Please use this forum to ask any questions you may have about yoga in general or Yin Yoga in particular, or to discuss anything you have discovered that may be of general interest. Note, spam will be removed and the user deleted, and this includes putting website in your posting that are purely commercial.
This question does arise from time to time: does one need to be certified in order to teach Yin Yoga? Here is an excerpt from an earlier post:
There is no certification body for Yin Yoga. Unlike many other schools of yoga, such as Iyengar, Bikrams, Asthanga, etc, there is no one who says that you are authorized, licensed or qualified to teach Yin Yoga. There is not even agreement on what Yin Yoga is (I recently came across a Bikrams yoga studio that was offering Hot Yin Yoga, which on the surface sounds like an oxymoron, but even hot water is yin compared to boiling water.) Anyone can teach something that they call Yin Yoga.
Paul's own web site addresses this question: here is his response to the question, "Do I need a certificate to teach Yin Yoga?"
No, you do not need a certificate to teach "Yin" or "Taoist" Yoga. If you believe the style you teach is best described as "Yin" you do not need my permission. I have met many, many students and teachers who have confided they have "Always practiced Yoga this way - at home - when no one was looking - but I didn't have a name for it." I make no claim to have invented this type of practice. I learned this style from Paulie Zink but if you read Yoga books published before the 1970s the descriptions are of a "Yin Style". It is an historical accident that "Yin" is considered new or different.
So, to answer your question directly, there is no way to know 100% for sure if a person is teaching Yin Yoga properly because there is no "proper" Yin Yoga. There are some clues you can look for though. First ask if she has had training and with who? I offer trainings, as do Sarah and Paul and Paulie and many others. But secondly, and most importantly, take a class with her! Even if she has had training, it doesn't mean she is good. And even if she hasn't been formally trained, it doesn't means she is no good. Check her out yourself and see.
