Level 1 Workshop & Certification

Dawn Hopkins is the Founder and President of Inspiritus Yoga: Wholistic Wellness & Training Centers, an international yoga school and wellness community dedicated to helping people reconnect with their innate capacity for healing, resilience, and wholeness. She is an E-RYT 500 Master Yoga Instructor and Trainer, Certified Yoga Therapist, Thai Yoga Massage and Reiki Practitioner, Licensed Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating Facilitator, and holds both BA and MA degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For more than two decades, Dawn has been helping people take charge of their health and well-being. Her journey began in the fitness industry, where she owned and operated a women’s fitness center starting in 2002. Yet it was through her own healing journey that she discovered the transformative power of yoga and mindful eating.

As a trauma survivor who struggled with an eating disorder in her teens, Dawn spent years searching for a deeper sense of peace, healing, and connection. In 2004, she was introduced to yoga and mindful eating—practices that would ultimately change the course of her life. Although her first yoga class was far from love at first sight, something kept calling her back. What began as curiosity soon became a profound path of self-discovery and healing.

After completing her first yoga teacher training in 2006, Dawn unexpectedly found herself stepping into the role of teacher when she volunteered to cover classes for her instructor during maternity leave. What she thought would be a temporary experience became her life’s work.

Since then, Dawn has guided thousands of students through yoga classes, teacher trainings, workshops, retreats, and wellness programs. Along the way, yoga has supported her through some of life’s greatest challenges, including two breast cancer journeys. Through the practices of yoga, mindfulness, and self-compassion, she discovered a deeper truth: healing is not about fixing ourselves—it is about remembering the wholeness that has always existed within us.

Today, Dawn’s teaching is grounded in the belief that every person possesses an innate wisdom and capacity for healing. She creates compassionate, supportive spaces where people can slow down, reconnect with themselves, build resilience, and cultivate greater well-being in body, mind, and spirit.

Dawn considers it her life’s calling and greatest privilege to help others come home to themselves and discover the healing, hope, peace, and connection that have transformed her own life.