John Kepner, Emeritus Executive Director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), grew IAYT into the global standard for yoga therapy training and credentialing. He did it by accomplishing the things he says a professional membership needs to do—establish community via yearly member meetings, ground the profession in research, and publish a peer-reviewed journal as well as a professional member publication. In short, Kepner says, IAYT needed community, research, and standards, and he created all three. He did it working with hundreds of devoted professionals while "on the shoulders" of the giants who founded IAYT late last century.
Kepner believes passionately in integrating yoga therapy into the complementary and alternative medicine field and for yoga therapy to be a recognized and respected therapy. As a yoga therapist himself who was also a non-profit executive with an extraordinary administrative mind, he built IAYT, piece by piece, into the organization it is today.
This is a dense and fascinating conversation that includes many topics, ranging from our joint worry over the “race to the bottom” in yoga-teacher credentialing and training to how HSAs and FSAs are a real—if not the best—current way for yoga therapists to be remunerated for their work. This conversation is for anyone interested in the policy, leadership, and the professional future of yoga. Listen in and drop me a line to let me know what you think!
____
References:
1. IAYT
2. Why the scientific research on yoga matters: Practicing Well episode with Sat Bir Singh Khalsa
4. How well is the business of Yoga? Practicing Well episode with AJ Schneider
____
Episode credits:
Original music by Kim's band Governess.
Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks.
____
Subscribe to the Weeks Well newsletter. For more info on Kim Weeks, visit www.weekswell.com.
Follow us on Instagram (@weeks.well), Facebook (@weeks.well), Twitter (@weeks_well), YouTube (@weekswell), Patreon (Weeks Well), and TikTok (@weekswell).
Copyright © 2022 Weeks Well®.
