National occupational standards for yoga teaching in the UK: what are your thoughts?

 

I feel inspired to write this post to share my thoughts on the issue of regulating yoga, and creating national occupational standards for the profession in the UK. I’ve been aware that there’s been a debate going on for quite a while about raising and regulating the standards in yoga teaching. I’ve just shared my opinion on the proposal that was created, but feel I was only able to voice a small proportion of my thoughts.

The short answer to all of these questions is yes of course it would be better if the standards were raised in yoga teaching. I don’t think many people can argue with this. So, the main issues are to do with how this happens, what does raising standards or regulating yoga  actually mean, and who should be involved in the decision making processes and which organisation is in charge or the regulations?

To summarise, YES, national occupational standards have the potential to be really great, but it seems the current proposal is missing some important points — the main one being that teaching yoga is diverse not just in the way it’s taught but also in it’s content. It is both a philosophy, as well as a physical practice that could be practised for many different purposes. It’s a hard one to pin down — but I’m sure it can be done, if the team creating the proposal is as diverse as the profession  of yoga itself.

Initial thoughts about raising standards

I’m relatively new to teaching yoga but this along with my website, is now my full time job. The question then is after my teacher trainings, did I feel fully qualified to teach and is there anything I’d change?

When I contacted someone about the proposal — as I’d just head about it a few weeks ago — I discovered that what was being proposed was assessment of performance on a job as opposed to regulating yoga teacher trainings.

When looking through the proposed document, I did actually agree with a lot of it — even if some of the Sanskrit had incorrect translations but that’s just me being fussy. However, I have some concerns about how it will work in practice. The main reason being that some people come to drop in classes at an arts festival for example, or community class, and may meet that teacher just the once.

Other teachers might work with the same students for decades on a one to one basis. These are just two very different ways of teaching — there are many more! The proposal didn’t seem to address how diverse teaching yoga is as a profession.

I outlined that there would need to be clear distinctions as to who is being taught, where they’re being taught and for how long — to name just a few things.

For me, I would find it very useful, for example, to know exactly what’s legally expected of me when it comes to teaching people one to one. I have a short health form for students to complete which also includes what they’d like to get out of their yoga sessions. This is completed prior to a taster session — after which I will then chat to that student about what they would like to get out of future sessions should they wish to continue.

Only one of teacher trainings accredited with REPS advocated having a form for participants to fill in. For this I’m really grateful because it allows me to address any issues or potential medical problems before the session. I understand though that giving screening in this way would just be inappropriate for a class that focused more on meditation or philosophy, or any classes that allow people to simply drop in with no long term goals. 

Addressing issues at the level of the teacher training

The next point I’d like to address is this — why are we focusing solely on assessing performance on the job, as opposed to addressing this issue at its root — yoga teacher trainings.

The truth is that many yoga teacher trainings globally will happily open their doors to people who have practised very little yoga themselves, and then award people a certificate to teach at the end.

You might ask why someone would do a teacher training with no experience. Many, however, do because they’re either travelling and treat the teacher training as a kind of retreat, or they’ve done a few classes and want to have a deeper more holistic experience of yoga. For some, doing a yoga teacher training might be the only way they feel they can really go into depth with yoga and make sure they’re doing everything correctly.

Some yoga teacher trainings also clearly state on their websites to attract students that their course is open to everyone. This in my opinion shouldn’t be allowed. If they really want to attract everyone then additional courses need to be created which aren’t teacher trainings. For example, in 2012, I spent a few weeks in a Sivananda ashram in Tamil Nadu where I practised yoga and meditation daily, and also learnt about yoga philosophy. Some of the content was similar to a yoga ttc — only there was no yoga teacher certificate at the end.

You can read about my experience at the Sivananda Meenakshi ashram here

Many yoga accrediting bodies could implement this really quickly right now, by asking all their yoga schools to state clearly on their websites and other promotional materials that students must provide evidence of a consistent yoga practice and have a reference from one of their teachers.

They could then take inspiration from Sivananda ashrams and provide two to three week yoga holidays for people who want to know more, so they’re not just irresponsibly dishing out certificates to people who’ve barely practised yoga. 

Is it OK for one organisation to regulate everything?

Actually, if it’s done fairly, I have no issue with one organisation overseeing yoga teaching standards. After reading the proposed plan, I can’t really comment on what this might mean for future yoga teachers, studio owners and others in the yoga community, because it didn’t go into specifics.

In theory, it sounds great, but does this mean that one organisation could then dominate the whole yoga community and then decide that in order to continue teaching or providing classes at your studio, additional courses have to be taken by this one organisation at an inflated price or irrelevant restrictions are places on some teachers? Who knows? 

The main thing to get right if national occupational standards were to be introduced, would be to first recognise how diverse the profession is. A different set of standards would then have to be created depending on how you teach. Otherwise, I just don’t see how you can have a one size fits all formula.

What might help my continued professional development?

In all honesty, even after over 800 hours of training, I still feel like I have a lot more to learn. It’s an endless subject that’s been shaped so many times and reinvented continuously, which is part of its beauty. I’ve outlined a few things that I feel would help my continuing professional development as a teacher in my first few years of teaching yoga. 

• A yoga mentor

Since I’ve started teaching, I’ve realised how useful having a yoga mentor would be. So many questions come up — that weren’t covered on my yoga teacher trainings. Having someone with more experience to talk to would be really useful. Maybe the different accrediting bodies could set something up on their websites. Are any yoga teachers reading this interested in being my mentor?

• Unity within the yoga community

I wish all the different yoga accrediting bodies and organisations could find peace and harmony and recognise one another. You might, for example, do a yoga workshop and gain CPD points, but the accrediting body for the course might be different to the one you’re registered with.  

• CDP hours and future courses

Despite taking two Level three anatomy and physiology exams in physiology for my first yoga teacher training in London, which took almost a year to prepare for, this is still my area of weakness. I know there are lots of CPD workshops and courses offered, but it’d be good if the different accrediting bodies could advertise courses in specific areas which were available to all teachers regardless of whether you’re accredited with a particular organisation or not.

For example, you could have a course that gave you the full yoga anatomy and physiology required to be a yoga teacher, then another one on everything you need to know about hands on adjustments, or yoga philosophy…

Final thoughts

To summarise, YES, national occupational standards have the potential to be really great, but it seems the current proposal is missing some important points — the main one being that teaching yoga is diverse not just in the way it’s taught but also in it’s content. It is both a philosophy, as well as a physical practice that could be practised for many different purposes. It’s a hard one to pin down — but I’m sure it can be done, if the team creating the proposal is as diverse as the profession  of yoga itself.

If you’re a yoga teacher in the UK, what are your thoughts? What did you think of the new plan for national occupational standards? Will this help or should issues be addressed at the level of yoga teacher trainings? Feel free to share your thoughts below.