Colorado Yogis have started this petition because regulating yoga studios as occupational schools is unnecessary, expensive, cumbersome, and would drastically effect the way yoga is practiced in Colorado - stifling our community's potential for growth.

A yoga teacher training (YTT) does not guarantee gainful employment; therefore, to place regulations on yoga studios in the same vein as vocational schools (such as dog grooming, asbestos removal and truck driving) defeats the true purpose of yoga - to remain indiscriminately accessible to any and all who seek it.

Reasons we disagree:

1) There have been NO COMPLAINTS by students of these programs. Regulation should be avoided unless there is a substantial risk to public safety and strong countervailing public interest. There are neither. The recent push to regulate was prompted by a teacher in Denver who feels that her preferred methods are superior and a Director of the DPOS whose place of yoga employment would benefit from the elimination of the diverse programs offered in our state. 

2) The majority of participants in these programs are seeking personal development and interest. Many yoga classes are one hour long and only begin to scratch the surface of a vast and rich tradition. These programs outside of classes serve to teach people about the deeper dimensions of the practice. Of those who do wish to teach yoga, most do not do so for “gainful employment” but teach in addition to their recognized occupation, much like the Director of the DPOS, Lorna Candler, does.

3) The regulatory burden on these small businesses in Colorado would inevitably reduce consumer choice and availability in areas outside the Front Range. Yoga is a diverse spiritual tradition that places great emphasis on lineage and the transmission of unique teachings from teacher to student, something the DPOS is ill-equipped to understand given the nature of the vocational programs they are used to regulating. The proposed regulation would stifle diversity by eliminating smaller programs and lead to the eradication of specialized content that would better represent the breadth and lineages of this ancient practice. As such, it would severely impact the geographic diversity of yoga education opportunities across the state.

4) This is a blunt approach that conflates the ability to handle and afford administrative overhead with the quality and integrity of a teacher or program. Colorado purports to be “relentlessly pro-business” yet this overreach in regulation would negatively impact, to the point of extinguishing, many women-owned, small businesses in Colorado, leaving only those “big box” yoga programs with vaster resources to pull from.

5) There are already systems in place to protect consumers of yoga educational programs. There are already enforceable laws to protect citizens against false advertising, consumer transaction fraud, unsafe premises and zoning ordinances. The proposed regulation would be attempting to fix a problem there is already a solution for.

The Senate Education Committee and the Senate have passed our bill and we would like the House to do the same.

Please help Colorado join the other states that recognize how ludicrous it is to regulate yoga so that we can continue to set an enlightened example for the rest of the nation.

I ask that you support SB15-186 to exempt yoga education from regulation by the Colorado DPOS.

With gratitude,