The Japan Yoga Therapy Society was established in 2003 to professionalize and promote yoga therapy in Japan. Their Society became a general incorporated association in 2009. Through their certification program, they train and provide ongoing education for professional yoga therapists. In addition, the Society collaborates with the Japan Society for Integrative Medicine (IMJ). Those certified by the Japan Yoga Therapy Society can also be certified as experts in integrative medicine (yoga division) if they pass IMJ's examination designed for doctors and other medical experts. Their mission is to improve the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual health of the general public by promoting yoga therapy and research, which is based on traditional yoga practices from India and informed by modern medicine and psychology. Since 1987, they have had close ties with S-VYASA, offering yoga therapist training, as well as ongoing education and seminars to promote research and awareness about yoga therapy, especially in Japan.
The Japan Yoga Therapy Society values collaboration with other organizations with complementary missions and visions. The society believes that open communication, sharing information about recent developments and collaborating in areas such as education, research, and policy all contribute to strengthening yoga therapy as a field, which is in tune with the mission of AYTA.
They hold seminars and training around Japan to continue improving the skills of their certified yoga therapists. Their activities include supporting Chernobyl nuclear disaster survivors in Kiev, Ukraine. In 2008, they invited a doctor from Ukraine to Japan and in 2011 supported survivors of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. The Japan Yoga Therapy strives to bring solutions to various ailments of human society through the medium of yoga.
FOUNDER MEMBERS