Shelly Thorn. Do we need to pay American Yoga Alliance?

Basic Facts

1. Yoga Alliance does not certify yoga teachers nor does it provide accreditation of trainers or training schools. Yoga Alliance does not assess or certify teaching competency. It provides a registry, which is a list.
2. Neither teachers nor trainers are required to be registered with Yoga Alliance or any other organization.
3. Teaching and studio insurance may be obtained without Yoga Alliance (or any other) registration.

Registration is Not Accreditation or Certification

Definitions

• Accreditation = the action of officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity, or the acknowledgement of a  person’s responsibility for or achievement of something
• Certified = officially recognized as possessing certain qualifications or meeting certain standards
• Registered = entered or recorded on an official list or directory

Yoga Alliance is a Registry

Yoga Alliance does not certify yoga teachers nor does it provide accreditation of trainers or training schools.

The YA registry amounts to a digital rubber stamp or paid advertising. – J. Brown

• Yoga Alliance is a registration service.
• A registration is an “official list or directory.” Registration does not mean “approved,” “certified” or “accredited.”
• In the case of RYS (registered yoga school), a trainer completes an application and submits a fee. If the application is accepted, the trainer may use a YA logo, receive group discounts on some purchases, and access video workshops.
• Trainers are required to pay $240 annually and re-apply every three years.

Problem

1. Yoga Alliance has come to be known in the public eye as a standard bearer for yoga teachers in the United States – in effect, a stamp of legitimacy.
2. However, from 1999 to 2019, Yoga Alliance registered teachers without actually requiring knowledge or competency standards.
3. The new standards announced to take effect February 2020 will not be measured or enforced by Yoga Alliance. Rather, Yoga Alliance charges trainers with responsibility for teacher competency while offering little in the way of resources or support to do so. Instead, they require a burdensome application process with demanding documentation requirements, fees and processing time.

Outcomes

1. It’s a verifiable fact that being on the Yoga Alliance registry has no relationship to teaching competency. Any value provided by the list must therefore be in perceived legitimacy and market value. We must presume that legitimacy and market value is based on a misperception that Yoga Alliance “certifies” teachers and that Yoga Alliance recognition has some relationship to teaching competency or professionalism.
2. The Yoga Alliance registry categorizes all teachers by a few “levels” based entirely on hours accounted through Yoga Alliance bureaucracy. This hours-based model is a shameful misrepresentation of actual teaching competency which is unrelated to the bureaucratic requirements. As such, teachers with few skills are represented in the Yoga Alliance registry as being on par with far more capable, even elite, teachers.
3. The knowledge of highly qualified teachers is unrecognized within the Yoga Alliance system. These teachers are instead burdened with an hours-based bureaucracy that depletes their time and finances that presumably could be used in legitimate pursuits of study and teaching.
4. Teachers and continuing ed providers who have received such “credentials” as RYT and E-RYT have been less impacted by the Yoga Alliance burdens than those who apply to be on the trainer registry (RYS) which incurs much greater fees and paperwork requirements.

Moving Forward: Your Options

1. Consider whether you wish to perpetuate the false narrative that Yoga Alliance registry is in any way related to competency or legitimacy. In other words, every time an organization states that they or their teachers are “certified by,” “accredited with” or “approved by” Yoga Alliance, they are perpetuating a myth.
2. Be aware that you are not required to register with Yoga Alliance and that you have alternatives.

Alternatives to Yoga Alliance registration include:

1. Participate in existing certification programs such as Iyengar, Ashtanga or International Association of Yoga Therapists.
2. Highlight your roots and education such as the Krishnamacharya lineage, Kripalu or Para Yoga-trained and so on.
3. Create your own certification process. In other words, if you teach ABC Method, you can certify that your teachers are qualified to teach the ABC Method.
4. Develop or choose alternative registration services.
5. A volunteer board is discussing ideas for moving forward. If you would like to participate, please email Coleman.
6. Due to the advisement and request of trainers, Yoga Teacher Central will launch an accreditation service  on Nov 1st as one option for trainers to choose from.

For More Information

For more information on Yoga Alliance alternatives, see: Registration, Certification, Accreditation: Why You Don’t Need to Pay the Yoga Alliance Fees

I call on all beings of the highest vibration to walk with us as we shine light on unjust systems and create new models of empowerment that will serve the coming generations. You, yoga teachers, are inspiring individuals to experience inner transformation, which then transforms our world. Bless you!

Sincerely, Shelly

Original article