Ayurveda Practitioner Certification Program
Online Education
1-on-1 and Small-Group Mentoring
About the Founder
The school was founded in the early 1990s by Swami Sadashiva Tirtha and one only five schools in the USA at that time. Swami studied privately with Ayurvedic doctors in the Himalayas and at Benares Hindu University in Varanasi.
He also received certification as an Ayurvedic practitioner and opened one of the first Ayurveda centers in the states, offering consultations in Ayurveda & Vedic astrology, and Ayurvedic herbal products he created and sold in various countries around the world.
Swami was recognized as a monk by his guru, Swami Narayan Tirtha in the Himalayas in 1990, published two spiritual books written by his grandfather guru, Swami Purushottam Tirtha before writing his #1 bestseller, the Ayurveda Encyclopedia (over 30,000 copies in print). The book has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese.
He went on to translate and write, Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times, the ABC’s of Ayurveda, The Stress-Free College Student, 21 Days of Joy, and his most recent book, The Magic of the Blessed Mother’s Miracles.
About Ayurveda
Ayurveda offers a most unique and personal wellness protocol for humans and pets.
It is gentle, personal, and in most cases, does not cause a healing crisis – it just balances – according to one’s personal constitution (dosha).
Teaching Method
The course has two aspects: Theory and Hands-on Practice.
In the early days of this training, back in the 1990’s, students who did well with their theoretical training said they lacked confidence to help clients because they hadn’t practiced. To offer the fullest training, we developed the practicum module of the course.
Theory
is covered mainly through the Ayurveda Encyclopedia, along with several other books to round out the holistic training that allows students to offer a well-rounded wellness education for clients using the 4 pillars of life, mind-body-life purpose-spirituality.
Hands-On Training
begins in the third month and students begin to offer mock consultations to their family and friends. Student’s consultation notes are reviewed with Swami to confirm and/or tweak their insights. Then the consolation may be given to the family member or friend. Later a followup is a part of the training.
If you are drawn to focus your practice to a specific group, eg, women, children, nurses, yoga students, people with a certain health challenge (eg, arthritis, diabetes) then choose people from your targeted group as your clients so you can gain as much practice in advance and experience as many unique situations as possible.
Between 2-3 consults a month are required – 20 month/40 consults a year.
Training
Each year runs 11 months. Then a midterm & final end the year. Both exams are open book. The focus is seeing if a student can determine what is the cause and possible solution of a wellness exam. Using notes or books to help get that information is fine. Learning how to think is more important than memorization because there will always be those clients that have unique situations.
Community Service: In addition to the work and practicum, the last 3 months of each year, students are required to complete 2 community service projects. If a student is a member of a group or organization, or wishes to specialize their Ayurveda practice (eg, children, women, longevity (seniors), cooking, etc), then focus these two presentations to that targeted group.
1- give a presentation to a group in their neighborhood. It can be to doctors, nurses, yoga classes or teachers, etc. Hospice, retirement communities, moms interested in natural family/child care, garden clubs, health food stores, spiritual communities, etc. After the talk, students submit a short feedback from the organization who held the event sharing their feelings about the student’s presentation.
2- Writing an article, blog, or video presentation and having it published in a newspaper, journal, website, or YouTube channel. The information can be the same topic as the live presentation.
Giving back to the community helps both the audience and the student – we learn more when we teach.
Self-Paced Study & Live training
Each month
students receive homework questions based on chapters in the Ayurveda Encyclopedia and several other books. Students report that completing the homework can take 2-4 hours a month. Students can set their own study and homework pace to fit their schedule, and submitted within 2 weeks (see Homework section below)
Students may have 2 live sessions (60 min/session) by phone or zoom with Swami Tirtha to ask any questions, and Swami may have insights to share on student’s work and hands-on sessions.
Homework
Students read selected chapters and answer multiple choice questions. Materials are sent to students and submitted back to the teacher via email. Work is due in 2 weeks and returned graded within 2 weeks.
Grading & Graduation
Qualifications for graduation include
– scoring 80% of the homework correct and successfully understanding any earlier misunderstood concepts.
scoring 90% on the open-book mid term and final, and then successfully answering any wrong answers on the second attempt.
Completion of live presentation and written/video blog presentation.
Upon graduation students receive the status of Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner
Prerequisites
For those preparing to enroll in the training the school requires
– to have an Ayurveda consultation with some certified Ayurveda practitioner. It can be someone locally, or with Swami. It is our philosophy that the most knowledgeable practitioners who also have the most empathy for their clients are those that experience, follow, and love what Ayurveda has done for them.
For this reason we require prospective students to have a consultation and follow their suggestions for at least a month. This also benefits the person. If they find they are not as excited about Ayurveda as they first thought, they save time and expense of enrolling and studying.
– To have a Student Interview to ensure there is compatibility with the student, teacher, and the teaching approach the school offers.
Fees
Ayurveda Consultation: 3-4 1-hour sessions (phone/zoom) $108/session
Student Intake Interview: 30 minutes – $54
Tuition
Monthly: $400
Yearly: $4,200
Required Reading
Ayurveda Encyclopedia
Ayurveda Primer
https://tinyurl.com/SwamisBooks
Spiritual Guide Books
Bhagavad Gita for Modern Times
Yoga Vani (PDF ebook available through the school)
Guru Bani (PDF ebook available through the school)
Email Us
Upanishads Vol. 2 by Swami Nikhilananda
https://tinyurl.com/UpanishadsV2
Lifestyle Guidance (optional)
Stress-Free College Student
21 Days of Joy