Yoga Alliance Professionals (YAP), the largest accrediting body for yoga training courses in the U.K., has standards which far surpass anything to be expected from Skills Active, an organisation more at home within the hairdressing and beauty sectors than the complex world of yoga. On their own admission, they know nothing about yoga, but have been approached by the British Wheel of Yoga (BWY), who, apparently unable to set their own standards, have joined forces in an attempt to gain some credibility.
It will be an uphill struggle for the duo, who already presented the bemused world of real yoga with an attempt to regulate yoga within the fitness industry, by forcing yoga teachers in gyms to join the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs). They now want to expand their territory to include all Yoga teachers. It’s a cosy little arrangement, with the BWY funding Skills Active with the long term aim of controlling who is allowed to teach yoga, and receiving substantial membership fees. In their last audit Skills Active had a deficit of £322,000, and the BWY has seen an epidemic of resignations from its board of directors.
Skills Active claim that they are embarking on a nationwide consultation, and yet to date have refused to provide YAP with any information or involvement in setting standards. They also claim to be consulting employers within the YOGA industry in each of the four nations. And yet Union Yoga Centre in Edinburgh, the largest yoga centre in Scotland, has heard nothing.
The duos less than transparent policy stands in stark contrast to YAP. YAP requires that training courses are taught by teachers with at least 8 years solid teaching experience. Instead of being prescriptive, training courses must provide detailed information on their course content to allow prospective students to make an informed choice. This encourages diversity and specialisation in what is a vast subject. The training course can be reviewed by its graduates. All this leads to both transparency and an increase in the quality of training.
In short, YAP is totally opposed to this dumbed down regulation of YOGA by two bodies with their own less than transparent agenda. It would be a sad day when YOGA is standardised along the same lines as hairdressing, beauty and caravanning.
