Master of Science in Yoga Therapy

The Master of Science in Yoga Therapy is designed for yoga teachers who want to progress in their career into the role of Yoga Therapist, so they can develop individualized yoga therapy plans of care for clients in one-one and small group settings. Students learn how to bridge the gap between ancient yoga wisdom and rigorous research practices, so they can partner with allied health professionals in supporting clients throughout their healthcare journey. In this two-year program, students develop their applied knowledge of the experiential sciences of yoga and yoga therapy and are mentored in their application of this knowledge in telehealth settings. The program is comprehensive in its approach, with an over-arching aim to equip tomorrow’s yoga therapists with the ability to promote client biopsychosocial health and well-being through the applied practice of yoga therapy. Students who complete the program become eligible to sit for the national yoga therapy exam offered by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, to earn their C-IAYT designation.

Are you already a licensed healthcare professional? Explore MUIH’s Post-Master’s Certificate in Therapeutic Yoga Practices, designed specifically for licensed healthcare professionals.

As the first and only Master of Science program in yoga therapy, MUIH’s M.S. Yoga Therapy program prepares yoga therapists to thrive in a complex world. Students develop their applied yoga therapy skills through didactic (classroom) learning, clinic theatre training, peer-peer experiential learning, yoga therapy mentorship, and supervised yoga therapy practice. Students begin their studies with a full year of didactic study in the experiential science of yoga therapy, and then take a comprehensive exam to demonstrate their readiness to progress into work with clients in one-one and small group settings. In the second year of study, students are mentored by clinic faculty in the practice of yoga therapy in telehealth settings. Along the way, students are equipped with a comprehensive foundation in the theoretical, scientific, and experiential training of yoga therapy in one-one and small group settings. 

The curriculum is anchored in client-centered, compassionate, and culturally sensitive care, honoring all classical yoga traditions without attachment to a particular yoga lineage.  Students learn how to apply their whole Self in the witnessing and assessment of each client’s mind-body-heart-spirit system and story, and how to apply this wisdom and knowledge using scientific inquiry to design, delivery and evaluate comprehensive yoga therapy plans of care. Students learn how to tailor the philosophy, practices and postures of yoga to address individual health concerns; and to promote the benefits of yoga therapeutic practices and yoga therapy to multiple audiences (including future clients). 

The program provides a comprehensive understanding of the classical and theoretical foundations of the field of yoga therapy, as well as extensive knowledge of biomedical systems from an integrative and holistic perspective. Students study both yogic and behavior change theoretical frameworks and conceptual models, so they can develop their critical approach to integrating classical yogic wisdom into evidence-informed plans of care. The program also provides a strong foundation in the pathology of health and disease relevant to the practice of yoga therapy, and trains students how to design, deliver and evaluate yoga therapy plans of care for clients based on their health and well-being goals. 

MUIH yoga therapists learn best practices for working with clients remotely in the growing telehealth environment: how to hold space for clients as they share their lived experience; how to establish a client-practitioner relationship virtually; how to operate within HIPAA guidelines in the online environment; how to use electronic health records; and how to operate their private yoga therapy practice using telehealth delivery platforms. The telehealth clinic experience provides students with the opportunity to become comfortable with telehealth technology and practice skills that will support them in joining the integrative health workforce after graduation. Students are also taught how to establish and promote their yoga therapy private practice after graduation, using best practices in social-preneurship and online health promotion. 

As part of MUIH’s commitment to advancing health equity, the program encourages yoga therapy students to engage with clients in remote, underserved, underrepresented, and socially disadvantaged settings. In this way, students build their cultural competency skills will making yoga therapy accessible to a wider, and less homogenous, audience. Students also learn how to engage effectively with wellness and healthcare providers, by developing their inter-professionality skills and their use of biomedical communication so they can collaborate with care teams and support clients in both community wellness and healthcare settings.

Building on the success of ten years of providing yoga therapy training, MUIH’s cohort-based program builds a strong community that continues long after graduation. MUIH graduates benefit from a strong alumni network, both inside of the yoga therapy program and across other MUIH integrative health programs, as well as continued career services support.

Learn more about the MUIH yoga therapy community

Meet our Alumni

Meet our Team

For more information about yoga therapy

What is yoga therapy and how is it different from yoga? (Originally published by the International Association of Yoga Therapists – Shared with permission.)

What do yoga therapists do? (Originally published in Yoga Therapy Today, a publication of the International Association of Yoga Therapists – Shared with permission.)

What’s the difference between a yoga therapist and a yoga instructor?

Required Courses

The program consists of 39.5 credits of required courses:

• IHM662 Professional Practices for Yoga Therapy Practitioners I (1 cr)
• IHM663 Professional Practices for Yoga Therapy Practitioners II (1 cr)
• ISCI613 Mental Health and Mind Body Science (3 cr)
• ISCI643 Anatomy and Kinesiology (2.5 cr)
• ISCI644 Physiology and Pathology: The Internal Organs (3 cr)
• ISCI651 Structural Pathology in Integrative Health (3 cr)
• YOGA611 Theoretical Foundations for Yoga Therapy (2 cr)
• YOGA612 Health and Disease: Yogic Perspectives and Practices (3 cr)
• YOGA614 Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications of Yoga Therapy for Mind and Spirit (2.5 cr)
• YOGA615 Breath and Health (1 cr)
• YOGA634 Therapeutic Relationship and Client Education I (1.5 cr)
• YOGA635 Therapeutic Relationship and Client Education II (3 cr)
• YOGA640 Yoga Therapy: Principles and Practices (2 cr)
• YOGA642 Yoga Therapy: Principles and Practices II (2 cr)
• YOGA643 Yoga Therapy: Principles and Practices III (2 cr)
• YOGA644 Mentored Yoga Therapy Student Clinic I (1.5 cr)
• YOGA645 Mentored Yoga Therapy Student Clinic II (1.5)
• YOGA646 Mentored Yoga Therapy Student Clinic III (2 cr)
• YOGA649 Clinical Case Reporting in Yoga Therapy (2 cr)
• YOGA6EX1 Comprehensive First Year Examination (0 cr)
• MUIH550 Academic Research and Scholarship (0 cr)

Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are available in the Academic Catalog.

Advanced Standing for C-IAYT Certification

Individuals who hold the C-IAYT certification from the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) are eligible for up to 6 credits of advanced standing in MUIH’s M.S. Yoga Therapy program. Advanced standing reduces credits, costs, and time to program completion. To receive advanced standing, students must complete three steps prior to the start of the student’s first course in the program. Step 1: Students must indicate C-IAYT certification at the time of their application for admission. Step 2: Students must submit official documentation of C-IAYT certification. Step 3: Upon approval by the yoga therapy department chair, students can then complete an equivalency exam administered by MUIH. Student’s success on the equivalency exam has the potential to exempt them from any or all of the following courses: YOGA611 Theoretical Foundations for Yoga Therapy (2 cr), YOGA615 Breath and Health (1 cr), and ISCI613 Mental Health and Mind Body Science (3 cr). The exam is administered in August of each year and is only permissible in the summer immediately before students’ enrollment in the M.S. Yoga Therapy program.

Students who complete the Master of Science in Yoga Therapy program will:

• Describe the classical and theoretical foundations of the field of yoga therapy.
• Explain biomedical systems from an integrative and holistic perspective, as needed for the practice of yoga therapy.
• Apply knowledge learned in this curriculum and in previous yoga teacher trainings to assess the needs of clients, to design and implement effective programs, and to assess the effectiveness of these programs.
• Effectively use yoga as a therapeutic modality through the integration of diverse approaches to this field.
• Use professional conduct during the practice of yoga therapy.
• Use relationship-based approaches to catalyze positive change or transformation with clients.
• Use critical thinking skills and science-based literacy to advance the evolution of yoga therapy as an integrative health practice.

Program Format

This program is offered in the online format. Click here to view MUIH’s definition of online, hybrid, and on-campus course and program formats.

Some of the online courses in the M.S. Yoga Therapy program occur synchronously on specific dates and at specific times; students are expected to be present for these synchronous online class meetings. These live sessions are supplemented with asynchronous learning between sessions, that students can complete at their own pace.

Program Schedule

For trimester start and end dates, see the Academic Calendar.

Click here to view the  synchronous online class meeting dates and times for students starting the program in the Fall 2023 trimester.

Schedule of Classes

Trimester 1

• ISCI643 Anatomy and Kinesiology (2.5 cr)
• ISCI644 Physiology and Pathology: The Internal Organs (3 cr)
• YOGA611 Theoretical Foundations for Yoga Therapy (2 cr)
• MUIH550 Academic Research and Scholarship (0 cr)

Trimester 2

• ISCI651 Structural Pathology in Integrative Health (3 cr)
• YOGA612 Health and Disease: Yogic Perspectives and Practices (3 cr)
• YOGA615 Breath and Health (1 cr)

Trimester 3

• IHM662 Professional Practices for Yoga Therapy Practitioners I (1 cr)
• ISCI613 Mental Health and Mind Body Science (3 cr)
• YOGA614 Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications of Yoga Therapy for Mind and Spirit (2.5 cr)
• YOGA6EX1 Comprehensive First Year Examination (1 cr)

Trimester 4

• IHM663 Professional Practices for Yoga Therapy Practitioners II (1 cr)
• YOGA634 Therapeutic Relationship and Client Education I (1.5 cr)
• YOGA640 Yoga Therapy: Principles and Practices I (2 cr)
• YOGA644 Mentored Yoga Therapy Student Clinic I (1.5 cr)

Trimester 5

• YOGA635 Therapeutic Relationship and Client Education II (3 cr)
• YOGA642 Yoga Therapy: Principles and Practices II (2 cr)
• YOGA645 Mentored Yoga Therapy Student Clinic II (1.5 cr)

Trimester 6

• YOGA643 Yoga Therapy: Principles and Practices III (2 cr)
• YOGA646 Mentored Yoga Therapy Student Clinic III (2 cr)
• YOGA649 Clinical Case Reporting in Yoga Therapy (2 cr)

Graduates of the Master of Science degree in Yoga Therapy become eligible to sit for the national yoga therapy exam offered by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), to earn their Certified Yoga Therapist (C‐IAYT) designation. Graduates also become eligible to apply for their RYT300 credential with Yoga Alliance. Interested individuals are encouraged to check for the most recent requirements.

The Master of Science in Yoga Therapy is accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). For more information, visit: www.iayt.org.

Eighty nine percent (89%) of recent graduates (2018-2021) of MUIH’s M.S. Yoga Therapy program were employed or self-employed within one year of graduation. Graduates of MUIH’s yoga therapy program are employed in a variety of settings including private practice; integrative group practices; health care systems; hospitals; U.S. military; veterans and military organizations and agencies; school systems; and colleges and universities. Many graduates chose to have a portfolio career in which they have multiple positions and employers within one or more profession, rather than one full-time job. A portfolio career provides such individuals with variety in their work life and the opportunity to develop a wide and varied professional network.

The use of yoga in the U.S. continues to grow steadily leading to an increasing need for professionals trained in the field; individuals who complete the proposed program will be prepared to meet the growing expectations of the general public that yoga and meditation approaches be applied to support them. The 2017 National Health Interview Survey revealed significant increases in the use of yoga-based mind and body approaches. Yoga was the most commonly used complementary health approach among U.S. adults in 2012 (9.5%, 22.4 million individuals) and 2017 (14.3%, 35.2 million individuals) and demonstrated an increase in usage during that five-year period. The use of meditation increased more than threefold from 4.1% in 2012 to 14.2% in 2017. Similar increased usage of these modalities was observed in children aged 4-17 years. The percent of children who used yoga increased significantly from 3.1% in 2012 to 8.4% (4.9 million children) in 2017. The use of meditation among children also increased significantly from 0.6% in 2012 to 5.4% in 2017.

The earlier 2016 Yoga in America Study conducted by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance also indicated significant and widespread use of yoga. 28% of all Americans had participated in a yoga class at some point in their lives. The number of Americans practicing yoga increased to over 36 million in 2016, up from 20.4 million in the 2012 study. There were more older practitioners than ever before; nearly 14 million practitioners were over the age of 50, up from about 4 million in 2012. One in three Americans had tried yoga on their own (not in a class) at least once. 34% of Americans said they were somewhat or very likely to practice yoga in the next 12 months, equal to more than 80 million Americans. Since 2012, the percentage of Americans aware of yoga grew from 75% to 90%.

Healthcare bodies such as medicine’s leading accreditor, The Joint Commission, the federal government’s lnter-Agency Task Force on Pain Management, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the American College of Physicians, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend and, in some cases, require nonpharmacologic treatment as part of patient treatment planning. Yoga is among the key modalities cited for such non-pharmacologic approaches.

The job market for yoga professionals is robust. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects jobs for yoga professionals (included in BLS’s fitness trainers and instructors category) to grow 19% from 2021-2031, much faster than average. There are currently 90,000 registered yoga teachers in the U.S. who possess the base level of non-academic training. MUIH’s Master of Science in Yoga Therapy provides such individuals with the opportunity to differentiate and distinguish themselves from others and to their clients and potential employers.

View more about career opportunities.

Take a look at what our Master of Science in Yoga Therapy program offers and how MUIH is the choice for you!

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Suzie Carmack, Ph.D., M.Ed., M.F.A., C-IAYT, NBC-HWC, ERYT 500, PCC
Department Chair, Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda

Denyse Peterson, M.S., C-IAYT, ERYT 500
Acting Director of Yoga Therapy Experiential Learning

Suzanne Zolnick, M.A.S.
Department Manager

Devyn Cain, M.S.
Academic Advisor

Click here to view the faculty.