President of IYTA and CEO of Yoga Alliance clarify any mis-communication regarding Yoga Alliance and registering as an IYTA teacher.

There seems to be a lot of confusion around which Yoga Alliance to join? Let’s be clear – there is only ONE Yoga Alliance organisation and that is Yoga Alliance USA: www.yogaalliance.org

Since the success and growth of Yoga Alliance in the USA, many rogue operators have used their name and have set up websites in various states of Australia and around the world, purporting to be The Yoga Alliance. These operators will happily take your money to join but are NOT accredited to give you any qualification or registration that is recognised as Yoga Alliance USA.

IYTA has a strong working relationship with Yoga Alliance and has done so since the previous President, Richard Karpel and Mary-Louise, IYTA President, established regular communication on the need for registration of yoga teachers and schools. Richard has since left Yoga Alliance and Barbara Dobberthien has taken over as CEO. Regular communication has continued with Yoga Alliance through Marion McConnell (MUGS) who has been our IYTA representative in Canada for many years. MUGS is on the Board of Yoga Alliance and due to increased responsibility with Yoga Alliance has recently handed over her IYTA rep role to Dorothy Fizzell.

As a graduate of IYTA you are fully qualified to join Yoga Alliance.

To join Yoga Alliance you will need a current copy of your IYTA Diploma. If you need to, you can request an updated copy of your Diploma – contact us. The Diploma will state the date of your graduation and will be dated and signed as at the date of our joining Yoga Alliance i.e. 31/7/2013. Yoga Alliance is in the process of setting up a grandfathering/mothering scheme to acknowledge teachers who graduated well before IYTA joined Yoga Alliance, however in the meantime 31/7/2013 is the date that is recognised by them.

Why join Yoga Alliance?

I would suggest you only join Yoga Alliance if you intend teaching in America or teach with an organisation that requests that you have Yoga Alliance certification, or if you wish to be a lead teacher of a Yoga Alliance accredited course.

Both the IYTA Diploma of Yoga Teaching and the IYTA Pre and Post Natal courses are registered with Yoga Alliance. We are in the process of registering our other Post Grad courses – this is a work in progress.

Barbara Dobberthien, Marion McConnell and Dorothy Fizzell have all been invited to our 50 Year Anniversary Conference 20-22 October 2017 at Sydney Town Hall. Marion is one of our presenters.

Keep in mind Yoga Alliance is an American registered entity with no jurisdiction outside of America. IYTA however is truly International, with representation in over 20 countries. IYTA membership is respected and acknowledged worldwide.

If you have any further queries about Yoga Alliance please contact us and we suggest reading this link sent to us by Barbara Dobberthien of Yoga Alliance:

The plague of rogue Yoga Alliance’s popping up around the world is an issue we are addressing, but it is quite like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole – we close one down and another one pops up in its place This article does a good job of addressing the issue and providing specific examples of imposter organisations: Not All YAs Are The Same.