Yoga Alliance

Non-footwear news: I completed my 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training over the weekend and am now a Certified Yoga Teacher🧘♀️🌸 I was able to complete my training at Hot Yoga Burlington and am now registered through Yoga Alliance ✨This is how I continue to live out sound mind, sound body 💙👟

Over the last few years, we've conducted research across the industry to understand what yoga practitioners really care about, and how we can work alongside teachers, organizations, and communities to provide it. Through our work, we've heard over and over again that yoga practitioners value safe, quality teaching in inclusive environments. That's why 71% are likely to seek out a teacher with a Yoga Alliance credential, according to a 2024 survey Yoga Alliance conducted of yoga professionals worldwide. As we've been hinting to recently, we're updating our credentialing system later this year. These changes have been in the works for a long time and directly meet the asks of yoga practitioners and teachers, including by strengthening Registered Yoga Teacher accountability. We're really looking forward to sharing more with you soon. If you'd like to learn more about our growth and the future of Yoga Alliance, read our strategic plan at bit.ly/ya-strategic-plan

“Honoring yoga’s roots means recognizing that yoga is far more than movement or fitness,” sisters Cristal & Pooja Sharma, of Registered Yoga School (RYS) Soul Power Yoga, shared with us. “Yoga is a living philosophy, lineage and way of relating to ourselves, others and the world.” Over the last 25 years, Pooja and Cristal Sharma have done the important work of preparing yoga practitioners to become teachers. Their work is holistic—a joyful, steady devotion beats through each transformational yoga teacher training, along with in their personal practices. “Yoga and Ayurveda have been woven into my life,” Pooja told us, “from soaked almonds in the morning and haldi doodh at night, to learning the healing properties of spices, abhyanga rituals, and natural remedies passed down through generations. Summers spent in India deepened my connection to yoga, Ayurveda, and the wisdom of these ancient practices quietly embedded in the fabric of homes—long before coming mainstream.” To their work, Pooja and Cristal bring their experiences as practitioners and teachers, and as mothers and caregivers. Their perspective on yoga is holistic, and so it goes that it cannot be separated from all that they are and all that they give. “Motherhood has deepened my understanding of truly being present, acts of service and the deep desire to create meaningful impact within our communities,” Cristal said. Like many yoga teachers, Pooja and Cristal are lifelong learners. Both sisters are working toward advanced degrees, with Pooja studying psychology and Cristal working toward her Occupational Therapy Doctorate. “What continues to draw me to yoga,” Pooja said, “is the understanding that while the body is our vessel and the mind can feel like a battlefield, yoga gives us the tools to quiet the noise and reconnect with our truest selves.” Cristal agrees: “The fiery storms of inflammation in my body, mind and soul at a young age were quieted by the rituals of our childhood home environment grounded in yogic living and Ayurveda. My practice continues to be a respite of physical relief and nervous system restoration through every season of life, from infertility and postpartum, to grief and ongoing support for autoimmune care. Today, it gives me space to see myself beyond the labels of mother, clinician, yoga teacher, and caregiver, and to stay connected to ongoing self-discovery and inner shakti.” #AAPIMonth #AANHPIMonth

At the heart of this ancient practice lies a rich history and tradition we're honored to carry forward. Set an intention today to honor yoga's roots by learning a new phrase in Sanskrit: वीरभद्रासन, Baddha Virabhadrasana, or "Humble Warrior," as it's commonly translated. In Hindu mythology, Virabhadra was a powerful figure: "vira" means hero, and "bhadra" means good. Our yoga practice encourages us to show up both on and off the mat: We ground ourselves into the humble warrior pose, bowing deeply with humility and grace, opening our shoulders back. And we show up for our communities, too, as resilient yet gracious neighbors and friends.

Becoming a yoga teacher requires growth in big and small ways: Your understanding of anatomy and physiology deepens. Your confidence expands. And your teaching style stretches into new shapes, finding what feels right for you and your students. What surprised you most on this journey? Tell us in the comments.

We're hiring! 🎉 Yoga Alliance is looking for a Member Benefits Specialist to join our team. Our member benefits are expanding, and we need someone hands-on to support partnership execution — ensuring potential vendors are vetted thoroughly, active partnerships are maintained accurately, and new benefits are launched, tracked, and supported with care. It's detail-oriented work with real impact on the experience we deliver to our members and the yoga community we serve. If someone in your network thrives at the intersection of operations, relationship management, and mission-driven work, please share!

It's #WomensHealthWeek, and I've been reflecting on Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans' research on gender, race, health, and wellness. Earlier this year, Yoga Alliance uplifted how Dr. Evans shone the light on Rosa Parks' yoga practice. When YA shared this piece of history—so vital to understanding yoga's present and thinking about the future of our work—a lot of people were surprised. The response was along the lines of, "*The* Rosa Parks was a yogi?!" Much of Black women's health has been understudied and underfunded. And as Dr. Evans told Georgia State University Research Magazine last year, "publications on Black women’s mental health history—particularly on histories of wellness rather than illness—are sparse at best." Much of the articles you'll see this week about women's health, and Black women's health, in particular, will be through the lens of illness. It's important to name injustices so that we can create solutions. It's also valuable to look at how, amidst inequity, Black women have created space for care. We have to nurture ourselves to keep showing up—and the showing up is really important. "The pandemic emphasized, more than any other prior time," Dr. Evans said, "that self-care can sometimes be effective community care. As a nation, the U.S. has a higher stress level in this historical moment than in the past few decades. A 2017 report by the American Psychological Association (APA), Stress in America: The State of Our Nation, found that 63 percent of Americans worry about the future of the nation, 62 percent worry about money, and 61 percent worry about work... Not surprisingly, the APA survey also revealed that anxiety around social issues was exacerbated by race and gender inequities." But like Dr. Evans, I'm finding hope that in uplifting stories of Black women's health and yoga practices, we will deepen our understanding of Black women as full people, recognizing our wellness and our strength. As she studied Black women's history, Dr. Evans said she "enjoyed a greater sense of agency by understanding the multitude of ways others had found theirs." I feel the same way. https://lnkd.in/gEW9pvb6