A new scholarship program in Dallas-Fort Worth aims to give young women the chance to become yoga teachers, no matter their financial situation. 

The Yoga Project's 10-day teacher training program for young women between the ages of 15 and 20 is being offered for free this summer to 20 lucky future leaders, thanks to Stacy Dockins, co-owner (with her husband, Dave) of three local Yoga Project studios and author of Embodied Posture: Your Unique Body and Yoga.

The training course typically costs up to $3,000.

Dockins — one of the most in-demand yoga instructors in DFW — has offered scholarships to young women in the past, but they had been provided to just one person at a time. Now, she's expanding the opportunity. 

"As a teen, I struggled with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders," Dockins says. "It wasn't until I gained the tools for self-compassion and stress-resilience that I learned how to navigate my life from a healthier space. I have three children — ages 19, 21, and 22 — and teen mental health has always been an interest of mine, especially because we have seen such a dramatic rise in rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide over the past decade."

Dockins' own daughter attended her training when she graduated from high school and was better able "to navigate the turbulent territory that typically comes with leaving home and attending college," she says.

That's why, she says, she is offering 20 scholarship spots to share yoga as a tool for cultivating self-compassion and stress-resilience. "My hope is to give a gift to these young women that they can take back into their schools and communities to share with others," she says. 

The training program is designed to give teens the skills to share a yoga practice that emphasizes body and breath awareness, the school says in a release.

"Challenge is a normal aspect to a healthy life, yet when we don't have the tools to move through stressful circumstances, these tough times can have a negative effect on our sense of self and belonging," they say.

Here is a breakdown of what the program will teach: 

• Yoga posture alignment for diverse bodies.
• Basic anatomy and structural variation.
• Skills to deliver a basic yoga class geared toward self-compassion and resilience.
• Physiology of breath/breathing exercises.
• Mindful awareness meditation.
• Tools for cultivating compassionate self- and other-relationships.
• Stress resilience mechanisms.
• A journaling methodology for ongoing self-inquiry and empowerment.

At the end of the program, students will be certified to teach others.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is July 8, and the program runs from 8 am-4 pm July 25 to August 3 at the Yoga Project School of Yoga in Fort Worth. Attendance each day is required.

Here is the link to apply.