Heide Ratliff

Heide is a Waldorf School Graduate and holds diplomas in Nursing and Occupational Therapy obtained in schools in Karlsruhe and Berlin, Germany. She holds a master’s degree from NYU in occupational therapy specializing in the area of mental health as coordinator of activities in mental health settings. In New York City, she and her staff incorporated dance, movement and the arts in addition to life centered skills to the clients served. Several years of her OT practice were devoted to work with clients with physical disabilities and in home-health care. Once a mother, Heide practiced predominantly in private and public-school settings. She completed advanced work in sensory integration theory and practice. Heide served a wide range of students from pre-school through high school. Heide was particularly active in setting up programs serving students on the autistic spectrum. Parent and staff education, as well as local and international presentations, have long been one of her passions.

As a long-time practitioner of yoga, she realized the wisdom of incorporating yoga into her OT sessions. This proved particularly helpful to students in middle and high school with sensory processing difficulties in support of their physical and social- emotional development.

As yoga is recognized as a practice modality in occupational therapy, Heide became a registered yoga teacher in 2009. Heide is registered as an OT with the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), the National Board for OT (NBOT), and holds a State of New Jersey OT License. She is a yoga teacher, registered with the Yoga Alliance USA. Since retiring from full time employment in 2013, Heide’s personal and professional yoga practice increased in scope. She is a 2012 graduate of the y4c -Yoga for Cancer- program. She has been working as yoga teacher and occupational therapist with clients in various stages of health and with people of all ages.