#Aurveda #Yoga #Qualifications #Training #AyurvedaScopeofpractice #Naturalhealing #Naturalmedicinescopeofpractice #Idontunderstandhashtags haha
Have you ever seen a post on social media mentioning something about helping your health? Have you ever scheduled an appointment? Or have you ever read their posts and taken their guidance to heart? This can be great, but this can also be extraordinarily detrimental. There are some healing practices in the US that are not licensed, but are certified. For example, in some states you don't have to be licensed as a massage therapist, but only certified. In others there is no guidance or licensing for reiki. Yoga doesn't even require a certification to be able to teach! Ayurveda is a medical science in India but is currently not licensed in the US, thus there is no regulation. Some states require a nutritionist to be certified and maybe licensed, but some states don't require anything. On the other hand, Naturopathic Doctors are required to be licensed to practice. What does that really mean for you?
First off, in some fields licensing may not have much effect in knowledge and ability. However, it means that certain practitioners may have much less knowledge, and certain practitioners may have much more knowledge, in guiding your health, but this difference may not be clear to you. For this purpose, I am speaking primarily of Ayurveda and yoga. Yoga requires certification, not licensing. Did you know there are programs where an individual can get a certificate to teach yoga in one weekend? Ayurveda requires certification, and is working really hard to turn it into licensing in the United States, but is not there yet. I'm going to focus primarily on Ayurveda for this post, but also yoga. Here is a little breakdown so perhaps you know what questions to ask when you are seeing a practitioner of Ayurveda or yoga.
AYURVEDA
First off, from my second-hand knowledge, the state of Colorado has tried to license Ayurveda and the reason it was not accepted was because there are no "adverse effects" of Ayurveda. Oi! Imagine that... no harm, so no licensing. So sad. However, I am going to be super honest in that I do not know all the details surrounding this but plan on looking into this further.
As of right now NAMA, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, only recognizes three levels of certification: Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Ayurvedic Doctor/Clinical Specialist. NAMA has also identified the scope of practice for each of these.
Why am I writing this you might ask? I have seen too many social media posts recently or heard of people claiming to have studied Ayurvedic medicine giving people guidance. I've seen Ayurvedic counselors hosting Ayurvedic cleanses with ghee who should haven't have doing so - this should be guided by a practitioner or doctor/clinical specialist, and ghee in a cleanse should medicated specifically for the unique individual the clenase is for. I've seen Ayurvedic Health Coaches talk as if they know everything about Ayurveda and give recommendations that aren't accurate. The challenge with non-licensed medical practices of any kind is that there can be too many people guiding things perhaps within, and perhaps beyond their scope. Honestly, I would not have done this as a counselor, but if I had I would yet to have the training that it wasn't ok to do it like that. Here is a scope of practice for each level as identified by NAMA. What do you think happens when someone guides something not within their scope or understanding? Things go wrong, and Ayurveda can get blamed rather than perhaps a misunderstanding of Ayurveda from the practitioners perspective. I hope this make sense.
To give you more information regarding the unfortunate realities when something is licensed, some schools have a 300hr Ayurvedic Counselor program and other programs have over 600hrs required for the same Ayurvedic Counselor certificate. So, because of the lack of licensing there is a varying degree of the requirements for even a certification. This is just a cautionary tale. Please be careful of who you see and the guidance you accept.
I truly believe everyone is doing their best, and is doing what they know to be the right thing to do - let's say in regard to Ayurveda and yoga, it is what they were taught/trained to do. Many experience something magical and healing and want to share that with the world - which is fantastic! I honor that, but there's frequently so much more depth and science to the teaching that need to be further studied and understood. The best thing you can do is at least understand the different levels so you know who to see for what, what questions to ask, and who to see before you ask for a referral elsewhere.
Licensing helps these challenges. Licensing requires that all levels of certification are at least at the same base understanding. NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association) is trying to license Ayurveda to preserve the ancient practice and teachings. When too many schools take their own perspective, the ancient practices get muddled. Call me a purist, but I trust the ancient texts more than the blending of practices, which is what can happen. There is benefit to this, absolutely, but I feel there needs to be a basic understanding of what is written in the ancient texts before trying to blend
The other reason I bring this up is it was a hard decision for me to move on to the practitioner program after I finished the counselor program. It was primarily a financial question, but I'm SO happy that I did. I had a feeling I didn't know enough information to properly help people heal and honor the Ayurvedic wisdom and science, and I trusted that feeling. Knowing what I do now, I'm so happy I continued. There is so much more to Ayurvedic medicine than what is available at the counselor level. I believe I was told that Ayurvedic Practitioners can manage 98% of all diseases out there, the other 2% require an Ayurvedic doctor . I'm so happy I continued my studies as according to NAMA an Ayurvedic Health Counselor can help influence lifestlye and balance, but cannot manage/treat disease like the practitioner and doctor level.
I am currently finishing my Ayurvedic Practitioner program in January 2025, and am very clear working with my rogis that they know this. I am so grateful that my intuition guided me forward from the Counselor level. The knowledge gained from the counselor level to the practitioner level is astounding. Yet, it also gives me the understanding of when others are practicing out of their scope, and without a full understanding. How to manage this I honestly do not know. I really truly believe everyone is doing the best they can and what they believe to be the right thing to do. However, there needs to be an understanding of the different scopes of practice that exist within an unlicensed practice, and the risks from perhaps sharing information one may not truly understand. Even though nearly a practitioner, I still know there is still so much to learn!
YOGA
My main focus is Ayurveda because it is a medical science and medical practice of India and I hope for it to be accepted as that in the US as well. However, I bring up yoga because there is a similar issue. Do you know how many doctors do not recommend yoga because it causes issues? I have heard this time and time again, and have to fight to have people understand that yoga, being taught correctly for the individual (it is an individual practice), will not cause harm. This is because of what the westernized yoga practice has become. There is a reason I refuse to teach at any studio that offers hot yoga or sculpt yoga or whatever the new trend is. Are these classes beneficial? To some, yes. However, I really wish they would not call the classes yoga, but you can refer to previous posts regarding my perspective on that.
I will completely admit that my first several years of teaching yoga (nearly two decades ago) I taught the typical westernized way - lots of flow for example. I trained in all sorts of somatic movement that was integrated in yoga classes - but please remember that though the science of yoga can be considered somatic movement, but somatic movement is not the science of yoga. I used to teach Vinyasa Flow Levels I, II, and II blended sometimes with ecstatic dance, some kundalini, etc. This is not yoga. However, it was definitely a form of somatic movement.
When I work with new yoga students 1:1 one of the first things I ask them, if they have practiced for some time, is what they understand of the bandhas and kriyas. Do you know how many yogis I have worked with who say they understand the bandhas, but when I ask them to tell me and show me they have absolutely no understanding? So many. I have had so many students who have practiced yoga for decades say "My mind is blown." One of my teachers said westernized yoga is like playing 5 card poker with 3 cards - you simply cannot and aren't doing it, without proper instruction.
Years ago, the term and training/education of yoga therapy came about. It was the western way to try to keep yoga yoga, rather than what it was becoming. However, the commercialism of yoga therapy has turned it so many directions. Yoga therapy can reference the traditional teachings but some yoga therapy schools are focused on new-age methodologies and some yoga therapy teachings are so similar to physical therapy training. The bottom line is ask questions of your yoga teacher - they should be upfront about their training and what and how they teach. If it connects with you great! Most importantly:
Yoga should never hurt.
The yoga practice that is best for your body may not be the the practice that makes you feel the best immediately after.
You'll understand yoga when you can understand bandha, kriya, and meditation (that is not guided).
Perhaps contemplate asking your Ayurveda and/or yoga practitioner the right questions. Here are some questions you may want to ask:
What certifications and trainings do you have?
What are the different certifications available in your field and what is the scope of each certification?
How much of experience do you have with working with my imbalances/diseases/health challenges?
What is different from what you offer compared to others?
What is your personal and professional experience with these medicines?
What are the most important parts of Ayurveda? Yoga?
Do you teach everything you know? (fyi - there are some things a teacher does not teach until they have practiced it for many many years)
These are just ideas. I'm a big supporter of the common understanding that the teacher will appear when the student is ready. The students I see will come when they are drawn to me and ready for the deeper teachings of yoga and when they are ready to be healthy through Ayurveda and Yoga. I hope this was helpful. Please feel free to reach out for clarification.
Commentaires