RISE™ is leading the way by impacting individual and organizational performance through yoga and mindfulness-based practices. Each RISE program is specifically designed to support greater clarity and resilience, improved situational awareness, better decision making, work/life integration, and superior long-term performance for individuals and organizations.

For the past 10 years, both on and off the Kripalu campus, RISE has delivered this life-changing program to frontline providers and leadership in some of the most critical social institutions in North America: human services organizations, K–12 schools, correctional facilities, law enforcement, and healthcare.

EXPERIENCE RISE

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From private Kripalu faculty-led workshops to on campus open enrollment programs, each RISE offering is an evidence-based approach to stress resiliency.

Through RISE, long-term, sustainable change occurs at three levels:

• Personally, by teaching how to navigate stress with skill to avoid burnout.
• Professionally, by laying a foundation for effective leadership—built on authenticity and conscious awareness. 
• Organizationally, by fostering a positive culture focused on meaning, purpose, and connection. 

Imagine ...

A school teacher leads the class in yogic three-part breathing, helping students to focus and do their best as they complete an exam.

A counselor in a locked-down juvenile rehabilitation center allocates a few moments at the start of a group session for everyone to recline in rest pose, creating an atmosphere in which the discussion can proceed calmly and openly.

A corrections officer remembers to use a yoga-based tool for riding the wave of emotions after dealing with an aggressive altercation between inmates, and is able to let the experience of vicarious trauma go.

A nurse sets aside two minutes at the start of a shift for the staff to set an intention to bring mindfulness to patient care and to give themselves permission to take short breaks every so often for their own self-care.

RISE IS EVIDENCE-BASED

For nearly a decade, Kripalu, through RISE, has led the field in yoga research, developing a world-class scientific network and an unparalleled evidence base in the cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral impact of yoga-based practices. Approximately half of the research papers published in yoga research in the United States have come from Kripalu’s research team and network. Kripalu’s Integrated Research Team leads the study of RISE impact, both within the retreat center and within the contexts of our organizational partners.

The team is advised by Kripalu and primary investigator, Sat Bir S. Khalsa, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and one of the first scientists to focus on yoga research; and Jeff Dusek, PhD, director of research at Penny George Institute for Health, which cares for patients at its 13 hospitals and 61 clinics in communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Kripalu collaborates in yoga research with institutions worldwide, including Harvard Medical School, Boston University, University of Connecticut, and Penn State University. In addition to joint research initiatives, these collaborations result in co-presentations of the International Association of Yoga Therapy Symposium on Yoga Research, the Yoga in the Schools research summit, and oversight of the Samuel B. Hanser Visionary Award for yoga research.

Explore more research on the benefits of RISE.

The expert RISE faculty and administration develop and deliver programming in a variety of formats, including immersion retreats at Kripalu and on-site programs at workplaces and in schools. This is both personal and professional development training, and supports organizations’ wellness initiatives. The skill-based curriculum opens the door for its integration into a wide range of social institutions. Research on this program shows that it is as effective as cognitive-based stress-reduction programs in creating stress resilience, and more effective in reducing burnout and easing symptoms of secondary trauma.

Our research endeavors are made possible in part through the generosity of donors.

With the support of individual donors and philanthropic partners, RISE serves as a field leader in the science of yoga and self-regulation, and also fulfills a core focus of Kripalu’s mission: to help people and communities realize their full potential through the wisdom and practice of yoga