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What is Yoga Alliance Yoga Teacher
Certification, Anyway?
by Amanda Blackly

Yoga Alliance is the organization that sets standards for what constitutes a certified yoga instructor. Getting endorsement from Yoga Alliance as a registered yoga teacher gives important credibility and allows greater opportunities to teach.

As a body Yoga Alliance is an education and support network for yoga in the United States that works with the aim of providing greater understanding of yoga and its benefits to the public whilst ensuring that teachers value yoga history and traditions, and consequently vouch for quality instruction.

Established in 1999 from two volunteer organizations – Unity in Yoga (sponsoring national and international yoga conferences) and Ad Hoc Yoga Alliance (creating minimum standards for yoga teachers) the resulting fusion became Yoga Alliance.

The organization promotes mutual respect and support for the many different existing styles of yoga and has created a national Yoga teacher’s Registry to recognize and promote teachers whose training qualifications meet their minimum standards – eligible as Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT) or Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT).

A recognized yoga teacher training program (Yoga Alliance 200-Hour and 500-Hour) and schools with a curriculum satisfying and/or exceeding the minimum training standards may register with Yoga Alliance as a Registered Yoga School (RYS®). All graduates of a RYS are automatically eligible to register as RYTs.

Yoga Alliance also upholds a particular Code of Conduct that is a personal declaration of acceptable ethical and professional behavior in the teaching and business of yoga. It is intended as a basis for yoga principles.

For anyone thinking of training as a yoga teacher it is important to choose the right program. Registration with yoga alliance is indeed a quality guarantee but does not necessarily mean the program’s style, policies, timeline or the philosophy of its trainers will suit everyone. It is advisable to do a good amount of research and ask qualified teachers for their opinions about different schools.

To be Yoga Alliance certified the 200 hours of training must be undertaken with one yoga school so it is important to choose the training program carefully.

On completion of the program getting Yoga Alliance certified involves completing the RYT 200 application form and enclosing a copy of your yoga teacher training program certification program as well as the necessary fee (see www.yogaalliance.org).