Yoga, the Vagus Nerve & the Future of Our Field with Kristine Weber, MA, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500

In this episode of The Yoga Therapy Hour, Amy welcomes back Kristine Weber for her third conversation on the podcast. Kristine is known for weaving together yoga philosophy, neuroscience, social justice, and policy in a way that is both grounded and deeply practical. This conversation ranges from marketing and entrepreneurship to self-regulation, somatics, and the future of yoga therapy as a profession.The episode opens with a candid discussion about what it really takes to build a sustainable yoga business in the current landscape. Kristine shares the story of how one comment in a Facebook yoga research group changed her entire approach, leading her to study marketing, hire a digital strategist, and invest consistently in paid advertising—while staying aligned with her values and with authentic, evidence-informed yoga.From there, Amy and Kristine move into the heart of the conversation: yoga as self-regulation and why the vagus nerve is only one piece of a much larger picture. Kristine contrasts Western models of self-regulation and the autonomic nervous system with yogic models that include doṣas, guṇas, the kośas, and ethical frameworks like the yamas and niyamas. Together, they explore how yoga invites us to move beyond mechanistic “fix the machine” thinking toward a biopsychosocial–spiritual, socio-ecological understanding of who we are.They also discuss:How to define self-regulation from both neuroscience and yoga perspectivesThe limits of a purely “vagus nerve–centric” approach and why it’s important to situate the vagus nerve inside broader models of health and meaningThe role of interoception, perception, ethics, and self-study (svādhyāya) in genuine regulation and resilienceWhen devices and vagal stimulators can be helpful, and how worldview shapes whether they support or undermine long-term healingThe emerging tension around somatic therapies in systems like the VA and APA, and why training and scope of practice matterISMETA and other advocacy efforts working on regulation and recognition for somatic modalitiesGrassroots versus federal-level advocacy, and why yoga therapists need to think locally and globallyLicensure, silos, and why it’s both necessary and problematic for yoga therapyKristine’s concept of “yoga in all policy” and the importance of bringing yoga into schools, treatment centers, public health, and beyondAmy also shares about her forthcoming co-authored book with Marlysa Sullivan, Applications of Therapeutic Yoga in Integrative Health: Reimagining Well-Being (Routledge Press Spring 26), which places the vagus nerve and neuroscience inside the larger arc of the eight limbs of yoga—rather than asking yoga to fit into a narrow biomedical frame. Kristine responds with enthusiasm for this more holistic paradigm and calls on yoga professionals to reclaim yoga as a complete system for human transformation and flourishing, not “just stretching” or a series of isolated techniques.Toward the end of the episode, Kristine describes ways to study with her, including:The Science of Slow – an on-demand course on fatigue, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and body imageNeuroscience of Yogic Meditation – exploring the distinctiveness of yogic meditation practicesHer Subtle Yoga breathwork certification and other nervous-system-focused trainingsWeekly classes through the Subtle Yoga Resilience Society membershipLive workshops in the U.S. and internationallyThis conversation is for yoga therapists, yoga teachers, and integrative health professionals who sense that yoga has far more to offer than “yoga for the vagus nerve” headlines—and who want to align their work with a broader, more humane vision of health, policy, and social change.Find Amy Wheeler on WWW.TheOptimalState.comMaster of Science in Yoga Therapy https://muih.edu/academics/yoga-therapy/master-of-science-in-yoga-therapy/ Explore MUIH’s Post-Master’s Certificate in Therapeutic Yoga Practices, designed specifically for licensed healthcare professionals. https://muih.edu/academics/yoga-therapy/post-masters-certificate-in-therapeutic-yoga-practices/ Try our Post-Bac Ayurveda Certification Program at MUIH: https://muih.edu/academics/ayurveda/post-baccalaureate-ayurveda-certification/#IntegrativeHealth #HealthcareEducation #InterprofessionalEducation #GraduateSchool #NDMUproud #SOIHproud #SOIHYoga #SOIHAyurveda #NDMUYoga #NDMUAyurveda #SOIHGraduateSchool