Terms Of Use



Yoga Alliance Professionals
Terms of Use Document 


1. Acceptance of Terms


By using this website (directory.yogaallianceprofessionals.org and https://www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org/) and joining Yoga Alliance Professionals as a member, you agree to comply with our Terms and Conditions, shown in this Terms of Use (TOU) document. To maintain membership privileges, you agree to follow our terms and conditions. 


Please note that this document will refer to our website as use of the 'Service'.

By applying for a new membership or renewing your membership, you confirm that all the information you have given is 100% accurate. If you falsify any information, you understand that Yoga Alliance Professionals may cancel your account without a refund.

When using this Service and joining Yoga Alliance Professionals, you agree to abide by any applicable posted guidelines, which may change occasionally. If you object to a term or condition detailed or future modifications made to them, your recourse is to discontinue using this Service and cancel your membership.

2. Modifications to this Agreement

At our sole discretion, we reserve the right to change, modify or otherwise alter these terms and conditions at any time. Such modifications shall become effective immediately upon the posting thereof. You must review this agreement regularly to keep yourself apprised of any changes.

This agreement is valid until you cancel your membership or account. 

3. Membership Fees 

Prices are as stated on directory.yogaallianceprofessionals.org at the time of purchase. Membership fees are paid upfront, and use of the Service is activated when you meet the conditions of the membership. Renewal payments are automatically deducted annually from the card on file unless you inform us to cancel your membership. 


Membership fees are reviewed annually. 

Membership products are reviewed frequently and we reserve the right to amend or enhance them at any time. 


4. New Teachers


4.1 Membership application from Teachers who completed a Non-Accredited Training Course

We will verify that your teacher training course meets our standards before we proceed with your application. We may contact your trainer to ensure that their course meets our standards. 

We will cancel your application if your training does not meet our standards. A refund will be given minus a £25 administration fee to cover the costs of verifying your certification. Please ensure you know our training course standards before finalising your application.


4.2 Training Certificates

We use your teacher training certificate to check your qualifications and will input relevant information into our system. We will not keep an electronic or paper copy of your certificate. 

4.3 New Business Payment Received (All applicants)

Once your payment is received, you have seven days to update your Yoga Alliance Professionals website profile. If applicable, we request that you upload your membership logo to your website and social media (yoga-related only) during these seven days. It is your responsibility to ensure before completing the application that you have access to the back end of your website to upload this information.

We will activate your membership when you notify us that your profile is complete. Your profile will appear on our site, and if purchased, we will activate and issue your insurance documents. We aim to do this within two working days.


4.4 Your Profile


We use your necessary information (name and membership level) to make a profile on our website (excludes Trainee Members). You must complete other information, such as a biography, photograph, contact details and location. The address you submitted during the application process is kept confidential. However, for your profile to be searchable by members of the public, we advise entering the city and country where you teach.

Your profile must be 100% complete before we activate your membership, which makes it live on our website. The profile is your opportunity to advertise your yoga teaching and is visible to members of the public. It is your responsibility to update your profile regularly.

If you prefer your profile not to be visible to the public,  please contact us on 0131 659 9922.

4.4.1 Profile Content

You are solely responsible for your conduct and any data, text, files, information, usernames, images, graphics, photos, profiles, audio and video clips, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, links and other content or materials that you submit to Yoga Alliance Professionals, post or display on our social media. You must have full legal copyright permission to use any content stated above.

4.5 Membership Dates and Insurance

Membership and insurance dates will run in line and be on auto-renewal every year after that. Your membership expiry date will end one day before the date you paid the following year. For example, if you pay to join Yoga Alliance Professionals on 23rd January 2023, your renewal payment will be charged on 22nd January 2022. 

Your membership and insurance (if purchased) will be dated from when you paid. However, it is only activated when we validate that you qualify to join Yoga Alliance Professionals and have completed your profile.

4.6 Members with their own Insurance

We strongly recommend that you refrain from running two insurance policies as they may invalidate each other in case of a claim. You can pay at any time to add insurance to your membership. 

4.7 Teachers Running Teacher Training Courses

Teachers running Teacher Training Courses (TTC) should have them accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals. If you are not an SYT or your course does not meet our standards, we cannot offer you membership.

4.8 Receiving Membership Documents and Logos

Yoga Alliance Professionals will send your insurance documents to the email address provided in your application. They are issued once your membership is activated. 

Your Membership Logo is on your profile.

4.9 What we expect

You always agree to keep the Yoga Alliance Professionals logo on your website homepage and social media at a visible size. Your logo has a reverse link to your profile on www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org.

We spot-check members' websites for logos and look at the events our members run. If we find our logos (and reverse links) are not on your website, your membership and insurance may be suspended.

It is legally required to display your full name and business address on your website. We highly recommend that you do this.

You must positively promote Yoga Alliance Professionals at all times and agree never to misrepresent Yoga Alliance Professionals at any time. If we investigate you for the misrepresentation of Yoga Alliance Professionals, you agree to provide all and any information we require to conduct an investigation, including your students' details. For GDPR purposes, the data is used only for that investigation. We reserve the right to suspend or cancel a membership at any time.

5. Teacher Membership Renewal


All memberships are set to auto-renew each year. If you do not wish to be on auto-renewal, it is your responsibility to inform Yoga Alliance Professionals in writing when you make your application.

To maintain your membership with Yoga Alliance Professionals and continue to use the accreditation logo/s, you must renew your membership on an annual basis. Renewal Membership fees will be billed annually to the credit or debit card we hold on file and in the amount of the current Membership Fee. Should your credit or debit card expire or change you must inform us of your new card details, to prevent any breaks in your membership.

Yoga Alliance Professionals will notify all members in the month before their renewal date to remind them of the upcoming renewal charge.

5.1 Cancelling Renewal

If you do not wish to renew your membership, you must call the office and speak to a team member. We require 14 days' notice before your renewal date. Otherwise, your payment will go through, and you will pay the full renewal fee. 

If you wish to cancel after a renewal payment has gone through and you ask for a refund within the 14-day cooling-off period, we can only offer a refund less a £25 administration fee. Should you wish to change the card your renewal payment was taken from after the payment has been made, the refund and recharge will be subject to a £25 admin fee to cover admin costs and bank fees. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals will remove your profile on our website when you cancel your membership. You will no longer be eligible to display our logos or have links to Yoga Alliance Professionals on your website and marketing material.

If you apply and pay for a new membership, while you already have a membership, we will refund you minus a £25 administration fee, this is to cover our time and banking fees. 


5.2 Pricing and Dates

Yoga Alliance Professionals reserves the right to change membership products and annual renewal fees anytime throughout the year. We will advise members of any changes by email 28 days before changing.

An automatic renewal extends the current membership expiry date by one year. The renewal term begins the day the renewal payment has been taken, provided you meet our renewal criteria.

5.3 Renewal Criteria for Teachers

You must have an up-to-date profile on our website, which is 100% complete.

You must always display your membership logo on your website and social media if applicable.

5.4 Expired Memberships

If your membership expires, we will suspend your membership for a period of 7 days. During this time, you can access your profile on our website. If you renew your membership within the suspension period, your new membership will start from the original expiry date, provided you meet the renewal criteria detailed above. 

If you renew after the seven days have elapsed, you must reapply as a new member and pay the current new member prices. The new Membership term starts on receipt of the new payment. 


5.5 Members renewing in the UK and Ireland

Be aware that continued insurance coverage is subject to the assumption that there have been no changes to your circumstances. Please refer to the questions noted in Section 12 of this Terms of Use document. 

6 Membership Cancellation & Refund Policy

6.1 New Business

From the day after you pay for your membership, we offer a cooling-off period of 14 days. You can change your mind for any reason and request to cancel your membership.

If we have started to process your membership application during the cooling-off period, then an administration fee of £25 will be deducted from your refund. Note this includes verifying that your Teacher Training Course meets our standards. 

After these 14 days, we have a strict no refund policy under any circumstances. If you wish to cancel your membership after this time, we will do this without a refund.

6.2 Renewals

If you do not wish to renew your Yoga Alliance Professionals membership, you should complete the cancellation form. We require at least 14 days' notice before your renewal date.

From the day after you pay for your renewal, we offer a cooling-off period of 14 days. You can change your mind for any reason and request to cancel your membership. 

We will, however, withhold an administration fee in the event of a cancellation to cover our time and bank charges. 

After these 14 days, we have a strict no refund policy under any circumstances. If you wish to cancel your membership after this time, we will do this without a refund.


6.3 All Teachers

After receiving a membership cancellation request, we will remove your profile from our website. You will receive a follow-up email confirming your cancellation, where you can decide whether or not to remain on our mailing list. 

You must remove your membership logo and any references to Yoga Alliance Professionals from your website, social media and marketing materials. 

If you have falsified any part of your application, Yoga Alliance Professionals reserves the right to cancel your account without a refund. 

Should your Teacher Training Certificate be revoked by your trainer, your membership of Yoga Alliance Professionals will be cancelled, with no refund.

6.4 Yoga Alliance Professionals Right to Cancel or Suspend a Membership


We will cancel your application if you apply from a teacher training course that does not meet our standards. Yoga Alliance Professionals will refund your application fee minus a £25 administration fee. Refunds can take 5-10 days to reach your account. 

As a private members organisation, we reserve the unconditional right to suspend, withdraw, terminate, amend or restrict access to some parts of the Services, or to the Services entirely, to you at any time immediately without notice for any reason and without liability to you. Possible actions which could lead to suspension of a Membership (this list is not exhaustive):

  • You break our standards by running a teacher training course without meeting the level of SYT;
  • You run a Teacher Training Course that does not meet our minimum requirements;
  • You are not fully compliant with our membership requirements;
  • There are ongoing or frequent complaints from students who attend your classes/workshops/events;
  • You make either defamatory comments or slanderous remarks about Yoga Alliance Professionals, either verbally or written within  the public domain;
  • You act aggressively towards a member of the Yoga Alliance Professionals team;
  • You have not complied with any part of these Terms of Use (including not making payment of membership fees);
  • You have breached confidentiality or infringement of our intellectual property rights by you or a third party. 

All membership cancellations must remove logos and references to Yoga Alliance Professionals from their websites, social media and all marketing material.

7. 
Trainer Pros/Studios/ADW/Coach Memberships

7.1 New Business Application Process for Trainer Pros

You must make yourself available during the application process by telephone, as we need to discuss your application. Failure for us to contact you during this period will result in a cancellation of the application. 

 Trainer Pros should submit all required documentation within 14 days of the payment date (unless otherwise agreed). We will then check these over and strive to provide feedback to you within seven days. We may ask for changes to your documentation so they fit in with our standards. You will have seven days to make the required amendments in this event. We may cancel your application if you do not make the revisions.

We reserve the right to request a copy of all documentation (including the entire course manual) at any time throughout your membership.

If you fail to send in the documentation, or make the final payments to set up the Trainer Pro membership we will cancel your application. The £249 application fee is non-refundable under any circumstances.

We have sample documentation, which we can provide. We use our best endeavours to ensure that all information we provide is up-to-date. However, you should not rely on the information provided as the sole basis for making business, legal or other decisions. You should seek appropriate independent advice before making any such decisions.

You understand that you are responsible for ensuring all course documentation adheres to your country's laws.

7.2 Profile Completion

Once we have approved your documentation, you must complete your profile page (100% complete). You will also need to upload your membership logo onto your website and social media and add course dates to our website. You will have seven days in which to do this.

Your profile will go live when you have updated your profile and logos. At this time, your profile will become searchable to the public. 

It is a requirement that all course dates show on the Yoga Alliance Professionals website.

7.3 All Trainer Pro Criteria

A Trainer Pro must meet the following criteria before their profile page is activated:

  • Submit all required documents, and these must meet our requirements;
  • Complete your profile page (100%);
  • Display your Yoga Alliance Professionals membership logo on your website (home and teacher training pages). The source code links back to your profile page on our site;
  • Post your membership logo on your social media accounts; 
  • Agree to share your Trainee and Graduates details with Yoga Alliance Professionals; refer to points 7.4.1 and 7.4.2 below;
  • Include in your Terms and Conditions that you will pass on your trainee and graduate details to Yoga Alliance Professionals and why you are doing so. We suggest that you include the following text - 

"As a student of your training course, I consent to …………  passing my contact details (name, email and phone number) onto your partners, Yoga Alliance Professionals. I allow them to contact me directly and invite me to register as a Trainee and Teacher. I understand that I can opt out of this registration process. ………..  is/are satisfied that Yoga Alliance Professionals have appropriate and adequate technical and organisational measures to protect your data's security. They will never share your data with anybody else".

  • Provide or show any Yoga Alliance Professionals marketing material to your trainees during the course and actively encourage them to join Yoga Alliance Professionals;
  • Ensure the registered Senior Yoga Teacher(s) (SYT) has an active and valid membership with us at all times;
  • Add the accredited syllabus to your profile page and your website;
  • Agree to upload ALL training courses to the events page on the Yoga Alliance Professionals website;
  • Trainer Pros based in the UK and Ireland must provide evidence of public liability insurance under the company name;
  • All courses must have a pass/fail assessment process with steps in place for students who fail to get up to an appropriate level and be able to be re-assessed;
  • If a student fails, the Trainer Pro must supply sufficient and reasonable support to allow the student to be re-assessed at a later date, not more than one year after the initial assessment;
  • Encourage graduates to review your course on the Yoga Alliance Professionals website.


7.4 Notes for Trainees And Graduates

7.4.1 Trainee Details


Trainer Pros must send a list of their Trainee names, email addresses and telephone numbers seven days before the course start date (Foundation Courses only). We will contact them with details of their free Trainee membership and information about upgrading their membership to include Trainee Insurance. Insurance is only available to Trainees in the UK and Ireland.

Please provide trainees with information about Yoga Alliance Professionals at the start of the course.

Trainee members will not be given a searchable profile on our website. Yoga Alliance Professionals does not normally issue Trainees with a membership logo. If a trainee is teaching a class and has a trainee membership with Yoga Alliance Professionals insurance, we can give a logo upon request. 

The Trainee Membership runs for the duration of a Teacher Training Course for (up to) 18 months. Upon course completion, we require Trainers/Trainer Pros to confirm whether they have graduated. 


Sharing of Trainee Details 

All Trainers/Trainer Pros must inform Graduates (in their Terms and Conditions) that they will pass their names, email addresses, and telephone numbers to Yoga Alliance Professionals. We will not give their details to a third party. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals will contact them with a free trainee membership and send them information that may benefit them. Yoga Alliance Professionals will also contact them upon graduation to gather data about the course. 

We suggest that you include the following text in your Terms and Conditions:  

"As a student of your training course, I consent to …………  passing my contact details (name, email and phone number) onto your partners, Yoga Alliance Professionals. I allow them to contact me directly and invite me to register as a Trainee and Teacher. I understand that I can opt out of this registration process. ………..  is/are satisfied that Yoga Alliance Professionals have appropriate and adequate technical and organisational measures to protect your data's security. They will never share your data with anybody else".

Trainee Insurance

There are some limitations to the Trainee insurance policy:

  • They can teach a maximum of 2 classes per week;
  • They can teach up to 2 hours per week, and the 2 hours can be split in any way, e.g. teach two one-hour classes or one, one and half hour class;
  • They must have their Principal Teachers (SYT) permission before starting to teach and keep in regular contact with them regarding the class structure and feedback;
  • They must make all students aware that they are a trainee teacher and are not fully qualified;
  • They may charge a fee for students to attend the class, but this should be less than a fully qualified teacher would charge.


7.4.2 Graduate Details


All Trainer Pros must confirm whether their trainees have graduated within seven days of the course end date. A confirmation list of graduates, documenting name, email address and phone number, is required. We require a revised graduation date for those who did not pass. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals will contact all graduates once they have confirmation of successful course completion. We will gather data on whether they recommend the course, teacher and ask for feedback. They will also be able to upgrade their membership to become a teacher. 

7.5 Course Principal Teacher

All accredited Foundation, Specialist and Further Training courses must have a Yoga Alliance Professionals teacher as the Principal Teacher, at SYT designation at all times. The Principal Teacher can only be changed with prior written notification to us. 

The Principal Teacher must teach at least 70% of the course contact hours. 

7.6 Contact Hours and Course Prerequisites

All Trainer Pros must ensure their courses adhere to the following points:

  • You must confirm that ALL contact hours are face-to-face. You can run courses online, the hours must be live, pre-recorded courses are not permitted;
  • All contact hours must be in a dedicated environment and not be open to the public;
  • All courses must meet the minimum contact hours. If you want to change the course contact hours, please get consent from Yoga Alliance Professionals;
  • You must not alter any course content details without prior notice to Yoga Alliance Professionals, including assessment criteria;
  • All students accepted on to a Foundation Teacher Training Course are recommended to have been practising yoga for a minimum of 2 years before being accepted on the course;
  • Graduates from Specialist Training Courses have two membership options. They can apply as a yoga teacher (provided their yoga teacher training meets our standards) or as a Specialist Yoga Teacher member.


7.7 Use of Yoga Alliance Professional's Logos

Your membership logo should be added to your website (with reverse links to your Yoga Alliance Professionals profile page) and social media. 

You must add our logo to all relevant course Marketing and Advertising material and graduation certificates. 

7.8 Renewal Criteria for Trainers

We will recheck that you continue to fulfil the criteria in point 7.3. Additionally, upon renewal, you are required to:

  • Update your profile page with current information;
  • List all course dates for the coming year;
  • Agree to follow the Terms & Conditions as laid out in this document.

We will contact you before your Trainer Pro membership expires to discuss your plans for the upcoming year. We will arrange your renewal payment (via a subscription) if you continue to fulfil our criteria. Once the payment is received, we will change your course membership dates for the following year.

If you do not make the renewal payment before or on the expiry date (unless otherwise agreed), we will suspend your Trainer Pro membership for seven days. During this time, you can access your profile on our website. Renewing your membership within the seven-day window means your membership will start from the original expiry date (provided you've met the criteria detailed in point 7.3). 

Payment must be received within seven days of the renewal date to keep your membership active. After this time, we will remove your Trainer Pro profile and any events, including YAPTAs, retreats and blogs, from our website. You must reapply as a new member and pay the relevant fees.

After cancellation, you can no longer use the Yoga Alliance Professionals logos, and your accreditation will no longer be active.

If you do not wish to renew, please remove all membership logos and references to Yoga Alliance Professionals from your website, social media, graduation certificates and course documents. 

7.9 
Cancellation and Refund Policy Trainer Pros and Studios/ADW/Mentor Package

From the day after you pay for your Trainer Pro Membership or Renewal, we offer a cooling-off period of 14 days from the day after you make the payment. You can change your mind for any reason and request to cancel your membership. We will refund the membership fee minus the £249 set-up fee. 

After these 14 days, we have a strict NO REFUND policy under any circumstances. You may request to cancel your membership anytime; we will remove your profile, and events, including YAPTAs. Cancelling a Trainer Pro membership will invalidate any corporate insurance arranged through your membership. To cancel a Trainer Pro membership you must speak to your account manager.  

Cancellation of a membership (or non-payment of a renewal) invalidates your course accreditation. Any graduates who are going through a course will lose out on the graduate offer. You must also remove your Trainer Pro logo and mentions on your website; this is a privilege of membership.

Continued display of our logos may result in legal action from Yoga Alliance Professionals.


7.9.1 Monthly Payments

You are entering into an annual contract by paying for a Trainer Pro membership monthly. The contract starts on the date of the first payment. 

The cost will come out of your selected credit or debit card on the same date each month. 

The payment term is for a minimum of 12 months. We will review your membership on an annual basis, at which point you can continue with the monthly payment, move to a yearly payment plan or cancel. 

If you miss a payment, we will consider it late on the day it fails. We will give you fourteen days to make the payment. If it remains unpaid after this time, we will cancel your membership. We reserve the right to pursue the missed monthly payment and remainder of the payment term in a court of law. 

7.10 Yoga Alliance Professionals Right to Cancel or Suspend a Trainer Pro Membership


We reserve the right to randomly check Trainer Pro websites for compliance with our Criteria (outlined in Point 7.3). If we notice anything which requires attention/updating, we will contact you to discuss it. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals reserve the right to suspend your Trainer Pro membership if you do not make the required changes within the required time frame. 

Possible actions which could lead to suspension of a Trainer Pro Membership (this list is not exhaustive):

  • You are not fully compliant with our agreed requirements;
  • You do not respond to emails or phone calls for longer than one month;
  • You are not compliant with sending trainee or graduate details within the required time frames;
  • You fail to add course dates to our website;
  • There are ongoing or frequent complaints from students on the course/s; 
  • You make either defamatory comments or slanderous remarks about Yoga Alliance Professionals, both verbally or written within the public domain;
  • You act aggressively towards a member of the Yoga Alliance Professionals team.

If we have to suspend a Trainer Pro membership, we will notify you via email and give you 30 days to make any necessary amendments/or improvements. If we do not hear from you and/or changes are not made, then we will move to cancel the Trainer Pro Membership. 

Should we cancel a Trainer Pro Membership, there is no guarantee that we can offer membership to trainees or graduates of your courses. We will not notify any students that a course is no longer accredited. 

 If you have falsified any part of your application, Yoga Alliance Professionals reserves the right to cancel your account without a refund. 

8.  Career Breaks


8.1 Teachers 

If you need to take a break from your membership, we can offer career breaks for a one-off payment of £25, for example, for pregnancy, sickness or due to a change in circumstances. 

Career Breaks are active for a period of 2 years and are non-refundable. When you return, we will deduct the £25 fee from the current renewal fee. Please note if you return after the two year period, you will be required to pay the current membership fees. 

We will check in with you after one year to see your plans. You can return from a career break at any time. Please get in touch with the office to reinstate your membership.

8.2 Trainer Pros

There is no career break option for Trainer/Trainer Pro memberships. 

9. Change to Details/Circumstances


If you change your contact details throughout the year, you can change them by updating the details on your profile. You are responsible for informing us of any changes to your personal information.

9.1 Name Change 

If you change your name, please send evidence of this, and we will amend your account and reissue the insurance and membership documents in your new name.  Please note that there is an administration fee to do this.

9.2 Telephone Number

Please ensure we always have a valid telephone number for you, as we may need to contact you to discuss your membership. Yoga Alliance Professionals insurance members must provide us with a postal address and telephone number. If we cannot contact you, you may invalidate your insurance. 

10. Upgrades to Membership Level and Additional Accreditation


10.1 Membership Level

We can upgrade your membership level anytime during the year if you meet the criteria. A one-off (non-refundable) upgrade fee is subject to our checks to ensure you meet the standards for the next level. If you do not meet these standards, you will remain on your current level and can apply to upgrade again. 

Note for Graduate Members

 You can upgrade four years after your graduation date. You will need to have 2000 teaching hours. Please note that 30% of the 2000 (600 hours) can come from further training.

10.2 Adding on an Additional Type of Yoga

You can do this by logging into your profile and accessing the Manage Account section. The types of yoga are listed there. By ticking the specialisms you have qualifications in, you will be searchable on the website under this style of yoga.

11. Private Message Board and Leads

Non Members 

Using one of these services will create a user account for you to communicate with our members. Our members need to see your details. They will reply to you via the message board or lead. Members get sent a notification that you have made contact with them. 

We will not share your personal information with any third parties. We may contact you about other services we offer which may be of interest. 

Members

Unless you opt out, we will assume that you are open to receiving both private messages and leads from members of the public. You will receive an email and notification in your profile that you have a message. 


12. Insurance (Applicable to UK and Irish Teachers Only) 


12.1 Notes for Members who live in the UK


Please note that the acceptance of your insurance will be given on the understanding that:

  • You have never been convicted of or charged (but not yet tried) with any criminal offence other than motoring offences or offences that are spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
  • You have never had a proposal or renewal for insurance declined or cancelled, a policy voided, withdrawn or suspended, or special terms imposed by any insurer. 
  • There have been no claims or incidents which have or could give rise to a claim under a policy involving negligence, error or omission, nor are you aware of any circumstances which may revert to such a claim or suit being made against you. 
  • You have never been the subject of a winding-up order or company/individual voluntary arrangement with creditors; or been placed into administration, administration receivership or liquidation. 
  • You have read and understood and agree to accept Balen's Terms of Business letter. Please note that the Terms of Business are available for download on our website. 

12.2 Notes for Members who live in Ireland


Please note that the acceptance of your insurance is given on the understanding that:  

  • You have never been convicted of any criminal offence other than motoring, nor offences that are spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, nor have any prosecutions pending.
  • No insurer providing cover for your business activities has ever cancelled, declined or refused to renew, or accepted the risk at special terms. 
  • You have read, understood, and agreed to accept Balens' Terms of Business letter (Appendix 2). Please note that the Terms of Business can be downloaded on our website.
  • There have been no claims or incidents which have or could give rise to a claim under a policy involving negligence, error or omission, nor are you aware of any circumstances which may cause such a claim or suit to be made against you. 
  • You or any Principal, Director, or Partner have never, under a current or any previous trading titles have, been declared bankrupt or insolvent or been the subject of bankruptcy proceedings or an individual voluntary arrangement or been subject to a County Court Judgment, or are there any proceedings pending.

12.3 Notes for Both 


By paying the membership fees, we provide your insurance coverage on the above conditions being satisfied. If you do not meet the above requirements, please contact Balens for guidance. 

If a complaint or allegation is made against you, please contact Balens at 01684 580798 or email claims@balens.co.uk. Balens will then contact Yoga Alliance Professionals to confirm that your membership is in place.

13. Use of Logos and Referencing Yoga Alliance Professionals

The Yoga Alliance Professionals logos are a privilege of membership. You have a logo on your profile with a source code for you to place on your website, social media and marketing materials. The logo has a backlink to your Yoga Alliance Professionals profile. Members are permitted to reference that they are a member on their website, social media and marketing materials. 

If you cancel your membership or your membership expires, you agree to remove all references to Yoga Alliance Professionals and your membership logo. Continuing to use the logo or reference Yoga Alliance Professionals is false advertising. Yoga Alliance Professionals will consider this a breach of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and may be subject to legal action. 

14. Data Protection


For information about data protection, please refer to our Privacy Policy, http://www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org/about/privacy


15. Conditions of Use for the Yoga Alliance Professionals Website and Member Social Media Groups (The Service)


15.1. Eligibility for Use


Some parts of the website are reserved exclusively for yoga students, professional sellers and resellers of products and services acceptable to Yoga Alliance Professionals at our sole discretion. While we attempt to review their use of our services, there will be no right of action against Yoga Alliance Professionals for us failing to screen potential users adequately.

15.2 Content 


You understand that all advertisements, postings, messages, text, files, images, photos, videos, sounds, or other materials ("Content") posted on, transmitted through, or linked from the Service are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such content originated. More specifically, you are entirely responsible for each item of content that you post, email or otherwise make available via the Service. 

Likewise, if you request the assistance of Yoga Alliance Professionals to post content, or if you imply consent that Yoga Alliance Professionals may post content on your behalf, either by written or oral means or if you fail to inform Yoga Alliance Professionals to remove content, you are equally responsible for the content. 

You waive any and all claims against Yoga Alliance Professionals of a right of publicity for your image or likeness worldwide by posting any information or pictures of yourself on www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org. 

You understand that Yoga Alliance Professionals does not control and is not responsible for personal content made available through the Service and that by using the Service, you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. 

When you post content to the Service, you authorise and direct us to make copies as necessary to facilitate the posting and storing of the content on the Service. 

By posting content to any part of the Service, you automatically grant or represent that you have the right to consent to Yoga Alliance Professionals an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sub-license) your content. You accept that we will use or copy your content for public display; we may reformat, translate, or excerpt (in whole or in part). We may distribute your content on or in connection with the Service or the promotion thereof to prepare derivative works of or incorporate into other works. 

Furthermore, www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org and content available through the Service may contain links to other websites, refer to point 15.3 Third-Party Content, Websites, and Services.

You acknowledge that Yoga Alliance Professionals does not pre-screen or approve content except for, Teacher Training Courses and that Yoga Alliance Professionals shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or remove any Content that is available via the Service, for violating our TOU or spirit of our Code of Practice or for any other reason.


15.3 Third Party Content, Websites, and Services


Content available through our Service may contain links to other websites completely independent of Yoga Alliance Professionals. We make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site. Following links to any other websites is at your own risk. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with the use of any Content, that you may not rely on said content, and that under no circumstances will Yoga Alliance Professionals be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the Service. 

In addition to third-party websites, our content may contain features and functionalities that link you or provide access to other third-party content, which is again independent of Yoga Alliance Professionals, including directories, servers, networks, systems, information and databases, applications, software, programs, products or services, and the whole Internet. 

Your interactions with organisations and/or individuals found on or through the Service, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organisations and/or individuals. 

You should make any investigation necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties. We do not guarantee the quality, safety or legality of any Content, the truth or accuracy of the descriptions of any goods or services offered for sale, the right of the sellers to sell or license any such goods or services, or the ability of any buyer to purchase any such goods or services. 

The Service is for experienced buyers accustomed to buying goods and services based on photographs and/or descriptive text. Buyers should assume that any goods offered are not new, unless otherwise stated, nor in perfect condition, and may require touch-ups or repairs before use and that the available information about the items may be limited. Yoga Alliance Professionals cannot verify information provided by the seller of commodities.

You agree that Yoga Alliance Professionals shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage incurred due to any dealings between Service users. Should there be a dispute between Service users or between users and any third party, you understand and agree that Yoga Alliance Professionals is not obligated to become involved. 

If you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby forever release Yoga Alliance Professionals, its officers, employees, agents and successors in rights from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and/or our Service.

15.4 Notification of Claims of Infringement


If you believe someone has copied your work in a way that constitutes copyright infringement or that your intellectual property rights are otherwise violated, please send information by email to support@yogaallianceprofessionals.org

Please include the following in your notification:

  • The identity of the material on yogaallianceprofessionals.org that you claim is infringing, in sufficient detail so that we may locate it on the website, if possible include a screenshot;
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is unauthorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  • Your address, telephone number, and email address;
  • A statement by you declaring that:

- The above information in your notice is accurate, and 

- That you are the owner of the copyright interest involved or authorised to act on behalf of that owner, and include a physical or electronic signature.


15.5 Privacy and Information Disclosure


Yoga Alliance Professionals may disclose your personal information if we receive a UK Government Access Request, search warrant, court order, subpoena, or request from the Information Commissioners Office or equivalent. This may include any Content you have posted, personal information, such as email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and other user information we are legally compelled to disclose.

Yoga Alliance Professionals Privacy Policy governs the preservation of your personal information. 


15.6 Conduct


Yoga Alliance Professionals accepts no liability or responsibility for a member's conduct, behaviour or actions during the tenure of their Yoga Alliance Professionals membership. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals shall also not be liable for any claim arising out of the performance, non-performance, delay in delivery of or defect in the services of Yoga Alliance Professionals members nor for any special, indirect, economic or consequential loss or damage howsoever arising or howsoever caused (including loss of profit or loss of revenue) whether from negligence or otherwise in connection with the supply, functioning or use of services rendered from Yoga Alliance Professionals members.

You agree not to post, email, or otherwise make available content:

  • That is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libellous, invasive of another's privacy, or is harmful to minors in any way;
  • That is pornographic or depicts a human being engaged in sexual activities or exposing sexual organs unfitting for the Service;
  • That harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals based on religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
  • That suggests a discriminatory preference based on race, colour, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap (or violates any state or local law prohibiting discrimination based on these or other characteristics);
  • That violates employment opportunity laws, including but not limited to stating in any advertisement for employment a preference or requirement based on race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability;
  • That impersonates any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a Yoga Alliance Professionals employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity (this provision does not apply to content that constitutes lawful non-deceptive parody of public figures.);
  • That includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent;
  • That is fraudulent, false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful;
  • That infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or contractual or fiduciary relationships;
  • That constitutes or contains "affiliate marketing," "link referral code," "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or unsolicited commercial advertisement;
  • That constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if: posted in areas of www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or emailed to Yoga Alliance Professionals users who have yet to indicate in writing that it is ok to contact them about other services, products or commercial interests. That includes links to commercial services or websites, except as expressly permitted;
  • That advertises any illegal service or the sale of any items, the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by any applicable law;
  • That contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  • That disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive amount of content (flooding attack) to the Service or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service;
  • Or that employs misleading email addresses, forged headers, or otherwise manipulated identifiers to disguise the origin of content transmitted through the Service.

Additionally, you agree not to:

  • Contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
  • "Stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;
  • Collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes;
  • Use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service – unless expressly permitted by Yoga Alliance Professionals;
  • Post irrelevant content, repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
  • Post the same item or Service in more than one classified category or forum;
  • Attempt to gain unauthorised access to Yoga Alliance Professional's computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of the Service or Yoga Alliance Professionals;
  • Or use any form of automated device or computer program that enables the submission of content on www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org without such content being manually entered by the author thereof (an "automated posting device"), including without limitation, the use of any such automated posting device to submit content in bulk, or for automatic submission of content at regular intervals.


16. Posting Agents


A "Posting Agent" is a third-party agent, Service, or intermediary that offers to post content to the Service on behalf of others. To moderate demands on our resources, you may not use a Posting Agent to post content to the Service without express permission or license from Yoga Alliance Professionals. Correspondingly, Posting Agents are not permitted to post content on behalf of others, to cause content to be so posted, or otherwise access the Service to facilitate posting content on behalf of others, except with express permission or license from Yoga Alliance Professionals.

17. No Spam Policy


You understand and agree that sending unsolicited email advertisements to Yoga Alliance Professionals' email addresses or through Yoga Alliance Professionals' computer systems is expressly prohibited by these TOU. 

18. Paid Postings


We may charge a fee to post content in some areas of the Service. The access fee permits you to post content in a designated area. Each party posting content to the Service is responsible for said content and compliance with the TOU. Yoga Alliance Professionals will remove any content which violates our TOU, and all fees paid are non-refundable. 

Fees collected for specific services, such as subscriptions and advertising, are non-refundable unless stated in writing for a particular promotional program.

19. Limitations on Service


You acknowledge that Yoga Alliance Professionals may establish limits concerning the use of the Service, including the maximum number of days the Service will keep that content, the maximum number and size of postings, email messages, or other content that may be transmitted or stored by the Service, and the frequency with which you may access the Service. 

You agree that Yoga Alliance Professionals has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that Yoga Alliance Professionals reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice and that Yoga Alliance Professionals shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.


20. Access to the Service


Yoga Alliance Professionals grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive license to access the Service for personal use. This license does not include (a) access to the Service by Posting Agents; or (b) any collection, aggregation, copying, duplication, display or derivative use of the Service nor any use of data mining, robots, spiders, or similar data gathering and extraction tools for any purpose unless expressly permitted by Yoga Alliance Professionals.

A limited exception to (b) is provided to general-purpose internet search engines and non-commercial public archives that use such tools to gather information for the sole purpose of displaying hyperlinks to the Service, provided they each do so from a stable IP address or range of IP addresses using an easily identifiable agent and comply with our  robots.txt file.

21. Termination of Service


You agree that in its sole discretion, Yoga Alliance Professionals has the right (but not the obligation) to delete or deactivate your account or block your email or IP address. We may otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service (or any part thereof) immediately and without notice. We may remove and discard any Content within the Service for any reason, including, without limitation, if Yoga Alliance Professionals believes that you have acted inconsistently with the TOU. Furthermore, you agree that Yoga Alliance Professionals shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Service. You agree not to attempt to use the Service after said termination. 


22. Proprietary Rights


We protect the Service to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and international treaties. The content displayed on or through the Service is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, according to copyright laws and international conventions. We prohibit any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of the site or the collective work, and/or copying or reproducing the sites or any portion thereof to any other server or location for further reproduction or redistribution without the express written consent of Yoga Alliance Professionals. 

You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy content from the Service without the express written consent of Yoga Alliance Professionals, and agree to abide by all copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code from the Service. Without limiting the previous, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any aspect of the Service for any commercial purposes. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals and variations of our name, logos, and materials displayed on www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org constitute trademarks, trade names, service marks or logos ("Marks") of Yoga Alliance Professionals or other entities. You are not authorised to use any such logos except your membership logo. Ownership of all such logos and the goodwill associated remains with Yoga Alliance Professionals or those other entities.

23. Disclaimer of Warranties


You agree that using Yoga Alliance Professionals and the Service is entirely at your own risk. Yoga Alliance Professionals provides the Service on an "as is" or "as available" basis, without warranties. We do not give any assurances about the reliability, timeliness, accuracy, and performance of this website and the Service. 

24. Limitations of Liability


Under no circumstances shall Yoga Alliance Professionals be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages (even if you told Yoga Alliance Professionals of the possibility of such damages) resulting from any aspect of your use of www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or the Service. 

In addition, we will not be held liable if damages arise from the use or misuse of www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or the Service, from an inability to use www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or the Service, or the interruption, suspension, modification, alteration, or termination of www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or the Service. 

Yoga Alliance Professionals will not be held liable concerning damages incurred because of other services or products received through or advertised in connection with www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or the Service or any links on www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org or the Service, as well as because of any information or advice received through or advertised in connection with www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org  or the Service or any links on www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org. 

25. Indemnity


You agree to indemnify and hold all Yoga Alliance Professionals employees, its directors, successors, service providers and suppliers harmless from any claim or demand made against you by a third party arising from content you submit or post on the Service. 

26. General Information


The TOU, and any additional terms to which you agree when using particular elements of the Service, constitute the entire agreement between you and Yoga Alliance Professionals and govern your use of the Service, superseding any prior agreement between you and Yoga Alliance Professionals. 

27. Feedback


We welcome your questions and comments. Please send them to  support@yogaallianceprofessionals.org

28. Governing Law


Scottish law shall govern these Terms, and you hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts. 

End of Agreement.




YOGA PROS ORGANISATION LIMITED, trading as YOGA ALLIANCE PROFESSIONALS ORGANISATION LIMITED, is a Not for Profit Scottish Company number SC502923 registered at The Clocktower Bush House Cottages, Edinburgh Technopole, Milton Bridge, Midlothian, United Kingdom, EH26 0BA with its trading address at 10/2 Beaverhall Road, Edinburgh EH7 4JE