The British Wheel of Yoga was set up in 1965 by Wilfred Clark as a co-ordinating body for

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

groups throughout

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

that welcomed all schools of thought. It provides level 4

yoga teacher training Yoga teacher training is the training of teachers of yoga as exercise, consisting mainly of the practice of yoga asanas, leading to certification. Such training is accredited by the Yoga Alliance in America, by the British Wheel of Yoga in the ...

leading to the Certificate in Yoga Teaching and the Diploma in Teaching Yoga. It is recognised by Sport England as the governing body of yoga in Britain. Its sister organisation, The British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications, provides accreditation to other British yoga teaching organisations.

Origins

The organisation was founded as the ''Wheel of British Yoga'' in 1965 by Wilfred Clark, who had started giving evening classes in

in 1961. In 1969 it changed its name to the Western Yoga Federation. In 1973 it gained charitable status and in 1974 it changed its name to the British Wheel of Yoga.

Training and accreditation

At the 2009 AGM the organisation split in two with the establishment of ''The British Wheel of Yoga Limited'' and ''The British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications Limited''. As a result,

and certification are handled independently by the two bodies. The British Wheel of Yoga offers Level 4 qualifications (Certificate in Yoga Teaching, Diploma in Teaching Yoga), stated to be equivalent to an HNC or first-year of a university degree. Accreditation is provided by the BWYQ. The BWY is recognised by

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

as the governing body of yoga in Britain (and in Northern Ireland, the Yoga Fellowship of Northern Ireland), though without power to enforce decisions. Qualifications are in turn regulated by the regulator of qualification standards

Ofqual The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdo ...

. By 2015, nine schools were accredited to teach to BWY standards; other schools were free to offer their own courses, often shorter and cheaper than the BWY's, as long as they did not claim to be to approved by the BWY.

References

External links

* {{Yoga as exercise Yoga organizations Yoga training and certification

Origins

Training and accreditation

See also

References

External links