congresses in Mexico.
JourneyDance Facilitator and Co-Creator of The Remedy
Joy Okoye
Joy Okoye is a JourneyDance Teacher Trainer, Master Facilitator and Coach trained in the Embodied Transformation Method and has been a JourneyDance teacher for over 11 years. She co-facilitates a wide range of programs with Toni Bergins, and is the co-creator of The Remedy and The Angst To Art Expressive Arts Programing. Joy is also a 500 HR Yoga Teacher, with training in Restorative, Yin, Adaptive, and Trauma Sensitive Yoga. Her guided meditations and yoga Nidra experiences often incorporate her unique vibrational sound healing. Joy is committed to bringing diversity and inclusion to the Yoga and Transformational Movement world. Authenticity and vulnerability are just as important to her work as playfulness and humor— whether on the yoga mat, the dance floor, or in Joy's private coaching practice.
JourneyDance Facilitator and creator of Dance Your Soul Art
Joan White Hansen
Joan White Hansen, JoniJoan is a Senior JourneyDance Facilitator on the Teacher Training Staff, a Coach trained in the Embodied Transformation Method, a JourneDance Mentor for teachers and has been a JourneyDance Teacher for over 16 years. Additionally, she has developed a unique and innovative program called Dancing Your Soul Art, which combines JourneyDance with expressive process painting. Through this creative arts program, Joan encourages individuals to tap into their innermost selves and unleash their artistic expression, fostering deep self-discovery and healing. She is also a Your Big Voice Coach, an artist and an outdoor excursion guide. With a rich background in education, Joan has previously worked as an Art Enrichment Educator and Circus Artist in Residence in schools. Her dedication to spreading the benefits of JourneyDance has taken her to public and private elementary and secondary schools, universities, as well as Massage, Yoga, and EcoVillage Centers. Joan is deeply committed to creating opportunities for individuals to reconnect with their bodies, unlock their soul's immense potential, and cultivate resilience and inner empowerment through the power of vulnerability and love.
Diversity Equity & Inclusion Awareness Faculty
Joanna Hollis
Joanna (she/her/hers) is a priest and a coach in the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey. She believes in celebrating the wonderful diversity of humanity and regularly speaks and teaches both formally and informally on the topics of justice, diversity and inclusion. Joanna is active in denominational work around LGBTQIA+ inclusion and is trained in anti-racism. She is an avid lover of all things Divine Feminine, a Level 3 Reiki practitioner and a JourneyDance teacher. Prior to ordination in 2009, Joanna taught Japanese language and culture in public schools in California and holds a BA in Japanese Studies, an MA in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (MATFL) and a MA in Divinity (MDiv).
Diversity Equity & Inclusion Awareness Faculty
Michelle Brass
Michelle is a speaker, writer, and health and wellness coach deeply committed to the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples and communities. Her work is focused on the areas of Indigenous food sovereignty, Indigenous health and wellness, personal healing and transformation, and community well-being.
Trauma Awareness Faculty
Sarah Hentges
Sarah is a professor of transdisciplinary cultural studies and the founder of The Spiral Goddess Collective, a Center for Mind/Body Movement. Sarah’s work draws on a vast and varied set of experiences in and out of academia and the world of fitness including her Ph.D. in American studies, RYT-200 certification in yoga, 100+ hours of trauma-informed yoga teacher training, a 50-hour certificate in Embodied Social Justice from The Embody Lab, is a JourneyDance Faciltator. She has over 25 years as a fitness instructor, 20+ years teaching college classes, and 15 + years as a yoga instructor.
Our Mission
At JourneyDance ®, our mission is to share the love of embodiment, movement, expression, and community connection to create positive change and empowerment in ourselves and the world. We are committed to creating an environment that includes, welcomes, and supports all people – regardless of their gender, age, race, ethnic origin, body type, religion, sexuality, and background – both within our organization and throughout the wider JourneyDance ® community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Schedule a 30-minute call with Toni — she'll answer everything and help you figure out if this is the right next step for you.
Dates of Teacher Training
Where will the training be taking place?
What is your refund policy?
Are Scholarships Available
What happens if I miss an online session?
What can I teach after completing this program?
Do you have any incentives if I refer a friend?
I loved this Training and want more! What other courses do you offer?
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