Therapeutic Yoga with Individual Clients

Therapeutic Yoga with Individual Clients is a yoga therapy teacher training led by Jen Stuart at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is offered as a Kripalu Schools training for certified yoga teachers who want to apply yoga as a healing art in one-on-one work with clients, in settings that can include hospitals and healthcare offices. Kripalu describes it as one of the most established yoga therapy training courses available.

What to Expect

The training is an on-campus immersion over about twelve days, with a full daily schedule that typically runs from early morning to early evening, with breaks. You study the philosophical roots of yoga therapy, tracing its evolution in India and in the West, and survey the tools used in practice: asana, pranayama, mudra, yoga nidra, guided relaxation, and imagery. Biomechanics and somatic movement are woven together with anatomical and physiological knowledge of all the body systems.

The focus is on the individual session. You learn to translate the principles and skills of the therapeutic relationship into a one-on-one setting. By the end, you will be prepared to:

- Apply the KSIYT four-step assessment process and ten-step treatment protocol for individuals with common lifestyle-related imbalances.
- Design personalized yoga therapy protocols for whole person wellness: physical, psychological, and spiritual.
- Demonstrate intake and assessments for individual sessions.
- Apply a range of yoga practices and their therapeutic effects to help alleviate suffering.
- Explain models of wellbeing that inform interventions, goals, and your scope of practice as a yoga therapist.

The first day begins with check-in at 2:00 pm, a Kripalu Yoga class from 4:45 to 6:00, dinner, and an evening session from 7:00 to 8:30. Full days follow a steady rhythm: a program session from 6:15 to 7:45 am, silent breakfast, a morning session from 8:45 to 11:45, lunch, an afternoon session from 2:00 to 6:00, a Kripalu Yoga class, and dinner. The final day has an early session, silent breakfast, a closing session from 9:00 to 11:00, and lunch before departure. Times can shift, so the schedule given at check-in is the one to follow.

About Jen Stuart

Jen Stuart leads this training as its presenter at Kripalu.

The Setting

The training takes place on the grounds of Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Three nutritious meals are served each day, and breakfast is taken in silence. Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm on arrival, and a luggage room is available if you arrive earlier. On the last day, room check-out is at 10:00 am, and you may remain on campus and take part in workshops until 2:00 pm.

Accommodation is booked separately. Dormitory housing is available, with a lower nightly rate on weekdays than on weekends.

Before You Go

This is a professional program at an intermediate to advanced level. You need a 200-hour yoga teacher certification plus one year of personal practice, and a Kripalu Schools acceptance note is required to register. Kripalu Schools verifies pre-registration during the process. The training is taught in English.

Tuition includes a training manual, three meals a day, access to the Kripalu grounds, and daily yoga classes. Kripalu offers limited scholarships and payment plans for most Schools programs, and applying early is recommended because funds are competitive. Kripalu notes that its Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy programs meet professional standards and eligibility requirements for relevant credentialing boards.