THE CONVERSATION: What are the pros and cons of testing? Who should take an exam, how would it be administered, and how frequently? For example, should yoga schools be required to administer a practicum exam?

Standards Review Project Survey: Attitudes and Beliefs of Yoga Professionals and Practitioners Worldwide 2018, Edge Research.

Through the Integrity working group, the following recommendations (among others) were shared with Yoga Alliance:

• Yoga Alliance should vet all RYS curricula, Teacher Trainer credentials and biographies, assessment methods, and other operational elements at the time of application and recredentialing
• RYSs should teach what they say they will teach, ensure physical and emotional safety of their students, meet legal requirements, and promote inclusion
• Teacher Trainers* should have a baseline credential above and beyond an RYT 200
• Practitioners should have some baseline of practice before entering an RYS

To learn more about this working group’s recommendations, please download the Integrity Working Group Paper here. As a reminder, Yoga Alliance brought together a diverse spectrum of expert advisory voices to maximize the perspectives and resources within this area of inquiry. They represented one stream of input in the process, albeit an important stream.  We thank them for their participation and dedication.

Note: these working group papers provide expert recommendations to Yoga Alliance and the yoga community for consideration as the Standards Review Project continues. They are not prescribed actions but rather insights from an experienced and dedicated group of subject matter experts. They were written by an independent third party. At this point in time, no decisions have been made regarding standards updates, and we welcome and encourage your feedback and comments regarding the entirety of the SRP process.

Advisors In This Group:

Lorena Saavedra Smith

Lorena Saavedra Smith, E-RYT 200, YACEP, MRT is an expert yoga teacher, Reiki Master, wellness coach, and the founder of Hanaq Prana Yoga Studios & School in Tampa, Florida. Recently relocated to the Washington, DC area under her husband’s military orders, Lorena ...
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Heather Haxo Phillips

Heather Haxo Phillips, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500 is a restorative yoga and certified Iyengar yoga teacher based in Berkeley, California. She is the owner of Adeline Yoga and has been teaching for nearly 20 years. Heather is the director and lead instructor of ...
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Nikki Myers

Nikki Myers, MBA, C-IAYT yoga therapist, somatic experiencing practitioner, addictions recovery specialist, and certified health coach is an accomplished speaker, teacher and practitioner. Born from her personal struggle with addiction, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, the Yoga of 12-Step Recovery. Based in its theme ...
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Kelli Moore

Kelli Moore, Ph.D., RYT 200 appreciates contemplative practices, which she attributes to her engagement in Quakerism. In 2008, she began an insight meditation practice. By 2015 she decided to unite her interest in an active and healthy lifestyle with her interest in contemplative practices and decided to become a yoga ...
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Cyndi Lee

Cyndi Lee is the first female Western yoga teacher to fully integrate yoga asana and Tibetan Buddhism in her practice and teaching. Founder of NYC’s OM Yoga Center (1998-2012), a mecca for yogis worldwide, Cyndi now teaches throughout the US, Asia, and Europe ...
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Judith Hanson Lasater

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D. in East-West Psychology and a physical therapist, has taught yoga around the world since 1971.  She is a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco, CA, and of Yoga Journal magazine. Ms. Lasater trains yoga ...
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Justin Jetton

Justin Jetton, MA, MS, RYT 500 is a vinyasa flow yoga teacher and a certified sexual assault response coordinator. He is the owner of Light Lizard Yoga, a visiting teacher at Kripalu, and has been teaching yoga for the past 8 years ...
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Jacci Gruninger

Jacci Gruninger, E-RYT 500, RPYT, YACEP, C-IAYT, MHS is a Santa Fe based yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and educator. Jacci feels she has been on a journey of awareness and awakening her whole life, and states that she was practicing “yoga” before she ever ...
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Phindile Dhlamini

Phindile Dhlamini-Motshegwa, RYT 200, is an avid yoga practitioner with over a decade of practice and experience. Her area of interest primarily revolves around the yoga eco-system and the diverse communities that make up the industry. She is exploring her ...
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Julie Chavanu

Julie Chavanu, RYT 500 is the founder of Find Your Voice Yoga Teacher Training and is dedicated to helping people not just learn to teach yoga, but to find and share their unique voice in teaching. She is a yoga teacher, ...
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Kelley Carboni-Woods

Kelley Carboni-Woods is a writer, wellness advocate, and community organizer committed to using the tools and philosophies of yoga to cultivate liberation, joy, and peace for herself and others. Her connection to the living practice of yoga—a path of mindful wellness and ...
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Dianne Bondy

Dianne Bondy is a celebrated yoga teacher, social justice activist and leading voice of the Yoga For All movement. Her inclusive view of yoga asana and philosophy inspires and empowers thousands of followers around the world – regardless of their ...
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Steven Bishop

Steven Bishop, RYT-500, received both his 200 hour and 500 hour yoga training in India from Sampoorna Yoga School. He has also studied under a variety of teachers in the United States in the Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Yin yoga styles as well as Piyo, ...
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Diane Alarcon

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