Balancing act: the importance of epistemological equilibrium as an enactive skill for yoga transmission

Subsequent to the publication of my doctoral monograph, I have spent five years explaining the concept of post-lineage yoga to yoga teachers, trainees, and training institutions worldwide. In those conversations, one question understandably dominates: how to effectively manage and evaluate knowledge transmission in the complex and evolving systems of yoga teacher training. The relationship between the content of yoga practice and the container of yoga institutions continues to be a subject more of speculation than research, but a model from my own data analysis has proven to be of increasing usefulness.

The tripartite model of authority – self, expert and peer group – which began as a description of current practice, is now used to describe best practice in a number of teacher trainings, and most recently, is helping to shape the formation of a new yoga teaching accreditation body. The American Yoga Council hopes to shift the accreditation of Anglophone yoga teacher training from the current standard ‘200-hour' model to one based on competencies and relationships. This can be set against the backdrop of other radical changes in yoga teacher training, including Iyengar Yoga's recent move to dismantle their own 200-hour teacher training in favour of an apprenticeship model.

In this paper, I will explore these recent developments as part of a deeper analysis into the competing epistemologies of yoga transmission. Developing experiential knowledge, critically evaluating expert testimony, and cultivating effective and supportive peer relationships is a multi-faceted epistemological balancing act, and a vital, but hidden skill for any committed yoga practitioner.