No Middle Ground: Yoga and Anti-Racism

“Yoga is firstly for individual growth, but through the individual, society and community develop.” ~ BKS Iyengar, Tree of Yoga

Most of us in the USA are busy getting by. Maybe you have a college degree, or post-college degrees, or not. Maybe you have children, maybe a partner, or not. You may own a home or not. Most of us have jobs, both paid and unpaid, and a whole boatload of various responsibilities. Most people in the USA are not activists or social justice organizers who work in movements for change, whether it involves dismantling racism/white supremacy, protecting the environment, electoral political campaigns, combating gun violence, or any number of other movements.

Whether or not we deem ourselves social justice activists, these issues shape each of our lives. As famed people’s historian Howard Zinn pointed out, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” The same way avoiding particular asanas (“I don’t do backbends because I have a stiff spine”) makes absolutely certain that the spine will get even stiffer, choosing not to get politically involved in our communities means decisions will be made without you. That is, by your nonparticipation, you are supporting the decisions of the powers-that-be, and their status quo.

Let’s say a neighborhood school is closing because the local school system is being defunded and privatized, and the state education budget is being slashed. Meanwhile, major corporations are getting tax breaks, and corporate developers are buying up land and buildings. If I choose not to speak out (emails, letters, phone calls, contacting elected officials, going to meetings, talking to neighbors….), the plan for “redevelopment” will succeed. Our neighborhood children and families will lose a major resource, be forced to travel to distant schools, and the fabric of the community severely weakened. Maybe the land will be turned into expensive condos, property values and taxes will skyrocket, and residents forced into foreclosures and evictions. You get the picture? We’ve got to connect the dots, and see the big, systemic picture.

Ultimately, silence is violence. We and our neighbors will simply get plowed over.

But we are yoga practitioners, and many of us professional part-time and full-time Iyengar Yoga teachers. We have devoted ourselves to this spiritual path. BKS Iyengar is our guru. We’ve studied at the feet of Geeta Iyengar. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are about the development and evolution of consciousness through the daily devotional practice of yoga. Many of us are teachers, running centers for the study of Iyengar Yoga, and training and mentoring other teachers. Many of us are involved in running local, regional, and national Iyengar Yoga associations. Many of us have devoted our lives to this arduous path. We may feel spiritually called to this work and this path. The practice of yoga over the years has honed and refined us energetically, such that we may be doing the work of 2 or 3 people in a single lifetime. That is, we have learned how to be extremely efficient and productive and effective in our lives, in each role we serve.

Social justice? Community organizing? Activism? We have no time, besides, ours is a special path. In traditional Indian society, we might be members of the priest caste.

However, the reality is that no one is exempt. No one can escape politics. No one is left out of history. No one is separate from social change. It’s only a matter of “Which side will I take, and how will I speak out, and take action?”

The “spiritual bypassing” described above has harmed Iyengar Yoga in the USA. We have a reputation of elitism, and our communities are characterized as the domain of the well-to-do, educated people in upper middle class enclaves. In the USA, that translates as “white.” Many Iyengar Yoga classes in the USA are populated by white folks over 40, often from university communities, with expendable income, time to study and practice, and money to afford $15-$25 classes and $50 workshops. They have stable housing, consistent transportation, healthcare, childcare, and other needs met.

In most cities, only the well-to-do even know what Iyengar Yoga is. But lower income folks practice yoga too. They attend classes at their community centers, places of worship, public parks and more. These might be free or donation or $5 classes. They might practice at home, from free or inexpensive apps, or YouTube. They might be doing yoga because they have chronic back pain, or it helps them deal with stress, or they don’t have time or money to go to the gym. But they probably do not come to our classes, if they’ve even heard of us.

In Iyengar Yoga circles in the USA, one often hears concern that our student population is getting older and older. Almost all our Senior Teachers are in their 60s and 70s. Many Iyengar Yoga centers are struggling, or closing. There’s been a lot of discussion about how to attract young folks to the practice. Often, there is a tone of resignation:
- “Iyengar Yoga is not for everyone.”
- “Everyone just wants a work-out. No one wants to study.”
- “People have to come to me when they’re ready.”

In some sectors of Iyengar Yoga in the USA, there is voiced concern that the student population is overwhelmingly white, or that the few people of color are upper class, or international elites. Most major American cities are at least 50% people of color (Black, Latinx, Asian, Arabic/Middle Eastern, Native American). Yet they are not represented in Iyengar Yoga classes in those cities.

Many Iyengar Yoga practitioners and teachers seem to be content with the status quo. There’s also an increasing number eager to do something to change this reality. Regardless of whether or not people see themselves as ‘political’ or activists, there are meaningful ways positive change is possible.

Those of us in the Iyengar Yoga Ahimsa in Action team, who helped organize the workshop at the 2019 National Iyengar Yoga convention, and who are continuing the work of addressing social justice in the Iyengar Yoga USA community, are not satisfied with this state of affairs.

We feel that the future of Iyengar Yoga in the USA is incumbent on our evolution as socially, politically, and historically interconnected beings.

That is, Iyengar Yoga does not exist in a spiritual vacuum. We are part of the fabric and history of the USA. We are the products of our racist history and formation, which continues to this day, in absolutely every type of human activity. We have a daily choice of being either racist, or anti-racist. Because white supremacy defines every aspect of our lives, there is no middle ground.

Our recent struggles regarding sexual misconduct in our national Iyengar Yoga community remind us that just as racism is embedded in our society, so are sexism and male dominance. Combined with a culture of hierarchy and silence, we have allowed members of our community to be harmed and traumatized. Our community is struggling with collective heartbreak, guilt, anger, and a continuing need for reparations and healing because of these injustices.

Here are two charts that demonstrate how all oppression is interconnected. They depict how the dominant group privileges certain groups while pushing others to the periphery and the margins. Whether it’s conscious or not, the dominant group continually reinforces their own power and centrality.








Silence and inaction inevitably benefit the dominant, privileged groups, and harm the border and targeted groups, just as avoiding backbends results in an even stiffer spine.

So what does it mean to be part of an anti-racist Iyengar Yoga center? So many things! We have a ton of ideas and activities, and perhaps you do too. We will be using our blog to collect these ideas, provide resources, and create a forum for discussion.

What can you do now?
- Subscribe to the Iyengar Yoga Ahimsa in Action blog.
- Read and study, get and stay informed.
- Connect with your non-white neighbors and communities. Begin conversations. Share resources.
- Begin a local Social Justice and Yoga study group.
- Write your own reflections on race and social justice regarding Iyengar Yoga.

We look forward to working together: white folks of all ages and classes, folks of color who may or may not feel marginalized in mainstream society and the US Iyengar Yoga culture, and anyone who is the least bit interested in shaping the future of Iyengar Yoga culture in our communities and in our nation.

Please join us!

Don't Reach Out to Me

Gimme $10 every time you use the word “outreach.” Gimme another $10 every time you say “inclusion.” Gimme $100 if you land on the word “diversity.” Gimme $1000 if you use the word “Caucasian.”

Why would I want to grasp your outreached hand? Why would I want to be included in your group? Why would I want to be tokenized to create diversity in your institution?

The language of purported anti-racism is actually perpetuating white supremacy/systemic racism. It doesn’t really change anything.

-       OUTREACH implies someone from the inside reaching out to someone on the periphery, to bring them in (to the status quo system of white supremacy).

-       INCLUSION, similarly, means including a marginalized person, without necessarily addressing why they were marginalized in the first place, nor attempting to change those conditions.

-       Fuck DIVERSITY. The presence of a few people of color or others from the margins doesn’t mean shit has changed. Mostly we’re there to make white folks feel better, and give the illusion of progress and anti-racism. As a life-long token, I will say that the main reason I am welcomed into privileged spaces, an Asian woman, is because of rampant systemic anti-Blackness, which posits me as less threatening or radical. An insult to both of us.

Let’s not forget the most offensive word of all: CHARITY.

-       CHARITY reinforces the status quo by providing just enough funding and resources to keep those on the margins alive, without threatening to dismantle the power structure that keeps givers on top, and receivers on the bottom.

To stop using these words means we have to stop applying these concepts. We have to completely restructure how we see each other and relate to each other. Our institutions need to reflect more equitable relationships within our communities.

Instead of OUTREACH: CONVERSATION, COLLABORATION, and PARTNERSHIP

Instead of DIVERSITY and INCLUSION: CULTURE-SHIFT

Instead of CHARITY: SOLIDARITY and REPARATIONS

Actually the alternative to all the above offensive words/practices/philosophies is REPARATIONS. All systems and institutions and individuals need to acknowledge the need to repair the harm which has defined and built America. Anyone who takes this imperative seriously will operate from a totally different mindset, and their actions will reflect that.

For instance, our Iyengar Yoga studio, instead of offering a free class at a mosque (as OUTREACH), in order to connect with our Yemeni neighbors, we could instead participate in community meetings and events. At such gatherings we would meet and dialogue with members of the Yemeni community. As we got to know them, and they us, we could begin neighborly conversations, and share questions, concerns, and needs with each other. Perhaps there would be opportunities to attend each other’s public events. Possibly there would be interest in what Iyengar Yoga could offer to address back pain, or other common conditions. It would behoove us to learn more about our neighbors and what they experience. Maybe there would be mothers seeking activities with or for their children. Who knows? But conversation and relationship-building would precede any assumptions or handouts. By this sort of community-building, we could create collaborations and partnerships that would be mutually fulfilling and sustainable.

What does a CULTURE-SHIFT look like? Once I was in an Iyengar Yoga class and we were instructed to get chairs. One student went to the chair rack and started handing the chairs out, like a bucket brigade. The teacher said, “no, don’t pass them out, studies show it’s faster to just get your own.” This promotes a culture of individualism, and assumes that efficiency is more important than sharing and connecting with each other. This can feel alienating to someone who already feels like they’ve had to make a cultural commute to attend class.

A student at that same studio asked me why everyone was so cold and unfriendly. White folks need to recognize white culture, which is often characterized by individualism, stoicism, and emotional distancing. They may feel they are being polite, unobtrusive, and respectful. In this case, the student felt marginalized by this coolness and felt unwelcome.

Other times, Iyengar Yoga teachers can be quite vigorous and energetic in their instructions, or zealous in their manual adjustments. Those coming with a history of trauma (virtually all people of color, many immigrants, and those with histories of colonization) may find all of that triggering. They may need a gentler approach, or more emotional space to process the instructions.

Sometimes people of color are not comfortable being instructed by a white teacher. Just like it would be inappropriate for a women’s class to be taught by a man, or a yoga for big bodies class taught by a thin person, or a class for seniors taught by a young person, a white instructor cannot relate to a person of color’s experience.

In order to have more CIYTs of color, we need to attract more students of color, and meet their needs such that they may be inspired to progress along the path. Sure, there will always be a few folks of color adequately conditioned to survive in white settings. But I can tell you from personal experience that I’ve paid a high price for assimilation, that I am no longer willing to pay. My body expresses that toll in the form of chronic stress, high cortisol, and autoimmune dysfunction.

Finally: no more CHARITY. Instead, what would it look like to actually take responsibility for harm committed over generations and centuries? In short, white folks are indebted to black and brown folks. Instead of grand public gestures of magnanimity, what about permanently dismantling the systems and structures that have maintained racial inequity? What about redistribution of resources and profits?

Here are some practices Iyengar Yoga Detroit Collective has adopted, or is considering adopting:

-       Weekly Black and Brown yoga class. sliding scale/donation (“Community Gift”): Those who are able are welcome to pay full price.

-       10-50% discounts for people of color, according to self-determined financial capacity.

-       Cooperative structure, collectively run, community-centered in order to keep class prices low, cover day-to-day tasks, and prevent burn-out.

-       Several Community Gift classes each week for various needs (all-gendered Uterine Health, Emotional Health, Restorative, and Philosophy)

-       Patreon page to encourage ongoing monthly donations, and annual ask to our immediate and greater communities for monetary donations to support our programs (reparations!).

-       Rewarding and encouraging membership with annual profit-sharing.

-       Advisory board of community members of color.

-       Collaboration with local public schools to bring school teachers to a weekly afternoon class.

These ideas are the tip of the iceberg for rethinking what Iyengar Yoga in the community can look like, beyond charity, beyond outreach, toward collective liberation.