Yoga Therapy and IAYT Certification: What It Is and How It Differs From Classes

A note on what we could and could not read

The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) is the best-known professional body for yoga therapy in the U.S. Its own website blocked our reader, so we could not read its standards, hour requirements or certification rules directly. This page therefore relies on a 2026 scoping review that describes IAYT's definition, on the Australasian association's published scope of practice (a different organization that says its standards reflect IAYT's), and on a paper about Germany. Where IAYT's own wording matters, check iayt.org. We give no IAYT hour numbers because we could not verify them.

What yoga therapy means

One 2026 review describes yoga therapy as "broadly understood as the intentional adaptation of yoga practices to address health-related or therapeutic goals." [1] The same review says IAYT has established a formal definition of yoga therapy and scope-of-practice guidelines. [1]

How it differs from a class

A class is usually taught to a group, to a general level. The Australasian association describes yoga therapy as starting with a one-on-one assessment, with individual modifications and an assessment before anyone joins a specialist group class, and says a "one size fits all" approach is not yoga therapy. [2] It also describes yoga therapy as drawing on yoga practices, biomedical knowledge and assessment skills to build a program with the client. [2] Those are one association's descriptions. How consistently people called yoga therapists work this way is a separate question.

A research example shows the gap between description and practice. In a review of 22 U.S. clinical studies of yoga therapy published from 2016 to 2024, only 6 (27%) defined yoga therapy and 5 (23%) distinguished it from general yoga practice. [1] Yoga therapists delivered the interventions in 13 studies (59%), and only 4 (18%) reported certification. [1] The authors concluded that alignment with IAYT's definition was variable. [1] This means that when a trial says "yoga therapy", you cannot assume a certified therapist delivered it.

Teacher training versus yoga therapist training

A group of authors that includes an IAYT representative published invited perspectives titled "The differences between yoga teacher training and yoga therapist training and the distinction between yoga teaching and yoga therapy." We could read only the abstract, which says the paper is a set of perspectives on those two policy issues. [3] We cannot summarize its arguments.

The Australasian association describes its own certification as requiring an experienced yoga teacher to complete at least 650 hours of yoga therapy education over a minimum of two years, including 180 hours of practicum. [2] That is Australasian, not IAYT's requirement. Compare it with the 200-hour teacher training described on yoga teacher training: what it involves.

Scope: what a yoga therapist is not described as doing

The Australasian association's scope of practice says a yoga therapist is not qualified to diagnose a medical condition, make false claims about yoga's healing capacities, or advise about ceasing prescribed medication. [2] It says accredited training includes at least 30 hours of exposure to psychological conditions, but that this "does not qualify a Yoga Therapist to take the place of a qualified Psychiatrist, Psychologist or specialised Social Worker." [2] It says touch is to be given only after informed consent. [2]

Whatever the title, do not stop or change a medicine because of any yoga practitioner's advice. Talk with your prescriber. NCCIH also advises not using yoga to postpone seeing a health care provider about a medical problem. [4] If you are in crisis in the U.S., call 988 or 911.