About this Event
The Yoga Coaching for Chronic Disease Summit
Let's stop the blaming and shaming...and start the healing...together!
Join us for two days in Fairfax, VA —near DCA and IAD airports.
WHO THIS IS FOR
▸ Day 1 September 15, 2026 - is open to anyone who is curious about how the practice of yoga coaching can support people living with chronic disease to live well.
▸ Day 2 September 16, 2026 - is the launch of the YogaMedCo Group Yoga Coaching certification - an all-new credential empowering yoga coaches to support people living with chronic disease.
SCHEDULE
DAY 1 SUMMIT (In Person Only)
Let's Heal the Blame and Shame Around Chronic Disease - Together
About the Day 1 Summit: It's time to bring yoga and coaching practitioners together to help people living with chronic disease move their lives forward — by breaking through the blocks of blame and shame. When we talk about chronic disease, the word that follows is almost always "burden." That narrative was never the whole truth — and it is the one we are here to change.
Schedule
8:30 AM · Arrival & Check-In
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM · Opening Keynote plus four healing conversations with featured speakers focoused on Identity Medicine, Relationship Medicine, Community Medicine, and System Medicine. [Check back for session titles and speaker announcements soon!]
12:30 PM · Yoga Coach Community Awards Lunch (provided on-site, included)
2:00 – 5:00 PM · Live Yoga Coaching Labs - to empower all attendees to explore and experience the YogaMedCo Yoga Coaching method to facilitate healing conversations. These labs welcome anyone who is curious about how yoga coaching can empower patients, peers, and professionals. (Attendees can participate as coaches, clients, obervers, or all three based on their preference).
5:00 – 6:00 PM · Reception, Book Signing and Photo Ops with Dr. Suzie Carmack, Founder of YogaMedCo. This is your opportunity to meet the YogaMedCo team and global network of coaches - and to raise a glass to our next phase of growth to be announced at the event!
Important Details
- Limited to 150 registrations (First Come First Served)
- Continuing Education Credits: Yoga Alliance + Others To Be Announced Soon!
- Summit Day 1 Tuition: $222 (Includes Day 1 Event, Lunch and Book Signing)
DAY 2 - LAUNCH OF THE GROUP YOGA COACH TRAINING
Let's Move Lives Forward...Together
About the Day 2 Training: Building on the momentum established on day 1, yoga coaches can choose to continue to train in the founding cohort of the YogaMedCo Group Yoga Coaching certification . This is an all-new certification created by YogaMedCo founder Dr. Suzie Carmack, equipping yoga coaches with the ability to apply the group coaching competencies of the health coaching field (which she helped to establish) in the practice of yoga coaching in small group setting. The training includes the 2-day summit plus mentoring through the end of 2026 with Dr. Carmack (a one-on-one mentoring session plus live cohort meetings Tuesday eveings September 22 - December 8, 2026).
Schedule
9 am - 12 noon: The Group Yoga Coaching Model and Evaluation-Based Program Design
12 noon - 1 pm: Lunch (provided on site)
1 - 5:00 pm: Group Yoga Coaching Competencies (based on the NBHWC group health coaching competencies)
Important Details
- Limited to 40 registrations (First Come First Served)
- Prerequisite: Completion of the YogaMedCo Yoga Coach Training*
- Continuing Education Credits: Yoga Alliance + Others To Be Announced Soon!
- Tuition: $888 (Both Summit Days, Lunches, Reception & GYC Mentoring
*For individuals who have not completed the YogaMedCo Yoga Coach training, the Yoga Coach self-paced training is included in your Group Yoga Coach training tuition. This 14-hour self-paced online course must be completed prior to the live session.
ABOUT YOUR HOST — DR. SUZIE CARMACK, Founder YogaMedCo
PhD · MFA · MEd · ERYT 500 · NBC-HWC · C-IAYT · PCC
Hi, I'm Dr. Suzie Carmack. Many people know me as the founder of YogaMedCo, the author of four books, and a peer-reviewed scholar in health communication, coaching and yoga. What most people do not know is that I am a survivor of both burnout and cancer, and I live every day managing Hashimoto's Disease (a chronic thyroid condition). I have also lost my siblings to cancer and my mother to heart disease. So yes, chronic disease is not just professional to me -- it's quite personal.
For a long time, I carried real shame around my diagnoses -- thinking that my chronic conditions would prevent the clients I coach, the students I taught and the coaches I certify from trusting me to support them. And, so I kept my personal lived experience and my professional education and expertise separate.
Then one day I came face-to-face with the realization that the shame I felt around my illnesses was not only hurting me -- it is hurting anyone else who is living with chronic disease.
And there are a lot of us. Approximately 8 out of 10 American adults live with at least one chronic disease - and 93% of older adults (like me) do too.
So I started to think bigger about what our YogaMedCo community could be doing to start healing the conversation around chronic disease. And I landed on the need for this event -- for our YogaMedCo community to come together with anyone else who wants to support people living with chronic disease with healing conversations that can heal the chronic disease blame and shame game.
That's why I hope you will plan now to join us for this in-person-only event. On day 1 we will hear from some amazing speakers about how we can heal the conversation around chronic disease. And on day 2 we will put that know-how to work with our all-new Group Yoga Coach training.
Together, we can stop thinking of chronic disease as a burden to be ashamed by...and start moving lives forward - one conversation at a time.
Register now so we can see you in September!
— Dr. Suzie Carmack, PhD Founder, YogaMedCo
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Country Club of Fairfax, 5110 Ox Road, Fairfax, United States
USD 222.00 to USD 888.00
