Te acher zone
VIEWPOINT 5:
Independent Yoga Network
I am against the institution of a National Occupational Standard (NOS) for a yoga
teacher because:[a] It offends my religious sensibilities and those of many others. The private, spiritual
matter of practicing and sharing yoga should not be interfered with by what is, in
effect, a government quango and this is a freedom guaranteed by the Human Rights
Act 1998, Article 9. The idea that the NOS can be innocent in this respect if somehow
the spiritual aspects are peeled off, which is bandied about in social media and which
Skills Active have trotted out as a part of their current pitch, is naïve in the extreme
and not borne out by the experience we had the last time a NOS was attempted 12
years ago. It’s not borne out by the history of yoga either, nor by its textual bases,
nor by the nature of its current highly diverse variants. The notion being circulated by
proponents of NOS that the public need defending against ‘bad teachers’ and should
therefore be interfered with (as is allowed for by the Human Rights Act) is not borne
out by the evidence provided by insurers. Claims are extremely rare which makes one
suspect that this ‘crying wolf’ is a propaganda ploy.[b] It will lead to injustice given empirically that factions in communities seek
dominance. We have already seen precisely that in the yoga community and more
generally and globally in the commodification of more and more commons in the
service of corporate profit and power.[c] The injustice will not only be one of an imbalance of power and influence between
factions in the yoga community. It will be an economic one. This latter will favour
big, rich organisations and concerns and be disadvantageous to one-man-bands,
and people working in a dana [donations] system. Many smaller yoga projects will
feel that they have to kowtow to the dominant faction for fear of losing reputational
momentum to then get involved in onerous red-tape, whilst incurring costs they can ill
afford. Again, we have seen this before.[d] The entire project is illegitimate given that a large fraction of the yoga community,
including the IYN, The National Council of Hindu Temples and some 2,000+ signatories
of a petition demanding that NOS be abandoned, are very strongly against it. An
action with potentially far reaching cultural and economic fallout like this attempt
to institute a NOS for yoga teachers should not be attempted without a very large
consensus in its favour. This is simply a matter of natural justice.NOS? No thanks.Dr Pete Yates, secretary, Independent Yoga Network (independentyoganetwork.org)VIEWPOINT 4:
A view from the insurance industry
What follows is a comment from an
insurance point of view following suggestion
that the insurance market needed regulation
along the lines proposed. After an analysis
of the ‘level of risk’ presented by yogis and
yoginis to insurers there were just two areas
that we looked at twice. One was hot yoga
where there have been some incidents. The
other was mindfulness which can produce
unpleasant reactions in some. After some
considerable deliberation, we have elected to
levy the same premium for those practices as
we do for all others under the name ‘yoga’.
I can confirm that there is no insurance
issue with understanding the principles of
yoga or the qualification (by experience or
certification) of those who teach it.
Generally speaking, we are now more
interested in ‘who provides the teacher’s
training and their experience’ rather than
an out-of-date certificate. (The cost of
maintaining CPD - or continuous professional
development - is another money making
opportunity for those who wish to take
advantage. It is a disincentive to many:
especially those who do not look to earn out
of yoga – and there are many!).
Perhaps, more importantly, we will
happily provide insurance to those with
no certification but suitable evidence of
experience.
It might also be worthwhile noting that
recent claims presented to us bear little
correlation to certification or qualification.1. One of our most experienced yogis was
accused of misapplying pressure causing
injury. This appeared to be an ‘ambulance
chasing’ event.2. The most common claim is caused by slips
and trips.It might also be worth pointing out that,
very often, yoga is only one of the activities
practiced, enjoyed, performed and taught by
yogis. When we provide insurance we include
massage, reiki, herbalism, nutrition, personal
training and anything else they tell us about.
A Skills Active certificate in yoga would offer
no help to us in judging the capability of our
client in any area. It would only tell us they
have had to spend some money on getting
that certificate. In terms of insurance, it
would be of no benefit to them or us.Nick Ellwell of BGI Insurance (bgi.uk.com)