admissions

You may download our program application in Adobe pdf format.

Like college or study abroad, the Semester Intensive is an investment, offering students an academically accredited alternative education experience to supplement the learning traditionally available in higher education. Investing in the Semester Intensive is a decision to maximize your education by developing a fuller awareness of self, greater ease in relationship, a deeper awareness of body and health, clarity of purpose, and tools to enact your dreams. Our application process is rigorous, designed to give us a full sense of who you are and your interest in the Semester Intensive. The Semester Intensive offers an academic credit option allowing students to earn up to 15 undergraduate credits for their coursework. If program costs are a barrier, we encourage students to apply for need-based financial aid.

student life

Student residential living is founded on the immersion concept that Kripalu Center is based on. You will live in a newly renovated facility separate from the main Kripalu Center building. You will eat award-winning organic meals from the Kripalu kitchen, and have full access to Kripalu’s guest facilities and beautiful grounds. During free time, you are encouraged to get to know the local area of the Berkshires, nationally known as a tourist destination for its breathtaking scenery and cultural life and attractions. Students have also enjoyed travel to cultural activities in neighboring cities, including New York, Boston, Albany, and the Pioneer Valley “Five College” area.

program

Designed for young adults ages 18–23, Kripalu’s Semester Intensive picks up where traditional education leaves off, through four months of rigorous self-study on all levels—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. We call this experiential learning “evolutionary education,” a curriculum that helps you both learn and embody essential life skills. The curriculum is presented within a strong program structure and with guidance of onsite faculty to support you in consistent and rigorous growth.

In a beautiful rural setting in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, you’ll be immersed in a community of peers and take part in daily classes and intensive workshops. And as you engage in this highly experiential curriculum, you’ll come to a deeper awareness of yourself—your strengths and challenges—preparing you not just for a job but also for a fulfilled life.

The philosophy and practice of yoga is woven through the curriculum both on and off the mat so that yogic skills, such as personal power, non-judgment, flexibility, objectivity, equilibrium, authenticity, discipline, self-trust, and compassion, are translated into daily life.

educational philosophy

Our educational approach is rooted in the philosophy of yoga. In the West, yoga is primarily known as a physical exercise where the practitioner flows through a series of physical poses called asanas. This is only one aspect, however, of what it means to practice yoga. When we talk about yoga, we are referring to a practical philosophy for skillful living that serves to increase the ability to generate more freedom, vitality, and fulfillment in one’s life and in the world.  As you learn how to increase your sense of thriving and empowerment, you naturally take more leadership in your life.

commitment

The world needs the power and passion of young leaders who have the skills and self-awareness necessary to live fulfilled, sustainable lives of purpose and integrity; yet few educational programs exist that address the emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical aspects of being human. Kripalu’s Semester Intensive is committed to providing this much-needed evolutionary and experiential approach.

Kripalu Center is one of the largest nonsectarian centers for yoga, self-development, and health education in the United States. For more than 30 years, it has been developing unique approaches to experiential learning, human development, and immersion study. Educational programs are delivered annually to more than 28,000 people and over 5,000 holistic-health professionals have been trained at Kripalu. Kripalu is dedicated to promoting and honoring young-adult development through the Semester Intensive program.

evolutionary education

Through four months of daily classes led by on-site and visiting faculty, you will delve into the emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical aspects of development. During this highly experiential inquiry into what it means to thrive in all areas of life, you will

Over and over again this semester, I’ve seen that when I’m able to let go of fear, be firm and forthright about what I want for myself, things seem to fall into place. Maybe the only thing really holding me back is me. I am eternally grateful for this experience and wish there was a way to really articulate the change I feel in myself—I see it everyday in how I start conversations, give hugs, raise my hand to speak, and sit down at the drawing board. I also feel more skilled as a leader, confident in my capabilities to lead a group and communicate well. —Corinne M.
Just months ago, I was blindly going through my education and not owning my learning process. I realized that I’m the one who’s responsible to take my learning and make it about the process, not about the tuition or the degree. So now my education is a process that I’m fully responsible for, and I’m pumped. So what if I’m afraid? I’ll fly across the ocean alone, because I’m called. Fear is just one of those things that tells you that you’re on the right path. —Caitlin C.
I learned the power of community and how other people have so much to teach us about ourselves and that they can see so many things that I as an individual cannot see by myself. I am leaving with a much better sense of who I want to be in the world: compassionate, calm, committed, and living in integrity with my values, while still in the process of figuring out what those values are. I have found a balance between my personal needs and the needs of the community and have learned much from my resistance to both. —Eliza T.
Looking back on what I have done on a daily basis since I got here, I am amazed with myself. I have done yoga in a ritualized way that has really supported me. It has become my prayer and my way of getting in touch with myself. I have also meditated every day. In this I have found a sense of calm and security. I think this time has allowed me to integrate the things I am processing emotionally and intellectually in a physical manner. At some point, I stopped doing my practice because I thought that I should and started doing it because it works. —Alicia H.