At present, the Yoga Alliance has over 8000 RYSs and more than 40000 RYTs listed in its directory. Those who don’t know, RYS means Registered Yoga School! Yoga Alliance – the global yoga practitioner’s community – has defined standards for yoga schools which must be fulfilled in order to be called RYSs. 

The credentialing system is a registry and should not to be confused with certifications, accreditations, licensure, etc. The Alliance does not hold authority for yoga schools to list with it.

In this blog, Ekattva Yogshala will define RYS and the new set standards on which it will function in 2020 and beyond.

RYS Meaning

The major difference between a RYS and any other yoga school is the registry in the records of the Yoga Alliance. A Yoga School can only become a RYS listed school if it fulfills the criteria mentioned by the global yoga community, “The Yoga Alliance”.

RYS Definition

The Yoga Alliance defines RYS as “A Registered Yoga School (RYS®) is a distinction given to yoga teacher trainings that meet Yoga Alliance® Standards. A RYS must submit its training’s syllabus to Yoga Alliance, be verified by our credentialing team and be current with annual fees”.

RYS Standards (New)

The Yoga Alliance was formed almost 20 years ago. With the evolution of yoga during the past two decades, the alliance has also evolved and set new global standards for RYTs and RYSs.

As the result of a community-led process, the Yoga Alliance has rolled out a new set of RYS standards which are applicable to every registered yoga teacher training school.

• Current RYS 200 programs will have more than 24 months to upgrade to the new RYS 200 standards (by December 31, 2021). 
• New RYS 200 applicants will apply under the new standards beginning February 2020. 
• Also in February 2020, new and renewing RYTs will agree to a shared ethical commitment, including a Scope of Practice, a Code of Conduct, and a responsibility to equity in yoga.

Here is the set of new standards listed by the Yoga Alliance:

The Ethical Commitment

Yoga Alliance will ask all credential holders (Registered Yoga Schools) to sign onto an ethical, mutual commitment, that will initiate onwards February 2020. The commitment will be reflective of the membership’s input and priorities shared across the entire yoga community on the global platform.

By signing this mutual commitment form, a RYS will be entitled to all the beneficial perks and will be bound by the obligations of the Yoga Alliance.

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Current vs Future

There has been a significant change in the true meaning of the foundation yoga teacher training program (200Hours YTT). It has now been upscaled from its previous version.

The changes differ for different yoga teaching schools. The updated standards include differing timelines depending on whether a school is a new applicant or a current RYS 200.

Curriculum

The upgraded standards for the RYS, especially 200 YTT credential has created a strengthened course curriculum common across all RYS 200s. This program is inclusive of 5 outcomes:

• Lineage 
• Style
• Methodology 
• Emphasizing key learning goals 
• Desired outcomes

Means the above mentioned 5 categories will incorporate the “core curriculum” categories aimed at ensuring confidence across 12 well-defined competencies.

Application & review process

Not only the Yoga Alliance has updated the RYS 200 standards, they have also leveled up the overall process of application and reviewing to provide more shared answerability to meet or exceed the updated set of standards. 

In addition, the Yoga Alliance has also added a re-credentialing element, which all registered yoga schools, once forming under the new standards, will be undergoing through every 4th year.

Lead trainer requirements

There are two significant enhancements in the updated registered yoga school norms that will affect the Lead Trainers all across the RYSs.

• Lead Trainer’s knowledge, skills, and experience must have depth.
• Set percentage of the YTT curriculum that the Lead Trainer must teach.

Community conversations

The Yoga Alliance states that they received a call to action request from the members and the broader yoga community to serve as the convener for conversations that impact the profession and practice of yoga.

The request focused on improving the future of yoga teaching and resolving the community-wide, systemic issues which come across in RYSs all across the globe.

These were the major things taken into consideration by the Yoga Alliance while formulating the new set of standards for RYTs.

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Best thing about the UPDATE!

Being a registered yoga teacher, you also must be curious to know about the specific changes which this updated version of registered yoga school curriculum will bring with it in the coming years.

The updated curriculum of RYS will definitely affect the teaching process as well as the existing yoga teachers as now they will have to update themselves from the existing YTT standards.

Therefore, this makes the best time to become a yoga teacher through 200 hours YTT as it will be a totally renovated yoga teacher course in 2020 and times to come. 
Not only yoga teacher aspirants but also existing teachers can also get benefited from it. Send in your queries to info@spiritualpunditz.com and begin your yoga teacher’s journey with Ekattva.