curriculum

In alignment with the requirements from Yoga Alliance each curriculum meets the elevated standards.

From Yoga Alliance Website:
In early 2020, Yoga Alliance launched new Elevated Standards to replace our Legacy Standards underlying the foundational Registered Yoga School (RYS) 200 credential. This adaptation substantially increases the baseline for this credential, providing consistency across RYS 200s and building confidence in the quality and safety of service that our members deliver to their communities.

  • Legacy RYS 200 Standards: YA standards crafted and implemented prior to February 27, 2020. RYS 200 programs were initially asked to up-level by February 2022, however, due to COVID-19's impacts on our community, previously stated dates and deadlines are currently under review. Members will be informed of all relevant changes as they develop. 

  • Elevated RYS 200 Standards: Enhanced standards launched on February 27, 2020 as a result of the community-led Standards Review Project. All aspiring RYS 200 programs must now apply under these standards.

Within the Elevated Standards is a shared core curriculum inclusive of lineage, style, and methodology. This curriculum includes a clear breakdown of four Educational Categories and 12 competencies encompassing respective sub-competencies —all of which must be tested for integration and application of knowledge.

Under these modernized standards, each RYS also assesses the knowledge, skills, and experience of its trainees prior to certifying them as 200-hour teachers against this core curriculum.

Asana

  • Historical context

  • Poses specific to RYS's lineage

  • Complete sequencing (asana, pranayama, meditation) to achieve particular effect safely

  • Shared anatomical and alignment principles plus contraindications

Pranayama & Subtle Body

  • Historical context

  • Effects of pranayama on anatomy and subtle body

  • Complete sequencing of pranayama safely, including alternatives and adaptations

  • Ujjayi, Nadi Shodhana, Kapalabhati, among others

  • Koshas, kleshas, chakras, nadis and prana vayus

Meditation

  • Key meditation terms

  • Meditation methods by lineage

  • Ability to practice school's chosen meditation practice

  • Chanting, mantras, and mudras

Anatomy

  • Skeletal system

  • Major bones

  • Types of joints

  • Major muscles involved in asana

  • Types of muscle contraction

Physiology

  • Nervous system, incl. ‘fight, flight, freeze’ stress response, vagal theory, overall mind-body connection

  • Cardiovascular/circulatory, endocrine, digestive systems as they relate to yoga practice

  • Respiratory system, incl. muscles that affect breathing, involuntary vs voluntary breath, how air enters and leaves body

Biomechanics

  • Types of joint movements

  • Joint stabilization

  • Safe movement as it pertains to balancing, stretching, awareness, and physical limitations

  • Contraindications, misalignments, adaptations

History

  • Term ‘yoga’

  • School’s lineage, style, and methodology

  • Dates and key ideas such as the Vedas, Vedanta, Hatha, Colonial, Modern

Philosophy

  • Definition of yoga and key terms

  • Relationship between asana, pranayama, meditation per school’s approach

  • Familiarity w/ major yogic texts (i.e., Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Hatha Yoga Pradipika)

  • Self-reflection on how philosophy relates to practice

Ethics

  • Awareness of Yoga Sutras or similar yogic ethical precepts

  • Relationship to Yoga Alliance

  • Ethical Commitment including Scope of Practice, Code of Conduct, and Equity Position Statement

  • Comprehension of and responsibility to increase equity in yoga

  • Accountability measures Self-reflection on how yoga ethics relate to practice and teaching

Teaching Methodology Teaching Methodology

  • Sequencing

  • Pace

  • Environment

  • Cueing (verbal, visual, physical)

  • Class management

Professional Development

  • Yoga-related professional organizations, including the Yoga Alliance credentialing process

  • Ethical Commitment, including Scope of Practice, Code of Conduct and Equity Position Statement

  • Lifetime of learning and continuing education

  • General professionalism, including timeliness, consistency, cleanliness

  • Marketing and promotion

  • Liability insurance, waivers, invoicing

Practicum

  • Knowledge, skills, experience across 12 key competencies

  • Mentorship component, incl. apprenticeship, feedback