Book Review: The Yoga Law Book

I first heard about The Yoga Law Book by Cory Scott Dankner Sterling on the Accessible Yoga Podcast, Accessible Yoga Podcast: Yoga and Law Q&A. If you aren't listening to the Accessible Yoga Podcast, you are missing out! In this episode Amber Karnes discusses law with Cory Sterling from @Conscious Counsel, a law firm devoted to servicing yoga professionals.

There were some great questions asked, including do we need waivers and disclaimers (spoiler alert, yes). And a lot of information that would be great for any movement professional.

Cory also mentioned his book, which I purchased within a few hours of listening to the podcast because I was interested in a bit more color on the topics that were discussed.

Let's start out with what the book isn't--if you are looking for contract or wavier templates, then this isn't the book for you. Cory does give quite a bit of detail, but, after all his firm Conscious Council does sell these services, along with a self-paced legal course which seems to follow the outline of the book closely. The information provided does give a great outline for what should be included in most agreements and will certainly help if you plan on creating your own, or if you are evaluating whether to sign one from someone else.

What the book does offer is a great overview of a wide range of legal issues. Topics cover contracts, insurance and disclaimers, legal business structures and copywrite/trademark law and operating online. It uses lay language and real life examples to explore legal issues and their ramifications.

Overall it is an easy and informative read. I highly recommend it for yoga and movement educators, in fact I think anyone in the larger wellness world would benefit from a read.

It looks like the book is only available via Amazon in the US, or you can get it here from Indigo in Canada.