If you teach yoga and you’ve ever wondered why it actually works — not in a vague, feel-good sense, but at the level of biology — this is for you.

This Substack — and its companion podcast — explores anatomy, physiology, somatics, and research as they meet the realities of a real yoga classroom.

We explore the autonomic nervous system, the vagus nerve, co-regulation, consent, hands-on touch, and the ways ancient yoga wisdom often describes patterns that modern science is now able to study and measure.

New posts come out about twice a month.

I’m Kiara Armstrong — yoga teacher, massage therapist, somatic practitioner, founder of Rubber Band Method®, and author of Hands-On Yoga Assists.

I’ve practiced yoga since 2002 and have been teaching since 2011. But my real education in the nervous system didn’t begin in a classroom. It began during my path of healing from complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

That journey took me deep into stress physiology, autonomic regulation, and somatics — and what I learned changed how I teach and how I understand every student who walks into a yoga room.

If you want to understand not just that yoga regulates the nervous system — but how and why — follow Nervous System Literacy for Yoga Teachers on Substack, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Why Yoga Works (And Why That Matters for…