Protecting Your Yoga Teaching Business
By Paul Jerard

When or if, you want to become a Yoga teacher - would you be thinking of litigation and Yoga? The old saying, “the truth hurts,” applies to legality, ethics, and teaching Yoga. You can always “bury your head in the sand” and hope that you are never involved in a legal battle. After all, what kind of a student would sue his or her Yoga teacher? Doctors must ask each other this question every day. Sorry, but denial will not help you in a court of law.

Instead of denying the obvious, you can take action, by learning how the law applies to your Yoga business. You can also start creating policies that protect your students, and insure that you are giving quality Yoga instruction for the rest of your life.

It has been said that “Knowledge is Power,” and this could never be more true than when it comes down to knowing the “Letter of the Law.” Just like when a Yoga student first learns to develop his or her awareness from Yoga and meditation practice - Yoga teachers must develop an awareness of legality, as it pertains to their Yoga businesses.

For the average Yoga teacher, the thought of litigation, as a result of a student entering his or her Yoga class, is depressing. Many Yoga teachers and interns pursue the rewarding career of teaching Yoga as “Good Samaritans.” Yoga teachers are very often generous with their time, effort, and services.

It is “heartbreaking” for me to tell “giving people,” with the best of intentions, that they can be sued at any time. In this climate of litigation, anyone, even a Yoga teacher, can have a lawsuit filed against them. Defending yourself, in a court of law, can and does, create physical, spiritual, mental, and financial exhaustion.

As a result of this reality, this requires protective action on the part of all Yoga teachers. Look at this as a prevention program and a compliment to your current liability insurance policy. “I didn’t know,” will not save any of us from the wrath of the law.

Review your liability insurance and your release forms. Most Yoga teachers should have their attorney review their release forms. The days of a simple one page waiver form are over. A documented health questionnaire may help you to prevent a sudden legal catastrophe. This is not required, but serves as a tangible document to know each Yoga student a little better.

Just remember that a potential Yoga student has the legal right to refuse to fill out a questionnaire, if they so desire. This does leave you “flying blind,” when teaching Yoga classes to students whose current health condition is a mystery.

Therefore, always mention contraindications for asanas. It would be prudent to have an information packet, with contraindications, and prenatal warnings included. You could also include a slip for Yoga students to sign, which indicates that they have read, and understand, that Yoga can be a risk for some health conditions.

Lastly, it is better to lose a potential Yoga student, than to teach one at the risk of his or her health.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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Karmic Yoga and Creation Spirituality
By John Gilmore

To remain involved in Karmic Yoga and derive the joys that come as a result of service one must somehow embrace the ideas that underlie Creation Spirituality. Creation Spirituality, not to be confused with Creation Theology, is described by Matthew Fox as the Christian Mystic Tradition. It is a tradition that has been all but erased, especially in many institutional churches. When we look at the history of Christianity, however, and especially the monastic movement, we can find traces of Creation Spirituality.

Creation spirituality, as defined by Matthew Fox, involves the acceptance of four paths or ways. Here I will give a general overview, but we will explore each path in subsequent articles. The first path is the Via Positiva. The Via Positiva experience is the natural condition of the human being at peace. It is a time of rest and a time of stillness where one is full of potential energy, but also very much at peace and in a state of balance. The second is the Via Negativa. On this path one’s balance has been disrupted. Something has come into one’s life that causes a shift in one’s thinking, or ones opinion about the world. One is force to reform her or his opinion about the world and life. Part of the self dies during this shift and it doesn’t feel good. The old maladaptive dies and seeds of that which will be new begin to sprout. The third is the Via Creativa. During this phase the seed begins to sprout. One achieves balance again at a higher state with more clarity and awareness about reality. The fourth is the Via Transformative. During this phase one integrates the changes that she experiences into he life. The change is integrated to the extent that she becomes a large, transformed individual. As we live, breath and strive to link with the Divine, we are walking on all of these paths.

They are not hierarchical paths, or linear. We can be on different paths in different areas of our lives at the same time. The main idea running through this concept of the paths and creation spirituality is that we are still in the process of being created just like the universe. We go through all of these paths repeatedly and never complete them.

The universe is not complete. The same divine power that has been working in the universe since the time of it’s creation is still working not only out there somewhere, but also inside us. We, like the universe, through many experiences are changing and growing, becoming something more than we are at this very moment. If we choose well we can learn and do things that will help us move toward the light and becoming the image of the Divine more quickly, if not we may be caught of in the cares of the world and lose ourselves in the Maya (Illusion) of the world.

Much pressure and heat is required to create a diamond. Some stones become diamonds, but some just become coal. The human being is in the position where he can decide to become a diamond or become coal. As we do Karmic Yoga we are taking a path that will lead us to becoming a diamond. As we realize that the universe is still in process and that we are part of the universe and still in process ourselves the pressure lessons, but we obtain the same results.

As we do Karmic Yoga in this mindset it becomes clear that we are not only helping other people, we are not only helping the environment, in the larger sense, we are helping ourselves, because we are the world. We are the environment and the universe. More scary that all of this, we are those people that we are helping. As The Mayans often say, “All is God, God is all.”

As we work and devote our lives to Karmic Yoga let us remember that we are one not only in theory, but in reality according to quantum physics and social psychology. It is important to also lead others to realize who and what they actually are. Putting aside the foolishness and deception, as we embrace our true identities, we work hard to clear our minds and let the primordial light of love and justice flow from the center of our beings like an fountain bubbling into everlasting life. This is the goal of Karmic Yoga—to bring the water of the Spirit of Truth to desert places in order to quench the thirst of those who need love, truth, justice, and freedom on this sometimes lonely earth. As we remove the barriers created by the mind and through mental manipulation we will find this earth is not a lonely place, it is a veritable garden and we, the Karmic Yogis of the world, are those who work to help it flourish.

Dr. J. W. Gilmore is a Writer, Spiritual Coach, Anti-oppression Consultant and Wellness Consultant. He is a Certified Massage Therapist and Reflexologist, a Reiki Master Teacher, a Martial Arts Instructor and a Spiritual Coach living in Costa Rica. For more article like this or similar information, and information on our new Cyber School, visit: http://www.dswellness.com

Reunion of Souls, Dr. John W.Gilmore. A book of deep spirituality in Sci-fi form.

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