The event hasn’t begun and already I’m sitting in a circle. And if you know me at all, you know how I loathe sitting in circles. I’m attending SYTAR – the Symposium of Yoga Therapy and Research. It’s an annual four-day event that brings inquiring minds, old friends, and new acquaintances together in order to share the latest research and advances in yoga therapy. There are practice sessions in the morning, plenary speakers mid-day and a great variety of special interest meetings in the afternoon. As usual, the halls of our hotel are lined with vendors promoting a variety of yoga therapy programs, opportunities to study Ayurveda, essential oils and various tools of the trade. A highlight is bumping into Rebecca Deano. We shared a room at my very first SYTAR. And it’s always nice to catch up with Jason Scholder,  comedian and the man behind my favorite yoga prop,  the great Three-Minute Egg. Bay Area yogis are always plentiful. I can usually count on seeing the co-author of Yoga for Healthy Aging Baxter Bell, yoga for cancer specialist Lorien Neargarder and American Viniyoga’s Gary Kraftstow.

My very first SYTAR conference, the one where I shared a room with Rebecca, was at Asilomar in 2009. That was the year I fell under the spell of BK Bose and soon after began formal yoga therapy studies at his Niroga Institute. A decade passed and then, last June, I flew across the country, to Reston, Virginia. This year I flew an hour south, to Newport Beach. The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) are the organization responsible for SYTAR. I’ve been a member for fifteen years (give or take) and in that time I’ve seen them transform. Since Asilomar they’ve grown into their name. A few years ago they initiated a rigorous credentialing criteria for certified yoga therapists who hope to add the letters ‘C-IAYT’ behind their name. Their high standards raised the bar for us all. In the next few years the organization hopes to have in place a qualifying exam for new graduates of IAYT-certified yoga therapy schools. This is exciting news. As yoga therapy moves from the fringe toward a routine wellness protocol for our physical and mental health it’s critical that IAYT continues to refine and codify what it means to be a yoga therapist.