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Monthly Archives February 2022

Finished Your 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training? 9 Next Steps

what can you do with a 200 hour yoga certification

Find yourself asking, “What can you do with a 200-hour yoga certification?” We’ve got you covered! Consider these next steps after you’re certified.

what can you do with a 200 hour yoga certification

If you are reading this article, it means that you have completed a 200-hour Yoga Training program. To that we say congratulations! By completing our interactive and highly therapeutic program, you have taken a monumental step towards establishing your credentials as a yoga therapist ready to help nurture, assess, and guide clients through their psychological, physical, and spiritual barriers.

As you evaluate your next chapter in your yoga career, you might find yourself asking the question: What can you do with a 200-hour yoga certification? In this article, we’ll dive into several recommended starting points you can take to further enhance your objectives, advance your yoga education, and learn how to start teaching yoga should you choose to go down this path.

9 Steps for New Yoga Teachers 

Evaluate Your Objectives

Before you establish a detailed next steps plan, think about what objectives you’re pursuing. Whether you are seeking to mentor your friends as a certified instructor or want to work directly with clients as a yoga therapist, consider both your short-term and long-term objectives.

  1. Establish short-term goals: What do you hope to accomplish in the next week, month, or year? Maybe you’re hoping to expand your background and learn more about the physiological benefits of yoga. Maybe you want to diversify your education by enrolling in other certificate programs. Whatever the case, make sure you keep a detailed track of your short-term objectives.
  1. Consider long-term goals: Go beyond a year and visualize how you believe yoga will have transformed your life. Do you hope to own a studio where you teach others self-healing methods? Are you hoping to become a certified yoga therapist and work in a healthcare setting? Whatever the case, consult with others as you navigate a long-term vision for yourself.
  1. Do your research: There’s more than one answer to the question “what can you do with a 200-hour yoga certification?” Spend some quality time investigating your options and areas of interest, and apply them to your objectives. Make an honest assessment of your future based on your findings. 

Advance Your Education

The saying “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” certainly applies to yoga. In this case, evaluate what resonates with you, what you enjoy learning about yoga, and what kind of teachings you plan to focus on.

  1. Pursue other certificates: Once you’ve completed the 200-hour teaching program, consider diving deeper into subject matters that best suit your objectives. If you’re seeking to become a certified yoga therapist, consider enrolling in our Advanced Yoga Therapy Program. You will learn new skills, gain practical experience, and establish yourself as a trusted mentor for clients seeking self-harmony.
  1. Create a personalized profile: By this, we mean you should formally outline your experience and expertise as you develop your career. Start with a resume and begin organizing your credentials. You should create a comprehensive and personalized profile that speaks volumes about your credentials. Present your training experience, certificates, and specific areas of strength so you can establish a yoga career.
  1. Network with professionals: Make sure to make yourself known on every job site (e.g., Indeed, Linkedin) and formally reach out to certified instructors for advice on starting a yoga career. Reach out to your formal instructors since they can provide you with more personalized advice and consult with you on how to start teaching yoga after training.

Teach

If you decide that teaching is the path you’re striving for, make sure you follow these steps to help guide you to a full-time position.    

  1. Continue training: Yoga therapists are avid learners. There’s an abundance of courses and new information available that can assist you as you teach others. Stay on top of new trends and refine your skills with continuous education. 
  1. Obtain liability insurance: Make no mistake, obtaining liability insurance is something you must cross off your to-do list. As an aspiring yoga instructor, you should understand the risks involved in a class-like setting, including injuries and possible misconduct allegations. Liability insurance can protect you against injury claims, settle disputes, and allow your business to thrive in the face of challenges.
  1. Market yourself: The idea of marketing yourself means focusing on self-promotion and branding yourself as a yoga professional. Focus on what you can offer your students and how you stand out from fellow competitors. In other words, you must grow your brand and ensure you remain active on social media. Consider posting regular observations of your practices online.

Complete Your Next Steps with Breathing Deeply

What can you do with a 200-hour yoga certification? As you can see, the answer is a handful of exciting opportunities to challenge yourself, deepen your knowledge with yoga experts, and serve a community in need of healing teachings. 

Here at Breathing Deeply, we can help you take that next step in becoming a wellness professional at the highest level. Check out our yoga, yoga therapy, and meditation courses to continue your journey with a fresh mindset and establish yourself as a true mentor of self-care and preservation.

What Is Yoga Therapy?

What is yoga therapy

Breathe in, breathe out. Looking for a therapeutic yoga definition? Learn what yoga therapy is and what it can help treat from Breathing Deeply.

what is yoga therapy

You have probably heard of yoga before, as it has become increasingly popular in recent years. But what about yoga therapy? How is yoga therapy different from yoga? 

Yoga has been around for over 1,000 years. The idea of using yoga in a therapeutic context has been credited to Tirumalai Krishnamacharya who died in 1981 at the age of 100. Yoga therapy is a relatively new method of healing born out of an ancient tradition.

We are going to share a clear therapeutic yoga definition, discuss what yoga therapy can be used for, and explain a typical yoga therapy session. Read on to learn about yoga therapy principles and how it is used today.

What is Yoga Therapy?

In short, yoga therapy is when yoga techniques such as movement, postures, breathwork, and meditation or visualization are used intentionally to promote physical or spiritual healing. Yoga therapy aims to address the physical, mental, and emotional needs of an individual through using a combination of yoga practices.

We can think of yoga therapy the same way we might think of other healing systems such as Chinese medicine. We have a system that helps us identify various imbalances in a person and then we offer techniques to bring those aspects into balance. A Yoga Therapist uses various techniques to help a person find balance and healing such as movement (asana), breath work (pranayama), chanting, philosophy or point of view, and meditation to name a few.

Yoga therapy can be an excellent complement to other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, or mental health professionals.

What Can Yoga Therapy Treat?

Yoga therapy is useful for many different areas, ranging from physical pain to mental health conditions. It can be used as treatment method for a plethora of conditions, including (but not limited to):

Physical Conditions

  • Back pain
  • Shoulder injuries
  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Asthma
  • COPD
  • Parkinson’s
  • HIV
  • Brain injuries
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Heart Disease
  • Obesity
  • Heart Disease
  • Obesity

Mental Health Conditions

  • Anxiety disorders
  • PTSD
  • Insomnia
  • Depression
  • Addiction
  • Schizophrenia
  • ADHD
  • Eating Disorders
  • Postpartum depression

Yoga therapy can act as a useful adjunct to the western medical model or as a stand-alone therapy depending on the condition and/or the skill and experience of the Yoga Therapist.

The biggest difference between a yoga class and a yoga therapy session is that yoga therapy is tailored to suit each individual’s needs. 

What Makes a Yoga Therapist Different from a Yoga Teacher?

A yoga teacher is trained to guide students through classes and sequences to better their health and wellbeing in a general way. A yoga class will stretch a person’s muscles, ease everyday aches, and help boost their mood. 

Yoga therapy, on the other hand, is much more specialized. A Yoga Therapist has been trained to work with the system of yoga to treat specific conditions. The therapist will incorporate different yoga techniques to form a treatment unique to the individual depending on their condition and desires.

Learn more about the differences in our blog post about Yoga Therapists vs. Yoga Teachers

Now that you can answer the question, “What is yoga therapy?” you are probably curious about what a yoga therapy session looks like. Read on to learn what typically happens during a yoga therapy session.

What Happens at a Yoga Therapy Session?

Yoga therapy sessions are done in a private setting. Typically, a Yoga Therapist will do a thorough intake to get to know you and your concerns. Depending on the nature of your issue there may be a physical evaluation as well to determine the best course of action for treatment.

Once the Yoga Therapist has decided on a course of action, they will begin the process of teaching you practices to help with your condition. The relationship between a Yoga Therapist and their client is an important one. Usually, you will be given practices or exercises to work on  outside of the session and will have follow up appointments to make sure things are improving for you.

This could be practicing a certain pose at home to relieve stress and muscle tension, breathing exercises to calm the mind, or combination of other yoga practices to promote healing.

Become a Yoga Therapist With Breathing Deeply 

Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapists are trained to work with a wide variety of conditions using a model that can easily integrate other healing modalities. Please contact us if you would like to discuss how we can help you on your road to health and peace.

If you are interested in training to become a certified Yoga Therapist, Breathing Deeply offers several IAYT accredited programs for students. Learn more about our Yoga Therapy Foundations Program and our Advanced Yoga Therapy Program and apply today!

Five major eras in the history of yoga

history of yoga
history of yoga

Welcome to episode 27 of The Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy and Meditation podcast.

In this episode, Joe Simek, our lead teacher for our 200-hour teacher training, will guide you through the full timeline of yoga history. 

There is a lot of information that one could present when talking about this topic so this is going to be a brief yet comprehensive introduction as we dig into the various time periods of yoga.

To study the history of yoga is to study the philosophy of yoga.

There are 5 major time periods that we cover in this episode:

  • Vedic
  • Preclassical 
  • Classical period
  • The tantric age (post-classical)
  • Modern yoga

For each section, Joe gives a brief introduction and the main philosophical takeaways for each of the eras in yoga history.

What we’ve come to know in the west as ‘yoga’, these exercise classes that have risen in popularity in the last 20-30 years, is a drop in the bucket of the history and knowledge of yoga.

Hopefully, this acts as an introduction and charts you on your own course of discovery.

This video has been taken directly from our 200-hour therapeutic yoga teacher training. Are you ready to start your journey to becoming a yoga teacher or yoga therapist? For more information and to find out when our next intake starts, click here: https://bit.ly/30Nvyma

Om Shanthi

Breathing Deeply is a Yoga Therapy and Meditation School, founded by lead teacher Brand Passalacqua in 2014. We hold online and in-person Yoga Therapy Foundations and IAYT accredited Advanced Programs and retreats along with Meditation Programs, including online meditation teacher training and certification and holistic weight loss with Being At Peace with Food.

Breathing Deeply is made up of an active and thriving community of yogis, caregivers, therapists, teachers, medical professionals, parents & children with the same intention—to serve others, lessen suffering, and co-create a new paradigm in wellness.

history of yoga

Working with Clients with Complex PTSD: A Yoga Therapy Case Study

tiffanyjohnson

Tiffany Johnson has been studying in the Breathing Deeply Advanced Yoga Therapy Program under the mentorship of Brandt Passalacqua.

In this video, Tiffany, a recent program graduate, shares with us how she worked with a client with Complex PTSD.

Are you ready to begin your yoga therapy studies and deepen your own practice? A new class will be starting soon! Check out our yoga therapy programs to learn more. 

Working with Clients with Tinnitus: A Yoga Therapy Case Study

MartaGil

Marta Gil has been studying in the Breathing Deeply Advanced Yoga Therapy Program under the mentorship of Brandt Passalacqua.

In this video, Marta, a recent program graduate, shares with us how she worked with a client with Tinnitus.

Are you ready to begin your yoga therapy studies and deepen your own practice? A new class will be starting soon! Check out our yoga therapy programs to learn more. 

The ‘spiritual’ side of yoga therapy + protocols for working with trauma & weight loss

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Welcome to episode 26 of The Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy and Meditation podcast.

Welcome to episode 26 of the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy & Meditation podcast!

This episode has been taken from a live Q&A session with Brandt and his yoga therapy students.

Many of our students come to yoga therapy from a more scientific and analytical background and therefore can struggle to wrap their heads around the more intangible aspects that we learn about in yoga therapy such as the koshas.

In this Q&A Brandt goes over what is considered the more esoteric side of yoga such as the pranic body and how this relates to yoga therapy as well as some book recommendations to help students understand the spiritual roots of yoga.

Brandt also gives advice on how to approach clients who have both trauma and obesity through the holistic and interconnected lens of yoga therapy.

We hope you enjoyed this episode! Let us know in the comments or send us a message on Instagram or Facebook any key takeaways that you have.

This episode covers:

  • How can I understand more about the esoteric side of yoga therapy such as the pranic body & the koshas?
  • What are some books to help me understand the spiritual roots of yoga? 
  • How important is mental health for making healthy diet changes?
  • How can I approach a client who has a trauma history and is also struggling with obesity?
  • What are the protocols for working with clients who want to lose weight but are also suffering from other issues?

Breathing Deeply is a Yoga Therapy and Meditation School, founded by lead teacher Brand Passalacqua in 2014. We hold online and in-person Yoga Therapy Foundations and IAYT accredited Advanced Programs and retreats along with Meditation Programs, including online meditation teacher training and certification and holistic weight loss with Being At Peace with Food.

Breathing Deeply is made up of an active and thriving community of yogis, caregivers, therapists, teachers, medical professionals, parents & children with the same intention—to serve others, lessen suffering, and co-create a new paradigm in wellness.

Creating space and filling our hearts – Dharma talk & guided Om meditation

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Welcome to episode 25 of The Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy and Meditation podcast.

The aim of this meditation sangha is to meditate in a way that allows us to experience the love that is the nature of all things. This is our spiritual heart, the place where we connect to consciousness and love itself.

Brandt firstly shares with us some words about love and the heart from the yoga tradition and how we can use meditation as a process to access our spiritual heart and come to a natural state of bliss and connection to all that is. 

Striving to reach this place of pure consciousness and bliss is a powerful way to help us keep our momentum up when it comes to our meditation practice!

Brandt then guides us through a 40 minute meditation (starts at 8:35 mins) where we will be meditating on Om while visualizing a clear blue sky. Many traditions use this meditation technique and the reason for that is it creates space in the mind and it trains us to see the blue sky and helps us to push everything else to the side. The Oms help us to vibrate our consciousness into something more peaceful and clean.

This talk and meditation were taken directly from our virtual retreat as part of our online meditation program.

If you loved this episode, and are interested in joining our Meditation Program & attending our next live meditation retreat to meditate as a group where you will receive a new talk and be guided through three 40 minute meditations by Brandt, click here receive a free 30 day trial.

Om Shanthi

This episode covers:

  • Talk about creating space & finding our heart
  • Om meditation explanation 
  • Guided meditation (starts at 8:35 mins)

Breathing Deeply is a Yoga Therapy and Meditation School, founded by lead teacher Brand Passalacqua in 2014. We hold online and in-person Yoga Therapy Foundations and IAYT accredited Advanced Programs and retreats along with Meditation Programs, including online meditation teacher training and certification and holistic weight loss with Being At Peace with Food.

Breathing Deeply is made up of an active and thriving community of yogis, caregivers, therapists, teachers, medical professionals, parents & children with the same intention—to serve others, lessen suffering, and co-create a new paradigm in wellness.

The Basics of Breath Anatomy for Yoga Therapists

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Welcome to episode 24 of The Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy and Meditation podcast.

In today’s episode, Brandt shares with us the basics of the anatomy of the breath for yoga practitioners, teachers and therapists.

There is so much information out there about the breath and the importance of breathing properly as well as how to influence the physical and pranic body with the breath which has been known and taught by yogis for centuries.

In this episode, you will learn the basic concepts that we definitely need to know to be able to breathe effectively in a natural way and also during asana practice.

Brandt discusses the physical anatomy of the body when we are breathing as well as how the natural breath differs from how we manipulate the breath consciously when practicing yoga. Learn how to most effectively use the inhale and the exhale when practicing yoga as well as the most common problems we see with people’s breath such as reverse breathing and chest breathing.

We hope you enjoyed this episode! Let us know in the comments or send us a message on Instagram or Facebook any key takeaways or questions about the breath and yoga therapy.

This episode is an excerpt from the course content from our Yoga Therapy Foundations program.

Are you ready to study to become a yoga therapist and learn highly effective yogic tools for the breath to help people heal and suffer less? Our next class starts on the 15th of February. For more information and to apply, click here: https://bit.ly/3lxc0KK

This episode covers:

  • The breath in the yoga sutras
  • What goes on in the body when we breathe?
  • What is free breathing vs pranayama?
  • How to use the breath for asana
  • Common problems with breathing

Breathing Deeply is a Yoga Therapy and Meditation School, founded by lead teacher Brand Passalacqua in 2014. We hold online and in-person Yoga Therapy Foundations and IAYT accredited Advanced Programs and retreats along with Meditation Programs, including online meditation teacher training and certification and holistic weight loss with Being At Peace with Food.

Breathing Deeply is made up of an active and thriving community of yogis, caregivers, therapists, teachers, medical professionals, parents & children with the same intention—to serve others, lessen suffering, and co-create a new paradigm in wellness.

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