Gaja Collective has opened a new 21-week Mind-Body-Spirit Coach Certification that combines professional coach education with meditation, Ayurveda and health and wellness training.
The online program began September 15, with a mix of self-directed coursework, weekly faculty-led classes, small-group sessions and supervised coaching practice. It is aimed at aspiring coaches as well as wellness and mental health professionals interested in adding coaching to their existing work.
Gaja Collective is an independent, woman-owned vocational school offering professional education across coaching, meditation, mindfulness, Ayurveda, yoga and breathwork. The new certification brings several of those areas into a single coach-training program.
Coaching meets meditation and Ayurveda
The first six weeks cover the foundations of health and wellness coaching, including coaching presence, active listening, questions and reflections. Meditation and Ayurvedic principles are introduced during the same stage of the training rather than being treated as separate optional subjects.
The following 12 weeks are structured around four areas Gaja calls its Coaching Cornerstones: Purpose, Intention, Meaning and Shadow. Students work with subjects including values, legacy, goal setting, limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns, first through personal exploration and then in the context of coaching.
The final three weeks focus more directly on health coaching, with material covering nutrition, movement, sleep, meditation, emotions and self-care.
Bringing these subjects together is central to the program’s mind-body-spirit approach. Rather than offering meditation and holistic practices as additions to a conventional coaching curriculum, Gaja incorporates them throughout the training.
Online training includes live coaching practice
The online format includes weekly 90-minute interactive sessions with demonstrations, coaching practice, questions and faculty feedback. Students also take part in small-group sessions with mentor coaches, three individual coaching sessions and three practical skills assessments.
Live health-competency sessions are included for students interested in preparing for the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching examination.
Gaja estimates that participants will spend approximately six to eight hours each week on live classes, independent study, coaching practice and personal reflection. Students receive coaching manuals, worksheets and client templates, with mentoring also available after the formal training period.
Faculty members include Gaja Collective Chief Medical Officer Sheila Patel, MD, Director of Coaching Mary McEvilly Hernández and coach mentors involved in practice and assessment.
The program connects with ICF and NBHWC pathways
The Gaja Coach Certification is accredited by the International Coaching Federation as a Level 1 coach-education program. The ICF Education Search Service lists it with 116.9 hours of accredited education.
The program is also listed by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching as an approved training program, giving graduates a route toward two established professional credentialing systems.
Those external credentials are not awarded automatically upon graduation. Participants who want to pursue an ICF or NBC-HWC credential must separately meet the requirements established by the respective organisations.
For prospective students, that distinction is important. Gaja provides the training and its own certification, while ICF and NBHWC maintain separate requirements for individual professional credentials.
Business training is also included
The certification is designed for people preparing to start a coaching practice, professionals who want to incorporate coaching into their current work and participants taking the program primarily for personal development.
Students planning to work professionally also receive a 21-day business course covering positioning, pricing, client agreements, insurance and scope of practice.
The Mind-Body-Spirit Coach Certification joins Gaja Collective’s existing training in meditation and mindfulness instruction, Ayurveda, yoga and breathwork. With coaching practice, health and wellness education and contemplative approaches brought into the same 21-week curriculum, the new program extends the school’s existing training model into professional coach education.
- Source: Gaja Collective
- Web: https://www.thegajacollective.com/bundles/gaja-coach-certification
