This is one of my favorite questions because in the world of health, wellness, and coaching there's a lot of confusion as to what different training programs offer and prepare you to actually do upon graduation.

The short answer to this question is that, typically, health coaching training programs prepare you to work one-on-one with clients to support them on their personal health journeys, while the WGI Wellness Educator training program prepares you to teach and lead classes, courses, workshops, retreats, and talks to groups of women on the breadth of wellness materials covered in the program.

If your vision of wellness work includes supporting women to improve their wellness and self-care practices through teaching, educating, inspiring, and equipping women with both tools and knowledge that empowers them to take better control and care of their lives (and their family's lives) wellness educating may be the right fit for you.

Traditionally, when you become licensed to use material through a training program you are required to retain that brand when you promote any services using those materials. For example, if you got trained as a Zumba instructor and began teaching Zumba classes, you would have to explicitly call your classes Zumba.

This is not the case with the WellGrounded Institute training program. You are licensed to use all the materials as part of this program under your own unique brand, class name, and business title.

The only requirement is that direct use of the materials in full or in part must be properly cited back to this program.

This means you must retain a footer citation (or in-text citation) that credits the teaching material as authored by Lisa Grace Byrne, MPH as part of the WellGrounded Institute Training Program For Women’s Wellness Educators.

This is simply a gold-standard way to properly credit information and material from its source.

As a wellness educator you should be doing this with any material you share or source your information from as part of your course teachings.

For those who enroll in with the FULL pay option, we will send you the full training manual print version to your home at the start of the program.

For those enrolled via the payment plan, all materials are available digitally. They are fully downloadable for you to save and print at your convenience.

In terms of previous education or credentials there are no requirements to enroll in this program. If you have a genuine interest in learning more about women’s wellness and being trained to become a highly effective educator of the WGI wellness material, you qualify to enroll. 

In order to access all the materials you will need access to a computer that can stream videos, play an audio file, download pdf materials, and open a Word document. 

Upon enrollment, you will be sent a Program Agreement. You must sign and return this program agreement (which is done electronically) before you can begin the training.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

In order to graduate and receive a certificate of completion of the program (sent hard-copy in the mail to you), you must successfully complete all modules, finish the final project, maintain good standing with the program through appropriate codes of conduct (read: being a respectful community member), and have paid your tuition fee in full.  

The WellGrounded Institute program is a non-refundable investment.

Every training class has a limited number of seats to allow for a small-group learning and mentorship experience and for each participant to feel well-supported with personal attention throughout the program.

When you sign up a seat is reserved for you.

But while this is a non-refundable enrollment, it is not high risk.

The largest concern participants have when signing up is the worry they will not be able to complete the graduation requirements within the 12 month program period.

We understand this completely. Life happens and sometimes we need more time to see through a commitment than we previously thought we’d need.

Here’s how we’ve designed the program to take the time-risk completely out of the picture.

1. This program is designed so that you can consume the material with maximum flexibility.

• After a module and its materials are released you can access them at any time that works best for you. Some participants keep up with the work weekly, others reserve time once a month to review and engage in the materials in larger chunks. Many will allow their own life schedules to dictate when and how they will continue working through the program materials.
• Every participant has up to 6 months after the graduation date to complete all the necessary assessments for the program certification.
• All materials are downloadable so you can save the materials as part of your own lifetime library of resources.

2. If “Life Happens” early on, you can defer to a future training class.

• If necessary, within the first 3 months after enrollment, you can request to defer your enrollment for a future training class that begins within one year of your original enrollment date.
• In this way, you can participate in a future training class and receive the ongoing support of that class’ training period if something unforeseen happens within the first 3 months of your original enrollment date that will not allow you to fully participate and benefit from the mentorship support throughout the program year.

If you’re struggling with whether or not to make this commitment, I suggest you take a moment to breathe.

This program is not for everyone and I understand that.

The truth is, you likely already have your answer. But if you’re having a hard time hearing it clearly, here’s a simple exercise that helps me when I need to tap into my own wise, inner place of discernment.

First, quiet your mind, let your breathing become calm, and imagine any anxiety, tension, or urgency you might be feeling to flow out and away from you.

Now in your mind’s eye, imagine saying YES to this program.

After you’ve fully felt the sense of saying YES . . . of already enrolling and securing a seat in the class, notice how that feels.

In your mind: where do your thoughts go? In your body: is there more openness, relief, or peace?

Imagine how your future self will feel a year from now after completing the program and having this work a regular part of your life.

Next, imagine your answer as a NO.

What happens then? How does that feel – both in your mind and in your body?

Imagine how your future self may feel if your answer is NO right now.

Allow yourself to get honestly curious with these two scenarios.

After gathering all the important information our mind needs, our hearts can tell us exactly what we need to do when we slow down and listen.