National Standards for Yoga

National regulations governing yoga teachers in gyms will be introduced to prevent underqualified instructors injuring pupils.

Fitness Australia, the exercise industry's peak body, will agree to a range of minimum qualifications for all its accredited instructors who also teach yoga.

The Yoga Teachers Association of Australia (YTAA) approached Fitness Australia earlier this year after a rise in complaints from its members about fitness instructors who had no formal yoga qualifications.

Fitness Australia will bring in YTAA minimum standards for accreditation, which include at least 320 hours of instructor training over the course of one year before teaching a class.

YTAA Vice-President Stephen Penman, "one of the most common complaints we receive is of underqualified people teaching classes in a fitness setting when they have very little experience.

"Some people have just done a one- or two-day course and we wanted to raise the standard of teaching."

The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) has also called for a cap on the number of students in any one class and better regulation of the practice.

They say they have treated people for muscle tears, spinal injuries and nerve damage as a result of badly taught yoga sessions.

Peter Fazey, APA National President, said: "People think it is a gentle form of exercise but some of the poses and some forms of yoga can be very strenuous. If it is done wrong, you can cause damage."

Currently anyone can set themselves up as a yoga instructor, even if they have no qualifications.

Australian Sports Commission figures show 464,000 people regularly practice yoga while a 2004 report by Medibank Private found a quarter of yoga pupils had been injured as a result of their exercise.