Frequently asked questions
Not at all. The Viniyoga tradition is open to all and can benefit everyone, regardless of religious affiliation. This tradition is founded strongly in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, which themselves are universal. More important, the practices in Viniyoga can be customized to meet the needs of devout religious practitioners and atheists alike.
Sri T. Krishnamacharya was never interested in fame, but rather in advancing the teachings with which he’d been entrusted. In his time, there was no Facebook, or Instagram, and the concept of marketing your services as a Yoga teacher were contrary to the values in India at the time. Krishnamacharya was less concerned about trying to reach as many students as possible and much more concerned with maintaining the integrity of the Yoga teachings and contributing something meaningful to them by working with students who were ready to receive these teachings. Krishnamacharya has many well known students, including BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, all of whom went on to teach Yoga with their own focus. Though Krishnamacharya’s name is not as well known outside of India, it is well known and revered in the cities of Mysore and Chennai, where he resided and taught for many years.
There is no requirement to visit or live in India to learn Viniyoga. This tradition is represented by many students worldwide. We maintain a registry of students and institutions all over the world that have received certification in teaching Yoga and in Yogatherapy and which offer trainings and workshop with resident and visiting teachers. Additionally, the KHYF offers both recorded and live courses online that span various topics as well as mentoring sessions and programs with our senior teachers conducted via Skype and Zoom.
In the Viniyoga tradition, the person is not adapted to the Yoga technique. Instead the Yoga technique is selected and adapted to the individual. An important tenet of this tradition is understanding that Yoga was devised to help individuals attain their full potentials. These potentials would differ person to person and so the technique that is appropriate would vary. The student-teacher relationship is thus sacred in the Viniyoga tradition, because it is through this relationship that a student’s potential is identified and aided in blossoming. One of the unique characteristics of Viniyoga is that it is more often conducted in 1-to-1 sessions rather than in group classes, since each student’s practice would be unique.
The two schools share a history and inspiration but they are not the same. KYM (the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram) was established in 1976 by TKV Desikachar, Krishnamacharya’s son and student, to honor his father. The center was focused on serving the local community and functions only within India.
The KHYF was established by TKV Desikachar and his son Kausthub Desikachar in 2006 as an internationally focused center with a mission to take Krishnamacharya’s teachings well beyond India’s borders.
KHYF trainings are focused on important knowledge and providing appropriate experiences for students to learn and benefit from the techniques and philosophy of Yoga. Trainings thus are not designed with a certain number of hours in mind but rather with learning goals that maintain the integrity of the Viniyoga tradition and which will contribute to making students the best teachers and therapists. Though our trainings are designed so that total beginners to Yoga can learn, many seasoned Yoga teachers from other traditions have found immense value both for their teaching and their own practice in going more deeply into Yoga study.
Though often used interchangeably, Yoga registries, certifications, and licenses are fundamentally different things and require different levels of proven aptitude and/or experience.
Yoga registries are the most common and least stringent of the three. These organizations, such as Yoga Alliance, categorize registrants by the level of training they have received and the amount of teaching experience the individual has (both expressed in hours). There is no exam to qualify for registration, and the requirement needed to be listed in the registry with a designated title is that the training hours and teaching hours for that designation be met, more often than not through a registered school. Since Yoga registries are very inclusive to Yoga styles and traditions, a particular designation will have variable representation of aptitude and skill.
Yoga certifications are issued through individual schools and/or traditions and styles; they are a way of identifying students and teachers that have attained a certain level of achievement, often a level which makes them fit to teach in that tradition or style. Within the Yoga school, the certification signifies a particular level of achievement and fitness to teach. Across Yoga schools, certifications will have various meanings. And so certifications are almost always honored only within the style or tradition.
Within the Viniyoga tradition, we have teacher and therapist certifications which identify students that have not only met the requirements of specific trainings but also who completed regular evaluations, passed the required exams, and/or demonstrated the necessary level of mastery via independent research. Other Yoga schools have their own requirements for certification and certification may mean different things.
Yoga licenses are rarely found but some governments have started to consider the need for them. Licensing is typically administered by a government body or by an organization acting in accordance with government requirements. Licenses can be issued by local or national governments or by independent organizations. The purpose of the license is to permit the individual to work in the field or role for which the license applies. In many places, Ayurvedic practitioners, naturopaths, homeopathic doctors, massage therapists, and chiropractors require a license. Licensing almost always involves examination and an agreed upon scope of practice and it offers a standardization of the prerequisites to work in a field. One of the reasons a Yoga licensing body has not been developed is precisely because there are so many traditions and styles of Yoga, each with its focus and approach.
Many student teachers will go to a teacher training or workshop and leave inspired with new knowledge but they won’t have ongoing support from the workshop leads. A mentoring relationship acknowledges that all of us are on a journey. We grow and evolve. We change. And these changes make us ready for more challenges experiences and enable us to receive deeper knowledge. This readiness does not come by attending workshops, and certainly don’t typically happen during workshops. They are the result of deep self reflection and study, and they benefit greatly from the guidance of a teacher who is further along the path. Through mentoring, new experiences that suddenly come up can be shared, evaluated, understood, and integrated, helping the individual continue to grow and evolve.