Become Certified

Once you have taken the full Beyond Addiction training, if you are a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher, you may consider beginning the process of certifying as a Beyond Addiction Instructor or apply to become a Beyond Addiction Trainer.

Instructors can teach the yoga portion of the program as a 16-week series ( 1-1/2 hr classes), or an abridged version of the program with a small amount of designated process material from each of the modules (1 1/2 – 2 hr classes). Instructor-interns may teach the program, if approved by Sat Dharam Kaur, with the understanding that they will submit a teaching video to certify as an instructor.

Trainers may teach the full program with all of the psychological material, with at least 3 hours allocated for each of the 16 modules.

To certify as a Beyond Addiction Instructor, you must:

  1. Have 100% attendance at an approved Beyond Addiction: The Yoga Path to Recovery program and at least 80% attendance in the home practice portion of the training. Beyond Addiction Programs may be attended as:
    • A 16-18 week series of at least 54 hours;
    • A nine day intensive (72 hours class time) followed by 4 months of home practice;
    • A series of 4-5 weekends (19-20 hours each) with weekly home practice;
    • A 16 week online program with 2 online meetings weekly (1 hour each). If you have participated in the online program as a self-study without group facilitation, you must have submitted your self-assessment responses in writing for all 16 modules to Sat Dharam Kaur or the Beyond Addiction certification team before applying for certification.
  2. Have taught the 16 yoga modules (including the pranayam, kriya and meditation) at least twice as a series, including at least once with the group process work, and submitted at least 5 course evaluation forms from your course participants (see attachment below)
  3. Have at least 50 hours of documented counselling training. We recommend you attend an ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) course as part of your counselling training https://www.livingworks.net/programs/asist/ as well as Seeking Safety and Compassionate Inquiry with Dr. Gabor Maté. If you are not a certified counsellor, social worker or health professional with liability insurance for counselling, you must arrange for a certified counsellor who has also taken the Beyond Addiction program and become certified as a trainer or instructor, to teach the program with you, or be present in the room while you are teaching the full program.
  4. Have submitted a 1 1/2 – 2 hour videotape of yourself teaching a class from the Beyond Addiction Community Support Program curriculum, along with a $150 fee to review it. We will critique your teaching, assess whether you are qualified to be a Beyond Addiction Instructor, and provide you with constructive feedback.
  5. Be a general or associate member of the international or regional KY-WHA (Kundalini Yoga Wellness and Health Association) and attend a minimum of 4 KY-WHA/Beyond Addiction meetings a year in person or virtually using Zoom. As a member of KY-WHA, you are required to commit to 1-5 hours a month of volunteer hours to serve the regional or international needs arising from monthly KY-WHA meetings. See here to register for KY-WHA Membership.
  6. Be approved by Sat Dharam Kaur and the Beyond Addiction certification team as an instructor
  7. Agree to abide by the Beyond Addiction guidelines concerning non-disclosure agreement, licensing, copyright fees and video usage for you and course participants.
  8. Relicense annually and pay a licensing fee to use the Beyond Addiction materials.
  9. Be a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher
  10. Submit up-to-date proof of insurance as a Kundalini Yoga teacher
  11. If you meet the above certification guidelines, click here to apply to be a Beyond Addiction Instructor.

To certify as a Beyond Addiction Trainer, you must:

  1. Be first certified as a Beyond Addiction Instructor by Sat Dharam Kaur and/or the Beyond Addiction certification team.
  2. Have 100% attendance and participation in at least three Beyond Addiction: The Yoga Path to Recovery programs: i) once as a participant; ii) at least once as a small group leader; iii) at least once as a teacher-in-training at one of Sat Dharam Kaur’s programs. You would receive participant and peer feedback for your performance in ii) and iii).
  3. Have taught the 16 pranayams, kriyas and meditations in the program at least twice as a yoga series to the general population or recovery population and submit feedback forms from at least 5 course participants from each of the two sessions, as well as a video of one full module (3 hours) along with a $150 fee to review it and give you feedback.
  4. Have taught the full 16 module series, including the group process work, at least two more times to the recovery population, and submitted feedback forms from the course participants.
  5. Teach at least one Kundalini Yoga class a week.
  6. Practice at least 31 minutes of Kundalini Yoga based practices each day.
  7. Have certification as an addictions counsellor, social worker, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, MD, ND, DC or co-teach the program with one of these professionals. We recommend you attend an ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) course as part of your counselling training https://www.livingworks.net/programs/asist/.
  8. Have completed the Compassionate Inquiry Professional Online Training, and be certified as a CI Practitioner.
  9. Be a general or associate member of KY-WHA (Kundalini Yoga and Wellness Association) and have attended a minimum of 4 Beyond Addiction meetings for at least one year in person or virtually using Skype. Actively participate in completion of tasks set by KY-WHA at these meetings through 5-10 hours a month of volunteer work. See http://www.kundaliniyogatraining.com/kundalini-yoga-wellness-and-health-…
  10. Attend the 9 day annual Trainer’s Immersion with Sat Dharam Kaur in Owen Sound or elsewhere in May, at least every other year, where you will meet other potential trainers to form training teams, be assessed as a potential trainer (or not accepted as a trainer) and categorized as intern, associate, professional or lead. For full certification as a lead trainer, you will need to be assessed on your teaching of each of the 16 modules over time. You will be assigned module(s) to teach at the Owen Sound (or other) immersion once you confirm your attendance.
  11. Attend and co-teach a Beyond Addiction program with Sat Dharam Kaur or another lead trainer at least every two years to stay current with program modifications, develop excellence as a teacher, and collaborate with other teachers on the Beyond Addiction training team. This is necessary to maintain your certification as a trainer.
  12. Be approved by Sat Dharam Kaur and the Beyond Addiction certification team as a Trainer.
  13. Agree to abide by the Beyond Addiction guidelines concerning insurance, non-disclosure agreement, licensing, copyright fees, video usage fees and royalty fees for you and course participants.
  14. Pay an annual licensing fee to use the Beyond Addiction materials.
  15. Submit up-to-date proof of insurance as a Kundalini Yoga teacher
  16. Have demonstrated the capacity to promote, market and administer the Beyond Addiction program.
  17. Demonstrate that there is a need in your region for another trainer. Trainers will be selected based on calibre, commitment, experience and demonstrated need.
  18. Be committed, communicative, responsible, reliable and capable of working as a co-operative team member with local and international Beyond Addiction instructors and trainers.
  19. If you meet the above certification guidelines, click here to apply to be a Beyond Addiction Trainer.