Mission
Rubber Band Method® sets the standard for anatomically and energetically safe touch in yoga. We offer instructors a structured, accessible system for providing safe, individualized assists and adjustments—grounded in anatomy, sustainable body mechanics, purpose, and tissue reading. Our framework prioritizes both student safety and teacher longevity, empowering classroom environments rooted in personal agency, consent, and trauma sensitivity. We fulfill this mission through in-depth online trainings and a comprehensive guidebook for teachers: Hands-On Yoga Assists
Vision
Rubber Band Method® envisions a world where energetically and anatomically safe touch is integral to the yoga practice. We cultivate a global community of RBM-trained yoga teachers who thrive in their profession—supported by a robust and loyal following of students who seek out and deeply value the benefits of the safe, purposeful touch they incorporate into their teaching. We see consent-based, purposeful touch as a cornerstone of yoga education—enriching the experience of both teachers and students for generations to come.
Our Origin Story
Rubber Band Method® was founded by Kiara Armstrong, a Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), ERYT500 yoga educator, and trauma-informed practitioner, to help others access their innate capacity for healing through safe, purposeful touch. The method was born from Kiara’s deeply personal journey navigating a long-standing misdiagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)—an experience that ultimately led her to explore body-based healing when conventional treatments failed.
For nearly a decade, Kiara endured intense symptoms and harsh side effects from medical protocols intended for a condition she didn’t actually have. The accumulation of stress, trauma, and overmedication eventually resulted in a critical health crisis. It was then that a physician recognized the role chronic stress had played in her decline and recommended she turn toward holistic healing practices that addressed the body, not just the mind.
That advice became a turning point. Kiara immersed herself in nervous system-regulating practices like yoga, breathwork, meditation, and healing touch. Among these, it was safe and supportive touch that had the most profound impact. In moments of deep emotional destabilization, this kind of touch provided a sense of grounding, comfort, and safety—restoring her well-being in ways nothing else had. Within months, she began to recover.
Although Kiara had been exposed to the therapeutic power of touch from an early age—having grown up with a massage therapist parent—this lived experience transformed her understanding of how physical contact can support emotional healing. It also highlighted a major gap in modern yoga instruction: the absence of trauma-informed, consent-based, and anatomically sound hands-on techniques.
Determined to change that, Kiara began developing what would become Rubber Band Method®—a specialized system of yoga assists grounded in safety, consent, and purpose. Drawing on over a decade of experience teaching yoga, her background in massage therapy, dissection study, and extensive classroom feedback, she created a methodology that empowers yoga instructors to offer hands-on assists that are ethical, purposeful, and deeply supportive.
Today, Rubber Band Method® sets a new standard for touch in the yoga classroom—training yoga teachers worldwide to integrate trauma-sensitive, anatomy-informed assists into their classes with skill and purpose. The method is now shared through online courses and trainings, as well as Kiara’s upcoming book, Hands-On Yoga Assists: A Teacher’s Guide to the Rubber Band Method® (Human Kinetics, Spring 2025), available here for pre-order. At its core, Rubber Band Method® reflects Kiara’s belief: that healing through yoga is not just possible—it’s profoundly powerful when we bring awareness, purpose, and safe touch to the practice.
*While RBM is informed by trauma sensitivity, it is not a clinical intervention or trauma treatment.
Meet the Founder
Kiara Armstrong ERYT500 YACEP CMT
Kiara Armstrong first started practicing yoga in 2002. It played a central role in her personal journey to overcome mental and physical illness. In 2010, she began her first 200-hour yoga teacher training and started teaching in 2011. Five years later, she began leading 200-hour yoga teacher trainings and has since taught 300-hour and continuing education programs. She has a deep reverence for the human body, having spent time working independently with a cadaver and sharing her knowledge as an anatomy instructor in both yoga and massage schools. In addition to being an E-RYT 500 registered teacher with Yoga Alliance, she is also a massage therapist (California-certified, equivalent to licensure in other states). Her experience working with clients in medical settings has given her a more intimate understanding of the body—one that extends beyond what is visible in a yoga classroom.
Kiara’s love for hands-on assists began early in her yoga practice when she was introduced to them in structured, traditional settings. Over the years, she encountered a wide range of touch interventions—some that felt profoundly helpful and others that left her questioning their safety and effectiveness. At times, she experienced strains and injuries from well-intentioned but imprecise touch, which led her to explore the mechanics of safe, purposeful touch more deeply. As an employee of Yoga Journal magazine, she was exposed to a variety of teachers who employed different approaches to hands-on techniques, further reinforcing the need for a system that was clear, teachable, and adaptable to different body types and classroom environments.
Her search for a structured approach led her to formal Thai massage training, which provided valuable insight but ultimately did not translate seamlessly to a yoga setting. She continued experimenting, refining her understanding through thousands of hours of teaching and hands-on experience. Slowly, through practice, observation, and adaptation, the Rubber Band Method® was born. This method makes a clear distinction between assisting and adjusting, recognizing that while both have a place in yoga instruction, they are not interchangeable. Kiara developed a systematic approach that prioritizes sustainable body mechanics for the teacher, purposeful and adaptive touch for the student, and the ability to read tissues through tactile awareness.
Kiara Armstrong first started practicing yoga in 2002. It played a central role in her personal journey to overcome mental and physical illness. In 2010, she began her first 200-hour yoga teacher training and started teaching in 2011. Five years later, she began leading 200-hour yoga teacher trainings and has since taught 300-hour and continuing education programs. She has a deep reverence for the human body, having spent time working independently with a cadaver and sharing her knowledge as an anatomy instructor in both yoga and massage schools. In addition to being an E-RYT 500 registered teacher with Yoga Alliance, she is also a massage therapist (California-certified, equivalent to licensure in other states). Her experience working with clients in medical settings has given her a more intimate understanding of the body—one that extends beyond what is visible in a yoga classroom.
Kiara’s love for hands-on assists began early in her yoga practice when she was introduced to them in structured, traditional settings. Over the years, she encountered a wide range of touch interventions—some that felt profoundly helpful and others that left her questioning their safety and effectiveness. At times, she experienced strains and injuries from well-intentioned but imprecise touch, which led her to explore the mechanics of safe, purposeful touch more deeply. As an employee of Yoga Journal magazine, she was exposed to a variety of teachers who employed different approaches to hands-on techniques, further reinforcing the need for a system that was clear, teachable, and adaptable to different body types and classroom environments.
Her search for a structured approach led her to formal Thai massage training, which provided valuable insight but ultimately did not translate seamlessly to a yoga setting. She continued experimenting, refining her understanding through thousands of hours of teaching and hands-on experience. Slowly, through practice, observation, and adaptation, the Rubber Band Method® was born. This method makes a clear distinction between assisting and adjusting, recognizing that while both have a place in yoga instruction, they are not interchangeable. Kiara developed a systematic approach that prioritizes sustainable body mechanics for the teacher, purposeful and adaptive touch for the student, and the ability to read tissues through tactile awareness.
Through years of trial, refinement, and student feedback, Rubber Band Method® evolved into a structured, accessible system that any yoga instructor can learn and apply with confidence. Designed to prioritize both student safety and teacher sustainability, it provides a clear framework for offering hands-on support that is individualized, purposeful, and respectful of each student’s body. Kiara continues to refine and share this approach through her online trainings and in her upcoming book, Hands-On Yoga Assists: A Teacher’s Guide to the Rubber Band Method® (Human Kinetics, 2025), which offers in-depth guidance for yoga instructors ready to bring safe, purposeful touch into their classrooms.
