“I train teachers across the world. There is always one... so eager to adjust that they jump right in and crank away before really looking and sensing the body before them” ~ Sarah Ezrin (1)
In previous blogs, I’ve looked at the meaning of consent, the ethics of touch and the power imbalance between teacher and student, all of which has caused strong reactions and debate within the yoga community. This is good; it’s important that we’re having these discussions, that we’re informing, growing and developing our knowledge. Even if the people who need to hear it right now won’t hear it, because they aren’t ready, the continuing build of questions and conversation will eventually impact.
So, with that in mind, let’s begin.
This is part 3 of a blog series focusing on historic and current issues affecting yoga teachers and students. Read Part 1: The teacher-student power imbalance, or Part 2: All about consent.
Why regulation?
Putting aside the argument about yoga not being owned by any one individual, how does ‘yoga’ move forward? Regulation seems the most obvious option; yoga’s status as an ‘industry’ means ‘it’ (covering anyone teaching asana, pranayama, meditation, nidra, whatever) needs this, along with improved teacher training standards, and a code of ethical conduct that those teaching can be judged against. We need to be able to say ‘this isn’t acceptable, and you may not teach again’.
“Rather than co-opting particular buzzwords... teacher trainings need to really re-assess ethics and boundaries and work from that base”
This is the 21st century, and while the behaviours that went on previously are inexcusable, the argument that they are ‘from a different time’ certainly doesn’t apply today.
So much of what goes on still is not the kind of thing you could report to the police (e.g. an injury here, covered by insurance, a touch there, easily explained away), but it’s the kind of thing that would weird you out in your day-to-day life and you wouldn’t stand for in your own workplace, if that workplace is not yoga. We must find a way to not only clamp down on repeat offenders, but to teach teachers, both new and existing, about ethical and moral standards they should be beholden to.
At the moment, the point is moot; yoga doesn’t have a true way to determine professional competency; Yoga Alliance, for instance, is an accrediting body, not a regulatory body that can enforce standards for qualified teachers. Same goes for the different bodies across the world, such as British Wheel of Yoga. No one actually gets to regulate, and that’s a problem.
However, in response to a lot of criticism, and the changing landscape of the yoga industry, Yoga Alliance recently stepped up its work, spending 18 months working on its standards with working groups inclusive of accessibility-focused, body positive teachers such as Dianne Bondy and Jivana Heyman. They’ve stopped short of becoming a regulatory body, citing wanting to be inclusive of all lineages (possibly because various lineages are pretty dodgy, as outlined in previous blogs…).
The outcome is a recent proclamation of new requirements for 200-hour trainings (the base that a yoga teacher must do to qualify with accreditation today) that will come into effect February 1 2020 (2).
These include:
Mandatory testing for students
Upgraded requirements for teacher-trainers (who will have to be a E-RYT500 (which means they must have completed a 500-hour YA-accredited training AND have taught for a minimum of four years since their initial 200-hour qualification - it’s easy to get a 500-hour qual if you go to a school that will give you one, but not with the actual length of teaching time
Required completion of an online course about equity in yoga
Signing up to an ethical commitment upon registration
CEO Shannon Roche said: “We heard loud and clear from the community that people are ready for Yoga Alliance to do the work necessary to up-level and then uphold the standards that underlie the credential. We wanted to make the credential mean more but not overstep into a space the community is not ready for us to go.” (3)
It’s definitely a step forward, and I applaud them for all the work they have put into this. In some ways, I can see that we will definitely see a benefit - lead trainers must be highly experienced (at present, you could qualify from a training and potentially be running your own pretty quickly after) and I can see that it is likely more work will have to go into planning of teaching and contact hours. The idea of an online course in equity in yoga is great, and anything that talks about ethics is music to my ears.
However, I can’t help but think that this is only going to be lip service to the issues I’ve been discussing. Without regulation, Yoga Alliance is going to continue to struggle to know about the quality of a teacher - just because you’re experienced doesn’t mean you’re good, or that your ideas about consent, power and ethics aren’t warped. Yes, they’re going to strengthen their application and review process for new/existing schools, but a peer review board that reviews documentation doesn’t actually see what goes on day-to-day, week-to-week.
What is the yoga teacher’s role?
Carrying on this train of thought… Because yoga isn’t regulated, and because accreditation only covers the training, not the individual teacher, standards from one studio to another can vary wildly. While yoga teachers are not healthcare professionals, where quality assurance standards codify scope of practice, we’re not far off in the way students often treat us. For instance, Donna Farhi suggests yoga operates with multiple archetypes (4). Without meaning to be, we can easily become teacher, healer, counsellor in the eyes of our students. This can be dangerous for us, with boundaries easily overstepped on both sides.
As such, ethics should be ingrained into teacher trainees from the offset, so having teachers sign up to an ethical commitment upon registration is a start, but it needs to go much further. Yoga Alliance and its ilk influence what is covered on teacher training in the first place. Current certification standards are so focused on areas like anatomy and philosophy (important areas, but not the be all and end all of being a teacher) that issues of consent and power (which could potentially sit within philosophy) are often forgotten about; teachers often have to push for the subject to be covered at all.
Yoga teacher Eunice Laurel, who is about to embark on a qualification in movement psychotherapy, says: “Rather than co-opting particular buzzwords (inclusivity, trauma, accessible...) and making them add-ons, teacher trainings need to really re-assess ethics and boundaries and work from that base. There are many newly trained teachers or trainees who have gathered a lot of information, but have not had the experience of teaching... putting theory into action is vitally important.” (5)
Trauma and touch
So with baby steps from Yoga Alliance, where can teacher trainings themselves step up? They could do worse than follow the path of organisations like The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (also not a regulatory body). It has strong standards of practice (6) which cover topics inclusive of wearing appropriate clothing to prevention of sexual misconduct and inappropriate touch.
In Yoga Quota’s teacher training, run by Lead Trainer Harriet McAtee, students are encouraged to interrogate why they choose to touch in the first place, and to consider their own experience of consent before going near a student.
McAtee says: “Consent is a practice just like asana or meditation: as you practice more, you become more attuned to situations where students might be giving consent even when they don’t want to, or a situation where a different approach to consent might be necessary.”
She continues: “I invite [my students] to become aware of consent in their practice and life: have they been to classes where they teacher adjusted without explicit consent? How did that make them feel?
“I teach them that consent has to be:
Informed: explain in plain language what you want to do
Enthusiastic: no response means no
Ongoing: check in as you perform the adjustment, reaffirm consent throughout the class if you offer more than one adjustment”(7)
This should be the standard for all teacher trainings, shouldn’t it? But it is not - without regulation and things like the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visiting hospitals to do checks, or OFSTED popping into schools with little warning, there’s no way of ensuring this is the case.
So with what we have at the moment, I would like to see Yoga Alliance, BWY and others, along with individual teacher trainings, working more with organisations like Trauma Sensitive Yoga (8) and Movement for Healing, which “provides perspectives and considerations for yoga teachers on how to create a more trauma-informed framework for a sexual violence population in general yoga classes” (9).
Having done a lot of research into the matter, I’m now pretty sure I know why I have struggled so much to say no over the years to hands-on assists; understanding the inherent power imbalance has helped me feel a lot better about my past (and current!) experiences as a student, and drives me to strive harder as a teacher to create a supportive atmosphere in my classroom.
I don’t personally believe that you shouldn’t ever touch a student, for me touch isn’t inherently bad, it’s everything that surrounds it that needs to be considered, but I can’t agree with Feldmann’s point of view about trust starting with touch. I believe in the judicious use of consent tokens, of care with language, and that incredibly firm boundaries have to be put in place from the start. I believe that teachers must be open from the offset about what they offer when it comes to informed consent for hands-on assists and must understand hidden trauma and respect it - it’s not just lip service.
More than anything, I want teachers in the studio to first consider whether it is their ego driving them to undertake a hands-on assist; is it because it looks good, or because they truly feel there is a benefit they can offer the student? Can the teacher express themselves verbally without needing to go near the student? If not, then perhaps they need to reassess their skill as a teacher and take some relevant CPD.
Tips for teachers
I have written down some practical tips to help with this on both sides; I have already applied some of them, but will work hard to ensure I maintain boundaries as a student and continue to grow as a teacher.
Trial consent tokens and get plenty of feedback from students on the experience. You don’t have to use them, but if you’re going to, don’t hide them away, have them out and be proud of your commitment. Give them to everyone, and never assume. If you’re not, then it’s incredibly important you think about point number two…
When working with touch, consider language very carefully and be clear from the offset as to what kind of teacher students can expect; focus on inviting, not insisting, noticing, not forcing, and making sure your students know it’s their practice, their body, and not yours to control
Do your research in regard to the styles you choose to work with in the first place. Every lineage has something dodgy going on historically (and some today!), so know the history, the kind of students it attracts; have strategies in place for how you will mitigate this, and be prepared for your students, colleagues and others to call you out on it. Know yourself
Take CPD around trauma-informed teaching - be aware of what issues could come up during class, develop teaching strategies and ideas for if a student is triggered
Public peer networking - join online groups and ask questions; talk about the topics you find difficult - this can help with personal development for those lacking funds or without recourse to CPD and training. An excellent option I’d recommend is Diane Bruni’s Yoga and Movement Research Facebook (10) group, where we discuss everything from consent to somatic practice
What have I learnt?
Researching this series of blogs (it was originally an essay for my YTT) has been hugely informative and developmental for me. I’ve deep-delved into the world of yoga, into stories I could never have imagined, into technicalities I’d never considered. I’ve thought about language, I’ve counselled and been counselled, I’ve changed how I teach and practice, grown to appreciate my own power, and I’ve been able to step up and become a voice in the community, despite being in the very early days of my own teaching career.
What would/do I say to those coming to class with me?
This is your practice and your body - you are the only person who knows how you feel in any given moment
When using consent tokens, if they’re turned to ‘yes please’, I will always work to give verbal cues first and refrain from anything more unless it is necessary to help you with remaining safe, or to develop your work in the pose in a safe way. I will always ask if I would like to assist you in any way, and explain what I would like to do. Please feel free to say no at any point
You will never be surprised by my presence; I will never approach from behind
You do not have to have a reason to not want to be touched
We all live in different bodies. There is no one true pose; I will give options
There are no prizes for injury from forcing something that doesn’t work for you
Let’s see where this one goes.
Footnotes
1 (Ezrin, 2018, Teachers, It’s Time to Adjust Our Hands-On Adjustments)
2 (Yoga Alliance, 2019, Significantly enhanced RYS standards as result of community-led process)
4 (Farhi, 2006, Teaching Yoga)
5 (Laurel, 2019, Interview: Eunice Laurel, yoga teacher and Movement for Healing founder)
6 (National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, 2017, Standards of Practice)
7 (McAtee, 2019, Interview: Harriet McAtee, Yoga Quota CEO)
8 (Trauma Centre, 2017, Train With Us)