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Yoga Alliance is changing. Here's what we think a yoga credential should mean.
Shannon McCasland • Oct 19, 2026
Yoga Alliance's 2027 overhaul has the whole industry asking a question teachers have been asking for years: what should a yoga credential actually mean?
We have a clear answer, and we built the American Yoga Council around it. A credential should recognize the teacher you've become, not just the training you started with. It should be earned once and kept. And the organization behind it should be in the business of helping you make a living, not just keeping you on a list.
We've read your comments on our posts, all of them. A lot of you spent years and real money on your training, and you want it to count. Below is a quick rundown of what Yoga Alliance announced, followed by what we believe and how we do it differently.
The facts, briefly
Starting January 2027, Yoga Alliance moves from a registry to a tested credential. Every current RYT, E-RYT and Registered Yoga School has until December 31, 2027 to transition.
Titles lose their numbers. RYT 200 and RYT 500 both become RYT; all E-RYTs become E-RYT. Schools hold one RYS, with each program listed as a specialty.
Teachers take a 40-question online assessment (75% to pass, two attempts), sign an ethics attestation, and upload a current CPR certification.
Schools re-certify with their own assessment, business verification, a stated educational framework, and a minimum 3.5-star review average.
Credential and membership split after the transition. Current members keep the bundled rate ($65/year for teachers, $240 for schools) through 2029. After that, the teacher credential alone is $150 every three years. Membership will be separate fee.
Miss the deadline and the credential lapses: $150 to reinstate for teachers, $1,000 for schools.
What isn't changing: the 200-hour training is still the entry point, online training is still allowed, your hours still count, and you still don't need any registry to teach yoga. Full details are in Yoga Alliance's own FAQ.
What we believe a yoga credential should mean
First, credit where it's due. A shared floor on safety and ethics is good for students. Requiring CPR is good. Asking schools to name their tradition and teaching philosophy is good. We're glad the industry is finally talking about what a credential is for.
But a floor isn't the whole house. Here's where we stand.
Experience should count for more, not less
Under the new model, a teacher who finished a 300-hour training and has taught for a decade carries the same title as someone who graduated last month. We think that gets it backward. Students, studio owners and hiring managers deserve to see the difference between a new teacher and a seasoned one. And seasoned teachers deserve to have that difference recognized.
Competence matters more than compliance
Hours in a classroom and a 40-question quiz are proxies. Neither one shows whether you can cue clearly, hold a room, or adapt for the person in the back row with a bad knee. The people best positioned to define what a graduate should be able to do are the schools doing the training. So that's who should define it, and then someone should hold them to it.
Why should a traditional hatha school and a hot power vinyasa school be measured against the same checklist? Yoga is too diverse for one curriculum. We believe in standards, without standardization.
You shouldn't have to rent your title
Your training doesn't expire. Your years of teaching don't expire. We don't think your recognition should expire either just because a renewal slipped or money got tight one year. Membership should earn its place by being useful, not by holding your credential hostage.
Standards should be built with teachers, not handed down to them
A lot of the frustration we've heard isn't about the test itself. It's about a major change arriving fully formed. We think the people living with a standard should help shape it, which is why our own specialty requirements are open for community input right now.
The people who train teachers should share in their success
Schools and mentors pour years into the teachers who come after them. In most credentialing models, none of the money that follows comes back to them. We think that's a missed opportunity to build a profession that sustains itself, one where generosity is rewarded and relationships matter.
A credential is a starting point, not the support
We believe yoga teaching is going to be one of the most important professions of the next hundred years. In an increasingly digital world, people need what a skilled teacher in a room offers. But that only works if teachers can make a real living. A badge doesn't pay rent. Business education, career coaching, real benefits and people you can actually reach are what help you build a career that supports your life.
Nobody needs permission to teach
No organization, including ours, decides who gets to teach yoga. Yoga is unregulated, and that's not a loophole. Our job is to recognize what you've built and help with what comes next.
How AYC puts that into practice
Beliefs are easy to write. Here's what they look like in the way AYC actually works.
Your level reflects your career. AYC teacher credentials (CYT) have levels, and yours reflects your years of teaching and the classes you've led, along with your verified training. Specialty credentials (CYS) show the depth you've built, in areas from anatomy and trauma-informed yoga to pranayama and business.
Schools define the competencies, and we hold them to it. Each accredited school states what its graduates must be able to do, in its own lineage and style. When graduates register, AYC verifies their certification against what the school promised. Schools and members agree to our Code of Conduct and Scope of Practice, and our Program Review and Probation Policy keeps accountability public.
Earn it once, keep it. Once your AYC credential is verified, it's yours, even if you stop paying for membership.
40% goes to the people who trained you. Your dues are shared with your school and up to five mentors you choose. Schools can opt out. And no, it isn't an MLM: one level, no recruiting, nothing to sell.
Support for your livelihood. Membership includes monthly live education and an on-demand library, business clinics and career coaching, access to the Business Health Plan through Solo Health, and a real team you can reach.
Side by side
You don't have to choose today, and choosing AYC doesn't mean walking away from anything you've earned elsewhere.
Your questions, answered
Our carousel drew more than 60 comments about AYC, and about two dozen of them were important, specific questions. You deserve specific answers, so here they are.
How are competencies actually assessed?
In two layers. First, your school. Every accredited program declares the competencies its graduates must demonstrate, across areas like practice skills, anatomy, philosophy and history, teaching skills, ethics and business. A Level 1 teacher training has to cover at least 10. The school teaches and assesses those competencies in the way that fits its lineage, and its lead faculty must themselves be AYC-certified at a higher level.
Second, your experience. Finishing a training doesn't automatically set your level. AYC looks at your yoga history, from group classes and privates to workshops and trainings you've led:
Specialty credentials (CYS) build on these with education and teaching experience specific to each specialty. Full requirements.
How do you hold schools accountable?
Through the people who know best: graduates. When you verify a training with AYC, you can be asked to rate the program from one to five stars on each competency the school promised to teach.
Here's what happens when the ratings show a problem:
The trigger. A program with at least five reviews, where more than half rate any single competency at one or two stars, can be flagged for internal review.
Notice. AYC tells the school in writing that the program is under review and why.
The review. We ask how the competency is taught and assessed, and we can review syllabi, materials, assessment methods and instructor qualifications.
The outcome. The program stays in good standing, makes corrections, goes on probation with a public notice in the directory, or has its accreditation suspended or revoked.
The full process is public in our Program Review and Probation Policy. Separately, every member and school agrees to our Code of Conduct and Scope of Practice, which cover how people treat students and colleagues.
If every school sets its own standards, how is a student supposed to choose?
The same way you'd choose a cookbook: by knowing what's in it. That's the point of declaring competencies out loud. Instead of every program claiming the same 200 hours, each one shows what its graduates can actually do and in what tradition, and graduates rate how well it delivered. Two schools can look very different on AYC, and that's useful information, not a flaw.
What does it really cost?
Much less than you may have heard. Here's what a typical member actually pays:
For most teachers, that adds up to somewhere between about $108 and $280. Add specialist recognition and the total rises, but we don't expect anyone to hold more than three specialties; past that, they stop being specialties.
And because verification fees are one time, you pay them once. Your verified credentials stay yours.
Why does 40% go to schools and mentors?
A lot of you asked, rightly, where your dues actually go. It's a fair question to ask any organization you pay. Our answer starts with why AYC exists: to help yoga teachers make a real, sustainable living. Yoga professionals shouldn't fund a credentialing body that grows while the teachers it lists struggle to pay rent. We'd rather the money circulate back into the community that earns it.
That's why 40% goes to your school and the mentors you choose. The people who trained you made your career possible, and in most credentialing models none of the money that follows ever comes back to them. Sharing it gives schools and mentors a reason to stay invested in their graduates long after a training ends.
It isn't an MLM. There's one level, no recruiting, no product to sell, and nobody earns from people they didn't actually train or mentor. Schools can opt out of their share.
Will studios and employers accept an AYC credential?
In our experience, most studios and employers aren't attached to one organization's name. What they want is proof from a third party that someone has verified your training, beyond your own word. An AYC credential gives them that, and more to go on: your level, your lineage, your specialties and the competencies behind your training, instead of a number of hours.
Some employers, like certain YMCA locations, still ask specifically for Yoga Alliance registration. If yours does, keep it. You can hold both, and many teachers and schools do.
Why "American"? I'm not in the US.
Fair question. We started in the US, but we already accredit schools in Canada, the UK and Switzerland, with plans to continue expanding internationally.
Isn't this just another registry with different packaging?
We understand the skepticism; a lot of people have been burned. Here's the structural difference. A registry lists you as long as you pay. AYC recognizes your experience, lets you keep your credential if you stop paying, publishes how schools are held accountable, shares revenue with the people who trained you, and asks the community to help write its standards. And if you decide you don't need any organization at all, we respect that. You never needed permission to teach.
I trained decades ago, or I have dozens of certificates. Where do I start?
Your past training can be verified, and your level reflects the teaching you've done since. You don't need to upload every certificate to start, just the ones that are most important to you.
How do I talk to someone?
Real people answer at AYC. Pick the conversation that fits where you are.
If you run a school or studio, book a call with Nam in credentialing. Nam will walk you through accreditation for your programs, what your graduates' path looks like, and how to carry AYC alongside any credential you already hold. Book a call with Nam
If you're a yoga teacher considering Premium membership, book a call with Lisa. She'll help you figure out which of your trainings to verify first, what level fits your experience, and which member benefits you'll actually use. Book a call with Lisa
If you just have questions, join an Open House with our founder, Andrew Tanner. Bring anything: how credentialing works, where the money goes, or whether AYC makes sense for you at all. Reserve your Open House spot
You can also ask in the comments on our posts. We answer there publicly, so everyone benefits from the answer.
In their words
"AYC is the real deal, and I'm proud to be part of it. It's what the Alliance never had a chance to become, but should have." Leslie Kaminoff, co-author of Yoga Anatomy and AYC council member
"Proud to affiliate with AYC. They understand and support innovators and make a home for a variety of communities that are both in the heart of the yoga tradition and yoga adjacent practices." Jill Miller
"I was looking to get out of YA when AYC started up. I'm glad I made the change. My trainings were decades ago & that was ok… it proved to be affordable." @thebentyogi
"I just switched to AYC… sitting on a call with a human who walked me through it… AYC isn't just an organization. They are a beautiful, welcoming community." @healing_shack
"Back in April we were about to shut our doors because of financial hardship. Working with Shannon McCasland through the AYC yoga studio accelerator helped us create systems for a sustainable studio.…" Banana Yoga
What to do now
You have a full year. Nothing needs to happen this week, and no decision you make today locks you out of anything. Here's where we'd start, depending on who you are.
If you're a registered teacher
Write down the experience your title doesn't show: years teaching, classes led, specialties. That's worth having on record wherever you choose to be recognized. See how AYC recognizes teachers.
If you're in training or about to start one
Ask your school whether it plans to recertify with Yoga Alliance, accredit with AYC, or both.
Judge any training by what it does with you for 200 hours, not by the letters at the end. How often will you teach? Who watches and gives feedback? AYC for teachers in training.
If you run a school
Start your educational framework now. Writing down your lineage, competencies and policies serves you whatever you decide.
Map what your graduates should actually be able to do. That's the heart of AYC accreditation, and it's a useful exercise on its own.
If you're weighing your options, you don't have to leave anything to add AYC. Many schools start with one program. AYC for schools and studios.
Frequently asked questions
Is my RYT 200 still valid? Yes. Your training counts. To keep the Yoga Alliance credential, you'll need to complete the assessment, ethics attestation and CPR upload by December 31, 2027.
What happens to my RYT 500? The title becomes RYT, the same as a 200-hour graduate. Your 300-hour still counts toward the 500 hours required for E-RYT.
Do I need Yoga Alliance to teach yoga or get insurance? No. Yoga is unregulated in the US, and most yoga insurance providers just require third party accreditation. Some employers ask for it, so check with yours.
Can I hold both a Yoga Alliance and an AYC credential? Yes. They aren't mutually exclusive, and schools commonly carry both.
What happens to my AYC credential if I stop paying for membership? Once it's verified, it's yours. It doesn't lapse when your membership does.
How is an AYC credential different? Your AYC level reflects your years of teaching and classes led, and specialty credentials show the depth you've built. Each school defines the competencies its graduates must demonstrate, and AYC holds schools accountable to them.
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