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1989 IAYT incorporates. Larry Payne, PhD, and Richard Miller, PhD,co-founders. StephenOstrow obtained IAYT non-profit satus pro bono.

1989–1995Larry Payne, founding president and publisher of the Journal

1990–1996Richard Miller, founding editor of The Journal of theInternational Association of Yoga Therapists

1991 By this time, IAYT has circulated more than 9,000 brochuresand letters to yoga teachers and students, medical doctors andchiropractors, psychologists, and other health professionals in14 countries.

The first Members’ Directory presents 185 names, withten countries represented.

IAYT receives its first publicity with articles in Shapemagazine and the Yoga Journal.

Joint venture publishing project withRudra Press and the Nityananda Institute isinitiated for the book Yoga for Body, Breathand Mind by Professor A.G. Mohan, editedby Kathleen Miller and published in 1993.Funding is made possible by Claude Cooke,IAYT’s first major donor. First IAYT yogatherapy certification byA.G. Mohan at theMeadowlark Health &Growth Center, foundedby Evarts Loomis, MD,founding father of HolisticMedicine in America

1993–1994The organization actively focuses on a number of areas,including ethics, yoga education, membership, research, andcreativity.

1995–1996Amy Gage, president

1995–1998Jnani Chapman, RN,executive director

1996IAYT hosts general membership meeting at the first Yoga Journalconference. Dean Ornish, MD,is the keynote speaker.

1997IAYT hosts meeting on standards for yoga teachers at the Yoga Journal conference.IAYT grows to 800 members.

Meet the people who founded and worked together to build an organization that has become over 5,300 members stro n g.

HIGHLIGHTS ON THE PATH1996–1998 Lilias Folan, acting president

1997–1998 Steven Kleinmann, MD, editor

1998A transition year. IAYT dissolves as an independent non-profit corporation and begins operations as a division ofYoga Research and Education (YREC) under the overallleadership of Georg Feuerstein, PhD, YREC’s founder andpresident.

Georg Feuerstein becomes editor in chief of the journal, which is renamed the International Journal of YogaTherapy.

Larry Payne becomes the director of IAYT.

1999–2003International Journal of Yoga Therapy: Georg Feuerstein,editor in chief; Richard Rosen, senior editor; Trisha Lamb,managing editor

2002–2005Yoga Studies Online Journal, a newsletter of IAYT/YREC,Trisha Lamb and Richard Rosen, co-editors

2003John Kepner is named executive director and Trisha Lambis named associate director. Under the leadership ofKepner and Lamb, and with the enthusiastic support ofYREC and all of the original IAYT leadership, the association once again becomes an independent non-profitorganization, incorporating in Arizona on July 1, 2004.IAYT has 760 members.

2004–2007 Veronica Zador, president

2004–2005Trisha Lamb, editor, International Journal of Yoga Therapy

2005Kelly McGonigal, PhD, named editor of the InternationalJournal of Yoga Therapy. A professional peer-review processfor IJYT is instituted.

Yoga Therapy in Practice evolves from the Yoga Studiesemail newsletter to a print publication. Kelly McGonigal,PhD, founding editor.

2007 Janice Gates, presidentFirst Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research

(SYTAR 2007) held in Los Angeles under the leadership of Veronica and Ivan Zador.

2003 IAYT renewal, L to R, Veronica Zador, Amy Gage,

Richard Miller, John Kepner, Larry Payne, and Trisha Lamb.

A.G. Mohan Evarts Loomis, MD

Claude Cooke

2008Matthew Taylor PT, PhD, president

Second SYTAR held in Los Angeles. IAYT Digital Resources Library launched. IAYT Member Schools launched with 47

charter members.Electronic hosting of IAYT publications

begins. IAYT grows to 2,422 members worldwide.

2009 IAYT presents third SYTAR.Dean Ornish, MD, is again a keynote speaker.

IAYT hosts the Council of Schoolsinitiative with IAYT Member Schools.

Common Interest Communities program islaunched at SYTAR.

Julie Deife becomes editor of Yoga Therapy in Practice, which is retitled Yoga Therapy Today.

Educational Standards committee launched.

2010 Eleanor Criswell, EdD, elected president.IAYT presents the first Symposium on Yoga

Research (SYR) under the scientific leadership of Sat Bir Khalsa.

IAYT has over 2,600 members.IAYT celebrates 20 years.

2011IJYT is accepted for indexing on Medline. SYR 2011 is awarded a scientific conferencegrant by the National Center for Complementaryand Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).

Kelly Birch becomes editor of Yoga TherapyToday.

2012Educational Standards for the Training of Yoga Therapists published.

IAYT Accreditation Committee is launched.

2013 Dilip Sarkar elected president of theboard.

SYR and SYTAR are held back to back forthe first time in Boston. This is also the first timeSYTAR has been held outside California.

2014 IAYT celebrates its 25th Anniversary! Laura Schmalzl and Sat Bir Khalsa become

co-editors of the International Journal of YogaTherapy.

2014The first 12 yoga therapy training programs to be accredited byIAYT are announced at SYTAR in Austin, Texas.

The first Swami Kuvalyananda Yoga ResearchScholarship Awards are announced at SYR at theKripalu Center for Yoga & Health.

The IAYT Certification Committee is launched.

2016Applications for IAYT cer-tification of yoga therapists(C-IAYT) opened in May,with over 500 IAYT certi-fied yoga therapists by theend of the year.

IAYT Code of Ethics and ProfessionalResponsibility and IAYT Scope of Practice are published.

2017Laurie Hyland Robertson becomes editor of YogaTherapy Today.

First IAYT Yoga Research Summary (on Depression) publishedin the Spring Yoga Therapy Today.

2018 Amy Wheeler elected president of the board.IAYT launches a comprehensive communica-

tion effort to increase the awareness of and demandfor yoga therapists, including a new website,yogatherapy.health, for the public and healthcarepractitioners seeking qualified yoga therapists.

IAYT also launches Approved Professional Development(APD) courses to recognize quality yoga therapy continuing educa-tion that supports the competencies in the standards.

2019 IAYT celebrates its 30th Anniversary!As of mid-April, IAYT has 5,300 individual

members, 165 member schools, 43 accreditedprograms, 3,800 C-IAYTs, 158 APD providers,and 200 APD courses.

IAYT starts developing a professional certi-fication exam, the missing link in our standards.

Global developments to support yoga therapy are accelerating.IAYT, as the leading international yoga therapy association, workscollaboratively with a growing number of sister associations andorganizations around the world. Multiple IAYT members attend theWorld Health Organization meeting in India to benchmark trainingstandards for yoga in healthcare, the Global Yoga AccreditationSummit to explore accreditation of yoga in higher education at theUN, the Global Yoga Therapy Consortium meeting in theNetherlands, and the Asian Yoga Therapy Association’s annualconference in Indonesia.

Accreditation CommitteeBack row, l-r: Dan Seitz, John Kepner, Sue Tebb,Maggie Reagh. Front row, l-r: Aggie Stewart,Robin Rothenberg, LeighBlashki, Hansa Knox, DanielleAtkinson, Mary Northey

CertificationCommitteeBack row, l-r: Dan Seitz, LeighBlashki, JohnKepner. Frontrow, l-r: BethWhitney-Teeple,Bev Johnson,Clare Collins,SwamiRamananda, Amy Wheeler.