Yoga Alliance Approved, My Ass
Flipping through the catalog for a big name yoga and retreat center, I was shocked to notice that they advertised their yoga teacher training programs as “Yoga Alliance Approved.” Misrepresentations like this are the dirty little secret of the yoga industry. No one really wants to admit there is no accreditation for Yoga.
Anyone who claims to be “approved”, “certified” or “licensed” by the YA is either grossly uninformed or disingenuous. The YA maintains a registry of yoga teachers and training programs. In filling out the paperwork and paying the fees, yoga teachers and training programs purport to follow a vague set of curriculum guidelines that are posted on the YA website and assume a service mark of RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) or RYS (Registered Yoga School.)
What no one ever seems to acknowledge or mention is that the YA provides no oversight whatsoever. No one checks to see if anyone is actually doing what they say. Everyone is on the “honor” system. Consequently, the registry amounts to a digital rubber stamp or paid advertising. Not to mention, the YA does not disclose what they do with the money they collect from the Yoga community.
Even if everyone is being true to their word, referring to the YA guidelines as “standards” is quite a stretch. For example, being registered at the 200 hr level is said to have 20 hours of yoga philosophy. Generally, this entails a cursory reading of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra’s and a written test, kind of like reading the chapter and answering the summary questions in my 9th grade social studies class.
Given the profound diversity of texts and interpretations that exist within Yoga philosophy, simply designating 20 hours of time means absolutely nothing.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel strongly about Yoga teachers and schools being held to high standards. My point is that Yoga is not an academic pursuit. Attempts to standardize Yoga training into a set of requisite hours completely undermines yoga pedagogy, which is not contingent on time.
“Standards” implies greater quality, not a specific quantity of time spent on who knows what. If we want to encourage more qualified yoga teachers, lets start talking about “competencies” instead of hours and, more importantly, lets be straightforward with the public so they can make informed choices.
Brian Castellani, founder of yoganomics.net, has been leading a personal crusade to hold the YA to account for its misgivings. Initially, he was hoping to bring integrity back to the YA but, as he has continued to dig into the YA’s activities and policies, his sentiments have changed. He recounts a conversation with Jeanine Frest, the longest standing employee of the YA up until she quit in 2010, where she said, “Maybe it would be better to scrap everything and start over.”
I can already hear my wife’s criticism of this post. When I mentioned to her the topic I was taking on, she said, “Oh really? I think its better when you stay ‘positive’ like last month’s thing on Nurturing.” She thinks I do myself a disservice by inviting controversy and she is probably right.
I almost heeded her call until a recent exchange with an editor at the megalith of yoga-related publishing. She told me that the credo for their bloggers is “What are you adding to the conversation?” I didn’t think it wise to speak my mind as freely as I might but what I really wanted to say was, “What conversation?”
As far as I can tell, there is not much of a real conversation happening. In risking the ire of others, I suppose I’m hoping to get one started. I don’t think holding the Yoga industry’s feet to the fire by shining a light on hypocrisies and inconsistencies is negative. In fact, Yoga encourages this sort of discernment.
Yoga also encourages truthfulness. The fact that the only trade organization offering a title to Yoga professionals is not an example of being truthful does not speak well to the profession of Yoga.
At the very least, any trade organization that wants to represent the yoga community must operate with complete transparency and accountability. Members of that organization must also do the same. Anything less is a discredit to Yoga and deserves scrutiny.
In northern NJ, I know studio owners on both sides of the mat of this issue. Some marketing programs, workshops and teachers trainings needed to meet “standards.” While other, barely ask for your name, never mind official paperwork showing you qualify. As a teacher, constantly keeping track of hours and sending them in is a hassle. And the more hours and qualifications you acquired, the more the YA charges you. Love this topic — write on!! Namaste.
The Yoga Alliance is far from perfect, as are its standards, but I do believe they are doing the best they can with limited resources.
Yoga, as well we all know, is a profoundly powerful modality with the potential for working great good for its practitioners but also with the possibility of provoking serious injury. Given that fact, it does not seem unreasonable that there be some mechanism for promoting standards of practice, training and experience.
I am frankly confused by Mr. Brown’s posting: one the one hand he bemoans the fact that an organization seeking to promote (note: “promote,” not “enforce”) standards within the yoga community exists at all, and at the same time seems to criticize it for lacking “teeth” (“What no one ever seems to acknowledge or mention is that the YA provides no oversight whatsoever. No one checks to see if anyone is actually doing what they say. Everyone is on the “honor” system.”).
Yes, it is true: YA does not maintain a corps of “Yoga Police” to swoop down on unsuspecting teachers and teacher training programs that fail to live up to their word in connection with YA’s standards. Would anyone actually prefer such a scenario? Is that something we want? How many professional organizations actually do maintain such a rigorous level of scrutiny? I know the answer, and it is not many.
As a former manager/administrator (for 10 years) of a large yoga studio in northern New Jersey with 200-hour and 500-hour teacher training programs approved by YA, I know a concentrated and protracted effort was made to adhere to and maintain this organization’s educational standards, and I take pride in having assisted in that process.
Yes, it is true, as Mr. Brown notes that “Yoga also encourages truthfulness.” Given that fact, can not an organization like the Yoga Alliance place some faith in the fact that individuals and institutions seeking its imprimatur will do so in honesty? It seems to me that the author’s assertion that “Anyone who claims to be “approved”, “certified” or “licensed” by the YA is either grossly uninformed or disingenuous” is itself disingenuous. And not at all “yogic,” by anyone’s standards.
Bill Courson
Former Manager, Starseed Center for Yoga & Wellness, Montclair NJ
Hey Bill- I appreciate you taking a moment to express your views.
First, I think we need to define our terms. The original idea behind the YA was to create GUIDELINES. A suggested curriculum for helping people in their studies is not the same thing as “standards” which implies real accreditation. The guidelines only became standards when the decision was made to create a registry and collect fees.
I am in favor of a trade organization that provides resources for better learning. Unfortunately, the YA does not present itself this way and yoga professionals are using the registry to make misleading claims about yoga training. This does not serve yoga or the yoga industry.
The terms “certified” and “licensed” have specific legal meanings. The term “approved” is misleading because it implies oversight. The only appropriate term for being affiliated with the YA is “registered.”
Also, promoting standards of practice, training and experience is not the same as an actual process of accreditation. I have been privileged to participate some in the efforts of the IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists) to create new standards and a real process for accreditation. At least at the IAYT, a dialogue is taking place and the process is transparent.
Providing oversight does not mean creating “Yoga police.” How about someone at least reviewing applications and contacting the respective school to confirm that the applicant is actually a graduate?
I do not wish to take anything away from your efforts to maintain high level of standards in the training that you oversee. I would suggest that your efforts speak for themselves in the quality of teachers that are produced and the service they provide to your local community.
Admittedly, I presented these issues in a provocative manner; however, my intent was not simply to bash the YA but to suggest that we are capable of doing better. At the very least, lets not mislead ourselves and the public by calling our trainings “approved”, “certified” or “licensed” when they are nothing of the sort.
If you haven’t, I encourage you to check out what is happening at the IAYT (iayt.org). Specifically the “Overview of Regulatory Issues for Yoga, Yoga Therapy, and Ayurveda” by Daniel Seitz, JD, EdD.
Again, thank you for your perspective.
Warmly,
J.
Bill,
The regulation issues that occurred in New York, Virginia (Yoga Alliance’s own state of residence), Texas, Louisiana and Washington set the tone for all Yoga Alliance criticism’s and critiques.
They accept no blame. They apologize for things that are small in relation to what they are really responsible for, so standing from where I have been, they get exactly what they deserve.
The whole reason that this article was written is not from what Yoga Alliance has done, per say, but rather what they did not do, through omitting facts, omitting the actual truth of how events transpired, and not accepting responsibility.
In 2008 Yoga Alliance sent President Mark Davis to a national Government Educational Conference, where Mark Davis “educated” the members of that conference and later, successfully persuaded Virginia to adopt the Yoga Alliance 200 hours as a benchmark of yoga education.
During the times that Yoga Regulation was occurring between 2009 – 2011, Yoga Alliance specifically and quite strategically did not involve themselves in any local state yoga regulation issues, because they gambled that yoga teachers would accept the taxation on yoga as a vocation.
Yoga Alliance expected that since individual states were beginning to instigate “vocational” taxes on yoga teachers, that Yoga Alliance would benefit by the “YA 200 hours as a benchmark of yoga education.”
Yoga Alliance gambled incorrectly and an outpouring of upset yoga teachers pulled their memberships, and they quickly changed their tune.
What is not mentioned in the above article, is that Yoga Alliance has changed only under the yoga public’s pressure, and now have formed an airtight micro-managed 501c6 Trade Organization, because they couldn’t accomplish anything as an unaccountable 501c3.
You can defend Yoga Alliance all you want. It doesn’t change the fact that they knew ahead of time that states were going to begin taxing yoga teachers as a “vocation,” and that they knowingly “omitted” information. Omission is another word for profiting from others misfortune.
While New York, Virginia and Texas were paying lofty lawyer fees and state lobbyists, do you know what Yoga Alliance was doing?
Nothing to help yoga teachers and everything to help themselves. In 2010, while yoga teachers in New York and Virginia where paying out of pocket for lawyers and lobbyists – fighting for the right to teach yoga to students – untaxed…. Stoic Yoga Alliance paid $336,325.00 to two different corporate blog-farming businesses to increase their online presence.
They never responded to emails, never responded to phone calls, and fired all of their staff except Jeanine Frest and officially hired the master manipulator John Matthews as there micro-managing ultra meditating, non-yoga practicing, Yoga Alliance president.
Look at the facts:
TRUE: Yoga Alliance successfully trademarked RYS, RYT, ERYT, Yoga Alliance, YAPlus while they claimed to only suggest standard for yoga.
FALSE : Yoga Alliance claims they didn’t know about the Yoga Regulation happening in the United States during the years of 2008, 2009, 2010.
FACT: In 2009 Yoga Alliance worked with Individual State governments to “Educate” the members of the Education Conference and later, successfully persuaded “some states” to adopt the Yoga Alliance 200 hours as a benchmark of yoga education (thereby hoping to create a monopoly on RYT teaching methods and bulldoze membership).
So where is the solution? Where is the truthfulness?
If you ask me, yoga teachers should take out a class action suit against them for having yoga teachers follow their ridiculous “bare-minimum” requirements that amount to nothing, charging money for fifteen years, not having a legally binding contract and then having the Yoga Alliance board grossly abusing the trust of not only their members, but also the employees they fired and also the entire yoga industry.
I think the board that serves Yoga Alliance should all step down from their positions from the shame of selling out the yoga teachers they claim to set standards for.
I also want to make it clear, that by my research, the board and specifically John Matthews are the ones responsible for the regulation mess.
Whoever buys their cardboard certifications and opt’s to buy into the YAPlus trade organization, perpetuate misnomers and biased commercialism.
Thanks for this post. It sounds like there are two options – reform the organization or start again. The question is how. That’s the way to turn this into something positive. If as a yoga community we were to do either, what would the new (or reformed) organization look like? What would the standards be and how should they be enforced? That’s the next step.
thank you for you honest, discerning assessment. this is truly a topic that flares tempers and kudos to you for taking it on with integrity.
It is an interesting topic. I wonder if there is a similar organization to the Y.A. in India. I do get the appeal of the Western mind for such designated hoops to dive through. I think it takes about 200 hours to train an employee in the fast food industry. And after you get done with training on all the necessary equipment you have enough info to flip a burger, make some fries, pour a soda, cash someone out, clean every surface but you would be remiss in thinking you could run a four star restaurant. Yoga teacher education as approved by Y.A. gives the student just enough information to hurt someone. I think the problem is that Yoga education in the states is primarily Asana based and financially motivated. Think, if this were truly a spiritual practice yoga studios would be churches and non for profits seeking to benefit a community need. The student would study years under the teacher before they spoke to the congregation so to speak. I hope for more and more the practice of yoga is became primarily spiritual and less commercial. If organizations like Yoga Alliance would promote many different ways of educating people to teach, not some codified information that does not even begin to speak to the vastness of the topic, I might find them a bit more useful. Even from their initial onset they seemed more business oriented then spiritually oriented.
I was talking to a colleague once about their starting a teacher training. And they informed me at the time the only Y.A. requirement to start one up is that they own their own yoga studio. Nothing about how long they had been teaching or their training. I asked them if they felt qualified to teach and they replied, “fake it til you make it”. So, why you do have many beings operating with integrity out there, there are just as many who have no real experience teaching yoga let alone administering a teacher training. They are simply ignorant that they are ignorant in many cases. I actually witnessed an acting president of the Y.A. state at a panel discussion that people should not participate in a training unless it was somehow affiliated with the Yoga Alliance. They completely discounted mentorship and well established programs in the States and India. If that is the leadership then of course it’s a broken machine.
I say each of us is responsible for our own knowledge and continuing education and spiritual studies. We should also make a much stronger push toward the Spiritual aspects of the practice lest we become marginalized by governmental institutions. The Registry will lead to taxation and lord knows yoga instructors are not making much to begin with. It seems Yoga Alliance in the end would love to be that organization that would represent the yoga community and gladly give the names of all their members to each state licensing committee if it goes in that direction. I say it’s silly to pay to have your name on a list. We already have a code of conduct in the Yamas and Niyamas and we have the hearts to interpret that information to great benefit for ourselves our students and ultimately the world.
peace rich
Rich: I think you hold the correct perspective. As an RN, I am quite familiar with the formal education, training, testing and licensing required to carry the initials RN after my name. However, all the Board of Nursing is really saying by allowing you a license is that you are found to be minimally competent- they are pretty sure you aren’t going to kill someone in your nursing practice. I don’t believe yoga would benefit from this process.
I echo your thoughts. I have looked into various 200 and 500 hour courses but have come to the conclusion that neither course completion or certification will prepare you to teach or even provide you an education. Preparation comes through a working relationship with a competent teacher, the personal integrity you bring to your practice and the respect you have for students.
I agree there is an inseparable spiritual component which I have seen denied by teachers lest students (usually christians) be lost( that is, stop paying and coming to class). I believe you can keep your religion and its dogma while exploring the spiritual components of yoga. On a personal note, my understanding of Christ’s intent and wish for humanity has been enhanced through yoga, meditation and study of Buddhism. Now, when I read Christ’s words, they fill my mind and heart rather than being empty words.
Lilia, I agree with you.
Thank you for starting this conversation. I am so tired of seeing all the teacher training programs that will “certify” anyone as long as the check is good. The art and science of yoga cannot be learned in a weekend and it certainly is not a career choice, it’s a calling.
Om,
Dawn Yager
Haha, I was reading Dawn’s comment above thinking it is exactly the sentiment my teacher has, as do I, then I realized…she IS my teacher! Om Shanti Swami Ambikananda! Only in America do we think we need some organization to “approve” of something, and everyone thinks it is legit, without question. No one takes the time to find out for themselves what makes a good teacher, they just want someone to tell them where to go, what to do.
I loved your article. I completed a yoga teachers training (200 hrs) a year ago, and I was so disappointed and frustrated with my treatment and the teacher that I attempted to contact the YA, since my course was “certified” by them.
They never replied to any of my emails. I think if they are going to put their names/stamp on everything they should know who is representing them. I sat in a cold basement for a year, was made to rake my teachers yard, clean his fish pond, and he literally sat on the floor the ENTIRE time. He never once stood up and showed us an asana.
As a result I obviously had to pay even more $$ to take additional workshops and courses to learn properly, since teaching yoga is my passion.
To set guidelines is one thing, but it does nothing to protect people from being ripped off, scammed, and mislead – which is such a shame.
Thanks for starting the conversation. Just because you don’t have the solution doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bring up the objection. Just because it might make people uncomfortable, doesn’t mean it is “negative” and doesn’t mean we shouldn’t shine light on it. Light is an antiseptic after all.
Interesting debate.
I am an E-RYT leading a RYS in Concord NH. I abide by the YA guidelines and provide what I believe is an excellent program for students who are interested in exploring what yoga means both on & off the mat. Some students are interested in teaching, some are not sure yet. I think most people are interested in the RYT status because a high percentage of studio owners want their teachers to have some formal education that they feel qualifies them to safely teach yoga to others. While I can attest that Yoga Alliance does not provide oversight to verify that schools and teachers are following the guidelines, I also agree that to regulate the industry would be challenging and expensive and could potentially reduce the number of qualified, excellent yoga teachers. Would it also reduce the number of unqualified teachers and leaders of programs (raking his yard, no review of asana, really – that’s just another story for another post)?
Because I am confident in the quality of my program and I’ve seen amazing transformation and growth in people during their time in the program, I’ll continue to be a member of Yoga Alliance to offer the RYT status to people who want to teach and who feel strongly that they want to have credentials that tell people they dedicated themselves to a year of training and are prepared to teach others. I uphold the integrity of what I say I will do (YA guidelines and my program) and I know my students appreciate that.
I think all of us in the yoga field would agree that yoga is a life-long journey and being part of a teacher training program can be life changing regardless of whether or not it’s a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School.
I’d like to be part of the solution to a better way of doing this – and will keep up to date on what’s going on – as long as it stays constructive and productive.
Peace,
Maureen Miller
Maureen, I think it’s great that you uphold integrity in your teaching. In my limited opinion though I think simplicity seems the best approach. If each school posted the particulars of their teacher training with an in depth syllabus provided, then the individual can pick what is best for them. Maybe they are more spiritually oriented, or have therapeutic inclinations. As the years unfold the reputation of such an institution would certainly grow to one of admiration. But in my long time observation of just about any field of study, it seems almost universal that organizations grow to unmanageable proportions in quick time. We could look at massage therapy as an example, physical therapy, the medical profession as a whole. Basically, the more one governs or imposes rules, the more rules, regulations, oversight, etc that needs to be employed. I think the less information is out there at the start the less likely people are to learn. Think about natural selection for a minute and if only one size fit all corn were out there for consumption. Very quickly corn would become extinct, unless it was somehow grossly tampered with to survive insects molds and such(sounds familiar eh?). Well just 100 years ago the average medical doctor could tell you a myriad of physiological realities just by feeling your pulse. Much of that has been lost in the medical field. Most massage therapist learn basic Swedish massage and some other useful modalities and could tell you where every muscle inserts, but very few really ever learn to touch, to feel, to be with another on a deep level. All the certification programs could care less about how you work with people, they are designed to make money, bottom line. I am afraid the YA has in a very short span of time come to that same insensitive place. I think encouraging students to join such an organization defeats the purpose of yoga. I could not do so and feel in integrity. We should be encouraging a rigorous self study of inquiry, not some externalized idea of organizational utopia. Each of us has to find our way and what works best for them. I think it is fine to meet the requirements of such an organization, but we should strive to educate the student before they ever pay a dime!!! that this 200 hours is a very minor first step in the process of becoming a teacher. I think ultimately teachers are asked to teach. If you are asked, it means someone recognized that you had the ability or at least know something more than themselves. Shaman of old recognized this. It was through hardship that the leaders were chosen, not because they wanted to carry the mantle, but because it was so clear to the tribe that they had overcome some obstacle they themselves knew they would have struggled with, perhaps to their utter demise, and yet this other individual rose above a situation and grew. The Western mind is often too immediate to understand the importance of this rite of passage. Without the calling, the vocational element I think the ‘teacher wanna be’ is going to be extremely disappointed. It is up to the teacher of teachers to be honest with the student before them. As one of my teachers, Kim Schwartz, likes to say, “Yoga without philosophy is just exercise”. I think the same goes for yoga studios and organizations, without a strong commitment to the philosophies that seem ingrained in the deeper practice, they just become an exercise in power struggle and competition. I think we make ‘it’ better by making ourselves better.
peace rich
Rich,
I know that when I first started a yoga teacher training I would not have had any clue about choosing from a menu of options. And I think that is appropriate to offer through a 500 hour program, I’m not so sure I would agree with that for a 200-hour program/study. Through a formal program I learned what other topics I wanted to study in more depth and so in my experience (and I see it in students in my teacher training program too) the program helped me understand what other workshops and training I wanted to learn more about – but really – it was not until I was well into, or almost complete, the 200 program that I even knew I wanted to teach or what other yoga topics were of interest to me.
It’s a journey for sure and though many students may come to yoga wanting to move their body and only experience asana, we know that this can be a wonderful place from which transformation begins and we are awakened to the other limbs of yoga and it seems that the learning is never really complete. We live life, we make choices – and so it goes on.
So, again – given my personal experience I think a 200 hour program is beneficial as the foundation for students to see what resonates for them and what they want to learn more about. And I believe that having some guidelines (but not government regulation) is important so that students are physically safe while practicing asana. What we have now – is Yoga Alliance – I understand I am only REGISTERED by them, however I take it seriously ‘to uphold the teachings of yoga’ by offering a program that contributes to the yoga community in a way that gives students who want to become teachers a foundation whereby I know they know how to keep students physically safe in their practice. And though philosophy and spirituality is part of the program, I see that as an individual journey/transformation of each person who practices yoga beyond asana.
Sorry getting back to this way late. I don’t get online much. It is interesting that you do not want governmental regulation and that is just what Yoga alliance is bucking for. At least in presentations that I saw them participate in, they were excited about that prospect and thought of it as an inevitability that they would want to participate in. So I think you should really try to get to know these individuals you are promoting to impressionable students before you encourage them to sign the dotted line. At least give them the chance to discern for themselves if they want to participate with the organization. I have been on this journey for a couple centuries at least and feel there is sooooo much more to learn. 200 hours to get focused on you particular path, hmmm. Hopefully 500 hours would give you some ideas, but still this is a drop in the bucket. What is your calling to this path is a good first question. But Yoga is big Money in America. You pay enormous sums of money to people deemed as master and they want you to clean their yard. Of course an individual feels entitled that they put in time. I am now a teacher! But this whole talk of hours seems beside the point. Trying to teach people to get out of time, by requiring them to put in the time seems amusing at best. Let me tell a funny anecdote. I was teaching at a conference that my teacher asked me to stand in for him. There was a panel discussion involving several of us who had participated in workshops. I took one of the workshops geared toward therapuetic Yoga. It was basically a watered down version of something the presenter had taken from a Bihar book and did not credit the source. The original source was not even a therapuetic consideration for yoga but an introduction to asana. When I realized that they group was promoting some specific therapuetic guidelines and forming an organization around their principles I was a little shocked. One of the presenters was the acting president of the Yoga Alliance and held her workshop 50 minutes over causing the next presenter to seriously alter their workshop. No concern for what they might be presenting I suppose. I was was shushed at the conference after I explained my experiences as a massage therapist and the negative effects of state Licenses on that field and the Parallels to yoga certification. I suppose because they were trying to convince people to give them a groundswell of support for creating this organization and my information was contrary to that ultimate goal. The Acting president of YA mocked my own training and continued by saying that students should only consider Yoga Alliance approved teacher training. At that time I had had well over 4000 hours of yoga, anatomy and massage coursework, but I never bothered to register with the organization. I still feel I am still scratching the surface. I saw a flyer of theirs weeks later and it was detailing a business of yoga course over the phone(I don’t know if her guru taught her that technique, but it certainly sounds like a modern technique). Really, over the phone. This would be the punch line: The Phone. We have come a long way from the ancients I suppose but when we have to phone it in that is usually not a good sign of leadership. Keep giving your dough to them and soon enough you will be giving to the government as well.
Thank you so much for writing this! I considered blogging about the issue but was afraid it would sound like sour grapes on my part, since I was unable to obtain the Yoga Alliance certification myself. I simply could not afford it. I could not take the time off work to travel and attend the necessary classes. I had hoped that perhaps I would receive credit for my 35 years of experience and training and the fact that I had already been teaching since the mid ’80s. But when I received the forms from the Alliance they required documentation of hours spent in specific classes, information which I no longer have, AND they wanted all the hours to be from ONE school! So, for example, it worked against me that I studied with, among others, the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, SRF and Ananda; for Alliance purposes I would have been better off having only studied with one teacher. I felt slightly better about my situation when I learned that a friend of mine’s guru, an elderly and well-respected yoga teacher from India, had difficulty even getting the 200-hour certification! I guess what is most disturbing about this system is that a yogini with my prior experience and training, but lacking funds, cannot get certified, while a person with no previous yoga training whatsoever, as long as they have money and can attend 10 weekend classes – a total of maybe 3 months? – can be certified, and this is supposed to ensure that they are “qualified” to teach yoga.
Thank you for posting this. I have many years experience learning & teaching with several different teachers and had a hard time getting an “E-RYT” under the grandfather clause. Having made several calls to YA and getting a run around and told It was ‘impossible’ to learn yoga without taking a certified course, I gave up on it. I’ve debated for the last year, just taking the 200 hour course, but it seems redundant, relevant to my education & experience. In addition, I have financial & family obligations that would make it very difficult to schedule in. After reading several articles and accompanying comments, including this one, I feel more confident now in my choice to not move forward with a YA ‘certification’. Thanks for the clarity!
Barbara, it sounds like I’m in good company.
Thanks to Richard Logan for the new comment, above (and I agree about the potentially negative impact of government licensing, having seen it in my other field, psychology – e.g., Ministerial Counselors may no longer legally work in FL, resulting in the cost of counseling going from previously $20-40/hour, now to minimum of $125, putting it out of the reach of clients who do not have insurance which covers counseling…).
You know, guys, after reading Barbara’s comment I was thinking about this discussion and it suddenly dawned on me: When YA sent me the paperwork for “grandfathering” (“grandmothering”?), they required that I list the specific YA-approved classes that I had taken. However, the YA was formed in 1997 and created their official standards in 1999, whereas much of my training occurred in the 1970s and 1980s – long before YA even existed…! So is the Alliance really saying that yogis/teachers who received our training prior to the existence of YA are unqualified to teach? whereas, non-yogis with no prior training are qualified to teach based on their 200 YA hours since 1999? Really??!! or am I missing something here?
so, like, Krishnamacharya was unqualified to teach yoga since he wasn’t YA approved?
I’ve been an on again/off again student of Yoga since my college days; kind of like a Christmas and Easter Catholic. In the past ten years, I’ve been more ‘on’ and go so far as to refer to myself as a ‘Yogini’. To enjoy a deeper practice, I attended the Chopra Center’s 7 Spiritual Laws of Yoga Certification program and one year later, I spent 40 days at the Shivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre participating in their TTC. I am certified to teach and I do. I also feel a deep responsibility to continue learning. This information is timely for me. The internal conversations to register are about credibility in eye of a public who’s exposure to Yoga is equal to asana only or a gym style of sweat, neither of which appeals to me as a student or a teacher. Everyone’s comments have assisted me in my decision and I thank you – bowing deeply.
thanks for opening another channel for debate. I completed a 200-h teacher training course and never bothered to register with YA for the simple reason that it is tantamount to asking Mickey Mouse to certify that i can teach yoga.
In the past i approached YA to report a YTT scam (a studio owner had pocketed fees, closed the studio and reopened under a different name, without honouring her contract with dozens of trainees) and their response was ‘none of our business’ despite the fact that the studio owner was (and still is) on their list of approved providers of teacher training courses.
They refused to investigate the matter and revoke the ‘license’ despite receiving copies of all the complaints we made to the Consumer Council and the Police.
I’ve investigated carrying insurance as I grow a practice. They require YA registration. Now what??
Hey Elizabeth- You do not need to be registered with the YA in order to get insurance. If you get insurance through Yoga Journal Benefits+ then you have to pay an extra annual fee to have a YJ membership but you can get insurance through other providers (just google “yoga teacher insurance”) and you do not need to be registered with YA. I have a policy through Benefits +/Philadelphia Insurance Co. for the center I own and neither myself or the center are registered with the YA. Check again.
J.
Thank you. Admittedly, my search stopped at the one piece of information which I received from a friend who is an insurance broker. Having read all of this prior to that, I stopped. Integrity trumps all.
Again I thank you for the timely information.
peace
Liz
I also have my insurance through Yoga Journal Benefits +/ Philadelphia and it is very reasonable.
All I want from YA, all that I’ve ever wanted from YA IS GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE!!! The rest is a drag! David
Great topic. Keep going with it!
I like your suggestion for certifying competencies instead of hours.
I’ve met many an amazing teacher that was not YA certified and many crap teachers that were certified. It’s definitely a mixed bag.
It seems the underlying worry of being YA certified or not, is if it makes any difference in the quality and care of the teacher. I mean, really, the nature of any certifying school system is that students are generally passed on the broadest and simplest terms. In my mind, it starts with the training studio/school itself. Some students are really quite naturally gifted or have lots of experience prior. At the opposite end, some students have far less of a natural knack or way less practice hours under their belt or take longer to learn. But most get their diplomas or certifications anyway, even in the case of doctors or other highly touted professions. I’ve been to many bad doctors in my life and many good ones, all with the same qualification. We get to discover in the real world whether someone is really good at something or not. I’m guessing that’s why doctors and lawyers call their profession a ‘practice’?
It seems there are 2 major faults in the yoga certification system. Integrity of studios/teachers for passing or failing and feedback/follow-up. 1) The yoga studio/school can easily fall into the trap of passing everyone, especially if the yoga style leans toward the esoteric and ephemeral side, or if the teacher hasn’t been taught to be discerning, or if the studio is concerned about losing money or face if a trainee were to fail. Of course they would actually make more money because the failing student would need a second training if they didn’t pass the first one, but most don’t like the idea of telling someone they ‘failed’ or even ‘need improvement’. It’s likened to a private school that looks bad to its deep-pocket funders if it fails a child. (This happens at a private secondary school in Los Angeles where my close friend and teacher was admonished for giving a student an F and was strongly ‘advised’ to give him a passing grade lest the funding parents get upset and withdraw him even though he was uninterested in completing any assignments or showing up to class.) I was relieved to hear just a few weeks ago that a teacher trainer, in all fairness, prudence and courage, did not pass 2 of the 15 trainees. Kudos for maintaining quality and contributing to the greater good of the yoga profession and all those students out there who might unsuspectingly be injured.
2) Follow-up and feedback. If we are going to maintain a certification alliance such as YA, how great would it be if the teacher had to follow-up after 1 year and 5 years with a video example of their teaching and of their own practice as well as letters of recommendation from students and studios?
If the YA wanted to be really actually effective, they would have their certified studios set up a time slot for new teachers where the students received full disclosure that they were taking a new teacher’s class. Only regularly practicing students or fellow teachers would be able to attend, and for the first few months the newb teacher would just teach these designated slots and receive feedback. The class would cost a lot less and so the studio wouldn’t make as much money, but perhaps the cost would be subsidized by the student as part of their training cost. Of course, no one can please everyone, and some people click while others don’t. But it’s a start. There’s a studio in Singapore that has put this newb timeslot into practice and I look forward to seeing how it will unfold.
Hola! Disculpen que escriba en Español pero es mas fácil traducirlo de alguna manera, pues mi ingles es muy malo.
Hace mas de 12 años doy clases de yoga y hace como 10 intente registrarme en YOGA ALLIANCE, Al finalizar todos los requerimientos me quedaba la duda de quien iba a venir o como iba yo a demostrar que todo lo que puse era cierto.
Entonces me di cuenta que era una estupidez ya que solo tenía que pagar y ellos me enviarían un papel diciendo que ellos me “respaldan”. Asi que no lo hice y realmente acá en México tampoco hay una Institución que te exija algún nivel de conocimientos para ser maestro, así que si sabes, sabes!
Ahora en mi ciudad hay mas de 2 Teacher trannings “avalados” por Yoga Alliance, algunos de ellos muuuuy malos, maestros que sin tener un año de practica ya dan clases arriesgando a los alumnos. Y no solo eso si no que también dan “entrenamiento para maestros” desgraciadamente la mayoría de los practicantes aquí todavía no tienen un buen nivel, solo saben hacer pincha mayurasana y creen que ya pueden enseñar. Y las Escuelas de yoga pues hacer su gran negocio, dándoles un Techer tranning. Yo en lo personal me eh negado rotundamente a preparar maestros de yoga, porque creo que aquí la comunidad todavía no esta preparada, les gusta estar frente a los demás sin tener la mínima responsabilidad de lo que es una practica de Asanas bien hecha sin lastimarse.
Muchas gracias por este articulo.
Saludos
Laura
translation:
Hello! Sorry to write in Spanish but is easier to translate it somehow, because my English is very bad.
Over 12 years ago, I teach yoga and try to register it as 10 in YOGA ALLIANCE, all requirements At the end I had the doubt of who was coming or was I to prove that everything was put right.
Then I realized it was stupid because it only had to pay and they sent me a paper saying that they I “support”. So I did and really here in Mexico is not an institution that will require some level of knowledge to be a teacher, so if you know, you know!
Now in my city there are more than 2 Teacher trannings “endorsed” by Yoga Alliance, some of them sooo bad teachers without a year of practice and risking giving classes to students. Not only that but they also give “teacher training” Unfortunately, most practitioners here still do not have a good level, just click Mayurasana and they do believe that they can teach. And since yoga schools do their big business, giving them a Techer tranning. I personally eh I flatly refused to prepare teachers of yoga, because I think the community here is not yet ready, like being in front of others without having a high responsibility for what is the practice of Asanas well done without injury.
Thank you very much for this article.
regards
Laura
My issue with Yoga Alliance is that hours have to be all from one school. I’ve got my 200 hour TT from Kripalu. But I want to study with other teachers. I understand if they want to make sure classes mean something, and that you can’t just add up a bunch of random weekend sessions to get to 500 hours. But I have over 100 hours study of the Yoga Sutras with one great (certified) teacher. That should be fine for the Yoga Philosophy module. If I want to study with Paul Grilley for the anatomy module, that should count as well.