A local children's yoga teacher was among a coalition of instructors statewide that successfully fought state efforts to license schools that train yoga instructors.It all started when New York state informed yoga teachers they would have to be licensed by the state or face fines up to $50,000.

Yoga instructors organized and successfully fought the rule. Then they went one step further and got legislators to write a bill — just passed by the Senate and Assembly — that specifically exempts yoga instructors from state licensing requirements.

Doreen Foxwell, owner of The Children's School of Yoga, based in Monroe, got involved, she said, because while the initial rules wouldn't affect her because she teaches children's yoga, she worried that requirements would ultimately be expanded to affect her.

"What would happen is many yoga studios would close and many yoga teachers would not be able to teach," she said.Officials at the state Education Department tried to institute licensing for yoga instructors because state education law called for it, department spokeswoman Jane Briggs said."The training is for a job — that of yoga instructor," she said. "Any training that leads to employment and for which a fee is charged is required to be licensed."

James Freedland, a spokesman for state Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan/Bronx, the Senate bill's lead sponsor, said the state's attempt to regulate yoga instructors "represented more of a solution looking for a problem than an actual problem."

"There have never been any reported complaints about poor yoga instruction that we're aware of, and I certainly think that the yoga community, like art instructors or other practices, have strong incentives to provide the best services possible and abide by the standard of the industry," he said.Yoga instructors are voluntarily trained and certified through Yoga Alliance, a national organization that has established yoga training standards. Yoga Alliance representatives declined to comment.

Gov. David Paterson is expected to sign the bill, Freedland said, but given the controversy in which his administration is embroiled, and with some people calling for his resignation, it's unclear when he would do so. His office did not return a reporter's phone call."The governor's still the governor, so I guess we're all operating under the assumption that the business of legislation will still move forward even during this uncertainty," Freedland said.