What do you know about your yoga teacher? Or more importantly, do they know anything about you?!

This is a difficult topic to write about because I don’t want to comment on the experience or qualifications of individual teachers. I know some absolutely brilliant yoga teachers who work in gyms, and I’m sure there are many others who are equally good.

But I have also experienced the other side of it.

On occasions when I’ve had a free pass to a gym, I’ve joined yoga classes that were excellent. I’ve also attended classes where poses weren’t named, there were very few alignment or breath cues, no modifications were offered, and the pace was so fast that people were barely keeping up. On one occasion, I later discovered that the person teaching wasn’t actually a yoga teacher at all, but a gym instructor covering the class.

And this is where I think we need to ask some important questions.

Yoga isn’t simply a series of stretches or exercises to fill 45 minutes. A properly trained yoga teacher has spent considerable time studying movement, anatomy, alignment, breath, modifications and how to work safely with different bodies and abilities. Some go on to train for many more years as yoga therapists.

So when you walk into a yoga class at a gym or, for that matter, a community hall, how much do you actually know about the person teaching you?

Are they properly trained in yoga? Are they insured? Are they registered with a professional organisation? Do they understand how to adapt practices for different bodies, injuries and limitations? If they offer hands-on adjustments, do they have the knowledge and experience to do that safely and appropriately? Do they know anything about you beyond your name on the attendance list?

Or are you essentially trusting that because a gym has employed or vetted someone to teach a class called “Yoga”, they must have the appropriate training to do so?

I’m not saying that every gym-based yoga class is inadequate, far from it. As I’ve said, there are some fantastic teachers working in gyms. My concern is that the distinction between a qualified yoga teacher and someone who has simply been given a yoga class to teach isn’t always obvious to the person attending.

And I feel I need to say this because there are many people who have worked and studied incredibly hard, often for years, to earn the title of yoga teacher or yoga therapist. That level of training matters.

Which brings me to something I keep seeing on a well-known jobs website. I regularly see adverts for “Yoga Instructor” roles and, because I’m always curious to see what’s available locally, I click on them.

One recent advert particularly caught my attention. Among the requirements was:

“No previous teaching experience needed. Basic knowledge of yoga practices and techniques.”

Doesn't mention qualifications, registration or insurance. And honestly, that is where I think we have a problem.

Would we consider that an acceptable level of preparation for someone teaching Pilates? Personal training? Massage? Physiotherapy? Would you accept that level of preparation for someone fixing your car?!

Yoga deserves the same respect.

It isn’t about protecting a job title or saying that only one particular organisation can decide who is “qualified”. It’s about recognising that teaching movement to a room full of different bodies carries responsibility and that responsibility requires appropriate knowledge, training and experience.

The person attending the class may have no idea whether their teacher has trained for 20 years or was simply asked to cover a class last Tuesday.

Perhaps we need to start asking.