Welcome to YogaMedCo Coach Training
“A Much-Needed Method for Modern Healthcare.”
— Kristy, course graduateFounded by Dr. Suzie Carmack, YogaMedCo brings the ancient wisdom of yoga together with the modern sciences of lifestyle medicine and coaching to empower humans to optimize their performance and well-being.
Become a YogaMedCo Yoga Coach
Self-paced online. Start anytime.
Help your clients move beyond the plan and into practice, so well-being becomes something they live, not just something they know. Learn my evidence-informed method for bringing Genius Breaks of mindfulness, movement and meaning into every coaching session, using the five koshas as your coaching framework, from body and breath to mind, wisdom and joy. You’ll discover how talk- and movement-based coaching, rooted in yoga and life story medicine™, brings out the genius potential in your clients, and in you. When you complete this self-paced course, you’ll earn CECs and become eligible for the YogaMedCo coach directory.
In a pilot study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, faculty physicians coached with the YogaMedCo model saw a significant rise in well-being over six months.Kennedy, S., Carmack, S., Li, L., Lin, F.-C., Hatch, J. E., Chan, K., Tolleson-Rinehart, S., & Noah, T. L. (2025). Coaching pediatricians for wellbeing: A pilot feasibility and acceptability study. Academic Pediatrics, 25(2), 102586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2024.09.010
Become a Group Yoga Coach
Live online · December 5–6, 2026 · 10 am – 5 pm ET both days
Facilitate small groups of people living with a common chronic condition, and help them discover what they can do together that they couldn’t do alone. You’ll combine adaptive and chair yoga with the power of group health coaching, so every circle you lead is grounded in evidence and built for lasting change. This training includes a 2-day live online event on December 5–6, 2026 (10 am – 5 pm ET both days), plus 6 months of mentoring with me, so you can launch a group yoga coaching program in your community using community-based participatory research principles.
Prerequisite: Yoga Coach TrainingDr. Carmack was part of the scholar-practitioner team that established the group health and wellness coaching competencies for the field.Wolever, R. Q., Cline, T. R., Weiss, J. M., Carmack, S., Schultz, C., Arloski, M., & Lawson, K. (2024). Group health & wellness coaching: Development and validation of the required competencies. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 392. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10704-x
Meet the Koshas.
Yoga is so much more than breathwork and a few postures. It is a holistic system for helping people discover and express their genius potential. In YogaMedCo coach training, the yoga kosha framework becomes your coaching map. It guides you through five layers of the self, from the physical body inward to the bliss body. You’ll learn to support your clients’ movement, breath and a calmer mind in the outer layers, so the inner layers, where their genius lives, have room to lead.
- 1Annamaya · the physical bodyHow your clients move, rest and nourish themselves
- 2Pranamaya · the energy bodyBreath, vitality and the energy your clients bring to their day
- 3Manomaya · the mental bodyThoughts, emotions and the stories your clients tell themselves
- 4Vijnanamaya · the wisdom bodyIntuition, insight and your clients’ genius potential
- 5Anandamaya · the bliss bodyJoy, connection and peace
What you’ll learn
Bring Yoga into Your Coaching, Safely and Confidently.
Evidence-informed tools you can use with clients from your very first session, including people living with chronic conditions.
How to adapt yoga postures with a chair, blocks and a mat, so every client can practice safely.
Simple practices to center the nervous system, in session and between sessions.
A step-by-step approach to compassionate coaching that helps clients set goals and follow through.
A whole-person coaching map, from body and breath to mind, wisdom and joy.
Short breaks of mindfulness, movement and meaning your clients can use every day.
How to empower clients to find agency in their well-being through narrative medicine.
Help Your Clients Move Mind, Body, Heart, Spirit and Soul as One, So Their Genius Finds Its Voice.
Research on stress, attention and recovery shows what yogis have long known. When breath, body and mind move into coherence, we think more clearly and act more wisely. As a YogaMedCo coach, you’ll learn to guide clients into that state with short, intentional breaks of mindfulness, movement and meaning, in session and throughout their day. That is the heart of my research and my book, Genius Breaks.
Coherence is also how your clients co-create the reality they want: when what they think, feel and do are aligned, they can live the life they are divinely destined for and express their genius potential.
In Their Own Words.
“Her YogaMedCo training program enabled me to grow not only in my professional skills but also in my own personal development. Her approach to show up for her trainees is inspiring and life changing.
“Suzie has the greatest understanding of the totality of mind-body practice that I have ever seen in one human being — and she can transmit that understanding to others in a way that touches them deeply. One of the greatest teachers I have ever known.
“Learning from Suzie has not only strengthened my practice, but also deepened my understanding and appreciation of yoga as a holistic path to health, creativity and well-being. I recommend her without hesitation to anyone seeking a teacher who embodies both excellence and authenticity.
“I went to Suzie when physician-recommended exercises weren’t helping my knee. In our first session she identified something in my alignment I needed to know, and took time to understand what I really wanted. She has expert knowledge of the physical and emotional sides of people.
“Suzie was the trainer for the bulk of my RYT work, and she did an amazing job. She knows the science behind everything we do on a yoga mat. I’d enthusiastically recommend her as a teacher or trainer for anything mind/body-related.
“In just one session, she helped me identify my target market, craft a purpose statement, and articulate my elevator pitch in a way that finally clicked. She doesn’t just teach — she shows up for her graduates long after certification.
Try the YogaMedCo Method with Start Yoga Wisely.
Inspire your clients to move to well-being, whatever their starting point. This free 5-hour online course and 108-page manual show you how to adapt 36 postures with a chair, blocks and a mat using my evidence-informed Traffic Light Method, so every client, including people living with chronic conditions, can practice safely and feel the difference.
Find a YogaMedCo Yoga Coach Near You.
Our directory of certified YogaMedCo coaches grows with every graduating class. When you complete your training, you’ll be listed too, so clients can find you and you can connect with fellow YogaMedCo coaches in your area.
