Posted on: June 2, 2026

Why Having a Yoga Course Registered Matters

Reflecting on 2 decades of course registration, and why being a registered yoga school matters.

Back in March I celebrated 20 years of yoga teacher training. I didn’t think about it at the time, but that means I also celebrated 20 years of having our courses registered with professional organizations like Yoga Australia, Yoga Alliance, and AUSactive.

What does registration mean?

It means that our curriculum has been reviewed and approved by peak yoga membership bodies to include all of the essential knowledge, training, and experience that a student needs to be able to begin their professional yoga teaching practice.

This isn’t something that all schools do, it’s not required, but I’ve found it very useful for a few reasons:

  • 1) To ensure that I haven’t left any gaps in student knowledge. When you are designing a course it’s a HUGE job, and I wouldn’t want any areas of learning to fall through the cracks. I am just one person designing these complex programs, and having another set of eyes to review and assess is really helpful.
  • 2) It allows students to more easily get registered themselves. Membership in a yoga organization is not a requirement everywhere, but for many employers, venues, and insurers it does matter. And, in some places (like Canberra) professional membership is a legal requirement to teach in some spaces.

Without my courses being registered, graduates have to jump through a lot more hoops to register with organizations like Yoga Australia, Yoga Alliance, and AUSactive. I do the work so that graduates don’t have to.

  • 3) It helps potential students to know that we care. We care about meeting all the requirements of a comprehensive training. We care about providing our students with a high-quality course that will give them a great education. And we care about our connection with and contributions to the wider yoga community.

I know it’s funny to be celebrating something as simple as having our courses registered. I will admit I do grumble about each organization’s complex and unique requirements for the application process – a spreadsheeting nightmare! But it’s a reminder to me of the journey – and it is a journey – of developing programs, delivering them to students, and then seeing those students graduate, get registered themselves, and begin their own professional journey as yoga teachers.

So, yes, I will mark this occasion of 20 years of being a registered yoga school!

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