Grounded Recovery
 

A Six-Week Therapeutic Yoga & Mindfulness Curriculum for Behavioral Health and Recovery

Evidence-informed movement. Nervous system education. Lasting skills for recovery.

Recovery is about more than abstinence. It is about rebuilding the relationship between the mind, the body, and the nervous system.

Grounded Recovery is a professionally developed six-week therapeutic yoga and mindfulness curriculum designed specifically for treatment centers, behavioral health programs, sober living communities, and recovery organizations. Each session combines evidence-informed education, breathwork, mindful movement, and guided meditation to help clients better understand how stress, trauma, addiction, and chronic nervous system activation influence both physical and emotional wellbeing.

Rather than teaching yoga as a series of poses, Grounded Recovery uses movement as a practical tool for increasing body awareness, improving emotional regulation, reducing stress, and developing lifelong self-regulation skills. Every class blends psychoeducation with accessible movement, allowing participants to understand not only what they are experiencing, but why they are experiencing it.

Clients learn how breathing influences the autonomic nervous system, why chronic stress changes posture and movement, how body awareness supports emotional regulation, and how mindfulness can become an essential part of long-term recovery.

Designed for all experience levels, each session can be facilitated within existing programming and requires no previous yoga experience from either participants or staff.

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Why Grounded Recovery?

Substance use disorders, trauma, anxiety, depression, and chronic stress all influence the nervous system. Many individuals entering treatment have spent years living in patterns of survival, where the body has learned to remain on high alert, emotionally disconnected, or physiologically dysregulated.

While traditional treatment provides essential psychological and clinical support, many clients have never been taught how to recognize stress within their own bodies, regulate their breathing, or respond to physical sensations with curiosity rather than avoidance.

Grounded Recovery bridges that gap.

Each session introduces practical, research-informed concepts in an accessible way, helping clients reconnect with themselves through breath, movement, and mindful awareness. Rather than asking participants to simply relax, the curriculum teaches them how the nervous system functions, how stress is stored and expressed in the body, and how small, consistent practices can support greater resilience over time.

The result is a program that combines education with experience, allowing clients to develop skills they can continue using long after treatment has ended.

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What's Included

The Grounded Recovery curriculum includes six professionally guided therapeutic sessions, each approximately 60 minutes in length.

Every session includes:

• A psychoeducational lecture explaining the science behind the week's topic

• Breathwork practices designed to support nervous system regulation

• Gentle therapeutic yoga suitable for beginners and all physical abilities

• Mindfulness practices integrated throughout movement

• Extended guided body awareness or Yoga Nidra-inspired meditation

• Downloadable participant reflection worksheets

• Measurable pre- and post-session self-assessments

• Clinical reflection prompts that encourage self-awareness and integration

Each class builds progressively upon the previous session, creating a structured six-week journey from nervous system education to long-term self-regulation.

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The Curriculum

Session One

Returning to the Body

An introduction to yoga, recovery, breath, body awareness, and the autonomic nervous system.

Clients learn how stress affects the body, why interoception matters in recovery, and how mindful movement begins rebuilding the connection between physical sensation and emotional awareness.

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Session Two

Understanding Stress

An exploration of the stress response and the body's survival systems.

Topics include the autonomic nervous system, cortisol, adrenaline, vagal regulation, chronic stress, muscle guarding, breathing patterns, and how movement supports nervous system flexibility.

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Session Three

Rebuilding Trust in the Body

Many people entering recovery describe feeling disconnected from their bodies. This session explores interoception, proprioception, balance, grounding, and learning to recognize internal signals with greater clarity and confidence.

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Session Four

Opening the Body

An exploration of fascia, breathing mechanics, posture, spinal mobility, chest opening, hip mobility, and the relationship between physical tension and nervous system protection.

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Session Five

Strength, Stability, and Resilience

Developing physical and emotional resilience through mindful movement, balance, and standing postures while exploring concepts such as stress tolerance, self-efficacy, confidence, and neuroplasticity.

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Session Six

Integration

A comprehensive integration of the previous five sessions, bringing together movement, mindfulness, nervous system regulation, breath awareness, and recovery practices that participants can continue long after treatment.

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Designed for Behavioral Health Settings

Grounded Recovery has been developed specifically for treatment environments.

The curriculum is appropriate for:

• Residential treatment programs

• Detox facilities

• Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP)

• Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP)

• Mental health treatment centers

• Sober living communities

• Veterans programs

• Trauma recovery programs

• Behavioral health organizations

• Recovery community centers

Sessions are intentionally accessible for beginners and may be completed regardless of previous yoga experience.

 

More Than Yoga

Grounded Recovery is not designed to teach clients how to perform yoga postures.

It is designed to help them understand themselves.

Every stretch becomes an opportunity to explore how stress is experienced physically. Every breath becomes an opportunity to observe the nervous system in real time. Every moment of stillness becomes an opportunity to practice responding rather than reacting.

Participants leave with more than improved flexibility. They leave with a deeper understanding of how their bodies communicate, how their nervous systems respond to challenge, and how mindful awareness can become a practical resource throughout recovery.

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Created by Madeleine Barmark

Grounded Recovery was developed by mindfulness educator and yoga instructor Madeleine Barmark, whose work integrates trauma-informed yoga, mindfulness, neuroscience, Buddhist psychology, somatic awareness, and evidence-informed approaches to nervous system regulation.

Drawing on years of experience supporting individuals across treatment centers, behavioral health settings, private practice, and recovery communities, Grounded Recovery offers an approachable and clinically relevant framework for integrating movement into the recovery process.