Yoga is a system that originated in India around 2,000 years ago. In its traditional form, it provides a multitude of practices designed to benefit the mind, body, and spirit. In the West, yoga has become increasingly popular in the last ten years as an exercise that not only enhances strength and flexibility, but promotes relaxation and peace of mind. In addition, yoga has been proven to lower stress levels, lower blood pressure, and enhance immune system function. Yoga also helps the body stay healthy by implicitly massaging and flushing the organs of toxins, milking the lymphatic system, and enhancing circulation.

While there are currently many yoga classes and types available for healthy yoga students, attending a yoga class may not be practical for many of those in the acute stage of recovery from injury or illness. Often they are in a hospital, hospice, or other setting where traveling is not an option, or the class content itself may not be suitable given their current physical restrictions. In order to bring the benefits of yoga to people in such a situation, Cheri Clampett created a therapeutic yoga system that incorporates and blends a number of techniques into a cohesive approach that can be adapted to meet the needs of the individual. The Therapeutic Yoga Training Program was founded to teach this yoga system to yoga teachers, nurses, physical therapists, and other health care professionals working with physically challenged individuals.

The techniques are taught in a modular fashion so that the training participant can implement them as a complementary element to their current skill set. For nurses it may be incorporating breathing techniques with a patient. For physical therapists it may be working with patients with severe mobility restrictions. For yoga teachers, it may be adapting their class to those students recovering from an injury.

Our graduates have successfully taken the knowledge gained at the trainings and applied it to hospitals, hospices, home-care situations, yoga classes, and many other areas.