Inner Engineering (Isha)

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev · India

What it is

Inner Engineering is not a psychotherapy. It is a trademarked course from a modern yoga organisation. Isha describes it as "a technology for wellbeing derived from the science of Yoga", designed by Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev), the founder of Isha Foundation in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The organisation…

Format

• Formats. The current online page describes IEO as about 22 hours in total. Steps 1 to 6 are self-paced on the web or the Sadhguru app. Step 7 is a live session "on Select Dates" in which Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya is transmitted.
• An older programme page lists four formats: seven days of 3 hours each; a four-day programme; seven online classes followed by a one- or two-day Shambhavi Mahamudra programme; and a four-day residential retreat at the Isha Yoga Center, India.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Eligibility as published. Online: age 15 and above. Under-18s need a parent or guardian to complete registration through Isha support. A quiet private space of about 3 ft x 6 ft is needed, and no prior yoga experience.
• How Isha selects and certifies Inner Engineering teachers is not described in the pages cited here.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Proselytising in either direction. Over-identification.
• Stopping psychiatric medication abruptly. Relapse after medication changes.
• Breaches of confidentiality. Conflicting advice, which you should discuss openly with the client.
• The client feeling their path is being replaced. Offer these alongside, not instead, unless risk requires otherwise.
• Flashbacks, dissociation, shame at stopping. Working well looks like this: the client can practise within tolerance.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.