Yoga is a complex discipline of principles, philosophies, and practices. With hundreds of millions of yogis across the globe, it truly has been gaining traction for decades now. With its popularity, it’s important to know if yoga is a regulated practice and understand why it’s not.
Yoga is not regulated because no government body is in charge of qualifying and monitoring its instruction and practice. However, there is some form of self-regulation among yoga practitioners themselves that aims to create their own minimum standards for yoga teaching.
We’ll explore the dynamics of standardizing the yoga practice and why everyone needs to be aware of this concern. Let’s look at how the regulation of yoga can benefit one and all yogis.
Yoga as a diverse practice
Originating in India, yoga began as a practice to achieve spiritual enlightenment and mental discipline, not as a form of physical exercise. It is an extremely varied practice that encompasses over a dozen different schools of thought and techniques. Yoga is a “free-for-all” situation in which there is no hierarchy of government officials or agencies that assure its quality and imposes sets of rules and procedures, outcomes, and benefits.
To date, yoga has yet to be regulated by the government in most countries by any law or order. There is no specific national office per country requiring their yogis to register before they begin teaching yoga. As a result, regardless of whether they have completed a full-time course, a few weeks’ certificate course, or have not studied at all, it is a free-for-all teaching field.
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Yoga as a self-regulatory industry
Yoga is currently largely self-regulated. In most countries, a popular community of yoga practitioners offers accreditation to its members or those interested, through an application and training process as a means to set standards and somehow professionalize yoga teaching training among their ranks.
Some people take a few classes and call themselves yoga teachers while some commit themselves to years of training. To level the field, there are training courses conducted by the Yoga Alliance, completion of which confers you a certificate and the title indicating the number of training hours undertaken. They are as follows:
- Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) 200 indicates that the yogi has completed 200 hours of yoga teacher training and may pursue a career as an instructor covering the fundamentals of yoga anatomy and philosophy.
- RYT 300 is a more advanced teaching license that covers in-depth topics and more difficult asanas, plus the philosophy, anatomy, and physiology of yoga.
- RYT 500 This is a combination of RYT 200 and RYT 300 with extended hours to learn the techniques and teaching methodologies of yoga plus practicum. Once completed, the yogi can sign up with Yoga Alliance as an Advanced Yoga Teacher
The justifications for regulating yoga
Here are some reasons why there are ongoing initiatives to professionalize yoga through licensing and regulation:
To ensure safety
Regulation in yoga may include requiring all its teachers to have a certain degree of knowledge and amount of experience to safely instruct a class or setting up specific guidelines for how classes should be taught. This is why it is important to make sure that yoga instructors are properly trained and certified to teach safely and effectively and that they are aware of the potential risks associated with yoga such as injuries and fatigue.
The regulation also ensures that classes are safe and hygienic. This includes providing a safe space for participants to move, ensuring sanitation standards are met, and having the proper equipment for use in classes.
To ensure quality
By requiring yoga instructors to become certified and licensed, yoga can be taught with the proper techniques while adhering to standard safety guidelines. Teachers who are knowledgeable about the various styles of yoga can teach them with accuracy.
Furthermore, by having a regulatory body overseeing yoga studios, standards of practice are established to promote caliber and effective yoga instruction. With this, an additional form of accountability is created for those teaching, so that mistakes and dangerous practices can be avoided.
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For insurance purposes
In the United States, insurance companies require yoga instructors and studios to be certified to receive coverage for their services. This ensures that instructors are qualified and the studios are safe environments.
Insurance policies often include specific requirements such as background checks and safety protocols that must be met for the coverage to be granted. For example, some policies require instructors to be CPR certified while others may require the presence of an assistant during every class.
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To avoid legal liability
When it comes to regulating yoga, one of the primary motivations is to protect yoga teachers and businesses from potential legal issues. Yoga instructors need to be properly trained and certified in order to practice and yoga businesses need to have their facilities and classes up to certain standards. This helps protect everyone involved from legal liability in the event of an accident or injury, or if there is any kind of dispute or misunderstanding between a yoga student and the teacher.
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To protect the public
Along with the continued popularity of yoga comes the growing need for it to be regulated. It’s important to recognize the need for regulation in the yoga industry in order to protect the general public and ensure that instructors are qualified and experienced. By doing so, everyone who participates in yoga classes will be safe, well taken care of, and have access to quality yoga teaching.
Conclusion
Yoga is unregulated since no government body is in charge of qualifying and monitoring its instruction and practice. However, there is some form of self-regulation among yoga practitioners themselves. There is a couple of training that one can take to be certified and make it easier for them to look for students or be employed by yoga studios.
When yoga becomes regulated, yoga students can evaluate programs and studios more effectively and will be more safe and more secure in the practice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Whatever form of yoga one practices, the most critical requirement is self-discipline, without which no positive results can be seen. Self-discipline is referred to as ‘Tapas’ in the Patanjali Yoga Sutra. It is the desire to learn and the willingness to do the work.
The two important aspects of yoga are the element of patience and practice. Learning new body postures, correct alignment, and how to calm the mind takes time. It takes time and practice! These are two critical components that work in tandem.
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Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Yoga Fan
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online yoga business resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a yoga business owner in public at a studio or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Yoga Business Boss: I want to help future yoga business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.