{"id":1779,"date":"2009-07-12T01:24:12","date_gmt":"2009-07-12T08:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/07\/the-downward-nanny\/"},"modified":"2009-07-17T11:58:46","modified_gmt":"2009-07-17T18:58:46","slug":"the-downward-nanny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/12\/the-downward-nanny\/","title":{"rendered":"The Downward Nanny"},"content":{"rendered":"

from The New York Times<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoga Faces Regulation, and Firmly Pushes Back<\/nyt_headline><\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

Ruby Washington\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Alison West, head of a yoga teachers’ coalition in New York.<\/span> <\/nyt_byline><\/span><\/p>\n

By\u00a0A. G. SULZBERGER<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/nyt_text><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Ten years ago, with\u00a0yoga<\/a>\u00a0transforming into a ubiquitous pop culture phenomenon from a niche pursuit, yoga teachers banded together to create a voluntary online registry of schools meeting new standards for training instructors.<\/p>\n

But that list \u2014 which now includes nearly 1,000 yoga schools nationwide, many of them tiny \u2014 is being put to a use for which it was never intended. It is the key document in a crackdown that pits free-spirited yogis against lumbering state governments, which, unlike those they are trying to regulate, are not always known for their flexibility.<\/p>\n

Citing laws that govern vocational schools, like those for hairdressers and truck drivers, regulators have begun to require licenses for yoga schools that train instructors, with all the fees, inspections and paperwork that entails. While confrontations have played out differently in different states, threats of shutdowns and fines have, in some cases, been met with accusations of power grabs and religious infringement \u2014 disputes that seem far removed from the meditative world yoga calls to mind.<\/p>\n

In April, New York State sent letters to about 80 schools warning them to suspend teacher training programs immediately or risk fines of up to $50,000. But yogis around the state joined in opposition, and the state has, for now, backed down.<\/p>\n

In other states, regulators were not moved. In March, Michigan gave schools a week to be certified by the state or cease operations. Virginia\u2019s cumbersome licensing rules include a $2,500 fee \u2014 a big hit for modest studios that are often little more than one-room storefronts.<\/p>\n

Lisa Rapp, who owns My Yoga Spirit in Norfolk, Va., said she was closing her seven-year-old business this summer. \u201cThis caused us to shut down the studio altogether,\u201d Ms. Rapp said. \u201cIt\u2019s too bad, because this community really needs yoga.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0click to continue reading in the Carlos Slim Times<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from The New York Times Yoga Faces Regulation, and Firmly Pushes Back Ruby Washington\/The New York Times Alison West, head of a yoga teachers’ coalition in New York. By\u00a0A. G. SULZBERGER   It seemed like a good idea at the time. Ten years ago, with\u00a0yoga\u00a0transforming into a ubiquitous pop culture phenomenon from a niche pursuit, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}