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The Benefits of British Wheel of Yoga Training

The British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) is the largest of the Yoga organizations in Britain, with over 3,700 teacher members and widespread recognition for its standards. It positively welcomes members and teachers from a wide range of Yoga traditions, subject to the standards it has set for professionalism in teaching, student safety and peer review.

Standards are maintained by the BWY Teaching Diploma Course and Teacher Integration Course. These are respectively for students new to teaching and those who have already trained and taught to the standards of a different body.

As a BWY teacher, a range of benefits will be open to you:

  1. Recognition by Sport England. Any teacher who wants to teach yoga within the public sector will hold a qualification that is accepted by a range of these institutions such as state schools and the NHS. Grants of public money to support yoga teaching will also be helped by recognition that the teacher is from a Sport England recognized National Governing Body, which the BWY has been since 1993.
  2. Recognition by the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPS). Skillsactive is an employer organisation, sponsored by the government, and made up of the main businesses in the health and fitness field. They have created REPS as a way of recognizing high-standard training in this field and every BWY teacher is recognized and allowed a reduced annual membership fee of £8, opening the door to employment in this field.
  3. Eligibility for the BWY Insurance Scheme, giving up to £10 million of cover in case any student suffers harm because of an error in your teaching. This cover, along with the other benefits listed here, currently costs just £40 per annum on top of ordinary BWY annual membership. (This cover begins as soon as you start the BWY Diploma course)
  4. Access to the Child Protection functions of the BWY so you can register with the Criminal Records Bureau and have a policy and support structure in place for this essential element in teaching yoga to under-18 year olds.
  5. Preferred access to the Continuing Professional Development and First Aid training from the BWY for qualified teachers. This is organized by BWY officers right across the country and is subject to similar standards and peer review as the rest of BWY training
  6. Access to the complaint procedure of the BWY so that if you receive a complaint in the course of your teaching you are not in the position of passing judgement on yourself. In turn you will have an external body to complain to if, for example, you have a complaint about teacher training that you receive. This procedure is far preferable than having to resort to lawyers.
  7. Optional inclusion on the BWY website register of yoga teachers to publicize yourself as a properly qualified teacher.
  8. Protection of your personal data held by the BWY under the terms of the Data Protection Act, under which the BWY is registered.
  9. Access to the BWY Teachers' Retreat Week organized each summer.
  10. Access to the BWY post-diploma modules for qualified teachers, currently:- Teaching Yoga To Children, Pregnancy, Post-Natal, Ayurveda, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutra, Meditation, Pranayama, Living with Cancer – if you want to specialize in these fields
  11. Eligibility for training as a BWY Foundation Course Tutor and/or Diploma Course Tutor if you wish to deliver these higher levels of training.

Completing successfully the BWY Diploma Course or Integration Course requires time, effort and commitment, but this is what makes them valuable in the eyes of the wider world and such a benefit to students and teachers of yoga alike.