Teacher Misconduct and Red Flags in Yoga Communities

If you are in danger or were assaulted

If you are in immediate danger, call 911 in the United States. If you are in emotional crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.[1] You do not have to decide anything quickly. Yoga Alliance, a US credentialing body, does not require a police report to investigate a complaint, and encourages people to look at the legal and support options in their area.[2]

Why this page exists

Most teachers are not abusive. But the same features that make a yoga room feel safe, such as trust, closeness, quiet and touch, can be misused, and journalists and professional bodies have documented problems. This page describes warning signs and reporting routes. It does not name or rank any teachers, studios or schools. The sources we read tie these accounts to power in teacher-student relationships. For meditation settings, see Meditation Teacher Misconduct and Red Flags.

What has been documented

• In 2017, a well-known yoga teacher invited followers to email stories of harassment; Yoga Journal reported more than 300 replies, ranging from out-of-line adjustments to propositions to assault. Common threads included the same men named by multiple women, and power dynamics between teachers and students.[3]
• A 2018 KQED investigation of the San Francisco Bay Area reported allegations by seven women against five teachers, from inappropriate massage to touching in class, and said the yoga community was struggling to rein in misconduct. The article also reported that people it named denied allegations, and that in one case police found the matter outside the statute of limitations.[4]
• A yoga industry figure told KQED that between 500 and 1,000 #MeToo stories had reached her worldwide. These were accounts, not court findings.[4]
• Yoga Alliance's chief operating officer was quoted saying there is "a long history of sexual misconduct and of abuse-of-power situations in the yoga community."[4]

Evidence label: documented journalism and policy statements, not prevalence data. Proper evidence not found for a reliable estimate of how common teacher misconduct is. We searched PubMed for yoga with sexual misconduct, abuse, boundaries and ethics; the hits were ethics commentaries and trials, not rates.

Reporting and oversight

• Police and courts handle crimes.
• Yoga Alliance says it does not have the authority or resources of law enforcement, and runs a grievance process. Its policy says a report must come from the person who experienced the misconduct (or a parent or guardian of a minor), should be made within two years unless extended, and that it will not start an investigation from a third-party or anonymous report.[2] It also says its staff will not move forward without your consent.[2] Its policy says action can range from education to revoking credentials and membership.[2]
• Membership is voluntary. KQED reported in 2018 that registering with Yoga Alliance is voluntary and teachers can teach without it.[4] See Yoga Alliance and Credentials.
• Government licensing (United States, as KQED reported in 2018): yoga teachers are not licensed and no state agency oversees instructors, though Minnesota, Oklahoma, Washington and Wisconsin regulated teacher training programs. Rules may have changed since.[4]
• Other countries: Proper evidence not found. We did not locate regulator pages outside the United States for this page.
• Studio or lineage bodies may have their own complaint routes; ask what they are before joining.

Before you commit to a teacher or training

Ask about the studio's touch and complaint policies, how they handle concerns, and what a credential does and does not cover. Our guide Questions to Ask a Yoga Teacher lists more, and How to Find a Yoga Class or Teacher explains how to check training. A credential shows training or membership. It does not guarantee conduct.