Regulating Yoga
A. G. Sulzberger writes in the New York Times about efforts in some states to regulate and license yoga teachers and studios. The states say they want to protect consumers. Whether there has been a rash of consumer complaints against yoga studios the article does not say.
One yoga teacher quoted in the article thinks the licensing trend might benefit yoga in the long run, but most consider it to be government intrusion on a spiritual practice. The latter group believes the states are mostly interested in squeezing money out of yoga studios, and Sulzberger's article provides some corroboration for that claim. The licensing fees and fines involved are causing some small yoga studios to close.
I don't want to get into a political discussion of governmental regulatory power. However, what is yoga in the West? Is it primarily spiritual or something else? In Tibetan Buddhism in particular there are a number of practices called "yoga" that are definitely spiritual, but what goes on in most yoga studios is very far removed from that.
The word "yoga" is Sanskrit for "yolk," and it can refer to a number of practices meant to unite the yogi with what we might loosely call "the divine." What most westerners call "yoga" is a particular type, called "hatha yoga," but there are many other types of yoga that are considerably different. I found the most interesting definition of yoga in the Oxford Companion to the Body:
The word ‘yoga’ refers primarily to an ancient Hindu spiritual tradition intended to overcome the narrow sense of individual selfhood, though its usage ranges from the very general to the specific and highly technical. The word is probably derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which implies a yoke or harness, invoking the notion that when the ox and the cart are connected via the yoke, the resulting complex is greater than the sum of its parts. In its most general sense, yoga involves harnessing or integrating the forces of embodiment (mind, body, and spirit) in order to transcend embodiment.
In the Asian religions there are a number of body-mind practices meant to integrate spiritual practice with movement and promote overall physical-spiritual well-being. These include qigong and tai chi. There are many connections between Zen Buddhism and the martial arts.
Hatha yoga, of course, originated in Hinduism. According to Subhamoy Das, the About.com Guide to Hinduism, in centuries past yoga was a very esoteric practice handed down from master to select student. It has been only in the past few decades that it became something anyone could learn by signing up for a course at the YMCA. That said, I suspect we're talking about very different "yogas" here.
Many of these practices, the martial arts in particular, in the West often are not taught in a spiritual context. So what sort of practices are they? My understanding is that no state requires a martial arts instructor to get a license, so it seems odd that a yoga instructor would need one, and that a number of states suddenly took it into their heads to demand one. There might be more going on beneath the surface that I'm not seeing.
Comments
My spouse is a serious hatha yoga practitioner and feels that it goes well with Buddhist meditation and philosophy (some day I hope to get up the gumption to do yoga myself). I would say that she embodies both the spiritual aspect of yoga and the health aspect. It can not be denied that hatha yoga maintains the body and keeps people physically fit well into their older years. She feels that the spiritual and health aspects are two sides of the same coin, as do many Western practitioners. I suppose yoga done purely for fitness reasons is not quite authentic, though valuable in its limited way, as is secular meditation. As to certification and licensing–as of now, yoga instructors are certified by their organizations (notably Kripalu). There is a reason to certify an instructor–put simply, a bad instructor can cause you to hurt yourself. Should the state step in? Hard to know. We license doctors and therapists but, as was just pointed out, not martial arts instructors. Perhaps for the time being organizational certification is enough. But the aspiring student should not hesitate to ask about the teacher’s qualifications.
Would Milarepa, walking around naked with a cotton bag over his head, have qualified for certification?
Would Milarepa, walking around naked with a cotton bag over his head, have qualified for certification?
In New York, yes, but not in Texas.
Ha! Love that image of Mila set loose on Manhattan, then Texas
And it brings up, for me, the difference between “certification” and spiritual “transmission” – very distinct systems for granting authority to teachers, yes?
Certification is typically granted by an organization composed of practitioners of a given form; and is based upon a demonstrated competence in the more “ritual” aspects of a tradition – things that can be readily evaluated, in a more or less “objective” way. So for a hatha yoga teacher this might include skill in teaching the asanas, enough of an understanding of physical anatomy to ensure the physical safety of students, and knowledge of some of the basic yoga texts/scriptures.
Much more difficult to evaluate is a practitioner’s inner accomplishment – at the level of mind/energy. Yet arguably this is the most important thing, if what we’re valuing is yoga as a spiritual discipline, rather than simply a form of exercise or a relaxation technique. Yet to see directly, and hence evaluate accurately, this inner aspect of another person’s practice is a capacity that requires a level of mastery that few possess. Only a practitioner whose own level of accomplishment is at least equivalent to the person being evaluated could possibly be able to do this.
Which is perhaps one reason why spiritual transmission rather than certification has been the method most commonly used within Buddhism for granting authority to teach. So Marpa, after working for many years, in a very intimate way, with Milarepa, was able – based upon his own realization and his capacity to perceive directly his student’s level of realization – to affirm Mila’s capacity to function effectively, on all levels of his being, as a teacher (for New Yorkers & Texans alike).
Each system, of course, has its strengths and its weaknesses …
I think being able to get licenses is good, but to require is overboard. It would make some people feel more comfortable if their instructor had some type of license (or maybe a certification) just so they know their instructor is legit, if that’s important to the student. I doubt most people would though. Most Westerners are likely in it for the fitness. A bad yoga instructor can do some damage to students as well so I can see why some people would want licensing, but I still feel it’s overboard.
The same is with martial arts. I’ve been studying martial arts since elementary school and it’s been great, but it’s mostly about fitness and confidence and the like. None of my teachers have included much in terms of the spiritual, though some would talk about morals, or proper conduct.
I’ve never really read up much on yoga and didn’t realize it had a spiritual side. I have read on qigong though and found it very interesting.