Nor do all of us agree that regulation is appropriate for yoga. Many people from all walks of life pursue yoga as an alternative health therapy and a comprehensive fitness system. The move toward regulation is primarily based on the popularity of yoga in these two areas, which are actually subsets of the discipline. Some feel this popularity has created an opportunity for yoga teachers and schools, many who have struggled financially for some years, to improve the profitability of their work. But this money comes from somewhere and that somewhere is the pockets of practitioners, teachers and consumers.
Yoga is first and foremost a spiritual pursuit.
Indeed, those individuals most deeply involved in the study and practice of yoga claim that the spiritual side is the most important aspect. For many yoga teachers, teaching is ministry, first and an economic endeavor, second. The push towards National Standards for yoga ignores the need for spiritual independence and spiritual integrity. Attempts to standardize and eventually license yoga teachers are morally and ethically shortsighted, we believe they are contrary to the fundamental philosophies of yoga itself. How we individually pursue our spiritual selves is deeply related to our religious beliefs.