Food for thought, educate yourself; In 1997 an organization “Yoga Alliance”, (yogaalliance.org) decided they know better as a collective how an individual should be exposed to yoga. I certainly don?t want be judgmental or pessimistic since intentions may have been good natured but experience has taught me well over the years; when power, control and money are involved one should educate themselves.
Considering most of the people they recognize as yoga teachers are in my opinion, not, no, I do not buy into Yoga Alliance.
A MUCH stricter system needs to be setup if we’re going to self regulate. Because if we don’t self regulate, the government will step in and it won’t be pretty.
I’m still ambivalent on this question, but that article was one long, angry rant that I couldn’t bear to finish. They state that in requiring some study of the yamas and niyamas in teacher training, Yoga Alliance is attempting to regulate religious beliefs. Nobody is following us around to ensure that we live out these philosophies – they are just asking that we learn about them, as they form a basis of the path of yoga. What you actually do with the information, whether you choose to apply it to your life or not, is your choice. There’s a difference between education and proselytizing, and if someone is so afraid to even read about yogic philosophy in a classroom setting or give meditation a whirl, then I would hope that person doesn’t attempt to become a teacher of yoga.
What bugs me about Yoga Alliance is that it seems like they’re taking in a lot of money for the registry service they provide. If I register with them, I send them $100 or so and I get… an acronym? Where is the money going? What do they do all day? Their webpage entitled “What We Do” is as vague and uninformative as possible.
[QUOTE=David;53022]Considering most of the people they recognize as yoga teachers are in my opinion, not, no, I do not buy into Yoga Alliance.
A MUCH stricter system needs to be setup if we’re going to self regulate. Because if we don’t self regulate, the government will step in and it won’t be pretty.[/QUOTE]
A thought, but I?m thinking if it came to that I?d rather answer to the Feds then some organization appointing themselves experts, mostly because I?m confident the government would never have desire to regulate yoga, it?s similar to a martial arts instructor there is no regulations in any states that I know of. Even though yoga is the original physical exercise, psychology, living science, art, lifestyle, holistic system, spiritual path etc. etc. etc. most westerners view it as P90X or INSANITY, pun intended.
has anyone ever heard of FSC? the Forrest Stewardship Council? that little symbol you see on recycled paper and cardboard.
who were they a while back? they were just an organisation that said they’d be the ones to determine recycling standards and be a watchdog for the industry. Their influence is way wider than just paper including building products, wood flooring, windows, doors, etc.
all kinds of companies have to be certified with FSC if they want to say they have a certain level of environmentally friendly products. Many architects spec FSC certified products for their building projects.
who is UL or WHI when you look at the tag on your toaster or home stereo system anyway?
btw, there is a gov’t certification as well: LEED, Leadership in environment and energy design.
yoga class in the West isn’t really yoga anyway, we really need to start calling it asana class.
I?m not any authority on things Yoga nor the Yoga Alliance but I saw something similar happen years ago in a martial art I use to train called Taekwondo.
Now it is organization heavy and art light and the Orgs make big money and lay down all sorts of rules and change forms and those running it these days are generally not as well trained as those teaching it and they are the ones telling the teachers what they can and cannot teach. And it has degraded form a martial art to a sport
Just more to think about
I’m getting a bit more PO’ed at Yoga Alliance. I’m now taking a 500 hour training, and I was told by the studio director that I have to register my 250 hour certificate with YA to even be eligible to get my 500 hour certificate. Why would that be? Can they really bully people out of training programs and prevent us from getting certificates?
I?m against paying money to learn any yoga including the asana
I was thinking about joining the Yoga Alliance in Australia, because I thought “I had to” in order to teach.
I studied yoga in Sweden, and started teaching there as well. When I asked about joing the Australien Alliance they said that I had to spend like about 100 hours of religious texts ect.
I dont think they should force that unto anyone. I dont think it makes me any worse at teaching asanas if I havent read the whole behagda gita (sp?)
Of course this is my opinion since its subjective but the most inspirational, sincere and knowledgeable yoga instructors I?ve encountered have no affiliation with Yoga Alliance. I?ve had this discussion with others who personally know some of the grandfathers introducing yoga to western culture and they have noticed the same. A little research, self education and meditation may help uncover truth.
[QUOTE=ray_killeen;54545]Of course this is my opinion since its subjective but the most inspirational, sincere and knowledgeable yoga instructors I?ve encountered have no affiliation with Yoga Alliance. I?ve had this discussion with others who personally know some of the grandfathers introducing yoga to western culture and they have noticed the same. A little research, self education and meditation may help uncover truth.[/QUOTE]
Some of the best yoga schools in India are not registered with the YA. Bihar School of Yoga, Kaivalyadham, SVYASA.
[QUOTE=reaswaran;54549]Some of the best yoga schools in India are not registered with the YA. Bihar School of Yoga, Kaivalyadham, SVYASA.[/QUOTE]
True, and I hope they never do register. But they’re so well-known that it would be pointless for them to register anyway. It’s unknown individuals and small studios that benefit from registering, because people think RYT and RYS are some great indication of quality.
On one hand, I like the idea of the yoga community coming together to establish some standards, and I’d rather it be yogis than the government, but what’s happening instead seems to be little more than creating an unfair marketing strategy for those studios and individuals who jump on the bandwagon.
YA has pros and cons, but they must be doing something right to get so many people to register with them and be seen as the ‘standard’. Ifit were not YA there would be some other organisation doing the same trying to regulate & govern Yoga practice, actually there are several, just that YA is regarded by some as the best and probably most popular one.
[QUOTE=ray_killeen;54433]I?m against paying money to learn any yoga including the asana[/QUOTE]
Wise, Ray.
I just found out that YA has in fact prevented me from obtaining a 500 hour certificate until I register my 200 hours with them. I told the studio director that I don’t intend to register her certificate with them, that I only want the certificate, but because of her association with YA, I can’t even get her certificate without registering my previous training. That doesn’t seem right to me.
[QUOTE=Chitta Control;54345]has anyone ever heard of FSC? the Forrest Stewardship Council? that little symbol you see on recycled paper and cardboard.
who were they a while back? they were just an organisation that said they’d be the ones to determine recycling standards and be a watchdog for the industry. Their influence is way wider than just paper including building products, wood flooring, windows, doors, etc.
all kinds of companies have to be certified with FSC if they want to say they have a certain level of environmentally friendly products. Many architects spec FSC certified products for their building projects.
who is UL or WHI when you look at the tag on your toaster or home stereo system anyway?
btw, there is a gov’t certification as well: LEED, Leadership in environment and energy design.
yoga class in the West isn’t really yoga anyway, we really need to start calling it asana class.[/QUOTE]
Nice post. I have been doing asana for 10 years now and have just recently discoverd yoga and yoga is amazing. The asana today has been westernized and 90% of "yoga practitioners never even know what yoga is. I am doing techer training and will do my best to teach yoga through asana
It is good to have standards. If you had the choice to train with a YA facility or with one that didn’t have it I would choose the YA one. - Jasmine
Jasmine,
That depends on what kind of standards you are setting. The kind of standards you are setting may simply destroy the original spirit of what it is that you are representing - and that is precisely what has happened in yoga in the West. What was a ladder towards the divine has now been reduced to mere physical exercise. And naturally, one would rather become involved in something which is “certified”, because that satisfies your own ego and gives it a seal of approval.
But if you are interested in Truth, then certified or uncertified, it is irrelevant - Truth is not something you can receive a certification in.