Reflecting on 2024: Highlights and a Look Ahead

As an organization, IAYT has undergone tremendous growth in a short period. Things often move very quickly during such times, and this was certainly true for our organization in 2024.

Please join me in a brief look back on the year for a few highlights and trends. IAYT members can get the full picture with the recording of our December 11 webinar; you’ll need to be signed in to access the video, which will be available through January 31, 2025.

We plan a more detailed review of our year during another member webinar on January 23—watch for the registration link, with the time to be determined based on your input.*

Where We Stand at the End of 2024

Despite—or perhaps partly because of—worldwide uncertainty that makes our practices more relevant than ever, the end of 2024 finds IAYT in good fiscal standing and financial health. We have seen sustained, steady growth since the pandemic across membership, certification, and accreditation.

International interest in yoga therapy is still on the rise, with a notable increase in individual memberships from outside the United States in the past year. The number of international member schools has also grown: In the past 2 years more than half of IAYT’s new member schools have joined from outside the United States, and we recently welcomed schools from Norway, Turkey, and Portugal. Both certification (of individual C-IAYTs) and accreditation (of training programs) have continued to maintain renewal figures on par with or above expected standards for nonprofit organizations. For example, we have seen a 70% recertification rate since certification began in 2016.

Over the past several years and accelerating in 2024, IAYT has also ramped up communications, creating robust engagement through our e-newsletter and online on our various channels. Our social-media audience now totals more than 55,000 thanks to consistent sharing of relevant, quality content; specific outreach; a new streaming platform; and the continued growth of IAYT’s public-facing resources through yogatherapy.health.

Under the organization’s representational policy governance model, IAYT has steadily increased its opportunities for membership engagement. This year, for example, we introduced public comment periods for several initiatives of import for our profession, including revisions to IAYT’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibilities and the Scope of Practice for Yoga Therapy, and you can expect more feedback opportunities to come.  Support for members also includes increased chances to engage through sanghas, webinars, and other educational events like Global Yoga Therapy Day (August 14 every year!).

Where We're Heading in 2025

In 2025, we plan to expand opportunities for engagement in several key areas, as well as shape additional methods, such as through an international membership sangha, IAYT’s next strategic planning process, and evaluation for the Foundations of Therapeutic Yoga Principles for Healthcare Professionals initiative. Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee will also be hosting a series of town halls, and our community will be invited to take a DEIA-focused survey to help us understand the supports members need, and the obstacles they face, in their programs and communities around DEIA.

In the coming months IAYT will continue to strengthen existing partnerships, for example, with the Society for Integrative Oncology, and build new connections with key partners in integrative health in the United States, such as through the NCCIH Coalition for Whole Person Health, as well as internationally.

As we look ahead, we will be further expanding the ways we communicate with our members and report on important organizational updates to increase transparency and accountability. The ideas and suggestions you’ve shared with us thus far will help us further shape our collective future. Please know, too, that your feedback is always welcome via the contact us form on iayt.org, which we use to route inquiries to the correct team members.

In Gratitude

In closing, I’d like to acknowledge the dedicated service of Alyssa Wostrel and Molly McManus. Alyssa served as IAYT’s executive director for more than 4 years, cultivating a range of strategic and innovative initiatives in support of the yoga therapy profession. Molly, too, has dedicated herself to IAYT for a number of years, most recently as board president, a role in which she was instrumental in strengthening international relationships. We will miss Alyssa and Molly and their caring leadership, but please know that both are still cheering on our work and will forever support the yoga therapy community. We are grateful for all that they helped us to accomplish.

We have a strong foundation on which to move forward in continued service to the profession of yoga therapy. I feel confident that together IAYT’s members, staff, and volunteers are well positioned to continue to pave the way to a future filled with many possibilities for advancing yoga therapy around the world. 

Thank you again for being part of the IAYT community. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!

Dominique Ferrera Hawkins, JD, RYT-500, CPC
Interim Executive Director

*The brief member survey on event times will remain open through January 6, 2025.