Virginia is cracking down on the back-crackers.
The State Council of Higher Education wants to regulate the training of yoga teachers and impose a $2,500 fee to certify instructors.
From the Washington Post:
Studios can teach lotus poses to as many clients as they like, state officials said. But teacher training programs, which the state views as similar to dog grooming, massage therapy or other classes intended to prepare someone for a job, must be certified under state law.
But the yogis aren’t bending over for state regulators without a fight. The Virginia yoga community has started a “Virginia Yoga Teachers” Facebook page and have launched a letter-writing campaign to Gov. Tim Kaine and state officials.
The education council has extended the compliance deadline to December, but the issue won’t likely be settled that easily. Del. David E. Poisson (D-Loudoun) stated he intends to introduce a bill exempting yoga teachers from the state licensing requirement when the General Assembly convenes next spring.
Yoga is not about business and I hope the government recognizes that. While yoga is not religious, it would be kind of like charging a priest to wear a collar. He’s already paying for divinity school and living frugally to get by while serving others!
In India, the birthplace of yoga, people don’t even pay teachers for classes. To practice is like breathing. You wake up and are endowed with a body and breath which allows you to practice. A teacher is just a guide and does not take money in exchange for sharing what is considered a basic human right and need.
While teachers do take money in exchange for guiding in the USA, it bothers me that the government would tax them for providing such an enormously useful service to others. There is no teacher in VA that charges enough to afford such a tax/penalty/liability to the government.
Coming back to the church analogy, just as a church or other house of worship provides a service to enrich the lives of citizens, the government should recognize yoga in the same light. I know many will argue with this but if you truly understand yoga (not a fitness class at the gym), this makes perfect sense.
The Problem with that Suzanne is that this isn’t India, this is the good ol’ US of A. And there are a lot of Yoga studios popping up all the time. If they are charging people and making supplemental income off of Yoga, then to not giving money back to the state in which they are employed, it is kind of cheating the system. Baristas at Starbucks serve others and live frugally as well. They also have to pay taxes. I’m not sure that the state is out of line to try and make money off of this practice, especially since Virginia has such a severe budget shortfall. I would agree with you only if, like in India, nobody paid for their classes. If it is a business however, they are going to have to face government regulation, taxes and fees like every other business.
SCHEV (State Council of Higher Education for Virginia) currently requires that any proprietary school that grosses anywhere from $0 (that’s zero) to $50,000.00 pay an annual “fee” of $500. That means any training school, not just Yoga teachers, has to pay the State of Virginia $500 every year, even if they gross only $300. In addition, teachers have to pay for a surety bond. (It’s not as bad as it used to be. When SCHEV first took over supervision of proprietary schools a few years ago they were demanding a $1500 annual “fee.”)
In regard to the previous posting’s claim of ” kind of cheating the system” Yoga teachers and other types of teacher-trainers are already paying federal and state income taxes and local business license taxes.