SOWA RIGPA INSTITUTE's

FOUNDATIONS OF SOWA RIGPA (2025/26)
Self, Family & Community Care

One Year Hybrid Training in Tibetan Medicine

October 11 2025 - June 27 2026

First live class is Saturday October 18 2025
(Self-paced videos available from October 11)

Please note: payment plans are not compatible with PayPal! To select a payment plan, please select the credit card payment method first, and then the payment plan option.
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2025/26 Foundations will include a new dedicated Spanish language cohort! Learn more here

Self-Paced
Video Content

Approximately 100 hours of video content taught by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang to be watched at a pace of 3 hours per week 
(not downloadable)

Weekly Live Online Sessions (ZOOM)

34 Weekly Sessions with SRI faculty and special guest teachers to review and discuss teachings.

SATURDAYS 8 - 9:30AM
(Los Angeles Time Zone)

Optional
In Person Sessions

New for 2025/26!
Optional in-person hands on practical classes fpr select modules offered at multiple locations internationally

Course Materials

Foundations of Sowa Rigpa digital text book

Additional PDF, audio and video files to support your studies.

COURSE DETAILS

Foundations of Sowa Rigpa

October 11 2025 - June 27 2026

First live class is Saturday October 18 2025
Self-paced videos available from September 27

This one year training presents the fundamentals principles of Tibetan healing in order improve quality of life, and learn how to promote health and rejuvenation at home, for one's self and in one’s family and communities.

The course follows the main structure of the Root Tantra (tsa gyu), the first of the Four Tantras (gyu zhi), the principle medical texts of Sowa Rigpa, with supplementary information from the (2nd) Explanatory Tantra (shé gyu) and (4th) Final Tantra (chi mé gyu) and special emphasis on safe and practical applications at home.

As a standalone course, this program is open to all and is suitable for both new students, dharma practitioners, as well as practitioners of other medical traditions. 

This course is also the first year of Sowa Rigpa Institute's multiyear professional programs, Sowa Rigpa Practitioner (4-year training), Sowa Rigpa Counselor (2-year training), and is a pre-requisite for Sowa Rigpa Yoga Practitioner program

Students wishing to continue on to Practitioner or Counselor programs are required to pass a comprehensive examination and complete a short written application and interview in the Spring of 2026 

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Tuition

$3000 or $300/ month (for ten months) includes:
  • Approximately 100 hours of self-paced video content taught by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and other esteemed Sowa Rigpa doctors
  • Recordings of all live online sessions for review
  • 2 year access to course and all materials.
  • Foundations of Sowa Rigpa E-book (print copies available for purchase from Sky Press)
  • Additional audio, video, and PDFs to support your study and practice

    Vidoes are view-only (not downloadable) and must be watched while online. A stable internet connection is required to participate in this course.
Please note: payment plans are not compatible with PayPal! To select a payment plan, please select the credit card payment method first, and then the payment plan option.

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Course Format and Schedule

This course is a hybrid (asynchronous + synchronous) learning program that combines self-paced video learning with live weekly online teaching and discussion sessions. 

  • Approximately 100 hours of video content taught by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and other Sowa Rigpa doctors to be watched at a pace of 3 hours per week.

  • 34 weekly live ZOOM sessions with SRI faculty to review and discuss the video teachings.

  • Optional in-person hands on practical sessions accompany select modules in multiple locations


SCHEDULE OF WEEKLY ONLINE SESSIONS

October 18 2025 - June 27 2025

Saturdays 8 - 9:30am 
(Los Angeles/ Pacific Time Zome)

Self-paced video content is released one week prior to each weekly session


SRI PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS

At the conclusion of this course, students wishing to continue on with three more years of the Practitioner program or one more year of the Counselor program will apply to enter Year 2 with a written application; all professional track students will have an interview with SRI's Dean of Students Sarah Falkner, and Counselor candidates will also have an additional interview with Dr. Caroline Van Damme, in order to enter Counselor Year 2. Students must also pass a year-end comprehensive exam covering the material of Foundations.

Course Content

MODULE ONE:
Introduction to Sowa Rigpa: Four Tantras and Tanaduk

MODULE TWO: 
Health/ balance according to Sowa Rigpa

MODULE THREE:
Disease/ imbalance according to Sowa Rigpa

MODULES FOUR & FIVE (with optional in-person practice):
Sowa Rigpa Diagnostic Techniques
- Observation: Tongue and Urine
- Palpation: Pulse
- Questioning

MODULE SIX:
Method of Treatment One: Diet

MODULE SEVEN (with optional in-person practice):
Method of Treatment Two: Lifestyle 

MODULE EIGHT:
Method of Treatment Three: Herbs

MODULE NINE (with optional in-person practice):
Method of Treatment Four: External Therapies 

MODULE TEN:
Psychology

CONCLUSION (with optional in person retreat):
Spiritual Healing Methods

+ Bonus Videos: Map of the Gyuzhi 

Please note: payment plans are not compatible with PayPal! To select a payment plan, please select the credit card payment method first, and then the payment plan option.

Topics and locations of optional in-person hands-on practical sessions

TOPICS:
Sowa Rigpa Diagnostic Techniques
Sowa Rigpa Diet & Lifesyle 
Sowa Rigpa External Therapies
Spiritual Healing Methods

LOCATIONS:
Los Angeles (Pure Land Farms Topanga)
New York
Toronto, Canada
Mexico City (español)
Valencia (español)

Exact dates of practical session to be announced soon and may vary in each location.

If you would like to work with SRI to host a group in your country, please write to info@sowarigpainstitute.org

Meet your Teachers

Dr. Nida Chenagtsang

The majority of the self-paced video content of this training are taught by Sowa Rigpa Institute's founder and medical director Dr. Nida Chenagtsang. Dr. Nida brings both rigor and humor to the study of Sowa Rigpa, encouraging students to engage with the material in a practical and experiential way so that Sowa Rigpa becomes alive and relevant, at all stages of one's education.

Select videos are taught by SRI senior faculty members: Dr. Lhakpa Dolma, Dr. Ed Coughlin, Dr. Ben Joffe, Dr. Anastazja Holecko, and Dr. Caroline Van Damme.

Faculty

Weekly sessions are guided by our team of experienced practitioners from around the world. They bring a wealth of clinical experience to complement the theoretical teachings and support the participants through engaged dialogue, guided QnA and practical case studies.

Dr. Nida and teachers of the video content will join the weekly sessions for select topics.

Tsu Ching Yu

Graduate of Sowa Rigpa Institute Practitioner program and host of this course

Amchi Sangay Tenzin

Graduate of Sowa Rigpa International College Nepal and Bhutan Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences in Bhutan

Amchi Dolma Tsering

Graduate of Sowa Rigpa International Nepal and practitioner at Phende Sowa Rigpa Medical Center Kathmandu

Amchi Yeshi Dorjee

Graduate of Sowa Rigpa International Nepal and Secretary in Charge at SRIC

Amchi Thinlay Wangmo

Graduate of Sowa Rigpa International Nepal and practitioner at Sowa Rigpa Wellness Centre Kathmandu

Dr. Bryan Watrous

Graduate of Sowa Rigpa Institute Practitioner program and Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

Required Reading

Foundations of Sowa Rigpa, by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, published by Sky Press 

Digital text book included in this course. Print copies can be purchased from Sky Press

Coming Fall 2025 in Spanish!

For centuries, Sowa Rigpa has preserved its authentic teachings through unbroken lineage transmission. One of the most important textbooks of lineage-based Sowa Rigpa instructions is the Gyü Zhi or ‘Four Medical Tantras’, compiled by Yuthok Yönten Gönpo the Younger (1126-1202). In Foundations of Sowa Rigpa, experienced Tibetan physician and teacher Dr Nida Chenagtsang offers a comprehensive commentary on the first volume or Root Tantra of the Gyü Zhi which provides an essential distillation and roadmap of Sowa Rigpa theory and practice. With characteristic humor, clarity, and openness, and motivated by a deep love for medicine and his patients, Dr. Nida invites us on an inner journey, guiding us through the core principles of Sowa Rigpa and revealing how they can enrich our lives today.