I read an alarming little piece of news the other day thanks to eSutra (I’m not being sarcastic here — I’m grateful to eSutra for posting the news). It appears that the state of New Jersey is pushing a bill that will require yoga teachers to be licensed by the state. Rather than abide by Yoga Alliance’s 200-hour certification, NJ is requiring that its yoga teachers have 300 hours of training. Interesting.

Click here for more info about this proposed bill and what you can do to stop it.

I can’t say I’m surprised by this. In fact, I am laying in wait for the controversy to swirl around training requirements for yoga therapists. Again, it begs the question — how much is enough?

So many yoga teachers, bodyworkers, and practitioners of other healing modalities I know deal with certification issues on a regular basis. How much is enough? Is there such a thing as too much? There’s the maintenance of the bevy of certifications that you feel you need in order to offer enough to your clients. I’m continually disgusted by the greed that goes hand in hand with these practices. It sometimes seems like certifications are big on fees and small on training for competence. How would you feel if you were going to a body worker or a yoga teacher that wasn’t proficient in his/her art?

I admit that I’ve taken certification trainings yet stopped shy of certification because I didn’t agree with the ridiculous fees necessary to maintain the certification. If a recertification requires a practitioner to brush up on skills, then no problem. I’ll pay. But if the recertification is simply a charge for the privilege of being listed on a Web site, then I tend to question it.

Why do we certify? Often we like to have multiple tools in our tool bag. How do we maintain our certifications? Is it simply an exchange of money or is it a relearning of skills or advanced learning? How much training is enough? Who should be monitoring our training requirements?

Good questions with some very foggy answers.

I tend to fall on the side of over training. I suppose that I approach my practice like a doctor would his  — first do no harm. I looked at a lot of 200 hour teacher training programs before deciding on one. Then I decided that 200 hours wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to work with people in a more in-depth way, so I needed to know more. I’ve seen folks get caught up in the certification for the sake of having a huge list of certifications and I don’t prefer that for myself. I’d rather have a few certifications but be very proficient in each modality.

What do you all think? How much training is enough? Who should be determining how much training is enough?

Namaste!