Yoga for Cancer and Chronic Illness (YCAT) Teacher Training

Yoga for Cancer and Chronic Illness (YCat) Teacher Training

Adapting Yoga safely for people facing cancer and chronic illness.

YCat Level One is a 75-hour professional training for Yoga teachers, Yoga therapists, and health care professionals who want to work safely with people living with cancer, common chronic illnesses, aging, and the end of life. It combines live online sessions with a four-day residential intensive at Yogaville, April 8–11, 2027. You will learn to meet each student where they are, safely and with presence, at any stage of treatment or recovery.

YCat is a research-informed approach to adapting movement, breath, relaxation, and meditation. It is offered as a complement to medical care, never a replacement for it. Yoga is one tool among many, and the need for trained professionals who can offer it safely is great.

Sandra Susheela Gilbert, director of YCat, has spent two decades teaching Yoga in hospitals, infusion centers, and research settings.

YCat was created by the late Jnani Chapman, who saw how much people in cancer treatment suffered from side effects that well-adapted Yoga could ease. It grew into a three-level training rooted in Integral Yoga. The training pairs medical and scientific grounding with Sri Swami Satchidananda’s teaching on the Yoga Sutras: how the practices help teacher and student alike steady the mind through pain, illness, and loss. Yogaville, where those teachings took root, is a natural home for this work.

How the Training Works

YCat Level One is one training in two parts, taken together:

• At Yogaville: a four-day residential intensive, April 8–11, 2027 (25 hours).
• Online with Sandra: live sessions on five Sundays, three before the intensive (March 14, March 21, and April 4) and two after it (April 18 and 25), plus readings, writing assignments, and a video completed on your own (50 hours).

All 75 hours are required; the April intensive can’t be taken on its own. Completing them earns the YCat Level One certificate. Level One stands on its own, and it is also the first step toward the 300-hour YCat graduate-level certificate, which continues with the optional Level Two internship (150 hours of one-on-one mentoring and online groups) and Level Three (75 hours, teaching at a YCat retreat).

Preparation: once accepted, you’ll receive about eight hours of reading, writing, and video to complete before the program. The group begins discussing it at the March 21 session.

What You’ll Experience

• Adapted asana: movement modified for fatigue, pain, and the physical effects of treatment.
• Breathing practices: pranayama adapted to calm the nervous system and support energy.
• Deep relaxation and guided imagery: techniques for easing stress, pain, and anxiety.
• Meditation and chanting: practices for steadying the mind through uncertainty.
• The Yoga Sutras in practice: Sri Swami Satchidananda’s teachings on suffering, illness, life, and death.
• Medical foundations: the essentials of cancer, chronic illness, and aging that inform safe choices.

You Will Leave With

• A framework for adapting practices to each person
• Gentle sequences suited to treatment and recovery
• Relaxation and imagery practices you can use immediately
• Greater confidence serving students facing serious illness
• The YCat Level One certificate, on completing all 75 hours

Who This Is For

This training is for Yoga teachers, Yoga therapists, nurses, and other health care professionals who serve people with cancer or chronic illness, whether in clinics, hospitals, studios, or at home. It also suits teachers who want to make their classes safer and more welcoming for students living with illness.

Prerequisites. One of the following:

• A 200-hour Yoga teacher certification (RYT 200) and at least one year of teaching
• Certification as a Yoga therapist
• A health care license, with Yoga experience

Curriculum

• Pathophysiology of cancer and its treatments, and the rationale for support through Yoga
• Common chronic illnesses, aging, and end of life
• The YCat eight-week method and its application in cancer and chronic illness
• Safe adaptation of asana, pranayama, deep relaxation, and meditation
• Integrating YCat into health care settings
• The Yoga Sutras applied to pain, illness, and loss
• Professional development and Yoga research

How to Apply

YCat requires an application. Apply on this page, and Sandra will review your application personally. Once you’re accepted, you’ll receive an acceptance letter with your preparation assignments and instructions to complete registration. Enrollment is limited to 16, so early application is encouraged.

Cost

• At Yogaville, April 8–11: $980, all-inclusive. Includes the four-day intensive, three daily meals, two daily Yoga classes, and three daily group meditations. Complimentary accommodations are assigned in order of booking.
• Online with YCat: $900 for the live Sunday sessions and coursework.
• Total for Level One: $1,880.

Continuing Education

• IYTA CE certificate: $10 fee (free for members), ce@iyta.org

About the name: YCat’s formal title is Yoga Therapy in Cancer and Chronic Illness. It is a professional teacher training rather than a Yoga therapy certification, as the YCat website explains.

What Past Participants Say

One of the best program leaders that I have experienced. Her knowledge was great, but what really came through was how much she cares. ~Mary S.

I feel I learned more than I thought I would, especially about the witnessing and mind-body connection. Susheela has a way of teaching that is very natural and makes the students feel very comfortable, rather than stressed. ~Anna L.

Susheela was extremely knowledgeable and drew from personal and professional experience to bring real meaning and understanding to this learning process. It was a pleasure to learn from her and spend time with her. ~Pam W.

The YCat curriculum is so needed in the world. Teaching breath, awareness, and movement to those with cancer and chronic illness offers them a practical, valuable tool they can use in their daily lives. It empowers people with cancer and chronic illness to participate in their own healing. As a yoga teacher, facilitating this is very satisfying. ~Karen D.