Ayurveda, or Ayurvedic medicine, is the world’s oldest holistic healing system, developed over 3,000 years ago in India. In the U.S., Ayurveda is considered a form of complementary and alternative medicine.
The Best Ayurvedic Nutrition Certifications Online are:
The primary purpose of Ayurveda is to bring a balance between the mind, body, and spirit to promote good health. An Ayurvedic practitioner can gear Ayurveda treatment toward specific health issues. According to the Ayurveda teachings, there is a connection between everything in the universe, dead or alive. Your health will be suitable whenever your body, mind, and spirit perfectly harmonize with the universe. But when something disrupts the balance, you’ll get sick.
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What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda puts forward good health, treatment, and illness prevention through lifestyle practices like meditation, massage, yoga, herbal remedies, and dietary changes. Not only does Ayurveda treat a person’s physical problems, but it also changes your lifestyle practices, helping you improve and maintain good health.
To be an Ayurvedic practitioner, you must acquire certifications in the right course. It is not compulsory to study and get a certificate. The certification is not for a legal basis but rather to show authenticity.
Ayurveda bases its practice on five main elements of nature:
- Fire
- Water
- Air
- Space
- Earth
All these elements combine to create harmony. Different elements represent various parts of the body. Even though we all have the five elements, only a combination of two elements defines each person.
- Air and space (Vatta) are superior to the other elements (doshas). It represents heartbeat, breathing, blood flow, and joint movement. Vatta controls functions of the nervous system like anxiety, pain, and fear. If Vatta dosha is your main life force, you’re most likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis, anxiety, asthma, heart disease, and skin problems.
- Fire and water (Pitta)– Pitta dosha controls your digestion, skin color, metabolism, and intelligence. Sitting too long in the sun and eating spicy foods will most likely disrupt its balance. Pitta also controls the emotions of anger, jealousy, and hate. If Pitta is your main life force, you’re most likely to suffer from high blood pressure, infections, Crohn’s disease, and heart disease.
- Earth and water (Kapha)– Kapha governs the body’s physical structure and the immune system. Kapha dosha can be disrupted by sleeping too much during the day, drinking and eating things with too much salt or water, and eating too many sweet foods. Kapha dosha represents emotions like greed, calmness, forgiveness, and love. If your main life force is Kapha dosha, you’re more likely to suffer from breathing problems like asthma, nausea after eating, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
Your time of birth determines your doshas, your personality, and your physical makeup. Everyone has a mixture of all three doshas, but one is always the strongest. Each controls a function of your body, and your chances of getting ill depend on the balance of your doshas.
How do I get certified in Ayurveda?
There are no standard requirements for being an Ayurvedic practitioner in America, but it’s still necessary as every employer needs to see it. The educational requirements will depend on your area of specialty, whether massage, nutrition, or herbal skincare.
Now, since you are interested in learning more about Ayurveda, you could take a course either online or in a physical class and get certified in the art of Ayurveda.
The National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) provides programs meeting the 500-hour practitioner requirements to become a Certified Ayurvedic Educator (CAE) or Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner (CAP).
CAE programs are one year long of learning the basics of Ayurveda and prepare you to teach Ayurvedic fundamentals. But if you want to be an Ayurvedic practitioner, you must pursue the CAP program.
The CAP program is an extra year of training and a 650-hour internship. Upon completing the CAP program, you can now hop into your private practice, get employment in holistic centers, or even continue to pursue studies of Ayurveda up to the doctorate in alternative medicine and surgery.
To practice Ayurveda safely, you should obtain an Ayurvedic professional certification from the National Ayurvedic Medical Association Certification Board (NAMACB). You can only get the NAMACB certificate by passing your educational studies and exams.
When choosing an online Ayurveda course, ensure the school is registered under NAMA to have the proper credentials to practice the ancient medicinal treatment method.
What is a certified Ayurvedic practitioner?
A certified Ayurvedic practitioner is an Ayurvedic professional with training in nutrition, preventive healthcare, lifestyle pathology, and disease management. To earn this certification, one must have 1,500-2,500 hours of qualifying education in a NAMA-approved institution.
When you come to an Ayurvedic practitioner, you should expect to answer many questions. As seen above, Ayurveda is about your physical health but also mental and emotional.
Your Ayurvedic practitioner will ask questions about your mental health, review your medical records, and ask about your diet, working conditions, exercise, and relationships.
The main point here is to view how you live your life fully, see where the issue could be, and help you through your healing journey. Both mental, physical, and emotional.
When asking all those questions, your practitioner will determine the potential cause of the imbalance and recommend a suitable treatment option.
An Ayurvedic practitioner uses holistic healing methods from India to eliminate impurities, boost a healthy life, fight disease, and reduce stress. The practitioner will assess your well-being by observing the connectedness between the spirit, physical, and mind.
The Best Ayurvedic Nutrition Certifications Online
Many Ayurvedic nutrition courses are online, but we’ve put together the best ones for you. Certification for this ancient healing method helps you prove your knowledge to clients. Attending class helps add more knowledge to what you already know about Ayurveda. These institutions offer the best Ayurveda knowledge to be found out there.
1. My Vinyasa Practice: Ayurvedic Nutrition Certification
This Ayurvedic nutrition course offered by My Vinyasa Practice will give you a great foundation in clinical nutrition and Ayurveda. The program will equip you with skills to coach your clients and treat them as an ayurvedic nutritionist.
This program will teach you the foundational concepts found in every traditional nutritionist course. Your teacher will elaborate on these concepts to include teachings of the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda.
As a learner, you will learn how to evaluate your patients’ nutritional intake and investigate their dosha and areas of high risk. You will also learn to leverage Ayurvedic techniques to help your clients mitigate those risks.
Students will also learn how to create personal ayurvedic programs to promote a healthy and holistic relationship to food and food combining.
This Ayurvedic online course is perfect for every yoga teacher and yoga therapist. Yoga therapists can use this Ayurveda knowledge to help them with their dietary needs to improve the quality of their lives. On completing this training, you will handle clients, help them track their progress, and ensure the client recovers.
Once you attain your Ayurvedic nutrition certification, you can work alongside healthcare providers to assist clients in their journey to healing and well-being.
2. YogaRenew: Ayurveda: Food, Cooking & Digestion Course
Discover Ayurveda with YogaRenew in their Ayurveda: Food, Cooking + Digestion Course. In just 5 hours, this course not only enriches your understanding but can also reward you with CEUs from Yoga Alliance. You will begin with an introduction to Ayurveda, setting the stage for exploration into the realm of nutrition, culinary practices, and digestion. Delve into the intricate interplay of Doshas and Gunas, gaining insight into how these elemental forces intricately shape the process of digestion.
Course highlights
- Ayurvedic nourishment. Gain access to invaluable sample routines and a treasure trove of delectable and easy-to-follow recipes
- Digestive rhythms. Learn the intricacies of digestion and the importance of maintaining rhythm, from daily routines to meal structures, guided by Ayurvedic principles
- Incorporating the six tastes. How to integrate the six tastes into every meal, and how the Gunas influence our experiences
- Crafting ayurvedic meals. Meal preparation that goes beyond taste and nutrition. Perspectives on what we eat, how we prepare it, and the intricate mechanisms of digestion. Interplay of Doshas in the digestion process and ways Gunas influence our mind and body
This course embraces the art of seasonal cooking and meaningful ingredient combinations as you journey through thoughtfully curated recipes that exemplify the principles of Ayurveda. By the end of this course, you’ll have a toolkit of practical sample recipes and a deeper understanding of how Ayurveda can harmonize your relationship with food, cooking, and digestion for enhanced well-being.
3. National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA)- Ayurvedic Professional Certification
Since NAMA is the official certification board for all Ayurvedic professionals in the United States, you must surpass their exams to be considered an Ayurvedic professional.
To get a NAMA-approved certification, you must study Ayurveda in a school recognized by the institution and pass the rigorous exams.
There are three certifications that NAMA offers regarding Ayurveda
- Ayurvedic health counselor is a health professional whose primary focus is preventive healthcare and health promotion by focusing on lifestyle and diet. You will need at least six hundred hours of qualifying education to qualify.
- An Ayurvedic practitioner is an Ayurvedic professional with knowledge in preventive healthcare, nutrition, lifestyle, pathology, and disease management. For one to be eligible for this certification, you will require 1500-2500 hours of qualifying education.
- An Ayurvedic doctor is an Ayurvedic professional with specialized training who can provide patients with comprehensive Ayurvedic healthcare. You will require over 4000 hours of qualifying education to qualify for this certification.
NAMA offers all the above Ayurvedic education and certifications to students eager to learn and practice Ayurveda professionally or at home. Anyone can learn Ayurveda; you don’t need to use the knowledge professionally.
4. New World Ayurveda School: Ayurvedic Health Practitioner Training
This New World Ayurveda School course is perfect for professionals who want to add Ayurveda healthcare to treat their patients and guide them to a healthy lifestyle and diet.
This course is for:
- Educators. People who learn Ayurveda for the sole purpose of teaching other students.
- Coaches. You can get training as a health coach and Ayurvedic practitioner. Your teachers will teach you how to coach clients for up to six months to a healthy journey.
- Clinicians. You will learn how to assess a patient, diagnose, and recommend the best method of treatment they can pursue.
When pursuing the course, you will learn all the above, and you can go out there and practice it in a way that is most comfortable, ethical, and helpful to others.
The program will take you ten months to complete, and you will have a minimum of 50 clinical client cases as part of the training. You can choose to study independently or through a live online program.
In the live online program, you must complete the course in less than twelve months, whereas in the independent study program, everything will be self-paced. Both programs contain the same material, resulting in the same certification.
5. Bastyr University: Ayurveda Health Advisor Certificate
Whether you want to pursue certification for Ayurveda or incorporate Ayurveda into your current practice, this Ayurveda course by Bastyr Univesity is the right path to take. Hence, healthcare professionals, yoga teachers, nutritionists, acupuncturists, and other wellness professionals should pursue this course.
Even individuals who would love to use the knowledge of Ayurveda to care for their friends and family. Or those who want to venture into being an Ayurvedic health advisor.
The world of Ayurveda is a whole of knowledge as it is yoga’s ‘health sister’ science. You can pursue this online course from wherever you’re comfortable doing it. You can learn more about this ancient science that brings harmony between the body, mind, and soul.
This program will provide you with all the proficiency needed to become a confident Ayurvedic Health Advisor.
Each module contains 20 hours of a live webinar, 10 hours of self-study, 10 hours of a client session, and 12 hours of recorded supplemental instruction available online.
How long does it take to become an ayurvedic practitioner?
According to NAMA, becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner will take 1,500-2,500 hours of qualifying education. On top of it all, you will have to pass all your exams to get certified.
On the flip side, if you are interested in pursuing a Bachelor in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery( BAMS) or a graduate degree like Doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (DAMS), you will need to go to school and study for up to five years.
So, in general, the amount of information and knowledge you need to acquire in Ayurveda determines how long you will spend studying to be a practitioner.
Mostly, professionals looking to offer ayurvedic help to their patients exclusively take continuing education. With time, they have a lot of knowledge in the field as they will still be helping clients as they study.
As you gain more knowledge in the ancient science of Ayurveda, you could take on private practice and help sick and healthy patients looking for a holistic way to care for themselves. If you aren’t ready to stand alone fully, you could partner with your local yoga studio, naturopathic doctor, or acupuncturist.
After years of experience and study, you could also share the knowledge you have gained with other Ayurveda enthusiasts.
You could choose to be a teacher in any school (online or physical) offering Ayurveda courses or even create courses to pass along the knowledge you have acquired—no need to keep it to yourself.
You could make teaching Ayurveda fun by holding retreats, workshops, and seminars to help all others learn and keep alive this ancient-old practice.
Final Words on the Best Ayurvedic Nutrition Certifications Online
Ayurveda practice is a traditional healthy way of life passed down to us over thousands of years. It is something sacred that helps bring harmony between the spirit, body, and mind.
When choosing to become an Ayurvedic practitioner, you will use natural methods to restore harmony and balance in the body that most people disrupt through their eating habits and way of life. What you do is essential and will help many people live healthy lives.
To get certified means that your clients will recognize it. Most clients like it when their practitioners have papers to show for the knowledge acquired. Also, such papers are necessary to get employed in a studio or massage place. Even though you might not need them in some places, having the certification at hand is better.
The above institutions will offer you the best knowledge needed to practice Ayurveda. You can choose between any of them to acquire the best Ayurvedic knowledge there is out there. These institutions have been carefully selected based on the quality of their courses and reviews from former students, which are astounding.
You should read more on the importance of vitamins and minerals in overall health. It cannot be overstated, as they are involved in nearly every bodily function.
