As with anything, especially in the West, if it becomes popular then it will become capitalized on for people to make money. Money is not evil but often brings out the worst in us. Even ethical people have a hard time keeping up and being competitive when they have made yoga their living.
Yoga is vast and varies greatly from lineage to lineage. The National Institute on Health now recognizes yoga as a healing modality. So how does one determine what type of yoga to take or who to see? Is a hot vinyasa yoga class as healing as a private yoga therapy session with a certified yoga therapist? It depends on who you are and what you need.
Here I will try to clear up a bit about the difference in a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist.
In the U.S. yoga is not regulated. In some states yoga schools are regulated but yoga teachers are not. That means anyone can teach yoga, with or without training. Most reputable providers now recognize at minimum a 200 hour Registration with Yoga Alliance as the minimum to teach yoga. This means the teacher has had a basic teacher training with two hundred hours of training. A 500 hour registration means the teacher has had 500 total hours of training. A certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) has at minimum one thousand hours of training.
A yoga teacher can provide yoga that is therapeutic in nature. Many styles and types of yoga can be therapeutic as they can be mentally, physically and emotionally balancing. A yoga teacher can provide private yoga classes and small group yoga that has a goal of providing a better quality of life for the student.
Then what is a Yoga Therapist?
Some two hundred and three hundred (three hundred was once called five hundred because you add the hours together) schools are training people and saying they will be yoga therapist but they are not accredited with the International Association of Yoga Therapist or IAYT so they cannot apply for the C-IAYT credential. There is a big difference in being a member school and an accredited school. Accreditation means the school went through a rigorous process to achieve accreditation and was approved by IAYT. A member school simply pays a fee to be affiliated with IAYT.
However, teachers who graduate from those 200 or 300 hour schools may have training with a yoga therapy emphasis. I myself have a 500 hour program that is holistic in nature and teaches yoga teachers to work one on one and with individuals and in small groups in way that promotes safety and health and overall quality of life. I train many medical professionals to utilize yoga in their practice from doctors, social workers, psychologist, nurses, occupational therapist and more. I do train people to assess, work and provide private individualized instruction to address the needs of the client. However, Yoga Alliance will not allow me or anyone else to call a 300/500 hour program a Yoga Therapy school under YA accreditation. There is a lot of confusion on this because a 500 hour program just a few years ago was the highest credential in our field (though there were some programs out there offering yoga therapy until a few years ago there was no accreditation program).
IAYT is the credentialing source for Yoga Therapy Schools that want to offer an accredited program as a yoga therapist, this requires a total of 1000 hours of training, with at least 800 hours in the field of yoga therapy.
So what to do and how to know what credentials you need if you are wanting to provide yoga therapy and what if you want to be the recipient of yoga therapy?
If you are a yoga teacher and you want to work with people in a way that provides overall health and quality of life lets talk about how to do that ethically. Get training in the area you want to work. Lets say you want to work one one with students and keep them safe providing physical and mental balance. Then I would recommend saying something like "Jane Doe: 200 hour teacher providing classes and individual yoga sessions in the are of Trauma Informed Yoga" , assuming you had training in that area, or you might say "I work one on one with individuals to improve the quality of their life using yoga as a therapeutic modality".
How would that differ in what a Certified Yoga Therapist might say? "Courtney Butler: Certified Yoga Therapist working one on one with students offering yoga therapy." I could go on to say what specific areas I work with or put a link to my bio which gives my overall training and credentials.
Simply put as a yoga teacher or therapist only advertise what you are capable of and what you have been trained to do. Always be honest and ethical with a clear intent.
If you are a student wanting yoga therapy then you need to determine your needs. If you have run of the mill stress, anxiety and need to get in better shape but you are not limited by what you can do then you would be fine to find a "well trained" yoga teacher to take classes in a group or one on one. You should ask questions to find out their experience and what the class will look like. Let's say you are suffering from depression and want counseling but also would like someone to incorporate yoga. Many social workers are now being trained to incorporate yoga into their counseling practices.
If you are a person who has illness and has been limited by your doctor on what you can and cannot do then I would suggest you see a C-IAYT or someone with a medical background specific to your needs and yoga training. The International Association of Yoga Therapist has strict guidelines for what C-IAYT's must know and how much experience they have to have. For instance I was grandfathered in but had to provide at minimum ten years of documented experience in my field working one on one. I had to provide documentation of my training in the field of yoga therapy (I had over the 1000 hours) as well and had to be a registered yoga teacher (actively working) for over ten years (for me it was seventeen). Each grandfathered in teacher (only before summer of 2018, this is no longer available) had to prove competency. From this point out each C-IAYT needs to take an additional 800 hours of training on top of a 200 hour RYT to become a Certified Yoga Therapist with an accredited school.
As the field of yoga therapy grows IAYT leads the way in providing the highest standards. It is very likely in the near future yoga therapy will be much like chiropractic care and acupuncture and you will see yoga therapy offices that accept insurance. Those yoga therapist will likely be regulated in the future and will all hold a C-IAYT credential.
In closing, a yoga teacher with proper training can offer a class or a private session to help with many of life's challenges. If you have any type of disease, illness, bone weakness, neurological issues and your doctor or medical provide has recommended you try yoga therapy it would be good to look into someone who either has specific training in yoga and a related medical background or holds the C-IAYT credential. For instance I often train social workers, these folks are more than capable of helping using yoga and meditation techniques to deal with depression and anxiety. I am often sent clients though psychiatrist or neurologist with neurological issues they have not been able to resolve, I work daily with diabetics, cardiovascular patients, and those with cancer. If I am not available to work one on one with someone I will often find a qualified yoga teacher with a complimentary background or specialized training to help them or recommend another yoga therapist.
At the end of the day the responsibility lies on the student or client to do their research and homework and find the person they feel comfortable working with.
Sincerely,
Courtney Butler Robinson
C-IAYT
Stress Managment Specialist with the Dr. Dean Ornish Reversal Program
ERYT 500, RCYT, RPYT, POLY 500, Y12SR
RYS 200, RYS 300/500
Author of "The Mud & The Lotus: A Guide and Workbook for Students of Yoga"
