YogaConnections

Update 2 – So, a friend, concerned with unintended consequences of naming names in this article, gently suggested changes. Her words were appreciated and well-taken. Yet, one also has responsibilities when there is a fox in the hen house. So, I’m guessing that anyone who stumbles across this blog who needs to know will know. Its not all that hard to guess and a little checking will take care of the rest. So, here it is – the blog on the great Texas Workforce Commission Yoga Teacher Training Maassacre!

So, a few weeks ago, I heard that a large Yoga business in Austin had complained to the Texas Workforce Commission that other yoga organizations around Texas were offering Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) without being approved as vocational schools. The company that complained was already approved by the TWC to offer the teacher training and evidently, through their effforts, several yoga teacher training programs in Austin had already been forced to close their doors because they couldn’t sustain the ongoing costs and burdens of being regulated by the state. A quick check at the time revealed that there were only two  YTT programs in Austin that had been approved by the TWC. Of course there were rumors about which one it was, but since I had no evidence other than rumor, I wasn’t going to gossip. It would be a fairly damning accusation to make against a yoga program and with no evidence it seemed wrong to spread information that might not be true.

Well, this weekend, I attended the Texas Yoga Conference, a production of the Texas Yoga Association. Part of that conference included an open meeting with the TWC with a question and answer session. At that meeting, XXX made it clear that he supported the efforts of the government to regulate yoga teacher training programs and criticised all of the other members of the Texas Yoga Association who were unanimously opposed to the regulation. I guess that removed all doubt from my mind about whether the rumors about XXX involvement in these events were true. I found XXX behavior disappointing on a personal level. I’ve met him a couple of times and taken a class from him at XXX in Austin. I’ve enjoyed most of the classes I’ve taken at XXX and I’m having a hard time reconciling the XXX I met before, with one who would do what he has evidently done.

To be clear, XXX is entitled to his own ideas about how to run his own business and more power to him. My objection is the choice to involve multiple other businesses without consulting them and without considering what harm might be done to them. OK – that is just naive huh?  I think we have to conclude that the harm was well-considered and inflicted intentionally. A government agency was used as a tool in this striving for dominance in the business of yoga. Yoga is about union – coming together as one to create a better world of mind, body and spirit. What was done has driven a wedge between XXX, XXX and virtually all of the other yoga studios in Texas.  I can’t imagine ever taking another class from XXX. I can’t ever imagine wanting to work for an organization like that either. I wonder how the yoga teachers who work there now will feel when they find out what their business has become? How sad.

If I was going to end with a pithy, snarky remark, it would be something like:  ”If you believe what you preach, Karma is real dude.” Or “Maybe, it really is only Riches that matter.” Instead, I have a wish for XXX. I hope XXX and the others at XXX who made this decision will take some time to meditate on the consequences of what they have done to the Yoga community. Was it what they intended? How do they really feel about it now?  Did it create light, love, happiness? Was it just more competitive cruelty? What does the world need more of?

Namaste’

Scott

Update: Questions about this post have been submitted back channel. Here are some answers:

Q. Will regulation by the state affect the quality of the trainers of Yoga Teachers in Texas? 

A. No, the regulations have no standards for such teachers. Since programs of 24 hours or less are not included in the regulations, the type of program that the Yoga Alliance was established to protect against will be at a competitive advantage compared with those who voluntarily trained students according to the YA standards. Lax programs with low standards may continue to train teachers while those with higher standards may have to close, as several already have in Austin.

Q. Will regulation affect the curriculum of Yoga Teacher Training Programs.

A. No. The TWC hasn’t the slightest clue about what should be included in YTT curricula.

Q. Does it regulate yoga teachers?

A. No. Anyone can call themselves a yoga teacher.

Q. Is it possible that XXX was just trying to protect the quality of teacher training programs in Texas?

A. No. XXX teacher training programs use the same Yoga Alliance standards for their training programs as every program they identified to the TWC. Yoga Yoga had other alternatives, such as working with other studios if they had these kinds of concerns. They failed to utilize those options. This was not a move with or for others in the yoga community, it was a move against others in the yoga community.

Q. Is there any data on the comparative effectiveness of YTT programs offered by different programs?

A. No. Assumptions that any organization has superior programs are unfounded. Such claims are biased and uninformed.

Q What is it about the regulations that Yoga Studios find so onerous?

A. The cost is comparatively high for smaller programs. Regulations call for extensive, repetitive, ongoing paperwork, audits and financial statements that will require significant time and money to produce. Training programs must have regular site visits from regulators and every location where students learn or engage in practica must be evaluated individually and each one requires a full application, including fees and ongoing renewal fees. Regulations also allow for TWC to hire outside “experts” to evaluate curricula and trainer’s qualifications. There are over 20 different major types of yoga practiced in the United States and there is much variation within each school. YTT programs are rightly concerned about the possibility of being regulated by unqualified bureaucrats.

Q. Do the regulations favor one type of program over others?

A. Yes. Because each director and teacher in a program must be approved and they each must pay initial and ongoing renewal fees, large programs with high teacher/student ratios and low-wage support staff find the regulations far more affordable. Yoga Teachers have traditionally been trained in small groups or individually with a lot of personal and individualized attention. Because yoga is practiced in many different types of environments, high quality programs have arranged practica in a variety of community-based, public and private locations. Programs with individualized approaches, tailored to the needs of their students are at a distinct disadvantage. Large, cookie-cutter programs that provide the same training regardless of the actual needs of their students fit very well with the current regulatory scheme.

Q. If teaching yoga is a career and career schools are regulated, why shouldn’t yoga be regulated too?

A. The vast majority of yoga teachers teach yoga as an avocation and have other full-time jobs and/or other sources of support, such as a spouse or partner. Many students who complete the training only do so to deepen their own practice and never have any intention to teach. YTT programs do not train people to make a living teaching yoga. They deepen a yogi’s understanding of Yoga and help them develop leadership skills. What the yogi does with the training is up to the yogi. Few ever make a living at it. It is also true that many similar types of programs are exempted – not by the law, but by internal TWC decisions. The list of informally exempted programs includes aerobics instructors, dance instructors, martial arts instructors and personal trainers. Why would yoga teacher training be regulated when these are not?

Q. Doesn’t making everyone fit into the same box benefit yoga anyway?

A. Only if you like Walmart Yoga.