TRAINING FOR PRACTITIONERS

Two women performing a massage or healing practice on a person's abdomen, in a well-lit room with a plant and a blue wall in the background.

Learn to read the whole body.

Integrative, hands-on training for the practitioners who care for others.

WHO IS INVITED?

I teach the practitioners who hold space for others — midwives, doulas, acupuncturists, pelvic-health and physical therapists, integrative physicians, nurses, bodyworkers, and researchers who want to deepen their hands-on skills and their whole-person clinical reasoning.

What makes Dr. Ali’s teaching unique?

My teaching brings together what I’ve gathered across 15+ years and more than 30 countries: Western anatomy and fascia science, Integrative Maya Abdominal therapy, nervous-system and craniosacral work, birth and reproductive care, and the traditional and cultural healing practices that modern medicine too often overlooks. The goal is practitioners who can bridge worlds — rigorous and intuitive, evidence-informed and deeply human.

Interested in learning more about future offerings with Dr. Ali?

A woman standing in a room with a painted tree mural on the wall, a human torso anatomical model, and an open notebook on a textured table in the foreground.
Integration shouldn’t mean erasure. I teach these practices with the respect and lineage they deserve.

— Dr. Ihotu Ali

WAYS TO LEARN WITH ME

Training, mentorship & community.


Workshops & Hands-On Trainings


In-person workshops in integrative bodywork and Integrative Maya Abdominal therapy — including seasonal trainings in Minneapolis. Live demonstration, hands-on practice, and clinical reasoning you can use the next day.


 The Graduate Network

A growing community of practitioners trained in this work — for continued learning, referrals, and connection. As it grows, it becomes a way for patients to find trained practitioners near them.


Integrative Clinical Rounds

Case-based sessions where practitioners think through complex, whole-person cases together — bringing the “many maps, one body” approach to real clinical questions.


Self-paced learning to make this work accessible beyond the treatment room — in development, mostly under Doctor Bodywork.

Online Courses


A woman kneeling next to a person lying in bed, with a green forest mural behind them, in a room with various bags and bottles on a table.
A woman with curly hair leaning over a medical anatomical model of the human body, which displays internal organs. The setting appears to be a health or medical office with a painted tree in the background, a window, and potted plants.

Speaking & Guest Teaching

I speak and guest-teach for schools, clinics, conferences, and provider groups on integrative and intercultural healing, reproductive health, and whole-person care.


Bridging Worlds

So many practitioners feel the limits of a system that treats the body in pieces. My teaching is for those who want to hold more — to combine clinical science with hands-on skill, to honor traditional knowledge without abandoning rigor, and to care for the whole person in front of them. When we train practitioners this way, the work reaches far more people than I ever could alone.

Hands pressing with fingers together on a white surface, likely during a massage or therapy session.
The more of us who can read the whole body, the more people get to feel truly cared for.
— Dr. Ihotu Ali

BE FIRST TO KNOW

Join the training waitlist.

Two women performing a massage therapy on a person's back in a treatment room with green wall art, one wearing glasses and braids, the other with earrings and curly hair.

Formal programs, dates, and enrollment are taking shape now. Add your name and I’ll reach out first as trainings, the Graduate Network, and courses open — and I’ll know a little about who’s waiting, so I can build what practitioners actually need.

A woman with curly hair and earrings squatting outdoors in front of tall grass, wearing a beige jacket and white pants.

Meet the Founder,

Dr. Ihotu Ali

Dr. Ihotu Ali is a chiropractor, public health researcher, longtime massage therapist and birth doula whose work explores the connections between the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, reproductive health, digestion, stress and the stories we carry in our bodies.

She earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Northwestern Health Sciences University and her Master of Public Health from Columbia University. Before becoming a chiropractor, Ihotu spent more than 15 years working in therapeutic bodywork and supported more than 50 births as a doula.

Her clinical interests include women's health across the lifespan, fertility and preconception care, pregnancy and postpartum, pelvic and abdominal health, headaches, chronic pain, gut-brain health, hypermobility and complex symptoms that don't always fit neatly into a single specialty.

Her approach combines gentle chiropractic care, myofascial and manual therapies, Maya abdominal techniques, craniosacral work, movement, nutrition and health education. She is particularly interested in helping people understand the relationships between seemingly disconnected symptoms—and giving patients practical tools to become more confident participants in their own healthcare.

Ihotu's background in public health also informs her commitment to culturally responsive care and health equity. She has contributed to anti-racism research in maternal healthcare with Dr. Rebecca Dekker of Evidence Based Birth and founded The Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd.

A former gymnast and dancer and lifelong traveler, Ihotu brings curiosity about movement, culture, healing traditions and the human body into both her clinical work and teaching.

At the center of her work is a simple belief:

Your body has a story. Our job is to help you learn how to read it.