Spirituality Studies 121 Lucie Chocholová ent understandings of yoga practice, its aims, and its appropriate methods of instruction. This situation affects both instructors and the general public, who may struggle to orient themselves within an increasingly fragmented yoga landscape. The absence of clearly defined criteria for evaluating yoga classes limits transparency and makes it difficult for participants to assess what type of practice a given class offers. From a professional perspective, the lack of systemic oversight complicates efforts to ensure the quality and safety of instruction, particularly when yoga classes include elements that affect psychological or spiritual well-being. Until yoga instructor training more adequately reflects the diversity of current yoga forms and clearly delineates the required competencies, establishing effective control mechanisms remains problematic. This study aims to explore how contemporary yoga is understood and interpreted by certified yoga instructors within the Czech context. In line with interpretative phenomenological analysis (hereafter referred to as IPA), the research focuses on lived experience and meaning making rather than on objective evaluation of yoga styles. The following research questions guide the study: RQ1. How do instructors make sense of the proliferation and naming of yoga styles in their professional practice? RQ2. How do yoga instructors experience and interpret the relationship between traditional yoga and contemporary yoga practices? RQ3. How do yoga instructors understand their professional responsibilities, particularly in relation to the spiritual and ethical dimensions of yoga? These questions are exploratory and phenomenological, aiming to clarify how instructors form their views in a context shaped by institutional education, market dynamics, and cultural transformation. The research questions were issued through a moderated group discussion with certified yoga instructors, designed to elicit reflective accounts of their teaching experiences, perceptions of yoga styles, and interpretations of professional competence. The discussion guide included prompts addressing participants’ understanding of tradition, their experience with class naming and categorization, and their views on instructor training and responsibility. The data were analyzed using IPA, focusing on how participants articulated, negotiated, and reflected upon their lived experience of contemporary yoga practice.
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