Send Ann to School for Yoga Therapy!

If I could have any superpower, it would be the power to heal, to ease the suffering and pain of others.

However, I've learned during my 49 years on the planet that we have to take steps to heal ourselves, no one is going to do it for us. That's why I became a yoga teacher - to share the tools of well-being that helped me so much while battling various health issues. The teacher I hope to become will empower others towards self-healing, by backing deep yogic practice with precise knowledge of current science and research. Yoga with its many limbs of practice, from ethics to physical postures, breath work and meditation, can complement the traditional treatments of many illnesses, injuries, and issues of body and mind.

I'm READY for the next step in my yoga teaching career, but unable to afford it! I'm looking to get my 850-hr yoga therapy certification so that I can be a part of the new generation of yoga teachers who bridge yoga and healthcare, bringing modern science and medicine to the ancient practice of yoga. 

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About me: I am a 49 year old full-time yoga teacher, and it’s a calling I found later in life. After burning out of a lucrative career in television production (low back surgery and panic disorder amongst the byproducts,) I fought my way back to health and well-being through a total recalibration of habits. Yoga was one.

I now teach about 10 classes a week (half privates, half group classes) to a population of students mostly over 50. I teach both chair and mat yoga, and balance class. The rest of the week is spent taking care of my own almost 50 year old body with all its aches and pains, reading and writing, blogging and creating content for the social media machine. 

Although I have found a rich fulfillment in sharing the tools of well-being with others, I struggle to pay my own bills. I’m caught in a loop of having to teach more classes without refreshing my training or taking breaks to recharge my well. It  saddens me that I can’t afford new training that would be so beneficial to keeping my teaching fresh and grounded in science.

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Why Yoga Therapy at Prema Institute: I got a huge break by sending the above 3 paragraphs to teachers in New York at Prema Yoga Institute at Pure Yoga who were offering a training in Yoga for Osteoporosis. I wanted this training so I could help my students with osteoporosis. To my utter surprise, they let me in for free. One of those teachers was Dr. Fishman, renowned for his groundbreaking study showing yoga reverses bone loss. The 40-hr training, which I passed "with honors," gave me a glimpse into the the healing field of yoga therapy. It enabled me to see how much I don’t know, while validating my own practice and teaching, and more than anything else...ignited my excitement to learn more!

Me with Dr. Loren Fishman, MD,  after the Yoga for Osteoporosis training. He literally wrote the book on it.

My First Yoga for Stronger Bones Workshop, December 2019

Because their generosity lights the way of my path, I applied to and have been accepted into Prema Institute's program to attain my 850-hr certification in Yoga Therapy, with the goal of gaining knowledge to empower my own and others' self-healing through the practice of yoga combined with Western medicine.

The first 100-hr module starts in February.  Here are all the classes I hope I will get to take over the next 2 years:

Year One:
Yoga Therapeutics Essentials 100 hr - February
Embodied Philosophy 50 hr - 1st year Online
Yoga Sound Therapy 25 hr - April 2020
Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy 100 hr - May/June 2020
Functional Anatomy 1 50 hr TBD
Yoga in Health Care 100 hr - October 2020
Yoga for Back Care 25 hr - November 2020

Year Two:
Yoga for Cardiac Care 25 hr - 2nd year
Functional Anatomy 2 - 25 hr - Online
Advanced Yoga Therapy - 2nd year
Yin Yoga Therapeutics 25 hrs - 2nd year
Immersion Course (already did the Osteoporosis course, which counts towards the certification)
Practicum 1 - 75 hr
Practicum 2 - 75 hr
Practicum 3 - 75 hr clinical setting - hopefully with Dr. Fishman!

The cost of the first year is $7160, or a few hundred less if I can do earlybird pricing.  However, I will also need to buy $500 in books. And, because I live in the Philly area, and this training is in NYC, there is the additional cost of travel. Not to mention the time I will spend away from my usual earning hours. The second year is around the same amount.

I hope that with your help, I’ll be able to attain this certification, which will allow me to work in healthcare and private settings, to provide tools that may ease pain and suffering to a broader group. The knowledge I hope to gain will keep my training fresh and grounded in science. I want this to be my small but hopefully meaningful contribution to the world. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Ann Grace MacMullan
Team Sun Wellness

A new decade, more healing - more thoughts on this evolution

Prema Yoga Institute - the program I wish to attend