Yoga of Recovery
Certification Course for Counselors

Course Details

Training and certification for yoga teachers, health professionals dealing with people who are recovering from addiction and people with family members/histories of addiction. Yoga of Recovery is the first comprehensive course to combine Ayurveda and Yoga with traditional recovery tools to offer a more holistic mind, body, spirit approach to addiction and self-destructive behaviors.
 

Curriculum

• Root causes of addiction


• Addictive tendencies of the doshic types


• The role of prana in recovery (diet and exercise-hatha yoga)


• Understanding the gunas – our spiritual/psychological natures


• Four paths of yoga for those in recovery


• Raja Yoga and 12 steps


• Ayurvedic nutrition


• The importance of proper daily and seasonal routines


• Key recovery tools - satsang-support-fellowship


• Ayurvedic counseling profiles


• Detoxification and herbal therapies

Upon completion of the course you will have the skills to introduce the healing potential of the holistic sciences of Ayurveda and Yoga into your own life and those around you.

For those in counseling roles the course will offer you additional tools and a deeper understanding of the comprehensive approach to wellness, emotional sobriety and sustained spiritual development using Ayurveda and Yoga as extension therapies to any 12 Step work. If you are already a Yoga teacher, this course will make you uniquely qualified and more confident to teach yoga in rehabilitation centers or to people in recovery from any addiction. You will fully understand the root of the problem and the holistic approach, extended from limited understanding of substance abuse/behavioural problems to be treated with asana alone, to a full range of therapies for mind, body and spirit from these powerful healing modalities.

Daily Schedule (tentative)

Presenters   

Swami Sitaramananda
Swami Sitaramananda is the director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in California USA. She has been teaching yoga and meditation for more than 20 years worldwide. She has authored a Positive Thinking Manual and is an expert in the art of teaching positive thinking and how to deal with the mind and emotions. www.sivananda.org/farm

Durga
Durga has been involved with the 12 Step Fellowship for over 8 years and has developed the "Yoga of Recovery" program. She has led retreats internationally since then. She is a RYT-500, having completed both the Sivananda Yoga teachers Training Course and the Advanced Yoga Training. Durga is also extensively trained in meditation and Vedanta.
She is a Clinical Ayurvedic and Pancha Karma Specialist, trained at the California College of Ayurveda and also in Kerala, India, and she is the Director of the Ayurveda programs at the Yoga Farm in California and leads several Ayurvedic retreats at International Sivananda Yoga ashrams.

Prerequisite

This course is open to anyone but maybe of particular interest to therapists, social workers, addiction counselors, sponsors, yoga teachers, Ayurvedic practitioners. All health professionals dealing with people who are recovering from addiction, people with family members with addiction and/or histories of addiction.
Please note that many people feel a great benefit from attending the retreat and the course together. The retreat is offered immediately before this course- The Yoga of Recovery Retreat. This allows you to see how the coursework is presented to and received by a varied audience of people in recovery.

Certification

• Upon successful completion of the training students receive a co-certification signed by the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat and the course instructors.
• The training is registered by and fulfils the requirements for Yoga Alliance certification. Certified yoga teachers graduating from this program may receive credit RYT500 accreditation with the Yoga Alliance.
• Continuing Education Units (CEU) available
• Course graduates earn credits toward graduate degrees from the Open International University.

This program is eligible for:

• 81.5 hours for nurses
• 81.5 hours for mental health counselors
• Applications pending for social work and substance abuse counselors
• 108 hours for yoga instructors (YA)
• See CEU page for more information

Cost

Tuition: US$750. Add 11 nights' accommodation. For accommodation rates see rates.

Consultations and Ayurvedic treatments available at extra cost.

Arrival and Departure

The course begins at 11:00am on the first day, and ends at 6:00pm on the last day.

Please plan to arrive at the Yoga Retreat at least one day before the start of the course and to leave at least one day after the course completion.

We recommend that you spend at least a few days in the Yoga Retreat before the start of your course. This allows your body and mind time to rest, re-energize and be nourished by the ashram environment. You can then begin your study feeling relaxed and refreshed. You may also wish to stay for some days after the end of the course to allow the learning from your study to integrate more fully into your consciousness within the supportive environment of the ashram. If you decide to arrive early and to stay longer, please register for the Yoga Vacation Program for those additional days. Please see calendar of events for guest programs on offer around the time of your visit.

Reservations

To register for this course please go to register on line or print the application form and fax the form to the Yoga Retreat at fax number: 1-242-363-3783. Then call to give a credit card deposit and to confirm your reservation at 1-866-446-5934 or 1-242-363-2902. A US$150 deposit is required for your registration. For our cancellation policy please see cancellations.

Tuition Discounts

If you enrol simultaneously in more than one course, discounts apply as follows:
2 courses 5% discount
3 courses 10% discount
4 courses 15% discount
5 courses and more 20% discount

Payment for all courses registered for is required in full on arrival in the ashram.