Studio Safety

This is my first post after two fun years of transitioning from clinical practice to my new roles as writer, researcher and mentor. I’ve been honored to be asked to participate in the new Yoga Alliance (YA) organizational development process. Specifically to serve on the scope of practice committee for yoga teachers. This feels like full-circle as back in the late 90’s my son, Adam, and I created the first YA website and database. My member number was # 46 and there was a great deal of excitement about the potential for the organization to bring yoga into our culture. The years passed, many changes occurred, and I finally withdrew my membership when the “therapy” Prohibition was rolled out of principle because of the process utilized, and also because I identified more as a yoga therapist than a yoga teacher, and could not comply with the Prohibition in my profile or websites. I’m pleased to share that the new leadership at YA is undergoing a sincere process of organizational change that suggests many positive processes underway to address earlier shortcomings, and more importantly, better serve their membership and the public. All of this means I’ve been revisiting their mission, my intentions, and how I might best serve the YA community. I’ve invested a great deal of time and effort in leading yoga therapy and yoga safety, beginning with the first article on yoga safety in 2004. My prior thinking and leadership on those issues is captured here about how yoga…