Yoga Teacher Training Forum

A Notice From Yoga Alliance - Maybe Things are Changing?

Texas Yoga Association Moves Yoga Closer to Exemption from Regulation in Texas

Late last week the leadership of TYA, working through their elected representatives in the Texas State Legislature, succeeded in getting a bill filed that will be the vehicle for exemption of yoga from state attempts to impose burdensome and intrusive regulation through the Texas Workforce Commission. Here is what Jennifer Buergermeister, Roger Rippy, and Willy Collins, of TYA said in an update:

"We wanted to bring you up to date on the latest developments in the effort to get YOGA exempted from the TWC's regulatory control. It has been a very long process, but we are finally going to get bills introduced that will take the issue to the Texas Legislature. Our first bill (Yoga Exemption Bill) should be ready to be filed later this week by Rep. Larry Phillips.Our second bill (Definition of Post-Secondary) should be ready to be filed early next week [Editor's note: this second bill has now been filed]. With the efforts of the Texas Yoga Association, and each and every one of you and with the help from Yoga Alliance, we are getting closer to reaching our goal of keeping Yoga free from Governmental control. There is much work to be done and we anticipate that the TWC and others will continue to push for regulation and will mount a strong challenge to these bills ... Things are looking up and let's cross our fingers and "yogi toes" that this bill becomes law exempting yoga regulation.

We would also like to thank John Matthews, current president from Yoga Alliance, for stepping forward to help us in our efforts. We were very proud to see YA come to our front yard and offer to be of service. Unity at its finest and gratitude is what we feel. Let's change the law Texas!"

Inappropriate Government Involvement in the Teaching and Practice of Yoga is a Concern for All of Us, Whether We Personally Feel an Immediate Threat or Not

Various departments of government in many states are looking to yoga schools as a new source of revenue in hard times, often invoking a public safety or consumer protection mandate as rationale. This has created a great deal of stress and hardship for many schools, particularly small schools. Because so many schools are small and operate at the margin of profitability, there is a very real fear that heavy handed and ill-informed regulation will drive out of business otherwise viable establishments that are needed to meet the growing public demand for competent instruction. If there are fewer schools there will be fewer teachers, and if there are fewer teachers there will be less yoga at a time when what is desperately needed is more yoga.

What Can You Do?

Stay Informed - If you teach or prepare others to teach, or if you practice and expect to be taught by someone knowledgeable and able, you need to know what the regulatory apparatus in your state looks like and whether it includes yoga within the scope of what it has authority over. If it does, you need to know whether it actively regulates yoga, considers yoga to be within its scope but has traditionally ignored yoga, or - most importantly - is considering or planning to move to a more aggressive regulatory posture towards yoga in your state.

Organize - Establish relationships with other schools and teachers in your state and develop pro-active plans to shape how and whether your state includes yoga in what it believes it has control over. Don't wait until the regulators have shown their hand. Our friends in Virginia, New York, Texas and elsewhere can tell you that once the state machinery is moving it is much more difficult to react. Don't wait until the wolf is at the door.

Educate your constituents - Make sure your students and your friends know what is at stake and find ways for them to be involved.

What Can Yoga Alliance Do?

Yoga Alliance sees this as a national issue that requires both national and state level strategies. We joined forces with TYA in Texas because it provided an opportunity for us to be helpful. There may be other opportunities in other states where we can also be helpful and if so we want to know about it.

We are working on a comprehensive catalog of state regulatory efforts that relate to yoga. When we are finished we will publish it and keep it updated on our website. You can help us with this project by providing information about the current state of regulation where you are. If the regulatory environment in your state is friendly or benign, please let us know so we have examples of what that looks like. Conversely, if you are being threatened by state regulators, let us know about that as well and we will reach out to leaders from the yoga community in your state to see if there is something that Yoga Alliance can do.