Regulating Yoga

The debate about the regulation of yoga has been going on in my own mind for years, so I was unsurprised to find out the debate has gotten some media attention over the last few months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11yoga.html?em

It seems that state governments, strapped for cash are looking at yoga teacher trainings as taxable trade schools. I find this comical on many levels, the least of which is that I gave up welding (a traditional trade) for yoga teaching (really not a trade, so much).  On another level, I now ride the line between being an acupuncturist (highly regulated and licensed) and a yoga instructor (mostly still under the radar).

These regulations will continue and we have only ourselves to blame. For two big reasons.

One: we’re good at what we do. A survey of the NCCAOM showed that people using yoga doubled from 2002 to 2007. The same survey showed that yoga is the most used CAM therapy in America. And why not. It’s now widely available, often dumbed down to be easily accessable (even if that makes it more dangerous). This growing popularity places us more and more in the limelight which, for all professions (even those with a spiritual calling) leads to government oversight.

Two: we’ve already accepted regulation in our hubris to seem more important. We’ve largely bought into the importance of the Yoga Alliance, who has paved the way for the government to approve and regulate us as they have. Why have we done this? Ego. It makes us seem more important even if our credentials (like E-RYT-500) make no sense to most people.

Though it seems inevitable, given the facts and circumstances, I am not in favor of any regulation. It is very difficult to credential safety and quality. It seems to have done very little for acupuncturists besides allowing us to take insurance and actually making what we do legal (acupuncture was illegal in california until the late 70’s). The former being a very mixed blessing. What regulation will largely do for yoga teachers is let more people put their fingers our pot. I often read and hear about yoga being a multi-billion dollar industry. Who’s making all this money? Not myself or any of the yoga teachers I know. Also, I believe we already pay enough in Self-Employment tax and receive no government representation for this (hmmm. sounds familiar: taxation without representation.)

The only solution I can see is union. By uniting under a qualified leadership perhaps we can create a yoga climate that is lucrative, equitable, and safe for the consumer. I’m not sure who could accomplish this, but I know it’s not the people creating overpriced conferences (who stand to benefit greatly from all the CEU’s we’d need to fulfill once regulated) or the yoga alliance that has already led us blindly down the path of regulation. Perhaps a grassroots movement of everyday yogis, like me, who love yoga, the job of yoga, and the yoga people it brings.

Are you out there?

Herbology for Swine Flu

There’s no doubt: cold and flu season has started. People all around me are dropping like rain engulfed in the Ricola coated misery of throat scratching, tissue wiping, body aching illness. Even John Stewart, last week, seemed to be complaining of the same cold my wife is now getting over, which, I suppose, is indirectly good for him, since sick people seem to watch a lot more television. Thankfully, my wife has only missed one day of work and I credit this miracle to the constant vigilance I’ve been giving to her regimen of chinese herbal formulas.

However, there are sinister forces at work. My wife, as a school teacher, is constantly exposed to the most virulent petri dish of cold and flu the world has known: children. Even more worrying is that one of her colleagues was diagnosed with swine flu, aka H1N1 (insert suspenseful music here). As tissue and Tussin sales go up, swine flu seems to be held breathlessly on everyone’s lips. Using chinese herbal formulas to treat this is becoming more well known. It is not surprising that, within china, they are already beefing up their herb supply to treat the impending flu season. A recent article stated that they already had 2 million doses of herbs ready!

Even within the U.S., there are practitioners using these same herbs to treat swine flu and other flus not gifted with such elaborate names and aliases. As an enthusiastic herbalist, I find this exhilarating. Even more exciting would be to have these formulas better integrated into the mainstream health care system, which would, not only help alleviate symptoms, but reduce cost. Chinese Herbs are cheap.

So here’s my vision: a giant steaming cauldron full of herbs, twigs and berries, slowly stirred in the hospital lobby, or the school cafeteria, or the airport security check, with a cup full of decoction for everyone.

Back by the Bay

After a turbulent couple of months, I’ve finally begun to settle in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m back in West Berkeley, only a few blocks from the Bay, and am enjoying weekly rides around the Berkeley Marina. Now that I’ve found a place to teach yoga and practice acupuncture, it feels like I can finally take my hat off and dig my heals in. I’m looking forward to re-connecting with all the lovely people I left here a year ago and picking up all my random projects where I left off.

I’ve started making medical tinctures, working on my detox retox website, and brainstorming herbal formulas for the impending cold and flu season. Good times ahead…