The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has sent letters to numerous yoga studios and individuals that offer yoga teacher training requiring that they either (a)become state-licensed career schools regulated by the TWC at great cost and administrative effort, (b) show how they are specifically exempted or (c) shut down immediately. The TWC is operating on the mistaken premise and interpretation that offering a teacher training program for yoga teachers classifies a yoga studio as a "post-secondary career school or college." Why? Because requiring yoga studios to become licensed by the State of Texas generates revenues for the state.
Texas yoga students are adequately protected under the existing Texas state laws. The Texas Workforce Commission has not received a single complaint from a yoga student who enrolled in one of these programs.TWC admits that it has no knowledge of proper yoga instruction nor has it established experts to oversee the imposition of regulations on yoga curriculum. The proposed licensure does not benefit yoga students. This is purely a revenue generating operation. The Texas Workforce Commission is not equipped to oversee advanced yoga training programs. In fact, Yoga studios are not career schools and cannot be treated as such. Licensure offends the tradition of passing yoga down from teacher and student. In addition, Yoga is an expression of physical movement, meditation and spiritual practice more than a vocation. This should classify Yoga as an art form, so should have the same alignment as Martial Arts or Dance.
This licensure also creates undue financial and administrative hardship on yoga studios. The impact of these regulations means increased costs for students, discontinuance of advanced programs, and negative effects on our yoga teachers. This is unacceptable; the government has no business regulating yoga teacher training.
The bottom line is that regulation by the Texas Workforce Commission is not appropriate for yoga studios and does not benefit yoga students. In order to stop this, the law needs to be changed so that yoga is specifically exempted from the statute the Texas Workforce Commission. TWC currently seeks to erroneously enforce against yoga teacher training programs. Regardless of what stance is taken on this important issue, of whether or not there should be some standards regarding what a yoga teacher training program consists of, the State of Texas/ TWC is not the proper entity to make that determination.
Please help us to raise awareness of the importance of keeping yoga free of regulation. You can take action by attending our next legislative session with our state representatives to effect a change in the law.
Please sign our petition for yoga in Texas by visiting our petition site.
