The Introduction of the Iyengar Yoga Certification Mark

Many people will be familiar with the IYENGAR® mark or the logo, a silhouette of B.K.S. Iyengar in Natarajasana, the beautiful pose of Lord Siva in the cosmic dance, against the triangular outline of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute building in Pune, India. These registered trademarks together form the Certification Mark that signal that this teacher holds an approved Iyengar Yoga teaching certificate. This indicates to anyone wanting to join an Iyengar class that the teacher is properly trained and qualified, and is capable of sharing the considerable benefit of the Iyengar method with others.

We all feel that the kind of yoga we do is the right one for us. Followers of BKS Iyengar's method are no exception. One reasons is that many of us have witnessed for ourselves the extraordinary effects that the correct practise of yoga can bring to our health and wellbeing, physical and spiritual, often in the face of significant medical challenges. Particular emphasis is placed on the word correct: yoga of any sort is a powerful tool and can be used well or badly.

The Iyengar Yoga Association of the UK runs the teaching assessments and is responsible for licensing teachers' use of the Certification Mark. It is a relatively young organisation, although certified Iyengar teachers have been around since the 1960s - those who qualified in the early days were assessed by Iyengar himself in India. But as the popularity of his method grew, this became more and more difficult. In the UK, two organisations developed: first the BKS Iyengar Yoga Teachers Association and then the Light on Yoga Association (UK), a national association for students. Eventually it became clear that to have two organisations was no longer practical or sensible, so in 2003 the two came together to create IYA(UK). There are now over 800 teacher members and over 2000 student members (and there are many practitioners of Iyengar Yoga all over the country who attend classes but have not joined the Association).

We believe that the high teaching standards are in some way responsible for the fact that Iyengar yoga is the world's most widely performed method of yoga, and in the UK, classes can be found all over the country. The Certification Mark is not just a UK phenomenon: you will find it in the United States and Canada, South Africa, Australia, and it is being introduced in France, Spain , Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands and other European countries where there are Iyengar Yoga Associations. It guarantees the same standards as we have here.

It means that that a teacher has completed at the very least three years of regular Iyengar yoga classes prior to training, and has then successfully completed 120 hours in teacher training classes over a two-year period with additional hours spent gaining teaching experience by helping experienced teachers in their classes and also working on their own practice in intermediate or advanced classes. Course work involves writing papers on lesson planning, simple anatomy and the philosophy of yoga and teaching theory. Finally candidates must pass two stringent examinations of their teaching, practice and understanding of anatomy and philosophy. All this is designed to ensure that Iyengar Teachers know how to give clear instructions on each asana, how to correct each individual, how to sequence the postures to help their students perform the asanas to the best of their ability, and achieve the maximum benefit to the different systems of the body.

Not all teachers are able to visit the Institute in Pune so this training syllabus has been laid down by BKS Iyengar himself for all countries.

The benefits from Iyengar Yoga are extraordinary; this unique approach is a powerful one Yogacharya BKS Iyengar himself has been called a living legend and his achievements recognised far beyond the world of yoga - Indeed Time Magazine listed him as one of the most influential men of the last century.   Such power has to be treated with respect, knowledge and understanding. The methods of BKS Iyengar have been so widespread and influential in the teaching that he himself felt it necessary to make it clear who is qualified to pass on some understanding of his work by introducing a recognisable mark, the Certification Mark. The IYA(UK) is responsible for the administration of the Certification Mark here in Britain. It is there to identify a properly trained Iyengar Yoga Teacher, and it is there at the wish of Guruji himself.