Yoga Alliance Requirements

Requirements for Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Schools and Teachers (“members”) and Claim Process

All Yoga Alliance members are expected to follow clear ethical and professional standards. This includes making an Ethical Commitment and abiding by Yoga Alliance’s Code of Conduct, and member policies, including the Anti-Harassment Policy and Sexual Misconduct Policy.

Yoga Alliance Code of Conduct Excerpts:

Code Principle 3 — Follow the Yoga Alliance Anti-Harassment Policy

Under Code Principle 3, Members MUST follow the Yoga Alliance Anti-Harassment Policy . Members MUST NOT harass Students, Trainees, employees, peers, other Members, other Teachers, Registered Yoga Schools (RYS™s), other schools, studios, or members of the public, in person or through online activities, now known or unknown, such as trolling, stalking, using hate speech, threatening, intimidating, reporting of false grievances, manipulating, or otherwise harassing in any form or manner.

Code Principle 4 — Follow the Yoga Alliance Sexual Misconduct Policy

Under Code Principle 4, Members MUST follow the Yoga Alliance Sexual Misconduct Policy. Members MUST NOT intentionally or negligently cause sexual harm—verbally, physically, or otherwise—to Students, Trainees, employees, peers, other Members, other teachers, or members of the public through any action, including but not limited to: actions proscribed by local, state, provincial, national, and federal laws and regulations.

Code Principle 5 — Do No Harm

Under Code Principle 5, Members MUST do no harm. Members MUST attest that they will take reasonable steps to do no harm and will not intentionally or negligently cause harm to Students, Trainees, employees, peers, other Members, other teachers, or members of the public through any action or inaction, including but not limited to actions proscribed by local, state, provincial, national, and federal laws and regulations.

Code Principle 5 also prohibits, for the purposes of safety, the Member from teaching yoga while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, except for those drugs that have been prescribed to the Member for medical purposes by a licensed medical or mental health professional. This teaching prohibition is irrespective of jurisdictional legality and within certain yogic practices and lineages, styles, and methodologies.

Code Principle 7 — Respect Student-Teacher Relationships

Under Code Principle 7, Members MUST respect Student-Teacher relationships. Code Principle 7 includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Consent-Based Touch: As it pertains to the act of physically assisting, the Member MUST obtain Explicit and Informed Consent before physically adjusting Students and Trainees in yoga practices. Explicit and Informed Consent can be given verbally, in writing, by an unambiguous gesture, or via a consent indicator. Silence or lack of resistance, in and of itself, does not demonstrate consent. Further, Members understand and agree that Explicit and Informed Consent is an ongoing process of communication and agency and that previous consent does not imply future permission or allow for future physical adjustment or contact of any type.
Romantic and/or Sexual Relationships: The Member SHOULD NOT enter into a new romantic and/or sexual relationship with a Student or Trainee during the course of an RYS™, other school, conference, workshop, retreat, class, or other such events at which the Member is perceived to be the Teacher. If feelings do develop, or if the parties mutually agree to move forward with a romantic and/or sexual relationship during the course of the aforementioned events, the Member SHOULD suggest that the Student or Trainee find an alternate Teacher.
Work Status: Members MUST abide by all local governing agencies, including but not limited to: local, state, provincial, national, and/or federal laws and regulations when hiring, working with, or engaging Students, Trainees, employees, or other Members. In cases of non-monetary work exchanges, Members MUST commit the details of those agreements to writing to decrease possible tensions and misunderstandings.
Consent to Record: Members MUST NOT photograph, record video, or capture any other imagery in any other medium, nor use such imagery or such person’s likeness, without the express consent of the Students, Trainees, or members of the public who are included in such photography, video, and imagery.

Code Principle 8 — Maintain Honesty in Communications

Under Code Principle 8, Members MUST maintain honesty in communications. This principle includes a duty to both refrain from certain activities and to proactively and affirmatively make certain disclosures including, but not limited to, the following:

Honesty in Communication: Members MUST NOT falsely represent their professional yoga history, including but not limited to: education, training, experience, and credentials. Members MUST NOT plagiarize any copyrighted material and MUST accurately disclose the source of any teaching, writing, or resource that is not their own. Members SHOULD acknowledge their Teachers or mentors when sharing a teaching related to that relationship. Members MUST NOT make unsupported or exaggerated claims regarding the effects of yoga.
Local Resources: Members MUST NOT provide advice or services in locations where they are not currently and properly licensed during or resulting from any program, including residential or immersion. In terms of disclosures, Members SHOULD create and provide referral lists of locally available resources for Students, including but not limited to: medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement, suicide prevention hotline, sexual abuse hotline, and Yoga Alliance.
Cultural Responsibility: Members SHOULD educate and inform themselves about the history and genesis of yoga and proactively inform Students and Trainees of the origin and practices from the lineage, style, or methodology being taught. Members SHOULD seek to responsibly adapt yoga teachings and practices for Students of various cultural backgrounds while also understanding the existence of appropriation and commodification in contemporary yoga and its effects on Indian and other cultures and traditions.
Individual Responsibility: Members SHOULD, in addition to utilizing Yoga Alliance resources, establish an individual and personalized structure for periodic and ongoing peer mentoring, support, and advice as well as self-reflection, especially around yoga and yoga teaching issues they find challenging.

Yoga Alliance Sexual Misconduct Policy Excerpts:

Yoga Alliance Sexual Misconduct Policy - Code Principle 4

Respect Student-Teacher Relationships - Code Principle 7

Under Code Principle 7, Members MUST respect Student-Teacher relationships. Code Principle 7 includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Romantic and/or Sexual Relationships: The Member SHOULD NOT enter into a new romantic and/or sexual relationship with a Student or Trainee during the course of an RYS™, other school, conference, workshop, retreat, class, or other such events at which the Member is perceived to be the Teacher. If feelings do develop, or if the parties mutually agree to move forward with a romantic and/or sexual relationship during the course of the aforementioned events, the Member SHOULD suggest that the Student or Trainee find an alternate Teacher.

Yoga Alliance Anti-Harassment Policy Excerpts:

Applicability

This Policy applies to all Yoga Alliance Members in any context or environment where a Member presents themself (or is presented) as a Teacher, or a professional yoga educator (Teacher, Trainer, mentor, or other), including but not limited to: group and private yoga instruction; yoga instruction in ashrams, yoga Schools and yoga teacher trainings, studios, gymnasiums, fitness clubs, other schools and universities, medical facilities, group homes, prisons, public spaces, festivals, retreats; and all online spaces, including social media.

Activities covered by this Policy shall be distinguished from the purely private conduct of Members, which is beyond the purview of this Policy. However, action and behavior that is deemed by Yoga Alliance to be directly related to teaching or conducting the Business of yoga may fall under this policy at Yoga Alliance’s discretion. (For example, if a Teacher meets with a prospective Student in an office prior to a yoga teacher training and violates this Policy, that interaction may be considered part of the professional interaction even though it did not occur in the classroom or training space.)

Members should be committed to applying strong ethical principles in their professional and personal lives, and this should be understood as intrinsic to their practice and teaching of yoga.

Yoga Alliance reserves the right to investigate allegations of violations of this Policy regardless of membership status with Yoga Alliance at the time of the incident(s) that gives rise to the allegation.

Definitions

Harassment: Harassment is unwelcome verbal or non-verbal conduct where: (i) the conduct denigrates or shows hostility or aversion towards the person and has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with their work, study, or other activity, (ii) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of the continued relationship, and/or (iii) the conduct has the purpose or effect of creating an environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.

Harassment includes epithets, slurs, name calling, negative stereotyping, insults, intimidation, ridicule, threatening, intimidating or hostile acts, denigrating jokes, and display of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group based on their protected characteristic.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to: offensive verbal comments related to age, gender, gender identity, pronoun use, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, body type, personal appearance, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic status, marital status, political activities or affiliation, or any other basis proscribed by local, state, provincial, national, and federal laws and regulations; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained and intentional disruption of class or other events; and inappropriate physical contact.

Retaliation: Retaliation is any adverse action or threat taken or made against an individual, including through third parties and/or legal counsel, for making a report of prohibited conduct or participating in any investigation or proceeding related to this Policy. Retaliation includes threatening, intimidating, harassing, or any other conduct that would discourage a reasonable person from engaging in activity protected under this Policy. Retaliation also includes maliciously and/or intentionally interfering with, threatening, or harming the academic or professional career or reputation of another individual before, during, or after the Investigation, Decision, and resolution of a report of prohibited conduct under this Policy in response to and/or on account of the report of the prohibited conduct. This provision applies to reports made or information provided in good faith, even if the facts alleged in the report are determined not to be accurate.

Yoga Alliance Claim Process (Quoted from Yoga Alliance Website)

Question

How does Yoga Alliance handle reports of misconduct?

Answer

We believe that everyone should be free to practice yoga safely and equitably and that accountability measures are essential to securing these rights.

Yoga Alliance condemns abuse of any kind, including but not limited to, physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual. We stand with survivors. The yogic principle of ‘Ahimsa,’ or non-harming, guides our policies and mediation of misconduct cases. While Yoga Alliance does not have the same authority or resources to investigate or stop criminal activity as governmental authorities do, we do recognize our responsibility to educate, inform, and take action. All Yoga Alliance members are expected to comply with our Ethical Commitment, Scope of Practice, Code of Conduct, and Sexual Misconduct policies. We encourage anyone that has experienced potential policy violations in a yoga setting led by Registered Yoga Teachers (RYTs) or Registered Yoga Schools (RYSs) to file a claim here.You are welcome to submit a complaint or inquiry that you feel might not fit our listed policies. A member of the team will review reports in compliance with our Accountability Policy and take appropriate action. Yoga Alliance encourages survivors to seek available support through RAINN, their local law enforcement agency, or other resources they may deem appropriate.

Additionally, though Yoga Alliance does not require a police report to investigate complaints, it does encourage those reporting to consider exploring the criminal, legal, judicial, and social support systems available in their jurisdiction, based upon their individual comfort levels.

For non-sexual-misconduct matters, a person may file an accountability claim on behalf of another person.

Reports of sexual misconduct must be initiated by the individual who has personally experienced misconduct defined in the policy as unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, whether physical or verbal in nature. If the individual is a minor at the time of the report, the minor’s parent or legal guardian (should one have been appointed), can report the misconduct on the minor’s behalf. File a claim here.

Learn more about the accountability process here.

Sattva Yoga Academy Global Code of Conduct Excerpt:

This code of conduct was previously established in response to allegations of misconduct and is included in Sattva contracts with Sattva Global Yoga Academy schools.

Sattvic Professionalism

Interaction with students - Teacher must interact in a kind and generous way. There is no circumstance where one should talk ill of a student, all issues need to be addressed with professionalism and Sattvic nature. Teachers must lead with compassion and not favoritism.

Clarity of relationship must be maintained as student/client to teacher. You are a representation of Sattva Yoga Academy and Anand Mehrotra. Use of non-competitive language and approach with other Sattva Teachers and other teachers is required.