Description

Watch the Course Intro

Course Overview

Module 1 | Introduction: In this section, you’ll be introduced to the course’s 250-page manual, as well as the course’s structure into “the 5 P’s” of Medical Fitness Yoga program design and delivery. You’ll also learn more about the 5 koshas – a powerful framework that helps clients to conceptualize their 5 layers of self and well-being.

Module 2 | Promotion: In this section, you’ll learn how to promote yourself as a Medical Fitness Yoga Specialist to prospective clients while staying in your scope of practice and practicing Dr. Carmack’s 6 Chakras of Health Promotion.

Module 3 | Preparation: In this section, you’ll learn how to assure that you and your client are properly prepared for your work together, including an overview of insurance, health data privacy management, waivers, and screening tool needs.

Module 4 | Planning: In this section, you’ll learn how to combine both talk-based interviewing and asana (pose)-based assessments in the yoga program planning process, so that you can co-create a yoga program for your client that works well for them on and off of the mat.

Module 5 | Programming: In this section, you’ll learn how to adapt the FITT-VP exercise prescription framework for yoga program design. Plus, you’ll learn how to use Dr. Carmack’s signature ABCDE practice design framework in the design and delivery of yoga practice sessions – to assure that every client session experience is assessment-based, centering, and empowering.

Module 6 | Progressions: In this section you’ll learn how the concept of yoga progression takes yoga into a way of life, through the practice of the 8 limbed-path of yoga. Plus, you’ll learn how you can add simple yoga mudras and mantras to a philosophy and posture-based yoga program, to support clients with centering self-care practices they can take into their daily life.

Along the way, you’ll learn and love the Traffic Light Method, developed by the MFYS course author and yoga therapist Dr. Suzie Carmack and MedFit’s chronic disease course author Dr. Dan Mikeska. You’ll learn how you can apply this method in giving clients red, yellow, and green options for “driving” their practice on the mat safely, based on their medical needs, stress management concerns, physical capabilities, and intuitive guidance. Plus you’ll learn how you can apply this method in the client assessment process; in the planning of a yoga program and in the practice of 44 different asanas (yoga poses).

Course Delivery and Assessment

This is an online, self-paced course; all materials are delivered digitally. This course includes narrated slide videos and course manual. Comprehension of the material will be measured via a mandatory competency assessment requiring a minimum of 80% correct responses.

Prerequisites

The completion of this specialization course, and the passing of its corresponding competency assessment, leads to a Certificate of Specialization. All of the online courses on MedFit Classroom which lead to a Certificate of Specialization are considered advanced level education, and are meant to be taken by fitness professionals who have previously acquired education and experience as a professional within the health and fitness industry. In order to receive the Certificate of Specialization, upon completion of this course you will be asked to provide proof of the following:

1. Evidence of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in fitness or health related field AND/OR possess a certification from a nationally-recognized certification, NCCA or ANSI/ISO accredited program OR a current yoga certification at the 200–hour level or above AND
2. Evidence of professional liability insurance.

*If you do not meet the requirements for a Certificate of Specialization, you can request a Certificate of Completion.

Renewal of Specialization

This Certificate of Specialization will be considered valid for a period of two years. To keep the certificate current, you must complete 10 hours of continuing education, on relevant subject matter, and formally renew the certificate prior to the date of its expiration. As with many certifications and specializations in our field, professionals should anticipate some costs to continuing education and renewal of this certificate.

MedFit Classroom CEUs

The Medical Fitness Yoga Specialist course provides 10 CEUs toward renewal of MedFit Classroom fitness specializations.

Other Continuing Education Credits

Approved for credits by:

• ACE for 1.0 CEUs (Also provides 0.1 Professional Conduct and Ethics CECs)
• NASM for 1.0 CEUs
• AFAA for 1.0 CEUs.
• canfitpro for 4 CECs.
• Yoga Alliance for 10 CECs.
• ISSA no longer offers pre-approved education by external providers. However, you can upload your Certificate in your ISSA portal and they will review the course for ISSA credit. There is no fee for this. Courses must directly support educational growth within the fitness industry. Courses related to health, wellness, nutrition, personal training and similar topics will be accepted.
• If you’re certifying body is not listed, you can likely petition your certifying body for credit. Check with your certifying body for their petition process.

About the Course Author

Dr. Suzie Carmack is a communication scientist, educator, and integrative health leader specializing in evidence-informed yoga applications for fitness and clinical populations. She brings a rare combination of academic rigor, practical training experience, and real-world application to professionals working one-on-one with clients. Her work focuses on translating research in movement science, behavior change, and mind–body medicine into safe, effective, and ethical practices for fitness and wellness professionals.

Dr. Carmack is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT); Yoga Teacher Trainer (E-RYT 500); executive leadership coach (ICF PCC), and board-certified health coach and trainer of health coaches (NBC-HWC). Through her education platform, YogaMedCo, Dr. Carmack has trained and certified hundreds of professionals in evidence-informed coaching and yoga-based interventions, while mentoring them in the business and branding  fundamentals needed to grow a thriving and mission-driven one-on-one coaching business.  As the Creator of MedFit Yoga Specialist Course, Dr. Carmack inspires fitness professionals as well as yoga professionals to confidently and responsibly integrate yoga principles into the design of evidence-based fitness programs—supporting client mobility, recovery, stress regulation, and overall well-being — without overstepping their scope of practice.

Dr. Carmack holds a PhD in Health Communication, a Master’s degree in Kinesiology, and has 33 years of experience designing and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in both higher education and professional continuing education. She holds the rank of Full Professor from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, where she served as Department Chair and Faculty in MUIH’s Master of Science programs in Clinical Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda (lifestyle medicine). She is the best-selling author of the books Chakras of Business, Yoga for One, Genius Breaks, and Well-Being Ultimatum, and the author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters focused on the role that communication plays in behavioral health, psychological safety, body image, and personal well-being. She has been personally commissioned by multiple government agencies to design global  health promotion campaigns and to train leaders in resilience, emotional intelligence, and burnout prevention.

Learn more about Dr. Carmack at www.DrSuzieCarmack.com.