title: Why Ayurvedic Yoga Therapists and Why Now?
abstract: IAYT has paved the way for yoga therapy as a healing profession to grow and develop its mission to deliver optimal therapeutics via individual sessions and tailored group classes. For the past five years, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) has been working behind the scenes to consider the value and definition of an ayurvedic yoga therapist (AYT) professional designation within the yoga therapy discipline. The AYT designation would complement the current standards for yoga therapists that have been published by IAYT. The purpose of this paper is to discuss (1) why the AYT designation is important; (2) how it supports and expands on IAYT's mission; and (3) why now is the appropriate time to develop competencies, standards, and a scope of practice for ayurvedic yoga therapy.
authors.affiliation: Integral Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy, Albuquerque, NM.
authors.forename: Jennifer G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Rioux