An Overview of Regulatory Issues for Yoga, Yoga Therapy, and Ayurveda

In order to gain greater credibility, emerging healthcare and health-related fields usually establish a variety of self-regulatory structures and organizations. These structures serve to promote safe and effective practice, strengthen the field's legal status, expand professional opportunities, increase the profession's political influence, and legitimize a field in the eyes of potential patients, potential students, governmental entities, and the healthcare industry. Self-regulatory structures can also set the groundwork for professional licensure and other types of external recognition. Developing self-regulatory structures, however, can pose significant challenges and invariably involve trade-offs. Therefore, practitioners and educators within emerging fields should engage in inclusive, representational, and transparent decision-making processes to build support for any self-regulatory measures being considered.