Community Articles

Humans are typically very willing to give away their power if they think a person can help them. This dynamic creates an imbalance of power within the relationship. This imbalance is magnified in a relationship with a yoga teacher, therapist, or spiritual leader because of the greater degree of trust involved and the accompanying desires to both please and to not displease the teacher or leader. A yoga teacher is not inherently more powerful than others. Rather, the students’ trust and their desire for a perceived benefit – their vulnerability – give the teacher more power and influence in the relationship. There is nothing wrong with…

Students may naturally have a desire to please or to not displease their yoga teachers. This desire contributes to the “power imbalance” that is inherent in all student-teacher relationships. The vast majority of yoga teachers are respectful of the ethics around such imbalance and maintain professional relationships with their students. This article is about how, in a student-teacher relationship, it is imperative for yoga students to understand their rights, the ethical boundaries Kundalini Yoga teachers are required to uphold, and what to do or where to go if you have a question, concern, or want to report a teacher’s misconduct. Consider that…

Turning the teaching of yoga into a successful business venture can be a complex art to master in and of itself… and deciding one’s philosophical and ethical views about developing an entrepreneurial yoga platform can open up many challenging questions. Viewpoints around service, .e.g, what to give and what to keep for oneself, are all questions to contemplate in a society that may emphasize material wealth over altruistic aims. This article is meant to explore this topic from different perspectives, considering the rights of a yoga student alongside a teacher’s right to earn and charge for their time and expertise….

What is a yoga standard? As we continue to explore how pedagogy evolves in yoga traditions, we can keep in mind that apprenticeship or disciple traditions of India do not fit neatly into the “square pegs” or accreditation models of education in the Western world. There are many steps to take in order to become an E RYT-500 (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance). Such standardization is a necessary part of yoga reform and growth. In today’s world, yoga teachers are held to quantifiable standards and a credentialing process to ensure not only that quality and high pedagogy standards…

The art of teaching evolves The yoga world in the West has seen many changes in professional standards and teaching styles since its early years, as the relationship of the student to the teacher has undergone significant scrutiny. This is especially so, as in the last decade central gurus/spiritual teachers from multiple yoga traditions have faced serious allegations of abuse or exploitation. As yoga communities of various traditions gained greater awareness of not only harm that occurred, but how trust and belief in a person or institution can blind them to signs of wrongdoing, they needed to reevaluate teaching approaches…