Teachers Alliance
ABOUT THE TEACHERS ALLIANCE
Since 2010, Veterans Yoga Project (VYP) has trained more than 1,500 yoga teachers and health care providers in the tools of mindful resilience for trauma recovery, via our weekend, 15-hour Mindful Resilience Training (MRT).
Over the past few years, we’ve expanded our focus to providing support to our MRT-trained teachers so they can effectively share these tools with more veterans in both clinical settings and throughout our communities. We now offer more than 350 classes each month taught at more than 50 VA’s, Vet Centers, active-duty and community-based veteran service organizations. Additionally, the clinical benefits of these classes are being documented.
In order to provide more support for our teachers and for the veterans we collectively serve, we created the VYP Teachers Alliance. This network will allow us to provide continuing education and resources to our teachers, and better document the reach and the effectiveness of yoga for those we collectively serve.
If you are a yoga instructor and have completed VYP’s Mindful Resilience Training, please see our FAQs below to learn how to join our network of providers.
Looking for a teacher in your area? Find a Member
Any yoga teacher who teaches yoga classes to veterans as a Veterans Yoga Project (VYP) Teacher must complete ALL of the requirements described below. By satisfactorily completing all the requirements, you become a member of the Veterans Yoga Project Teachers Alliance and will enjoy all the benefits offered to its members and have access to all the resources linked directly on the Resources page.
REQUIREMENTS:
The following are the Requirements for ALL the Veterans Yoga Project Teachers:
Note: This policy makes clear that as VYP Teachers we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves with complete integrity and professionalism. Respect for all persons at all times is not always easy for some of us. That is no excuse. We must demand better of ourselves and for the veterans we serve. That is the benefit of practicing yoga: it allows us to live more fully in alignment with our values and goals.
If behaving in accordance with the Sexual Misconduct Policy is something that you don’t feel you can do,
Please do not teach for Veterans Yoga Project
Please get some professional help to work through your challenges
Please practice a lot of Loving-Kindness meditation, especially towards yourself
Note: VYP requires that headstands, shoulder stands and plow are not taught during a VYP class. Research shows that these are the poses that are associated with the most injuries.
Note: When you are not being paid to teach a class, you may be considered a VYP volunteer. When you teach a class without pay, represent VYP at an event, or gather with your regional team to work on the Mission, you are considered a VYP Volunteer.
Certificate of Liability of Insurance
Please send a copy of your certificate to alliance@veteransyogaproject.org with Veterans Yoga Project added in the endorsement section. If you need to add VYP to your insurance certificate you will need to provide to your insurance Veterans Yoga Project’s address P.O. Box 6472 Alameda, CA 94501 and phone number (203) 936-9642.
Background Check
To complete this step refer to the email invitation sent to you.
When you click on the direct link in the email, you will be requested to create an account with Sterling Volunteers. This will connect your account to our organization.
Payment for this service is optional. Please consider make a donation to cover for the expense.
You can share the results with other non profit organization that you may volunteer for.
Please do not share this link, as the background check is required by invitation only.
MEMBER BENEFITS
We appreciate you taking the time to help us provide the best services possible for our veterans. As a small token of our appreciation all VYP Teachers Alliance Members who complete all the requirements will enjoy the following perks:
Discounts:
10% discount all year round at the VYP store
Discount at the Feathered Pipe Ranch for the VYP annual Teachers’ Summit
Additional Partner discounts
Webinars, articles & blogs exclusive only to VYP TA Members
VYP Teachers Alliance Logo
VYP Teachers Alliance shirt at no cost to you
Recognition on the web page as a VYP Teacher Alliance Member with your biography and picture and mention of your VYP location and classes
Q: Why a VYP Teachers Alliance?
A: The veterans and families that we teach deserve high quality instruction that provides maximal benefit with minimal risk. VYP Teachers are well respected in the veteran community and among veteran treatment programs and are known to hold themselves to the high standards of integrity that our veterans and families deserve. The VYP Teachers Alliance formalizes these standards by establishing educational and training requirements for teachers who are providing services for veterans as part of Veterans Yoga Project.
Q: Who can become a member of the VYP Teachers Alliance Program?
A: All yoga teachers who have completed the VYP Mindful Resilience Training will have the opportunity to complete the requirements to become an Alliance member.
Q: Can I become a member of the Teachers Alliance if I am not teaching classes to Veterans?
A: Yes, you can become a Teachers Alliance member if you fulfill all requirements and pay the Teachers Alliance fee.
Q: Is there a cost/fee for membership?
A: There is no cost for Teachers Alliance membership for MRT-trained yogis who are teaching Veterans and who complete all the requirements.
There is a membership fee ($9/month or $108/year) for all volunteers who want to be part of the program but are not currently teaching veterans-specific classes.
Q: What is the term of membership?
A: Teachers Alliance membership continues for as long as the annual requirements are met.
Q: How do I enter the webpage to complete the requirements?
A: If you are a VYP teacher currently reporting classes for VYP, you should have received an email with all the details and password to complete the requirements to become a member of the Teachers Alliance. If you did not receive an email but meet the requirements, please email Monica Thorne at alliance@veteransyogaproject.org . Instructions will be sent to you.