AUM HOME SHALA

Our goal is to promote knowledge of the therapeutic benefits of yoga, through teaching, research, and training yoga teachers and yoga therapists. Committed to helping usher in a new era of peace, we strive to encourage people of all ages and abilities—including children, adolescents, those with disabilities or chronic health conditions, and other underserved populations—to embrace the practice of yoga as a basis for both individual health and a revitalized society. AUM is deeply committed to offering free yoga therapy programming for people of all ages who are dealing with a wide range of chronic diseases and disabilities. In addition, our goal is to create the yoga therapists of the future—compassionate, knowledgeable practitioners who have a myriad of safe, scientifically validated, yoga-based tools at their disposal to support clients and work closely with medical professionals.

With the help of grants from the Parkinson's Foundation and Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, among others, our strategy is to expand our free offerings, with the goal of sharing the healing power of yoga with as many people as possible. Strategies for the expansion and development of programming, trainings, community clinics, symposiums, and outreach initiatives in universities, schools, hospitals, and other health-care facilities are aimed at shifting paradigms through the use of yoga, yoga therapy, and meditation. AUM supports those healing from mental health conditions, substance abuse, and other addictions, as evidenced by our development of a 100-Hour Yoga Therapy for Mental Health training with a focus on depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, PTSD, ADHD, addiction, eating disorders, and body image. We also continue to create and deliver curriculum designed to build stress resilience and self-regulation skills for middle and high school students in Miami public schools.

AUM’s Clinical Yoga Therapy Certification Program, accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), expands professional development for certified yoga teachers and prepares them to use yoga therapy to increase health and well-being in a wide range of settings, for diverse populations. Students who complete our 1200-hour curriculum are equipped to offer yoga therapy protocols working alongside medical specialists, physical therapists, chiropractors and osteopaths. AUM trains compassionate, knowledgeable practitioners who have a myriad of safe, scientifically validated, yoga-based tools at their disposal and a familiarity with the evolution of the teachings and philosophy of the yoga tradition and its relevance to support clients and work closely with medical professionals. Our program goes beyond theory by offering hands-on practicum experience so that students are equipped to work with a wide range of demographics.

As Florida's only accredited yoga therapy school, we have recently completed our first reaccreditation and have expanded our curriculum from 800 to 1200 hours, including extended specialty courses taught by renowned doctors and other esteemed faculty members who are pioneers in the field. Specialty programs that we have developed and/or offered during the past five years include: 100-hour Mental Health and Yoga Therapy; 40-hour Yoga Therapy for Cancer; 45-hour Yoga Therapy for the Heart; Yoga Therapy for at-risk pregnancies; Yoga Therapy for Parkinson's and other Neuro-motor Degenerative Disorders; and Yoga Therapy for Osteoporosis. Additionally, we have created partnerships within our community and neighboring communities in Broward County to reach more people and make our programs more accessible. These include the Parkinson's Foundation; Easter Seals of South Florida; Holy Cross Hospital in Broward County; and Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health.