1. Where is your training held?
Our programs are held in various locations throughout the United States. Our higher level trainings (PYTIII & IV of four levels) are held at a retreat center on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
2. What is your training format (ex. weekend workshops, training intensives, etc.) ?
Because our students are busy health care professionals with clinical practices and careers to attend to, we break down our trainings into smaller time frames. PYTI & II are weekend courses and can be taken in any order, while PYTIII and IV are weeklong retreats. All of our courses are intensives, for example, a typical day usually lasts 9-12 hours.
3. How many training sessions are included in your program?
There are four levels in our Certified Yoga Therapist Training (CYT) program.
PYTI – Yoga Therapy for Health Care Professionals
PYTII – Concepts in Yoga Therapy
PYTIII – Advanced Anatomy & Physiology of Yoga Therapy, pt. 1 –
Musculoskeletal & Gastrointestinal Systems & Biomechanics of
Spinal Range of Motion
PYTIV – Yoga Therapy & Ayurveda, pt. 1 – Neuromuscular System,
Music Therapy, & Biomechanics of Headstands & Shoulderstands
There are an additional four levels in our advanced Yoga Therapist
training program, which certified clinicians as a Professional Yoga
Therapist (PYT).
Yoga V – Advanced Anatomy & Physiology of Yoga Therapy, pt. 2 –
Cardiovascular & Cardiopulmonary Systems & Meditation
Yoga VI – Advanced Anatomy & Physiology of Yoga Therapy, pt. 3 –
Endocrine, Metabolic, Urinary, & Immune Systems
Yoga VII – Yoga Therapy & Ayurveda, pt. 2 – Ayurvedic Evaluation &
Yogic Prescription
Yoga VIII – Electives. Our students choose a specified number of CE courses in which they would they would like to specialize as a Yoga Therapist. These are found on the CE Page.
4. What is the average number of participants in a training session?
Our classes are small (anywhere from 7-25) and our students receive extensive 1 on 1 attention and training from our faculty. Our lower level trainings are sometimes larger, but in general our class size is small and individualized for the demographic of each class.
5. What is the length of each program session?
PYTI – 31 hours
PYTII – 31 hours
PYTIII – 56 hours
PYTIV – 62 hours
Yoga V – 31 hours
Yoga VI – 56 hours
Yoga VII – 31 hours
Yoga VIII – 62 hours
Content has been developed as above.
Electives – These vary and run from 8 hours to 18 hours each.
6. What is the total tuition cost for your program (excluding lodging, meals etc.)?
CYT – As of July 2007, the cost is $3050
PYT – an additional $2950 as CYT is required prior to PYT
Electives – dependant on the number of hours credit granted - $199-
$499 (this is already included in the prices above)
7. Do I have to take the course modules in order?
You can choose to take PYTII before PYTI if it better suits your schedule. You can take PYTIV before PYTIII, but you must have completed PYTI and PYTII first.
8. How much experience do I need to be accepted into PYTS program?
You need a current personal yoga practice and a minimum of 6 months yoga experience to apply. Having an RYT designation helps in being prepared for the program.
9. How many days is each course module?
Our courses were designed to complement the professional lifestyle of health care professionals. Designed by health care professionals, we know how difficult it is to juggle a career in medicine while simultaneously earning continuing education. We have made it easier to earn your CYT by scheduling classes on long weekends. The remaining modules, III and IV, are week long courses that are also vacations, so you can relax and learn at the same time.
10. How long does it take to complete the program?
If you were to take all modules straight through, it would take about 12-15 months to complete the program. However, most candidates will complete the program over a 24 month period.
11. Do you provide accomodations?
Accomodations are provided at PYTIII and PYTIV course modules, conveniently located onsite at the The Trinity retreat center. PYTI and II does not provide accomodations, but a list of nearby hotels will be supplied to you once you complete your registration and payment.
12. What do I wear to the course modules?
Wear clothing appropriate for yoga – fitted layers that do not fly over your head. Baggy clothes like tee-shirts do not work that well. Fitted clothing works to your advantage by allowing you to see your body alignment and by also not getting in the way while you practice. Wear layers, as room temperatures can vary. All modules are 100% lab so please come dressed each day, all day, for activity.
13. So if I'm not a certified yoga therapist or yoga teacher until I complete your 4 course yoga therapy program, why am I paying an annual fee for CYT renewal?
As an integral part of the PYTS Yoga Therapist Certification Program, all students must submit annual CE hours while they complete the program. These hours must also be completed and submitted after certification to maintain your certification. The nominal fee is for administration of the database and log sheets.
14. What if I already have my RYT?
Our CYT training is foremost a yoga therapy training. Students who go through our program get their RYT also as a benefit, but our program is in no way similar to RYT programs. We prepare you to be a Yoga Therapist not just a yoga teacher as an RYT program does. For this reason we do not grant credit to anyone for having an RYT as they have not been through any yoga therapy training. Further still, our yoga therapy training is for health care professionals, so it is more advanced than the existing yoga therapy programs in the US as we can discuss concepts at a more in depth and intense level. You could say we kind of "jump right in" to therapeutic application based on evidence based practice, research, and current concepts in rehabilitation and medicine.
15. What are your requirements for program completion?
All four course modules completed for CYT
All written tests completed
All oral practicals passed (there are 3)
All case studies completed satisfactorily (there are 21)
Graduate thesis completed
All non-contact hours completed
All annual CE requirements completed
16. Do you have program tracts or areas of emphasis? Please describe.
We do have electives that may be taken. Currently these tracts include Prenatal & Postpartum Yoga Therapy & Yoga Therapy for the Spine. Our area of emphasis is seated in blending eastern and western medicine according to a koshic model via addressing all systems of the body. At each level of Yoga Therapy training, we will address a specific body system, patient population, and biochemical, biomechanical, and biospiritual analysis of the demographic.
17. As part of your program, do students observe a Yoga therapist working with client (s)?
Our students observe our faculty members in troubleshooting patient and student derived actual and case study situations. Our faculty members are chosen for their specialties in Yoga Therapy and therefore can offer our students a unique window into the life of a working Yoga Therapist who blends their western medical degree/s
with their Yoga Therapy training.
18. Are yoga therapy students required to work with a certain number of clients?
There are no specific number of clients students are required to work with. Our students gain almost all of their non-contact hours through working directly with their patient populations, but there is
no minimum requirement.
19. Do you require completion of a defined number of hours of work with clients?
This is not required but is left up to the student. We expect our students, being licensed health care professionals to be proactive in their educational experience and therefore encourage them to begin
practically applying yoga therapy concepts from course modules in their clinical practice immediately.
20. Do you require any other clinical work during or outside of program sessions? Please describe.
Non-contact hours are expected to be spent in direct patient contact, personal yoga practice and study, or in teaching of special populations yoga therapy classes. 75 hours are required, but an additional 100 are required for each year that the student is actively enrolled in the program.
21. Are students observed by a faculty member as they work with client (s)?
They are observed onsite (during course modules) and tested through oral practicals during course modules which require them to complete case studies
22. Do program faculty review case studies of student work with clients? Yes If yes, how many case studies are students required to complete?
21 case studies are required during PYTI-IV. Case studies are required during every course module level. In addition, students must complete a graduate thesis that is research based and objectively measured. This thesis must be completed abiding by IAYT’s requirements for research manuscript submission and should
be appropriate for publication to a professional medical/yoga therapy journal. This thesis is completed during but before graduating and after finishing PYTI-IV levels.
23. Do you have a mentoring or internship program? Please describe.
All students are welcome to visit faculty to observe and study with them at any time and at no charge during their training years.
24. Which of the following do students receive upon completion of your program?
Certificate of Graduation
Certified Yoga Therapist designation (CYT) for PYTI-IV completion
Professional Yoga Therapist designation (PYT) for Yoga V-VIII
Completion
25. If yes, do you have other ways to evaluate clinical competency before graduation?
Students must complete oral practicals, written testing, complete all course modules, and complete a graduate thesis/research project before graduation from CYT and PYT levels.
26. What yoga styles and methods does PYTS teach in their programs?
Our founder teaches no one particular style of yoga. In her own clinical practice, she teaches her patients and students according to what they need in their season of life. In the PYTS CYT program, Ginger has written all courses so that students are introduced to all styles of Hatha yoga and Yoga. Our program is deliberately non-dogmatic and is meant to graduate the kind of student who can think critically to create their own unique style of teaching. PYTS graduates the kind of student who can apply yoga and yoga therapy in their own way as a result of their training at PYTS. The creation of PYTS rests on not teaching just one style or forcing students to put on a "coat" of one particular type of yoga - but to fashion their own fabric and create their own coat of healing - which embraces all types of yoga and yet still allows room for their own spirituality. In fact, diversity in programming and inclusion of all types of Yoga are one of the main reasons that Ginger founded PYTS.
27. What else can you tell me about your programs?
We are a unique program in that we only accept licensed health care professionals into our yoga therapist certification program. This makes for an elevated environment of learning and application as clinicians can intimately intertwine their knowledge of western medicine with the art and science of yoga therapy and Ayurveda
28. I have to leave early before a course ends (or I can't get to the course on time) so I can't attend all the hours in a course. Is that OK?
The straight answer is NO. In order to receive credit for the course, all PYTS courses must be attended for the entire time or the student must make up the hours via direct contact hours during another offering of the course. We only allow exceptions to this policy in very rare and extreme cases. Flights should NOT be scheduled based on any assumption that the course will be done early.
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