FAQ

Welcome! We are glad you found this platform, and that you are interested in pursuing your study of yoga and South Asian traditions in more depth. 

We have many online courses set up for you to begin, or to continue, your exploration of yoga history, Indian philosophy and religion, and South Asian languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, and Pali.

You can register for courses individually (where you'll receive lifetime access to that course), or you can subscribe to our YS Membership Program (which is more like a streaming Netflix model, where you have access to everything so long as you are subscribed).

Our faculty is comprised of expert scholars and educators in the fields of Yoga Studies, Indology, Religious Studies, and South Asian Studies. Click here to read their bios.

With all of our courses, we first launch them in a "Live" version. This consists of weekly lectures and Q&A sessions conducted on Zoom. All of these materials are recorded, however, for later viewing and re-viewing. For the Live version we encourage students to follow along each week, to keep up with the pace of the course, and participate in online group discussions. 

After the Live version, we open the course up for "Self-Study." This means that anyone can sign up and take the course entirely at your own pace and schedule. 

If you have enrolled in a course individually, you will have lifetime access to that course (or at least, for as long as the Yogic Studies platform exists!). 

For courses in your YS Membership Program, you will have continued access so long as you are a paid subscriber. 

The YS Membership Program is a subscription option that allows students to receive complete access to all YS + BS courses—including past, present, and future offerings. The Membership includes SKT 100a + SKT 100b, but no other language courses—which must be enrolled separately. 

The Membership also includes access to the private Online YS Community. 

Students can participate in current and future Live courses, and/or move through the curriculum as Self-Study, entirely at their own pace.

There is a two month minimum commitment to sign up, afterwards you can cancel and/or resume at anytime. Learn more or sign up here. 

Each course is slightly different, and so we encourage you to read carefully the descriptions for each course, so that you know exactly what you are getting. However, most of the course modules include: core lectures (video of instructor speaking over slides), audio recordings, PDF readings, weekly quizzes to reinforce your knowledge as you go, and Q&A sessions.

All of our courses have been carefully curated and developed with great care, attention to detail, and arise out of many years of rigorous study and dedicated teaching.

For our YS + BS courses, 100-level general signifies that the course will be 4-weeks/modules in length, that it is aimed at students of all backgrounds with little to no prerequisite knowledge, and typically is a survey course of a particular broad topic (e.g. Yoga and Esotericism, Women and Gender in Hindu Tantra, 8 Limbs of Yoga, etc. These courses consist of a pre-recorded lecture (~90 min.) released at the beginning of the week, and then a 90 min Q&A session at the end of the week. 

Our 200-level courses are often more advanced, and are usually focused around the study of a particular text (e.g. the Yogasūtra, Bhagavadgītā, Upaniṣads, Bodhicāryāvatāra, etc.). These courses typically meet twice a week for live reading sessions (90 min) with the instructor. These courses tend to run for 5-7 weeks/modules, allowing for students to explore a particular text/tradition in more depth. 

All registered students are invited to join our private online YS Community, hosted on the Circle platform. Upon signing up for a course or membership, you will receive a login link. 

There is a general YS Community for students of all courses. And then there are individual community groups for each particular course. These community groups are invaluable spaces for fellow students and faculty to gather and ask questions related to their courses and study. 

Yes! Upon the completion of any course, you will be eligible for a unique certificate of completion PDF from Yogic Studies with your name on it, which can be printed at home.

The Yogic Studies Advanced Certificate Program (YSACP) is a comprehensive online curriculum for dedicated students of yoga history, Indian philosophy and religion, and Sanskrit language. It typically takes students 2-3 years to complete, and culminates with students carrying out an independent research project in the final capstone course, the YS 501 | YSACP Graduate Seminar. 

To learn more, click here. 

Yogic Studies is not currently accredited by any outside institution. 

Previous students have been able to receive university credits for individual courses. However, this is something that must be negotiated on a case-by-case basis with one's home institution.

Yes! Any online course with Yogic Studies is eligible for Continuing Education (CE) credit hours with Yoga Alliance, if you are a current Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance.

Once you a complete a course, you can upload your PDF certificate and log your CE hours online via your Yoga Alliance account. We are also happy to assist you with this when the time comes.

Yes, absolutely! All of our online courses can make a powerful add-on to an existing 200, 300, 500, etc. hour Yoga Teacher Training. We also offer a special 20-hour online program aimed specifically at YTTs. Click here to learn more.

If you are a studio owner or teacher-trainer and would like to discuss how we can best integrate these courses into your program, please contact us at [email protected].

We know everyone's financial situations are different, especially in a global economy. At the end of the day, we want those who truly want to study and learn this material in a serious manner to have access to these teachings, regardless of their financial situation. We are proud to offer a number of different financial scholarships to our students depending on need, background, and interest of study. Please explore our Yogic Studies Scholarships to see which best fits your situation. 

If you have any further questions about Yogic Studies or any of our course offerings or programs, please feel free to email us at [email protected].