Are You Ready To Embrace Your New Calling?
Discover which path is right for you as you RISE to fulfil your purpose of helping others through yoga therapy. Now more than ever, people need help, support and healing.
Become a Certified Yoga Therapist.
Who is this training for?
Aspiring Yoga Teachers/Therapists at the very beginning of their journey
Discover the foundations and benefits of Yoga Teaching and Yoga Therapy in this blended format. You’ll learn everything you need to begin your career as a yoga therapist.
By taking this combined course of Teacher Training with our Foundations program, you’ll fast track your development through continuity of training — from student to teacher to therapist in one seamless transition.
Upon completing the Blended program graduates will have:
- 200 hour yoga teacher training certification
- Yoga therapist certification
Ability to teach yoga classes - Deep understanding of poses, anatomy, breathwork, and the history of yoga.
- The practical skills to work as a Yoga Therapist in a therapeutic setting
- Deep understanding of movement, doshas (Ayurveda), yogic philosophy, chanting, meditation, and more.
- Developed and built upon your own personal practice with our Radically Balanced Yogi program
- Attended and participated in xx retreast (either off or online)
- Pre-requisites and the readiness to commence Advanced Yoga Therapy Program
Yoga Teachers who yearn to become Yoga Therapists
Yoga Teachers the world over have joined with us to take their work and their impact in the world to the skill level of a yoga therapist.
Yoga therapy is the next step if you’d like to take your yoga career to the next level.
Upon completing the Foundations program graduates will have:
- Yoga therapist certification
- Deep understanding of poses, anatomy, breathwork, and the history of yoga.
- The practical skills to work as a Yoga Therapist in a therapeutic setting
- Deep understanding of movement, doshas (Ayurveda), yogic philosophy, chanting, meditation, and more.
- Attended and participated in xx retreast (either off or online)
- Pre-requisites and the readiness to commence Advanced Yoga Therapy Program
Yoga Teachers and Therapists taking it the next level with our IAYT accreditation (875 hour)
What is it that separates yoga teachers from yoga therapists? Training to the highest level of expertise and yoga therapy certification: C-IAYT.
The comprehensive IAYT accredited Advanced Program delivers you the greatest transformation in your certification journey.
Upon completing the Advanced program graduates will have:
- Yoga therapy’s highest designation of C-IAYT
- Deep understanding of poses, anatomy, breath work, and the history of yoga.
- Expert skills to work as a Yoga Therapist in a therapeutic setting
- Deep understanding of movement, doshas (Ayurveda), yogic philosophy, chanting, meditation, and more.
- Undertaken xxx hours of supervised practicum in the community
- Attended and participated in xx retreats (either off or online)
Are You Ready To Embrace Your New Calling?
Are You One Of Us? Do You Yearn To Make A Difference With Yoga Therapy?
If You’re Serious About The Next Step Toward Your Highest Self, And You’d Like To Enrich Your Yoga Practice To Serve At A Deeper Level, Then Read On.
Who is this training for?
Aspiring Yoga Teachers/Therapists at the very beginning of their journey
If you’re at the beginning of your yoga teaching journey, and know you want to pursue yoga teaching and yoga therapy, then click below to discover more.
Our Yoga Teacher training + Foundations program has already helped loads of budding yoga therapists get started.
Upon completing the Blended program graduates will have:
- 200 hour yoga teacher training certification
- Yoga therapist certification
Ability to teach yoga classes - Deep understanding of poses, anatomy, breathwork, and the history of yoga.
- The practical skills to work as a Yoga Therapist in a therapeutic setting
- Deep understanding of movement, doshas (Ayurveda), yogic philosophy, chanting, meditation, and more.
- Developed and built upon your own personal practice with our Radically Balanced Yogi program
- Attended and participated in xx retreast (either off or online)
- Pre-requisites and the readiness to commence Advanced Yoga Therapy Program
Yoga Teachers who yearn to become Yoga Therapists
If you’re a yoga teacher with a yearning to take your career to the next level with Yoga Therapy, then click below to discover more.
Our Yoga Therapy training has already launched many yoga therapists across the globe.
Upon completing the Foundations program graduates will have:
- Yoga therapist certification
- Deep understanding of poses, anatomy, breathwork, and the history of yoga.
- The practical skills to work as a Yoga Therapist in a therapeutic setting
- Deep understanding of movement, doshas (Ayurveda), yogic philosophy, chanting, meditation, and more.
- Attended and participated in xx retreast (either off or online)
- Pre-requisites and the readiness to commence Advanced Yoga Therapy Program
Yoga Teachers and Therapists taking it the next level with our IAYT accreditation (875 hour)
If you’re a professional yoga therapist or you’re a yoga teacher and you’re ready for the full C-IAYT accreditation then click below to discover more.
We know you’re ready to expand and grow your practice, your impact and your career as a highly-respected, world-class yoga therapist.
Upon completing the Advanced program graduates will have:
- Yoga therapy’s highest designation of C-IAYT
- Deep understanding of poses, anatomy, breath work, and the history of yoga.
- Expert skills to work as a Yoga Therapist in a therapeutic setting
- Deep understanding of movement, doshas (Ayurveda), yogic philosophy, chanting, meditation, and more.
- Undertaken xxx hours of supervised practicum in the community
- Attended and participated in xx retreats (either off or online)
Are You Ready To Embrace Your New Calling?
If You’re Being Called To Wellness Through Yoga therapy, To Actively Deepen Your Own Practice And To Support And Influence The Community Around You….
… Then You’ve Come To The Right Place.
Choose a yoga therapy program that best suits you:
Blended Foundations & 200-Hour YTT Program
For many of you, the Breathing Deeply 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training is where your journey will begin! If you don’t have a 200-hour yoga certification, this course is a prerequisite for our Yoga Therapy Foundations Program.
Unlike other 200-hour teacher trainings, our program is designed specifically for students whose end goal is to become a Yoga Therapist and is only offered as a package—in tandem—with our Foundations Program.
In the end, you’ll be ready to both teach yoga in a group/class setting, and be fully prepared to become a Yoga Therapist with two separate certifications — a 200-hour teacher training certification and a Yoga Therapy certification.
You will also have the prerequisites to matriculate into the Breathing Deeply Advanced Yoga Therapy Program and earn the highest standard of yoga therapy certifications, C-IAYT.
Foundations of Yoga Therapy Program
Complete the Foundations Program in one year – or more, depending on your personal timeline.
The 50 pre-recorded lesson lectures, forum, coursework, assignments are augmented with opportunities to attend several live Q&A’s every week with headteacher and Breathing Deeply creator, Brandt Passalacqua, provide superior mentoring and guidance as well as community building and support among students.
In-depth learning retreat modules in Upstate New York provide time for a live immersive educational experience. Bringing the information gained from online learning, students receive guidance and expert instruction from Brandt as well as hands-on experience with other students to support integration and embodiment of information.
Online Foundations Program retreats exist in a condensed format for those who prefer an online-only option, requiring no travel.
Advanced Yoga Therapy Program
The 875 Hour Advanced Program is designed to give you the highest level yoga therapy certification, C-IAYT.
This professional advanced program has a blended online and residential retreat format, with seven weeks of in-person training modules in Upstate New York. (2.5 hours north of NYC).
Due to the current conditions for the health and safety of our students and staff, these retreats are currently being hosted virtually.
Graduates of this program are prepared to work in a variety of settings including healthcare, mental health, pain management, injuries, and more.
The Advanced Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Program is made up of three parts: The Foundations Program, seven weeks of residential learning modules, and a mentored practicum done in the student’s community.
Yoga Therapy's Unique Approach
Born from the ancient practice of yoga and informed by modern knowledge.
The aim of yoga therapy is to educate, empower, and enable clients to take an active role in their own healing.
A Yoga Therapist uses frameworks from the Yoga and Ayurveda traditions combined with western medicine research and perspective to help clients improve their physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
A Yoga Therapist applies yoga techniques to specific health conditions. A Yoga Therapist, therefore, must be trained in both the techniques (asana, pranayama, chanting, philosophy or point of view and meditation) and the therapeutic applications of these techniques.
Next Class Starts on November 19
What are the benefits of getting your yoga therapy certification?
Graduates of Breathing Deeply’s professional yoga therapy certification successfully work as a general practitioner helping clients with a wide variety of health challenges or as an effective specialist working with specific conditions and populations.
Yoga therapy is easily integrated with other healing modalities, used in conjunction with western medical practices, and practiced as a stand-alone therapy. As a Yoga Therapist, you are trained to meet your client where they are and support their individual healing and wellness needs regardless of age, gender, condition, health history, physical and mental ability.
Yoga Therapists help clients to heal any number of physical conditions such as back pain, shoulder injury, sciatica, pelvic floor dysfunction, and plantar fasciitis. They also have therapeutic practices to address anxiety disorders, PTSD, insomnia, depression, autoimmune diseases, addiction, obesity, cancer support, and more.
The Opportunity of yoga therapy
This point in time represents an exciting opportunity for yoga therapy! Though based in a long tradition of healing, yoga therapy is a relatively new occupation gaining awareness and recognition as an effective healing modality. This opening in healthcare is creating a new paradigm in wellness between the medical and yoga therapy fields. Career opportunities are emerging at a rapid pace due to public demand and greater attention to yoga therapy research.
Foundations of Yoga Therapy
Complete the Foundations Program in one year – or more, depending on your personal timeline.
The 50 pre-recorded lesson lectures, forum, coursework, assignments are augmented with opportunities to attend several live Q&A’s every week with head teacher and Breathing Deeply creator, Brandt Passalacqua, provide superior mentoring and guidance as well as community building and support among students.
In-depth learning retreat modules in Upstate New York provide time for a live immersive educational experience. Bringing the information gained from online learning, students receive guidance and expert instruction from Brandt as well as hands-on experience with other students to support integration and embodiment of information.
Online Foundations Program retreats exist in a condensed format for those who prefer an online-only option, requiring no travel.
“I had been teaching yoga for over ten years and had been looking at yoga therapy programs for about four years when I found the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy program. What initially drew me to this particular program was primarily logistics: the ability to do the entire foundations program from my home if I chose. Upon starting the program, however, I realized my great fortune for finding Brandt and his wealth of knowledge and accessibility. Brandt’s ability to distill ancient practices into comprehensible, practical application in a true gift. I am receiving “industry skills” that give me the tools and confidence to work with people in a deeper way. I have been in the program for about a year and a half, am nearing the completion of my Foundations coursework and am already seeing clients on a regular basis. Before I signed up for Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy I was unsure if I could ever do something like this, but I just kept plugging away at my studies and now I am doing it! I would highly recommend this program to anyone considering advancing their studies into yoga therapy.”
Lisa McKenzie, Yoga Instructor & Therapist
Advanced Yoga Therapy
The 875 Hour Advanced Program is designed to give you the highest level yoga therapy certification, C-IAYT. This professional advanced program has a blended online and residential retreat format, with seven weeks of in-person training modules in Upstate New York. (2.5 hours north of NYC).
Graduates of this program are prepared to work in a variety of settings including healthcare, mental health, pain management, injuries, and more. The Advanced Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Program is made up of three parts: The Foundations Program, seven weeks of residential learning modules, and a mentored practicum done in the student’s community.
“I feel so fortunate to have found Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy training. After enrolling in the Foundations Course, I’ve now started the 875-hour training.
This is the complete package. The online lectures are great, and you can go back as many times as you need. The on-line practices in meditation, pranayama, and chanting have really helped me deepen my practice. The Garrison Institute retreats are a joy with great camaraderie (and delicious food).
I participate weekly in the calls with Brandt. He is so helpful with any questions – big or small – about clients, my own practice, philosophy or homework. The calls and the retreats have helped me be a part of a larger community of interesting and engaged peers.
Most important, Brandt is a supportive and smart mentor of great integrity guiding us on the journey to serve as a Yoga Therapist.”
Carol Day Young, PhD & Yoga Therapist
About Your Teacher, Brandt Passalacqua
Brandt Passalacqua is the creator of Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy. He has been enjoying Yoga and the healing arts since 2001 after overcoming obesity and a life-threatening autoimmune illness. His personal journey serves as an inspiration to countless others and informs his compassionate, humorous, and down-to-earth teaching style.
Brandt has maintained a private practice since 2002 integrating yoga therapy in the tradition of Krishnamacharya and Structural Yoga Therapy, Medical Massage, a variety of meditation lineages, and plain-old common sense to help people realize their goals. He works with individuals suffering from a wide variety of disease including obesity, eating disorders, acute and chronic physical complaints, trauma, chronic and mental conditions. He also serves as a meditation teacher with an emphasis on finding the most efficient practice/s for an individual’s evolution.
Brandt shares what he knows through training programs in Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy, Peaceful Weight Loss™ through Yoga, and the Breathing Deeply Meditation Sangha. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife and two children.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have taken the most popular program questions we are asked and made it easy for you to get answers.
The Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy program is based on Structural Yoga Therapy, a system developed by Mukunda Stiles, as well as, a fusion of an Ayurvedic model and a Koshic model looking at the five aspects of the self (physical body, energetic body, conscious and unconscious mind and the bliss body) to assess clients. These are an integral part of the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Programs.
The Foundations Program is part of the Advanced Yoga Therapy Program. It is mostly online for those who want to become Yoga Therapists. The Foundations Program provides you with the basics and is a solid place to start. The residential part of the 875-Hour Advanced Program is a much higher standard certification. Mentoring is provided throughout both programs and beyond graduation.
It depends on where they live and how they choose to work. Many Yoga Therapists run programs at schools, hospitals, rehab centers, etc… The pay varies. In private practice, rates tend to be equivalent to other helping professions (Therapists, Massage Therapists, etc…).
The path toward becoming a C-IAYT begins with the Foundations Program, the residential program is made up of seven eight-day residential retreats (500+ hrs) and a practicum of 160 hours for you to deliver in your own community. This portion is mentored and progress is monitored. Both programs can be taken concurrently or you could stagger the retreats over time. You could complete the program in 2.5 years. The practicum could be started while you are completing the Advanced Program. For a slower option, you can learn at your own pace, over five or six years. Feel free to contact us for more information.
Admission requirements for the Foundations Program are a 200-hour teacher training certification or equivalent. If you do not have a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training but have yoga and related experience, please see our Yoga Teacher Training + Foundations Combination Program. The Advanced Program requires a 200 hour TT or equivalent and one year of teaching experience. The Foundations Program is part of the Advanced Program.
The online portion of the Foundations Program contains 50 sections of lectures and coursework online. In addition there are three live Q&A’s per week. The recommendation is that you attend at least one of the Q&A’s per week via video conference (video + audio on phone or computer) and the times are spread out to cover most schedules (and time zones!). There is also a community aspect in forums with various discussion open to topics of your interest. All you need is video and audio capability. Videos and homework can be viewed/completed at your own pace and viewed multiple times as required.
The format of the Foundations Program requires you to do three retreats in New York over a weekend (Friday night to Sunday afternoon). They are offered three times/year. We also share these same retreats online (“remotely”), three times per year. It is best to attend retreats live for an optimum experience. The Advanced Program is made up of 7 8-day modules (3 in year 1 and 4 in year 2). These retreats can be taken in any order for your convenience. These seven modules include the three Foundations retreats. See these trainings on the Retreat page on our website or contact us for more information.
In the yoga world, there are two large membership organizations. The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) is an organization that accredits yoga therapy programs. The Yoga Alliance is a membership organization for yoga teachers. Breathing Deeply trains and certifies Yoga Therapists. For that reason, we are not affiliated with the Yoga Alliance. If you wish to be a Yoga Therapist the Yoga Alliance and their designations are not relevant to you.
Absolutely. The Breathing Deeply Foundations program gives you the skills and support you need to practice yoga therapy. If you are certified by our school then you have taken the course and have demonstrated the capacity to provide yoga therapy. As of this writing, you may call yourself a Yoga Therapist in the all 50 U.S. states and in Canada.
The Advance Program certifies you as a C-IAYT. It demonstrates your capacity to work with clients with a more thorough knowledge base. The Advanced Program is currently the highest level of education for practicing yoga therapy.
The first level (Foundations Program) is our online program, three retreats, and live sessions. This allows you to use the BDYT Yoga Therapist Certification. It isn’t seen as “hours” but by deduction of the Advanced Program hours lands in the 160-hour range. You can start confidently seeing private clients using this credential and putting your knowledge to work.
Our second level is our 850 Hour Advanced Program – That includes 500 residential hours in Claverack, NY, a 215 hour mentored practicum, and the Foundations Program.
One popular question our applicants ask is whether to take a 500-hour RYT (advanced teacher training) or seek IAYT yoga therapy certification. Click here to read our response.
The foundation program requires two clients. The minimum is six sessions/client (12 sessions total as a minimum). These practicum hours can be done in your area with anyone in need.
Most people take 18-24 months to complete. The fastest one would be able to fully complete our program is 15 months.
Each lesson varies in terms of the content and length. Most run anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, sometimes looking like 30 minutes of lecture and another video/practice that is attached to this lecture material. These are self-paced, so you might schedule yourself to watch one per week or decide on a faster or slower pacing. One of Brandt’s superpowers (which is strongly executed in the foundations course, is his ability to distill ancient broad (sometimes complicated) information into real-life, clear and cohesive concepts.
So, you might decide to put an hour or two into it/week, (watch one lesson and do the corresponding coursework) or you may decide to spend more time on it. One more thing that might be useful is that the practices being taught will likely be woven into your personal practice, so that will take some awareness (and time).
Yes. We currently have several students that live in Canada and will work as Yoga Therapists once they’re certified. (As an aside, we are in the process of expanding our program to offer two levels of training. Both levels (Foundations and Advanced Programs are used internationally.)
There are three different tuition payment options for the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Foundations program. You can pay in full or choose a monthly payment plan that works for you. Click here for full tuition and payment plan details.
Want to Learn More? Check Out Our Information Session
Brandt talks about common questions applicants have about the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Program. Tune in to get the full program details.
Want to join our Yoga Therapy Training?
Next Class Starts on November 19
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Fill in your application form below and make sure your application is as detailed as possible so we can get to know you.
You will have the opportunity to speak with an admissions person once your application is submitted.
You will receive an email from us with next steps toward enrollment.
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We have programs for each level of yoga expertise.