Code of Conduct

THE CONVERSATION: How should ethics be applied to teaching yoga today? Could a universal Code of Conduct lay the foundation for safer yoga education? As educators and practitioners, we know that proper training, ongoing education, and ahimsa are prerequisites for student safety—are the gifts of yoga better served when supported with a solid ethical foundation such as a Code of Conduct?

WHAT WE LEARNED:

Yoga professionals and practioners nearly unanimously agree on the adoption of a Code of Conduct as being very important. This came through loud and clear via our survey, the listening tour, the virtual town halls, and the working group sessions.

As we saw via our 12,000-respondent survey, 91% of professionals and 88% of practitioners reported being very interested in yoga teachers pledging to follow a Code of Conduct. Individuals from North America (Mexico, the United States, and Canada) were most interested than anywhere else in the world. Read more here.

Standards Review Project Survey: Attitudes and Beliefs of Yoga Professionals and Practitioners Worldwide 2018, Edge Research.

Through the working group specific to Code of Conduct, there were a few insights that arose, including that any Code of Conduct should provide guidance on the following:

  • Right balance between yogic and modern values
  • Right balance between consent and touch
  • Trauma sensitivity
  • Teacher/student relationships
  • Strong ethical principles in personal lives of yoga teachers, too

To learn more about this working group’s recommendations, please download the Code of Conduct Working Group Paper here. As a reminder, Yoga Alliance brought together a diverse spectrum of expert advisory voices to maximize the perspectives and resources within this area of inquiry. They represented one stream of input in the process, albeit an important stream. We thank them for their participation and dedication.

Note: these working group papers provide expert recommendations to Yoga Alliance and the yoga community for consideration as the Standards Review Project continues. They are not prescribed actions but rather insights from an experienced and dedicated group of subject matter experts. They were written by an independent third party. At this point in time, no decisions have been made regarding standards updates, and we welcome and encourage your feedback and comments regarding the entirety of the SRP process.

Advisors In This Group:

Santiba Campbell

Santiba Campbell

Santiba Campbell, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Bennett College. Dr. Campbell is currently studying Identity Development in regards to academic self, race and ethnicity among African American college students and the effects on physical health, psychological well-being ...
Read More
Jonathan Dickstein

Jonathan Dickstein

Jonathan Dickstein is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He researches South Asian religions, Animals and Religion, and Comparative Ethics. He earned a MA in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder and a ...
Read More
Donna Farhi

Donna Farhi

Donna Farhi is a Yoga teacher who has been practicing for 39 years and teaching since 1982. She is one of the most sought after guest teachers in the world, leading intensives and teacher training programs internationally. Her approach to ...
Read More
Ann Gleig

Ann Gleig

Ann Gleig is an assistant professor of religion and cultural studies at the University of Central Florida. Her primary research area is Asian religions in American. She is co-editor with Lola Williamson of Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism (Albany: SUNY ...
Read More
Jivana Heyman

Jivana Heyman

Jivana Heyman, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, is the founder and director of Accessible Yoga, an international non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to the yoga teachings for people of all abilities and backgrounds. Accessible Yoga offers two Conferences per year, which focus ...
Read More
Carol Horton

Carol Horton

Carol Horton, Ph.D., is a writer, educator, and activist working at the intersection of mindful yoga, social science, and social justice. Carol serves as Vice President of the Yoga Service Council and was a co-founder of Chicago’s Socially Engaged Yoga ...
Read More
Andrea R. Jain

Andrea R. Jain

Andrea R. Jain is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Editor of the Journal of American Academy of Religion, and author of Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture (Oxford University Press, 2014). Her areas of ...
Read More
Tamara Jeffries

Tamara Jeffries

Tamara Jeffries, RYT-200, been a health writer and editor for national publications including Essence, where she was Executive Editor; and Health, where she oversaw coverage of mental, emotional and spiritual health. She was also Editor-in-Chief of HealthQuest: The Publication of ...
Read More
Octavia Raheem

Octavia Raheem

Octavia Raheem is a Yoga Alliance experienced registered teacher (E-RYT) at the 200-hour level. She completed teacher training at Peachtree Yoga Center in Georgia in 2007 and began teaching later that year.  Octavia holds additional certifications and specializes in restorative, ...
Read More
Roopa Singh

Roopa Singh

Roopa Singh, works at the intersection of wellness and justice through art, scholarship, and social entrepreneurship. She is a licensed attorney, university instructor, and a yoga teacher/student.  In 2013, Roopa gathered the first public forums for South Asian American yoga educators ...
Read More