INTEGRATIVE YOGA STUDIES
Professional Yoga Therapy Certification Program
Requirements to enter The Institute for Integrative Care's Professional Yoga Therapy Certification program is a minimum 200 hour Yoga Alliance registered yoga training, 1 year teaching experience, and 1 year personal practice. Depending on entering at a 500 hour level or 200 hour level will determine where you begin in our 800 hour training program.
If you have NOT completed your 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training, see options here. If you are a RYT 200 and are ready to take the next step into yoga therapy training, begin our 300 hour training in person or remote. If you are not a graduate of a MelMarie Yoga 200 Hour Training, Transfer Student Policy information is found here.
1. To enroll, you must schedule a consultation call and then complete our application here.
2. During the call we will answer any questions, identify the best place for you to start in our modular program. Transfer student information is below if you graduated from a RYS 300 school other than MelMarie Yoga.
3. Once payment is processed and you are officially enrolled you follow your training pathway. We offer three options to begin.
The Institute for Integrative Care's 500 Hour Yoga Therapy Program is offered through Four Residential Immersion Modules focused on speciality curriculum, Two Phases of Residential Integration Immersion Trainings, Two Phases of Virtual Integration Immersion Trainings, iRest Training, Vedic Counseling Training, Monthly Integration Check-Ins, 1:1 Mentoring and a Supervised Practicum. This format allows students to participate in the training as they can creating a schedule that works for their budget and time. IAYT requires a minimum of two years to complete the 500 Hours of Yoga Therapy training.
Trainees have up to four years to complete the full program.
Trainees begin to develop skills as a Yoga Therapist after enrollment through 1:1 Mentoring, access to virtual education, attending scheduled residential modules and progressing through their practicum delivery after a year in the program.
Schedule Your Consultation Call First
PROGRAM SCHEDULE + OVERVIEW
Institute for Integrative Care's Professional Yoga Therapy Program
Enrollment is on an individual basis and the program schedule cycles throughout each year.
Phase One | 38 Hours
Our Immersion Phase One is a perfect starting point. Learn more on beginning in Phase One Here. It offers the foundational perspectives in Yoga Therapy to ensure trainees comprehend and apply techniques and methods through the IAYT Professional Scope of Practice. Trainees will also learn self care techniques and philosophies to aid professionalism and intuitively cultivate their yoga therapy services through a meaningful lens to them. The residential aspect is scheduled throughout 2024 via zoom.
Courses include: Professional Responsibility, The Business of Yoga, Professional Development, Beginning Your Yoga Therapy Provider Resource and Foundations in Improving Functional Potential, Yoga Therapy Scope of Practice, Professional Responsibility, Legalities of Yoga Therapy, Subtle Anatomy for Self Care, Intentional Touch in Yoga Therapy Scope, Sanskrit, Building Therapeutic Relationships, Building Your Yoga Therapy Tool Box, Understanding Effective Protocols, and Intuitive Healing Arts.
Residential Trainings are not required to be taken in any particular order.
Our Yoga Therapy program is Open Enrollment. Your education plan will be organized during your enrollment session.
Residential Module One | 40 Hours
This module dives into functional and structural modalities to comprehensively understand mindful movement, stretching therapeutic sequencing and rehabilitative Yoga Therapy. Students will learn about conventional health care, economics and models to aid their clinical application of Yoga Therapy blending allopathic knowledge with Vedic traditions. Students will also receive a thorough training in myofascial stretching to optimize sequencing safely and based in the wisdom of biomechanics.
Courses Include: Yoga Therapy and Health Economics, Yoga Therapy as Integrative Care, Health Constituents and Models, Foundations, Distortion and Breath, Structural Integrity, Fascia, Biology and Myofascial Stretching, Improving Functional Potential.
JOIN REMOTE VIA ZOOM OR IN PERSON AT HOUSE OF RHYTHOM IN SAN ANTONO, TX
Upcoming Dates: Saturday 1-9pmCT
- March 16, 2024
- April 20, 2024
- May 25, 2024
Residential Module Two | 40 Hours
This module is a deep dive into Vedic Philosophy and methods in understanding human consciousness, laws of physics and vibrational healing. Trainees will learn the history of IAYT and the evolution of Yoga Therapy, Teachers and Traditions. This module is a blend of honoring the ancient wisdom of India while applying into modern science, physics and healing. In addition, this module explores utilizing Yoga Therapy for pain management and working with noncommunicable disease.
Courses Include: Philosophical Evolution of Yoga Therapy, 7 Systems of Indian Philosophy, Surya and Chandra, Yoga of the Mind: Samskara, Karma, Ayurvedic Psychology, Ego and The Shadow, Polyvagal Theory, Narrative Psychology, Conventional Pain Management, Noncommunicable Diseases, Physiology of Pain.
JOIN REMOTE VIA ZOOM OR IN PERSON AT HOUSE OF RHYTHOM IN SAN ANTONO, TX
Upcoming Dates: Saturday 1-9pmCT
- August 17, 2024
- September 14, 2024
- October 12, 2024
Residential Module Three | 40 Hours
This module anchors into the philosophies and modern modalities of Mental Health guiding trainees to explore and learn about current methods of treatment and how Yoga Therapy serves as adjunct and complimentary care for mental health pathology. Trainees will also learn about utilizing yoga therapy for cardiovascular health and illnesses, mind body medicine, the placebo effect as it relates to Vedic Teachings and a full day of Advanced Ayurveda.
Courses Include: Cardiovascular Health, Mental Health and Yoga Therapy, Affective Disorders, Mindfulness Based Healing, Advanced Ayurveda, Tantra, Mindfulness Based Healing, Compassion Based Healing, Our Bodies and Their Sensations, Yoga Therapy and Placebo and Pleasurable Neuromuscular Pathways .
JOIN REMOTE VIA ZOOM OR IN PERSON AT HOUSE OF RHYTHOM IN SAN ANTONO, TX
Upcoming Dates: Saturday 1-9pmCT
- January 18, 2025
- February 15, 2025
- March 15, 2025
Residential Module Four | 40 Hours
This module covers assessment methods and styles that equip trainees with unique ways to identify imbalances and illness through Vedic wisdom that informs treatment plans and clinical yoga therapy. Trainees will learn to work with therapeutic group co-horts developing programs and maintaining group coherence through the process. In addition, this module dives into Yoga Therapy for Oncology, Neurological Health and aspects that enrich clinical yoga therapy.
Courses Include: Assessment Structures, Adherence and Qualitative Assessments, Therapeutic Group Cohorts, Burnout Prevention, Niyamas and Adaptive Coping, Yoga Therapy and Oncology, Neurological Health, Optimizing Brain Health in Aging Adults, Group Ethics in Practice and Process, and Yoga and Religious Inclusivity.
JOIN REMOTE VIA ZOOM OR IN PERSON AT HOUSE OF RHYTHOM IN SAN ANTONO, TX
Upcoming Dates: Saturday 1-9pmCT
- June 28, 2025
- July 26, 2025
- August 23, 2025
Foundations of Jyotish | 30 Hours
Our 30 Hour Foundations in Jyotish is a wonderful place to begin Yoga Therapy Training, giving foundations in Vedic counseling- a life guidance based upon the Vedic tradition of Self-Knowledge and cosmic knowledge. Vedic interventions are derived from the Vedas and are threaded through the philosophical foundations of Yoga. The science of Jyotish (Vedic Astrology) is one of four Yoga Sciences. It is an ancient Indian Philosophical System that studies the movement of nature, planets and constellations as it relates to human life, timing, and purpose. Jyotish translates as "the science of light" emphasizing the importance of our self awareness and how our awareness informs our free will.
Foundations of Vedic Counseling, Dashas and Destiny, Physics and Planets, Understanding the Planets, Understanding the Houses, Human Design and Vedic Wisdom, Debunking the Maya of Astrology ,The Internal Interior of You Workshop, Understanding the Zodiacs, Cosmic Math: How to Read a Birth Chart, The Moon and Malefics, Fine Tuning Self Trust and Intuition, Tailoring Yoga to Vedic Astrology, Elements and Vedic Astrology, and Vedic Astrology for Mental Health.
Monthly 1:1 Mentorship, a Beautiful Manual for the course mailed to you and much more to elevate Vedantic Teachings and application of yogic tools in yoga therapy. This program is formatted similiar to our module trainings and workshops cycle every three months for a self scheduled cadence that meets your personal scheduling needs. Course takes about 4-6 months to complete.
iRest | 25 Hours
The iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation Level 1 Teacher Training is designed to provide you with the basic principles, history, theory, practice, and delivery of iRest. It teaches you how to incorporate the simple yet profound 10-step iRest protocol into your life, your yoga teaching, and/or your clinical practice. Yoga Therapy Trainees will be trained and certified in iRest.
THIS TRAINING INTRODUCES YOU TO THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND THAT UNDERLIE IREST YOGA NIDRA AS A COMPREHENSIVE PATH OF MEDITATION.
YOU'LL LEARN:
- Eastern and Western psycho-spiritual perspectives that form the foundation of iRest Yoga Nidra. Background information on how the 38 steps of iRest integrate the philosophies of Samkhya, Patanjali, Advaita Nondualism, and Unqualified Nondual Realization.
- About the evidence-based research showing the efficacy of iRest and its use with various psycho-physical issues and populations.
- How to understand iRest as a comprehensive approach to meditation.
- Guidelines regarding the teacher-student relationship and ethical considerations. How to work one-on-one with people in what we call "iRest Co-Meditation Dyads”. An introduction to the common language that is used in iRest meditation.
And it includes:
- Scripts and checklists to help you start teaching right away.
- Homework assignments and quizzes to keep you on track.
- Access to a Facebook group where you’ll be able to interact with others who are taking the training.
- Access to quarterly live call-in webinars where you can ask questions with regards to your personal practice and/or teaching of iRest.
The goal of this training is to help you take the teachings of iRest beyond your on-the-mat practice and into your daily life, relationships, teaching, and every challenging circumstance you may find yourself in over the course of your life.
Phase Two | 48 Hours
Our Immersion Phase Two training is required to complete after all four modules and Phase One trainings have been completed. The residential aspect of this program cycles every other year and is scheduled for January 2025. Trainees must complete the virtual training before joining the in person immersion as this integrates methodology, curriculum, philosophies and clinical yoga therapy together to equip trainees to prepare for graduation and beginning their career in Yoga Therapy as a Yoga Therapist. Trainees will be approved to participate once all required courses are completed. This in person immersion fine-tunes Clinical Assessments including client adherence and qualitative assessments. Trainees will deepen their ability to develop effective treatment plans and apply in clinical scenarios. The immersion will close off with training clinicals and clinical practice to ensure trainees are ready for graduation and to begin their Yoga Therapy Career.
Courses include: Representing and Advocating for Yoga Therapy, Developing Your Yoga Therapy Provider Resource, Reviewing Clinical Scenarios, and Developing Effective Recovery Plans.
Practicum Delivery | 170 Hours
The Institute for Integrative Care's Yoga Therapy Clinical Practicum is a total of 170 delivery hours with an additional 30 hours of Mentoring. Trainees will be eligible to begin their practicum after one year of training within the 500 Hour Professional Yoga Therapy Program. Once trainees qualify, their first practicum mentoring session will be an orientation to review their Yoga Therapy Toolsets, Assessment Methods and ability to facilitate yoga therapy. Yoga Therapists in training will have the option to facilitate their yoga therapy delivery on their own, through internships with MelMarie Yoga or through our clinical tele-yoga therapy practice here.
Yoga Therapy Practicum Includes:
- Facilitation of 100 1:1 Yoga Therapy Sessions followed by post-session observations through Practicum Delivery Forms.
- Facilitation of 70 group yoga therapy sessions including both organized cohort or fulfilling unique therapeutic requests in partnership with clinics, organizations and the community.
- Development, presentation and implementation of personalized yoga therapy protocols.
MENTORING + INTEGRATION | 42 Hours
- 30 Hours of 1:1 directly tailored mentoring with the Program Director, additional relevant review and education based on trainee’s focused therapeutic services and Delivery Form reviews.
- Mentor review and discussions through support as needed.
- First Fridays, 12 Required (Beginning February 2024)
ENROLLMENT OPTIONS
PHASE ONE
Includes Professional Development Manual, First Fridays and Phase One Training. Begin this pathway here.
IMMERSIVE PATHWAY
PIF | 12 Month PP | 24 Month PP
This allows you to take and drop into all Yoga Therapy Education that is available. Students are able to put a larger deposit down to lower PP.
FOUNDATIONS OF JYOTISH
(Payment Plan Options Available) Learn more about beginning this pathway here.