Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Scandals, Ethics and Yoga Instructors

How did anyone miss all the dirt? Unfortunately, the world of yoga, despite its wholesome image and spiritual roots, is no stranger to scandals and scandalous behavior. For example, Swami Muktananda, the founder of Siddha Yoga, was recognized by almost everyone who came into contact with him as a man of great presence and possibly even spiritual power. Despite a supposed vow of celibacy, however, he was also recognized as regularly abusing his position with female students, using spiritual claims of "tantric yoga" to con them into sex. Remember Amrit Desai? Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram Yoga, has been involved in a number of controversies, the most recent of them including sexual harassment and assault. Finally, unless the reader thinks that these questionable behaviors are limited to Indian yoga teachers, the American founder of Anusara yoga, John Friend, was also ousted in 2012 as having had numerous affairs with female students and married female employees during the course of his yoga career.

What has probably been most hurtful about these scandals for yoga students over the years is that multiple yoga teachers have abused the trust and respect their students have placed in them for their own personal gain or titillation. Although the world is filled with reports of sexual assault, harassment, embezzlement, fraud and so forth, the sting is made worse, when someone who preaches a wholesome and spiritual lifestyle carries out the ethical breach.

Codes of Ethics and Behavior for Yoga Organizations

For yoga teacher associations, yoga studios and other yoga organizations, setting and maintaining a clear code of ethics is extremely important. Here are three ethical points these organizations should consider adopting:

1. Yoga instructors should maintain a healthy personal lifestyle that is in accord with the philosophy of yoga. Maintaining a healthy personal lifestyle should include actively seeking help and/or treatment for problems such as substance abuse, eating disorders, sexual addiction and similar problems that threaten the professional efficacy of the instructor.

2. Instructors should consider all forms of sexual relations with students to be anathema, down to even playful statements during teaching that could be construed as being sexual in nature. In the case that an instructor truly "falls in love" with a student and chooses to pursue a relationship, he or she should also be willing to step down from being an instructor within that yoga community if the relationship is to continue. Sexual relationships with class assistants and employees should also be considered an unethical abuse of power.

3. Class fees should always be clear and discussed up-front. Instructors should not use their personal reputation as a way of inflating class or course prices.

Are these ethical points fair? Are there ever any exceptions to the rules? Have you witnessed a breach of ethics or inadvertently been part of such a breach? Feel free to share your thoughts about a yoga instructor's code of ethics in the comments below.

Teachers know the ethics guidelines. It is a basic part of our training and does no good to try to point the finger elsewhere.