Legal Considerations for Teaching Yoga in the US

The most important thing to know about teaching yoga in the United States is that there is no regulation on yoga teachers. There is no federal law governing the practice of teaching yoga and its professional qualifications. However, there is an institutionalized way to become a certified yoga teacher, which is the RYT 200 certification provided by the Yoga Alliance. It is important to analyze the amount of training you start with and the quality controls, as well as the content of your training as a yoga teacher.

Yoga teachers can also get certified by other training institutions in addition to Yoga Alliance, especially for those who want to specialize in yoga for children, ashtanga yoga, bikram yoga, restorative yoga, and more. Many well-established yoga instructors are not members of any organization like Yoga Alliance. The RYT-200 is awarded to those who have completed a 200-hour teacher training course and is also the minimum requirement for yoga teachers to formally begin teaching yoga, while the RYT-500 is awarded to those who have completed a 500-hour yoga teacher training and has a different set of requirements. When you've finished yoga teacher training and want to start teaching, there are some practical questions you should think about.

The Yoga Alliance is a non-profit association established in 1999 that aims to represent the yoga community and set standards for teaching yoga. While their efforts make sense, it's always wise to analyze the pros and cons of becoming members. Flexibility is the most important thing in yoga, but all experienced yoga teachers know that you can't be flexible when it comes to keeping your students safe and managing risks. A yoga teacher training course is the first step in starting teaching.

Once completed, yoga teachers can continue with a 300-hour teacher training program in which they learn advanced levels of instruction, teaching style, and yoga techniques. It is important to remember that there is no official prerequisite for becoming a yoga teacher, but having a certification from an accredited institution can help ensure that you are providing quality instruction.