Yoga Alliance serves to promote and support the integrity and safety of yoga practice and education. It is with a sad understanding we acknowledge that, as with many industries, the yoga and wellness communities are not immune to troubling acts of sexual misconduct. As an organization dedicated to serving yoga schools, teachers, and students, it is important we openly acknowledge this reality and simultaneously commit to implementing actionable policies and visible/accessible safe spaces to turn the page on this history.
Acts of sexual harassment, assault, or criminal activity of any kind made by any yoga school or teacher are unethical and illegal. These actions and behaviors will not be tolerated by Yoga Alliance. We condemn the physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual abuse of any yoga student.
In 2018, we created a new and strengthened Sexual Misconduct Policy and launched a comprehensive and inclusive Standards Review Project to re-evaluate and update our teaching standards. A key pillar of this effort went into creating an Ethical Code of Conduct designed to define what is and is not appropriate. It is our aim to help protect public safety and to create a robust educational and reporting platform from which we can elevate the profession of yoga teaching.
As we undertook this critical effort, we benefited from the input of a diverse spectrum of expert advisory voices and relied on many qualified resources to help us develop our new policies and procedures. We were especially pleased to have
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) consulting with us as we worked towards our new standards of professional ethics and a deeper understanding of a yoga teacher’s appropriate scope of practice.
Yoga Alliance is continuously committed to directly addressing issues of sexual misconduct in our community. With this in mind, it is important to remember Yoga Alliance is not a law enforcement or judicial body itself. As such, we strongly encourage all victims and survivors of sexual misconduct or other crimes to immediately seek the highest level of professional assistance they are comfortable with, including contacting the police, a victims’ rights advocate, and/or a lawyer, in addition to filing a grievance with Yoga Alliance.
Very simply, every human being has the right to practice yoga free from abuse, harassment, and manipulation. To join the conversation, please reach out through our Help Center. You can send us an email or schedule a call with one of our team members using our call scheduler.