Tax Records say Yoga Alliance & Yoga Alliance Plus Website Paid $336,325.00 during Yoga Regulation Battle

Rodger

Yoga Alliance always seemed like one of those "Create a non-profit in 10 Easy Steps' kind of an organization. Pretty lame that yogis have bought into it when I think someone could just as easily create a competing organization. Interesting reading on their tax returns in any event. How did you get hold of them just out of curiosity.

Rodger

Lisa

Thank you for begin brave and speaking out on this. I tried to get help from "Yoga Alliance" regarding a rogue who was teaching a YTT. He was all YA certified. When I called them for help, they wanted nothing to do with it. That is when I knew it was all BS. Much like a lot of the hypocrisy going on in the Yoga "Community". You all should connect with the "Recovering Yogi" girls.

Lisa

Anonymous

I suggest that a Wikipedia article be created for "Yoga Alliance" and this controversy.

castellani

Thank you, I am looking into it.

Anonymous

I suggest that a Wikipedia article be created for "Yoga Alliance" and this controversy.

Anonymous

I suggest that a Wikipedia article be created for "Yoga Alliance" and this controversy.

castellani

Thank you, I am looking into it.

K. Maharaj

1 Like

I was asked by the Yoga Alliance to present at their upcoming Leadership Conference. I was then informed that not only would I not be paid to present, but that I was OBLIGATED to pay for and attend the rest of their conference (to the tune of about $400). With travel and accommodations, it would have cost me $2000 to attend simply to present for them. I refused the position and send a formal letter of complaint regarding their un-yogic elitism... their celebrity name presenters were being paid, while their actual base of support (members of the Yoga Alliance) such as myself, were being used for our knowledge (without it there would be no conference) and to create financial profit for the Yoga Alliance. I was "thanked" and told that my concerns would be passed onto the committee. Nothing was changed and no one addressed my concerns in any shape. This belied the capitalist focus of Yoga Alliance – they are NOT about benefitting the greater yogic community – up until this point, I had not seen their business machine at work and had believed otherwise.

castellani

This actually proves the point I have made! I can't thank you enough for commenting. To them and most other Yoga Media corporations, the cost outweighs the benefit. It really bothers me that more people don't ask the important questions behind their superficial and self-serving motives. Thank you

K. Maharaj

castellani

Thank you

K. Maharaj

castellani

Thank you

Rosetta

Brian: Thanks for this. I've never felt good about Yoga Alliance. There's no customer service when one needs to contact them. One receives exactly nothing for the annual fee paid and I was a little offended to receive a cattle call request a few days ago to apply to be a YA+ delegate. This seems to underscore the fact that the organization has no idea who are local luminaries in yoga communities across the country. I've never gotten the feeling that Yoga Alliance was a real trade organization -- it seems like nothing more than a rubber stamp, and a cash-cow for whomever runs the organization. Unfortunately, YA has grabbed the position of certifying organization, and it's a monopoly.

castellani

I agree with your comments 120%. Thank you Rosetta. I am interested to see what happens. Whether they make it or not, I appreciate your comment! Namaste

Rosetta

castellani

I agree with your comments 120%. Thank you Rosetta. I am interested to see what happens. Whether they make it or not, I appreciate your comment! Namaste

Rosetta

castellani

I agree with your comments 120%. Thank you Rosetta. I am interested to see what happens. Whether they make it or not, I appreciate your comment! Namaste

Yoga Enthusist

I am not aware of anyone on this post being an expert on website design to know what it costs to implement and maintain a fully fuctional website with the abiltiy to maintain thousands of registrants and payment and fee processing. Unless you know how much licensing for microsoft products (not the free stuff) costs, I suggest you do some research before being "outraged" at how much things cost. - Yoga Enthusist / IT professional

castellani

What a thoughtful comment. Thank you. First, I am not outraged. Second, I believe you are missing the whole issue. It\'s not so much the cost that we take issue with, it\'s the fact that Yoga Alliance instigated the government regulation by having Mark Davis go to a Wisconsin Government \"Educator\'s\" Convention, and then sat back to see if they could create a monopoly on American Yoga. Yoga Alliance received calls and letters from yoga teachers all over New York and Virginia requesting help and Yoga Alliance flatly said they could not help them. You want to know why? Yoga Alliance did not help New York or Virginia because they knew that regulation (the taxation of Yoga Teacher Training schools) would most likely pass in a few individual states and the rest of American would fall into place and then Yoga Alliance would be the only Yoga Credentialing entity in the US that could have the monopoly on charging Yoga Teacher Trainings. Only that didn\'t happen and Yoga Alliance saw they were wrong to under-estimate Yoga Teachers and Yoga Studios. NY and VA Yoga Teachers did indeed beat the United States Government independently and managed to prove that Yoga Alliance\'s services were not needed at all and the fees, along with their accredidation is absolutely worthless. Worthless because it did not help to avoid anything, worthless because Mark Davis invited the US Government into American Yoga by giving them a road map on how to charge yoga teacher trainings, and worthless because Yoga Alliance does not have the integrity to admit fault, nor can they stop the inevitable. So you see, Dishonest Yoga Alliance completely said \"no\" to both Alison West of NYC and Susan Van Nuys of their home state of Virginia, regarding much needed financial help. John Matthews is not truthful, Lynn Bushnell and the other Yoga Alliance Board employees are bound by a non-disclosure agreement to not say anything compromising about Yoga Alliance. And whats more important that you don\'t even ask... Do the two web design businesses even exist? I searched for them in google, there was no record of them. So the question that arises is, if they didn\'t spend money on Web Design, what did they spend money on? Thanks for your comment and I hope that clears things up, Brian

Yoga Enthusist

Well I cannot speak to the truthfulness of the Board members of Yoga Alliance or John Matthews. Also, I do see what you are saying in regard to them not helping out the two states. However, we have to consider that (in my opinion) the company had no clear direction under Mark Davis. There is probably a good reason he was fired. I do see some progress with the new president (John Matthews). The aid that was delivered to Texas, the upcoming conference and the implementation of the House of delegates which as I see it, cannot hurt and will give yogis a voice. If the organization is as close to the Government as you say it is, and the new president has taken a public stand against regulation in Texas, why not try to use this organization to benefit us. All I am saying is that instead of us demonizing the organization for its past "mistakes", why not use the prospective direction it is taking to our benefit. Also, you may not have been able to find the technology company because it was misspelt on that document above. It is "infotek" not infoteck. http://infotek-intl.com/index.html The other company has gone out of business. Namaste

castellani

How did you know the other company EarthWrite went out of Business?

castellani

They will talk about how horrible Yoga Regulation is and how "yoga" as an industry can avoid it, but they won't mention that Yoga Alliance is the reason that Regulation began in the first place. For all the people who see this as an opportunity to become more "ingrained" in your yoga community - grab your tape recorders and bug your phones, because you are going to want "hard proof" the next time they cut you out. It really is too bad that we couldn't dismantle them completely before I had to force Yoga Alliance to be more honest. None of the board members, or the President John Matthews, have even so much as even written me. But I have gotten every single piece of evidence through public information. Ask the board members why they waited to file their 2008, 2009, 2010 taxes until 2011. ANSWER: so the yoga public wouldn't know what they spent their money on. They will tell you every reason but the truth. And the truth is that they had to figure out how to account for the money and mask the actual places they put it. I would also ask how much they each make. Their secrets and arrogance will be their downfall. I never thought that this would take over my life and I for sure never thought that this would turn into what it did. I would go to that event just to observe, but I can't afford it. But even if I had a free ticket, I the board wasn't all going to be there, it wouldn't be worth the time.

Yoga Enthusist

Point well taken sir. I guess I will have to reevaluate my position. I guess the best time and place to do that is their upcoming conference. I am going to see what it is all about while keeping your points in mind. Great discussion Thank you

castellani

I appreciate your point. I do. But, I have first hand accounts that Yoga Alliance is lying, and that historically, they have been selling snake oil certifications as being legitimate yoga teacher certifications. I also know for a fact that Mark Davis was fingered as the scapegoat, when in reality it was John Matthews behind every major Yoga Alliance decision and move since 2004. As far as my research goes, Mark Davis followed the directions of a voiceless non-profit board, who took their guidance from John Matthews. I don't remember the exact time, however, when Lynn Bushnell became president, I remember thinking, "that makes sense," because she works for YogaWorks and it would seem that YogaWorks wants representation at the head of the non-profit board of Yoga Alliance. However, as time went on, I began putting two and two together I realized that Yoga Alliance had internal problems and didn't have a feasible working solution for how to address Yoga Teacher issues or Yoga Education issues. My opinions solidified after I spoke to Jeanine Frest (the only employee who was not fired from Yoga Alliance - then later quit because YA had thrown all their employees out without severance) and she expressed grave frustration at Yoga Alliance's board and general operations and John Matthews, who at the time was only a contract employee. I actually tried to convince her to not give up... I told her that credentials were good (at the time, because I actually thought Yoga Alliance verified their Yoga Teacher information - which they didn't verify anything) - She said quite specifically: "Maybe it would be better to scrap everything and start over." That is a direct quote. And this is my response to you about what you wrote. John Matthews has no integrity, and financially based interest without any yoga background knowledge. The board has absolutely no voice and a huge fear of social incompetence. Every program that has come out of Yoga Alliance is motivated by money. The 501c3 "charity" corporation has to my knowledge, not given actual contributions to yoga causes, except their own. Yoga Alliance pays the board of directors large sums of money and created a brand for themselves by trademarking ERYT, RYS, RYT, Yoga Alliance and YAplus. They claim they don't want the responsibility of regulating yoga while they have prepared for it. How do you explain that? Yoga Alliance and YAPlus lacks accountability. And isn't that what Yoga is all about? The truth? The only way I would leave Yoga Alliance alone is if all of their information was made public, the entire board would step down, and John Matthews would also step down. Anything less is just John Matthews and Lynn Bushnell micro-managing harm-reduction for Yoga Alliance damage control.

Yoga Enthusist

- Yoga Enthusist / IT professional

castellani

What a thoughtful comment. Thank you. First, I am not outraged. Second, I believe you are missing the whole issue.

It\'s not so much the cost that we take issue with, it\'s the fact that Yoga Alliance instigated the government regulation by having Mark Davis go to a Wisconsin Government \"Educator\'s\" Convention, and then sat back to see if they could create a monopoly on American Yoga. Yoga Alliance received calls and letters from yoga teachers all over New York and Virginia requesting help and Yoga Alliance flatly said they could not help them.

You want to know why?

Yoga Alliance did not help New York or Virginia because they knew that regulation (the taxation of Yoga Teacher Training schools) would most likely pass in a few individual states and the rest of American would fall into place and then Yoga Alliance would be the only Yoga Credentialing entity in the US that could have the monopoly on charging Yoga Teacher Trainings.

Only that didn\'t happen and Yoga Alliance saw they were wrong to under-estimate Yoga Teachers and Yoga Studios.

NY and VA Yoga Teachers did indeed beat the United States Government independently and managed to prove that Yoga Alliance\'s services were not needed at all and the fees, along with their accredidation is absolutely worthless.

Worthless because it did not help to avoid anything, worthless because Mark Davis invited the US Government into American Yoga by giving them a road map on how to charge yoga teacher trainings, and worthless because Yoga Alliance does not have the integrity to admit fault, nor can they stop the inevitable.

So you see, Dishonest Yoga Alliance completely said \"no\" to both Alison West of NYC and Susan Van Nuys of their home state of Virginia, regarding much needed financial help.

John Matthews is not truthful, Lynn Bushnell and the other Yoga Alliance Board employees are bound by a non-disclosure agreement to not say anything compromising about Yoga Alliance.

And whats more important that you don\'t even ask... Do the two web design businesses even exist?

I searched for them in google, there was no record of them.

So the question that arises is, if they didn\'t spend money on Web Design, what did they spend money on?

Thanks for your comment and I hope that clears things up,

Brian

Yoga Enthusist

Well I cannot speak to the truthfulness of the Board members of Yoga Alliance or John Matthews. Also, I do see what you are saying in regard to them not helping out the two states. However, we have to consider that (in my opinion) the company had no clear direction under Mark Davis. There is probably a good reason he was fired. I do see some progress with the new president (John Matthews). The aid that was delivered to Texas, the upcoming conference and the implementation of the House of delegates which as I see it, cannot hurt and will give yogis a voice. If the organization is as close to the Government as you say it is, and the new president has taken a public stand against regulation in Texas, why not try to use this organization to benefit us. All I am saying is that instead of us demonizing the organization for its past "mistakes", why not use the prospective direction it is taking to our benefit.
Also, you may not have been able to find the technology company because it was misspelt on that document above. It is "infotek" not infoteck.
http://infotek-intl.com/index.html

The other company has gone out of business.

Namaste

castellani

They will talk about how horrible Yoga Regulation is and how "yoga" as an industry can avoid it, but they won't mention that Yoga Alliance is the reason that Regulation began in the first place.

For all the people who see this as an opportunity to become more "ingrained" in your yoga community - grab your tape recorders and bug your phones, because you are going to want "hard proof" the next time they cut you out.

It really is too bad that we couldn't dismantle them completely before I had to force Yoga Alliance to be more honest.

None of the board members, or the President John Matthews, have even so much as even written me. But I have gotten every single piece of evidence through public information.

Ask the board members why they waited to file their 2008, 2009, 2010 taxes until 2011. ANSWER: so the yoga public wouldn't know what they spent their money on.

They will tell you every reason but the truth. And the truth is that they had to figure out how to account for the money and mask the actual places they put it.

I would also ask how much they each make.

Their secrets and arrogance will be their downfall.

I never thought that this would take over my life and I for sure never thought that this would turn into what it did.

I would go to that event just to observe, but I can't afford it.

But even if I had a free ticket, I the board wasn't all going to be there, it wouldn't be worth the time.

Yoga Enthusist

Great discussion
Thank you

castellani

I also know for a fact that Mark Davis was fingered as the scapegoat, when in reality it was John Matthews behind every major Yoga Alliance decision and move since 2004.

As far as my research goes, Mark Davis followed the directions of a voiceless non-profit board, who took their guidance from John Matthews.

I don't remember the exact time, however, when Lynn Bushnell became president, I remember thinking, "that makes sense," because she works for YogaWorks and it would seem that YogaWorks wants representation at the head of the non-profit board of Yoga Alliance.

However, as time went on, I began putting two and two together I realized that Yoga Alliance had internal problems and didn't have a feasible working solution for how to address Yoga Teacher issues or Yoga Education issues.

My opinions solidified after I spoke to Jeanine Frest (the only employee who was not fired from Yoga Alliance - then later quit because YA had thrown all their employees out without severance) and she expressed grave frustration at Yoga Alliance's board and general operations and John Matthews, who at the time was only a contract employee.

I actually tried to convince her to not give up... I told her that credentials were good (at the time, because I actually thought Yoga Alliance verified their Yoga Teacher information - which they didn't verify anything) -

She said quite specifically: "Maybe it would be better to scrap everything and start over."

That is a direct quote.

And this is my response to you about what you wrote.

John Matthews has no integrity, and financially based interest without any yoga background knowledge.

The board has absolutely no voice and a huge fear of social incompetence.

Every program that has come out of Yoga Alliance is motivated by money.

The 501c3 "charity" corporation has to my knowledge, not given actual contributions to yoga causes, except their own.

Yoga Alliance pays the board of directors large sums of money and created a brand for themselves by trademarking ERYT, RYS, RYT, Yoga Alliance and YAplus.

They claim they don't want the responsibility of regulating yoga while they have prepared for it.

How do you explain that?

Yoga Alliance and YAPlus lacks accountability. And isn't that what Yoga is all about? The truth?

The only way I would leave Yoga Alliance alone is if all of their information was made public, the entire board would step down, and John Matthews would also step down.

Anything less is just John Matthews and Lynn Bushnell micro-managing harm-reduction for Yoga Alliance damage control.

Yoga Enthusist

- Yoga Enthusist / IT professional

castellani

What a thoughtful comment. Thank you. First, I am not outraged. Second, I believe you are missing the whole issue.

You want to know why?

Only that didn\'t happen and Yoga Alliance saw they were wrong to under-estimate Yoga Teachers and Yoga Studios.

So you see, Dishonest Yoga Alliance completely said \"no\" to both Alison West of NYC and Susan Van Nuys of their home state of Virginia, regarding much needed financial help.

John Matthews is not truthful, Lynn Bushnell and the other Yoga Alliance Board employees are bound by a non-disclosure agreement to not say anything compromising about Yoga Alliance.

And whats more important that you don\'t even ask... Do the two web design businesses even exist?

I searched for them in google, there was no record of them.

So the question that arises is, if they didn\'t spend money on Web Design, what did they spend money on?

Thanks for your comment and I hope that clears things up,

Brian

Yoga Enthusist

Well I cannot speak to the truthfulness of the Board members of Yoga Alliance or John Matthews. Also, I do see what you are saying in regard to them not helping out the two states. However, we have to consider that (in my opinion) the company had no clear direction under Mark Davis. There is probably a good reason he was fired. I do see some progress with the new president (John Matthews). The aid that was delivered to Texas, the upcoming conference and the implementation of the House of delegates which as I see it, cannot hurt and will give yogis a voice. If the organization is as close to the Government as you say it is, and the new president has taken a public stand against regulation in Texas, why not try to use this organization to benefit us. All I am saying is that instead of us demonizing the organization for its past "mistakes", why not use the prospective direction it is taking to our benefit.
Also, you may not have been able to find the technology company because it was misspelt on that document above. It is "infotek" not infoteck.
http://infotek-intl.com/index.html

The other company has gone out of business.

Namaste

castellani

How did you know the other company EarthWrite went out of Business?

castellani

They will talk about how horrible Yoga Regulation is and how "yoga" as an industry can avoid it, but they won't mention that Yoga Alliance is the reason that Regulation began in the first place.

It really is too bad that we couldn't dismantle them completely before I had to force Yoga Alliance to be more honest.

None of the board members, or the President John Matthews, have even so much as even written me. But I have gotten every single piece of evidence through public information.

Ask the board members why they waited to file their 2008, 2009, 2010 taxes until 2011. ANSWER: so the yoga public wouldn't know what they spent their money on.

They will tell you every reason but the truth. And the truth is that they had to figure out how to account for the money and mask the actual places they put it.

I would also ask how much they each make.

Their secrets and arrogance will be their downfall.

I never thought that this would take over my life and I for sure never thought that this would turn into what it did.

I would go to that event just to observe, but I can't afford it.

But even if I had a free ticket, I the board wasn't all going to be there, it wouldn't be worth the time.

Yoga Enthusist

Great discussion
Thank you

castellani

I also know for a fact that Mark Davis was fingered as the scapegoat, when in reality it was John Matthews behind every major Yoga Alliance decision and move since 2004.

As far as my research goes, Mark Davis followed the directions of a voiceless non-profit board, who took their guidance from John Matthews.

She said quite specifically: "Maybe it would be better to scrap everything and start over."

That is a direct quote.

And this is my response to you about what you wrote.

John Matthews has no integrity, and financially based interest without any yoga background knowledge.

The board has absolutely no voice and a huge fear of social incompetence.

Every program that has come out of Yoga Alliance is motivated by money.

The 501c3 "charity" corporation has to my knowledge, not given actual contributions to yoga causes, except their own.

Yoga Alliance pays the board of directors large sums of money and created a brand for themselves by trademarking ERYT, RYS, RYT, Yoga Alliance and YAplus.

They claim they don't want the responsibility of regulating yoga while they have prepared for it.

How do you explain that?

Yoga Alliance and YAPlus lacks accountability. And isn't that what Yoga is all about? The truth?

The only way I would leave Yoga Alliance alone is if all of their information was made public, the entire board would step down, and John Matthews would also step down.

Anything less is just John Matthews and Lynn Bushnell micro-managing harm-reduction for Yoga Alliance damage control.

Rose Nagy Ostrander

1 Like

Good work, Brian. It is sad and disconcerting that anyone professing to be involved with yoga could be so far off the mark about being truthful. I guess Satya was not among the teachings of their type of yoga. I appreciate your persistance in finding "what is" with this group. Namaste.

castellani

Thank you - I really appreciate you hanging in there with me. It is absolutely no mistake that they \"chose\" to release the 2009 tax records after they formed the Yoga Alliance Plus Organization as a Trade Organization. They didn\'t want anyone to know, or be able to question the legitimacy of their business practices. More is on the way, Namaste

Rose Nagy Ostrander

castellani

More is on the way,

Namaste

Rose Nagy Ostrander

castellani

More is on the way,

Namaste

J. Brown

I want to commend you for your clarity and fortitude in this matter. It is deeply refreshing to hear someone speaking the truth about the YA. When I saw the launch of YA+ and the new conference, I wondered whether this was really about benefiting the yoga teachers it supposedly represents. I'm all for having credible trade organizations with better accountability but having an industry standard that is nothing more than a rubber stamp and serves the interests of only a few at the expense of hard working yoga professionals everywhere is a terrible disservice. Keep up your efforts. Cheers.

castellani

I noticed also that YA is Walking their Talk for the "2011 Leadership Conference" all over Elephant Journal.

Congratulations ELEJ, it seems YA+ is finally able to pay for self serving projects now. Too bad they bought their dignity after the yoga regulation fight had been won in New York and their home state Virginia.

John Matthews. I look forward to seeing you on the mat one day.

You make the bed you lie in.

Thank you, your post means a great deal to me.