We’ve written about it. Yoga Dork, Yoga Nation, and YogaCityNYC have also all written about it. And now the New York Times is getting into the game! The new trend of U.S. state governments attempting to regulate yoga studios’ teacher training programs in the form of licenses, registrations, and most significantly, fees, is finally gaining the attention of the mainstream media! Wowza. The issue is currently hitting a peak in New York, where the government there sent notices to eighty-one yoga studios in early May which ordered them to either apply for spendy operating licenses or to pay a $50,000 (that’s right – $50,000!) fine.
The NYT article makes the interesting point that the formation of the semi-controversial Yoga Alliance, a national organization which attempts to regulate and certify yoga teachers and yoga teacher training programs, has made the state regulators’ job much easier. The regulators have used the Yoga Alliance’s thorough databases to identify and contact all of the pertinent yoga studios in their states. Thanks, Yoga Alliance! 
In New York, however, yoga teachers have banded together and resisted the regulators’ move in an organized manner, and the government has backed down, at least temporarily.
But we wonder if this trend will spread to more and more states. Will it hit our home state of California, whose town of Santa Monica has often been referred to as the “yoga capital” of the country? What do you think? Collecting revenue from yoga studios will certainly bring some much-needed funds to our cash-strapped government. But is it correct to consider a yoga teacher training program a “vocational training school” along the lines of beauty schools and auto repair training programs? These are large questions which might help shape the scope of the yoga world over the coming years. It’s therefore extremely interesting to watch this current yoga regulatory issue play out on New York, and we’ll continue to keep you updated on our blog with the newest developments as they unfold!
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Thanks for the ping Drishti. Liked your post, nice and succinct.
I do think all states might eventually feel the sting of this kind of initiative. Let’s hope New York’s fight sets a precedent for other states and other yogis–not just to ward off the State, but to band together and promote yoga from the point of view of experts. Let experts take the reigns rather than bureaucrats or profit machines.
I think that is just a matter of time. Studios (myself included) that do teacher trainings ARE producing a industry that does interact with the public at large. I believe that a enforceable set of educational standards and perhaps regulation should be done.
The yoga industry as whole I would say agrees. Thus the forming of the Yoga alliance. I personally have never liked the yoga alliance. They to me do not represent an organization that can make difference to quality teacher trainings. Just the opposite in fact. Nearly anyone can get their training listed and it has become (once again in my opinion) a sub par registry.
By making Yoga teachers get licensed with a state, the state can enforce rules on the things that plague our industry. Such as unethical behavior, cleanliness, studio which develop a reputation for high rates of injury and so forth. Much as the state bar for attorneys.
No that being said, it would really not be fun having to pay all the fees, which is where I feel the most resistance comes from.
Hmmm… This debate about yoga studio regulation is extremely interesting – and not, it seems, a black-or-white issue. I have to admit that I agree with Brian’s point that yoga studios do qualify as organizations for whom regulation is somewhat justifiable. Teacher training programs do, after all, teach a trade for which people earn money, just like other government-regulated trade schools do (i.e. massage schools). I’m not sure whether yoga studio regulation will result in any tangible benefits for studios or their students, but is it less fair to impose regulation on yoga businesses than on massage schools?
The issue is further complicated by the involvement of the Yoga Alliance, which has always been a somewhat controversial organization. The government’s decision to regulate an industry is one thing, but the Yoga Alliance – a seemingly arbitrary assemblage of people who decided to step forward one day and self-regulate the yoga world (vigilantes…?) and whose actual effectiveness has been questionable – is another.
All of that said, it seems likely that the government has more to gain from regulating yoga studios than the yoga world itself does (i.e. $$$). And money is probably the main motivating factor on their part. And it’s also unprofessional and quite scary of the regulators to have sent sudden, unexpected “cease-and-desist or pay $50,000″ letters to NY yoga studios. That is no way to endear oneself to these unsuspecting business owners!
It’s clearly a complicated issue for an equally complicated yoga community. What will happen next, guys?