My Response to the article
"Why National Yoga Certification Standards is a Bad Idea"

Although I can understand some positive rationale for this group "The Yoga Alliance" (who are these people?) to be expending their energy in this manner, I find myself whole heartedly in agreement with White Lotus and friends. On a practical and rational level, this article makes total sense, yet on an emotional and intuitive level, standardization is scary.

I agree there are a lot of quacks out there teaching yoga and maybe there is some level of abuse, but this unfortunately seems a normal by-product of any profession and in what circumstance has a licensing body ever been able to prevent it? Also, while failing to achieve their objective, I believe they will hinder this amazingly beautiful proliferation of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and environmental healing consciousness that's spreading so naturally across the planet as you a re reading this article right now!

Believe it or not, since yoga's inception there has always been quacks and abuses this is not just an American phenomenon and the yogis of old didn't find it necessary to regulate probably because you can't regulate the spread of "love" which is what yoga is really about! If you look at yoga in India closely, you will find thousands of different approaches toward the goal of yoga (love), some very old, some fairly new. There is not one standardized way. It's like teaching your child to ride a bike. Is the "Yoga Alliance" saying we all have to teach our kids the same way? You teach the child according to many tangibles and intangibles, for instance, your teaching will be influenced by your nature, (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual) by the way you were taught and by your child's nature (courageous, fearful, strong, weak, etc.) And although you were taught one way, you may not teach your child the same exact way. You may add or subtract different things according to your experiences! This is how teaching evolves! I see no problem with this process, or at least the upside outweighs the downside perfectly.

In conclusion, although the Yoga Alliance's intentions may be benevolent, I don't feel their objective is in the best interest of yogic consciousness. Also, I agree with White Lotus that if they want to share their ideas and concerns, they should develop a web site and spend their money promoting it, giving all of us an opportunity to be influenced by them without being forced into alignment with their views.

Namaste',

Bryan