by Jamie Sanchez
In February of 2009, all Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher training programs in the state of Missouri were contacted by the Missouri Department of Higher Education regarding their training programs. It was the state’s opinion that the teacher training programs being offered were vocational in nature since the intention is to train people to become yoga instructors. After many hours of talks and support from Yoga Alliance President and staff, the directors of the Missouri schools talked to the state in the spring of 2009 to voice concerns and ask questions. According to state officials, their certification process is designed to protect consumers and have all the yoga schools comply with the standards they have established for other vocational schools. Each school received an almost 70 page application to complete, requiring detailed documentation of the school’s policies and procedures.
Four schools in the St Louis area banded together to support one another in the process: Chris Yonkers of Yoga Source in Maplewood, Robin Buck of Jane’s House of Well-Being in St Charles, Jamie Sanchez of West-East Natural Healing in St Louis and Pam Schulte of Just Practice Yoga in Richmond Heights. We are all happy to announce that we are in the final stages of being certified through the Missouri Department of Higher Education. Even though this has been a lengthy and sometimes frustrating process, we all see the value of the certification standards to our schools and future yoga teachers in the St Louis area.
For more information on upcoming teacher training courses go to: www.janeshousestudio.com, www.justpracticeyoga.com, www.urbanbreath.com and www.stlouisyogasource.com.