About SYTA

Satyananda Yoga Teachers' Association Inc. (SYTA) was established in 1996 under the guidance of Paramahamsa Niranjanananda by yoga teachers trained in the Satyananda Yoga tradition.

Mission Statement

Satyananda Yoga Teachers' Association (SYTA) is a professional association of yoga teachers which supports its members to teach yoga in the Satyananda Yoga tradition, maintaining high professional and ethical standards.

SYTA aims to:

support its members to teach and exemplify the teachings of Paramahamsa Satyananda and Paramahamsa Niranjanananda throughout the Australian community 
promote the ethical and professional behaviour of yoga teachers 
uphold the standards of the SYTA Code of Ethics and Code of Practice 
provide professional development opportunities to improve the quality of yoga teaching 
provide networking opportunities to promote rapport, support and professional inspiration for teachers in the Satyananda Yoga tradition 
provide professional development opportunities to improve the quality of yoga teaching 
promote yoga teaching activities 
raise the status and profile of yoga teachers in the community 
assist members with yoga teacher accreditation 
provide access to appropriate professional and public liability insurance.

Association formation and structure

SYTA was incorporated on 20th September 1996 as a non-profit, limited liability association registered with the NSW Department of Fair Trading. There are currently more than 250 full and associate members, drawn from all states of Australia, who are yoga teachers in the Satyananda Yoga tradition and associated supporters of SYTA.

At the Annual General Meeting of SYTA, the Management Committee of members and an Ethics Committee are elected. The Management Committee meets regularly to coordinate events, handle membership matters and discuss relevant issues.The Ethics Committee oversees the implementation, maintenance and promotion of the Code of Ethics and the Grievance Procedure. This is designed to ensure that SYTA and its members operate in a professional and ethical manner.

There are also two other subcommittees (appointed by the management committee) which support the work of SYTA. The first of these is the Membership Committee which receives applications for membership and assists members and potential members to meet the membership criteria. The second is the Professional Development committee that encourages and coordinates quality professional development opportunities for SYTA members.

Current Management Committee members are: 

Position

Name

Executive

President

Santashakti

Vice-President

Secretary

Krsnadhara

Treasurer

Suryamitra

Membership Secretary

Santosh

Committee Members

Bhaktipoornananda

Chakradhyan

Divyabhawa

Karunamitra

Newsletter Contact

SYTA Newsletter Editor - Priyaroopa
For newsletter articles, contact Priyaroopa via email.

Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee oversees the implementation, maintenance and promotion of the Code of Ethics and the Grievance Procedure. These codes are designed to ensure that SYTA and its members operate in a professional and ethical manner.  Current members of the Ethics Committee are: Priyaroopa, Sivagyana, Vedantavidya

Ethics Committee contact email

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee receives applications for membership and assists members and potential members to meet the criteria it has set. Membership criteria are reviewed and amended as required.

Membership Committee contact email

Professional Development Committee

The Professional Development (PD) Committee was established to coordinate suitable PD activities for SYTA members and also supports members in planning, organising and running their own PD activities.

Professional Development Committee contact email

Management Committee Meetings 2012/13

Meeting dates for 2012/2013 are:

Sunday November 18th
Sunday February 10th
Sunday April 14th
Sunday June 9th
Sunday July 7th
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday July 27th 2013. Guest speaker will be Dr Swami Shankardevananda Saraswati.

If members would like an issue included on a meeting agenda, please contact the
SYTA Secretary at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting.

SYTA Fee Concession Policy

SYTA has adopted a policy that no member is to be excluded from any SYTA activity (including membership) because of financial hardship and that a statement be included in our public documentation to this effect.

The SYTA Management Committee has established fees for membership, membership renewal and for PD days, including early-bird prices. Any request for special consideration in regard to these fees must be sent to the SYTA Secretary in writing (email or letter).

The Secretary will then forward the request to the SYTA Executive. The decision made by the Executive will be confidential and binding. The decision will be communicated to the person making the request and to the PD Committee, if relevant.

Members eligible for the concession price are those:

who receive full Centrelink benefits for unemployment, disability pension, sickness benefit, parenting payment and aged pension
who receive the full Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI) pension from the Dept of Veteran Affairs
who receive Austudy
who are full-time residents of Mangrove or Rocklyn Yoga Centres and are low income earners
who are currently enrolled in the full-time course of the Diploma of Satyananda Yoga Teaching

Agreed by the SYTA Management Committee March 2010.

Retired Full Members of SYTA Policy

Current full members of SYTA who have not been teaching yoga classes or conducting yoga programs for at least 12 months, may apply to the SYTA Secretary by the end of March to become Retired Full Members of SYTA effective from the 1st of July of that year.

Standard full members seeking to become Retired members are expected to make a Statement of Intent that they are not intending to teach yoga classes or programmes in the foreseeable future.

Retired members:

•   receive the SYTA newsletter and other information from the SYTA Secretary
•   receive member discounts for SYTA professional development activities
•   have access to the Members-only section of the SYTA website
•   do not have their own web-page or be able to advertise programs on the SYTA website
•   are not be eligible for insurance as members of SYTA
•   are not expected to meet CPD requirements although CPD would be encouraged
•   otherwise retain the status of full members, eg voting rights at the AGM
•   pay an annual membership fee at the same rate as an Associate member

If Retired members’ circumstances change and they wish to recommence teaching yoga, they need to satisfy current CPD requirements or any other requirements requested by the SYTA committee, in order to change their SYTA membership back to a standard full member.

Approved by the SYTA Committee on 26th June 2010 and ratified at the SYTA AGM on 31st July 2010.