CAMLAW : Complementary And Alternative Medicine Law Blog

Yoga research from BU and McLean announces the obvious: that yoga can help overcome depression.

Yoga commodification is sharply critiqued in a piece by Slate magazine.

Yoga, in addition to its physical and mental benefits for everyone else, is said to be helping youths at a juvenile justice center.

Michael's Yoga Products and Picks features yoga books, accessories, and other products to help people get started and deepen their practice.

Bikram Choudhury was charged with 10 criminal safety violations at one of his studios.

A study in a recent issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine reports that yoga is at least as effective, and maybe more so, than traditional exercise in the treatment of lower back pain.

This article, "Accounting Tips for Yoga Teachers: Tax Benefits Associated with Being an Independent Contractor," appeared in Yoga Journal's online newsletter.

Should yoga teachers and studios brand a unique style of yoga?

What should yoga teachers look for and what should they avoid when negotiating employment contracts with yoga studios?

Should yoga teachers have employment contracts? If so, what should they be thinking about when negotiating such agreements?

New photographic evidence suggests that yogic levitation is indeed possible.

Should yoga teachers have employment contracts? If so, what constitutes a legally binding contract? What’s the best way to avoid mistakes and misunderstanding?

In yoga teaching, touch can be necessary, or ill-advised. The treatment of a student's emotional release can be equally sensitive. Thankfully, the health care profession provides some adaptable standards for teachers.

The issue of liability insurance hovers over all yoga teachers. Here are some of the complexities that can arise around insurance coverage for yoga teachers who are also trained in a licensed health care profession.

A new Institute of Medicine report that has set guidelines for complementary and alternative medicine may change the way you teach and talk about yoga. Here's what you need to know about its implications.

As yoga teachers, many of us guide our students through touch regularly as we adjust their poses. But can this ever go too far? Protect yourself and your students by understanding the legal and ethical issues surrounding touching in class.

As yoga is increasingly conceptualized as “therapy,” the legal boundaries between yoga and licensed health professions are becoming increasingly blurred. In the "for teachers" section of Yoga Journal, this column asked: In this climate, how can you protect yourself as a teacher?

Although students often ask yoga teachers and studios for health advice, legal and ethical rules can affect the way such questions can be answered. This post, which appeared in Yoga Journal's on-line newsletter for yoga teachers, explains how to understand some of the legal implications of requests by yoga students for health advice. Notably, the suggestions also may be helpful for other health care professionals who are asked questions at the boundary of their legally authorized scope of practice, and the practice of medicine or other professions such as psychology.

As liability issues move into the forefront of the business of yoga as in other complementary, alternative, and holistic health modalities, yoga teachers and yoga studios need to start asking some tough questions about whether smart business practices are consistent with the spiritual tenets of yoga.