Week 10: Is There a Gold Standard for Yoga Certification?

This past weekend, I attended a conference, Alberta CSEP Perspectives in Exercise, Health and Fitness Conference, specifically for my exercise physiologist designation (CSEP-CEP). We discussed professionalism, becoming a licensed healthcare profession, and how the accreditation currently is the gold standard for qualified exercise professionals...among other things!

I started to think about
"what is the gold standard for yoga certification?"

The most common thing I've heard about yoga certification is that it is based on hours. From what I know, most certifications are either 200 or 500 hours. I'm unsure what the difference is other than the obvious time dedicated to becoming certified. Can anyone pipe in on this?

The other outstanding part of becoming certified, is who do I certify with?

Honestly, I'm a big supporter of quality education particularly because your knowledge translates into how well you can instruct others and quiet frankly, keep the public safe. The most obvious way to become certified is to look at the type of yoga I want to teach and then explore who is best suited to provide this education. It seems that most types of yoga have commonalities such as poses or asanas but there are also clear distinctions. The different types of yoga instruction is beyond this post (I guarantee it will be a post one day...it's on my checklist to find out about all forms of yoga!) but needless to say, knowing the difference is key to certification.

What I know now is....

The following organizations and/or business in Alberta and Edmonton offer some form of certification:

Yoga Association of Alberta
Mount Royal College
Lotus Soul Gym
Lions Breath
Yogalife
Yoga for Today
AFLCA - Mind/Body designation

There is also the Yoga Alliance of North America which might be an international certification. As well as YogaFit, the fitness focused certification.

If I were to harbor a guess, my path to yoga teaching would start with a Hatha 200 hour certification then on to the 500 hour course. I'm very interested in the yoga therapy program at Mount Royal College as I it would complement my current work as an exercise physiologist. That's what I think for now...

If you know more, please send me your thoughts and expert opinions! Comments below are most welcomed!!!

I've got more research to do to find the gold standard! I'll keep you posted on what I find.
LW

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