The Robin Monro Awards
Recognising contributions that help shape the field of yoga therapy
The annual Robin Monro Awards, established by The Minded Institute, honour yoga therapists whose exceptional contributions are helping to shape the field of yoga therapy.
The awards honour Dr Robin Monro (1932–2024), a central figure in establishing yoga therapy in the UK. Originally a molecular biologist who worked with the Watson and Crick research team, Dr Monro turned his attention to yoga therapy after experiencing its transformative effects on his lifelong asthma. Motivated by a desire to help others benefit from the practice, he dedicated his career to advancing its therapeutic application. Through the Yoga Biomedical Trust, which he founded in 1983, he developed professional training, advanced clinical practice and research, and worked to establish yoga therapy’s scientific and clinical credibility. Following his death, his family entrusted The Minded Institute with stewardship of the Trust. The awards carry forward his commitment to developing the field.
Learn more about Dr Robin Monro
Now Accepting Nominations: Whose Work Should We Recognise?
We invite the wider yoga therapy community to put forward individuals whose contributions deserve recognition through this year’s Robin Monro Awards.
Nominations must be submitted by 15 December 2026. Recipients will be announced on 15 March 2027. Eligibility details and the nomination form are below.
The Contributions we Seek to Recognise
Contributions may take many forms, including:
- Clinical frameworks and approaches that advance wider practice, shaping how yoga therapy is understood and applied.
- Research that advances understanding of yoga therapy and informs its therapeutic use.
- Education that makes a substantial contribution to the knowledge and skills of yoga therapists or other professionals.
- Accessibility, through work that meaningfully extends opportunities for people to benefit from yoga therapy.
- Integration into healthcare and wider systems of support, where the contribution represents a significant advance in the provision or recognition of yoga therapy.
The contribution may be sustained over many years or take the form of a particular initiative. Its significance may emerge through work with a specific population or within a particular setting.
What matters is the significance of the contribution and how it is helping to shape the field, not how widely the individual is known. We particularly welcome nominations of yoga therapists whose work has not yet received the wider recognition it deserves.
Recognising Exceptional Work and Bringing It to a Wider Audience
Each recipient will be featured in a dedicated email celebrating their contribution and sharing their work with The Minded Institute’s wider community. The feature will explain what they have contributed, why it matters, and the people or settings their work serves.
Recipients may also choose to include an invitation for the community to support a next step in their work. This might mean connecting with healthcare or care organisations, finding collaborators, sharing a resource or teaching approach, or reaching more people who could benefit from their work.
Each invitation will be developed with the recipient and reflect their own priorities. It is optional: some recipients may welcome practical involvement, while others may simply wish to bring their work to a wider audience.
The Robin Monro Awards 2026: Inaugural Recipients
The inaugural Robin Monro Awards recognised three yoga therapists whose pioneering contributions demonstrate the calibre and breadth of work these awards seek to honour. From developing accessible therapeutic approaches to integrating yoga therapy into healthcare and creating new pathways in professional education, their achievements illustrate how individuals can help shape the future of the field.
Explore the inaugural recipients’ work
Eligibility and How to Nominate
Nominees must:
- Have completed yoga therapy training with a school accredited by a professional body.
- Have been practising as a yoga therapist for at least three years.
- Be nominated by another person. Self-nominations are not accepted.
Nominations close: 15 December 2026
Recipients announced: 15 March 2027
Selection Process
Nominations will be reviewed by a panel comprising representatives of The Minded Institute and external specialists with relevant expertise. Shortlisted nominees will be invited to an online conversation with panel members to explore their work and its impact in greater depth before the final recipients are selected.