Information - Questions and Answers

The Certification Mark

What is the Certification Mark and various levels of Certification?

The Certification Mark is the international trademark introduced by BKS Iyengar for all his teachers to use.

It is a silhouette of BKS Iyengar in the pose called Natarajasana against the triangular image of BKS Iyengar’s institute building in Pune, India. Also the name IYENGAR® is trademarked in the UK

The Certification Mark was introduced to protect the Iyengar method and to help the public identify a teacher who holds an approved Iyengar Yoga Teaching Certificate. They will know that the teacher has been rigorously trained to standards set by BKS Iyengar to teach safely and look after the individual needs of students.Teachers must continue to develop their knowledge and skills after they qualify to be able to hold a valid Certification Mark. Some yoga teachers claim to be Iyengar teachers or use the Iyengar name to describe the method they teach even though they are not genuine. You can check that Judith holds an Iyengar Yoga Teaching Certificate and current Certification Mark as in the UK all Iyengar teachers who are genuine are listed on the Iyengar Yoga Association (UK) website www.iyengaryoga.org.uk

All Iyengar teachers hold the Introductory Level Teaching Certificate, which qualifies them to teach beginners, children and general level yoga classes.Teachers may then undertake further training to develop their knowledge and skills. There are several levels of higher certification, which may be achieved: Intermediate Junior Levels 1,2, &3, Intermediate Senior Levels 1,2, &3, and Advanced (although this level of certification is only given by BKS Iyengar himself).

With higher certification teachers are qualified to teach beginners, general and Intermediate level classes, special classes for pregnancy, to take students with medical problems, and can be approved by the national Association, the IYA (UK), to train other teachers.