9 Ways that we can bring integrity back into the Yoga community.

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As I mentioned in my last article, it is time for a refresher of the yoga industry. It has become filled with emotional abuse, gaslighting and greedy owners. Not all yoga studio owners are only out for money but all that I have worked for are.

There needs to be more transparency, integrity and genuine respect for others. The phrase ‘namaste’ is one that honors another as we do ourselves. Many say this word without understanding or thinking about what they say when these words escape their mouths.

I won’t act better than because I have been guilty of this, too. Not remembering that my fellow yogi or human deserves respect and genuine kindness above all. It’s not always capable to be done with everyone. However, it is worth a try.

I still have faith in the yoga industry and maybe I will open my own studio one day. However, I am not pleased with what I have seen in the industry for almost a decade of being in it.

The industry needs a return to simplicity, authenticity and respect. Ultimately, in the words of Marianna Williamson, ‘a return to love’.

Here are 9 ways that we can bring integrity back into the yoga community:

1. Raise the standard of Teacher-Trainings so that they are not purely about making money for the studios but actually educating prospect teachers.

2. Having a standard for teachers not just those who look a certain way but who actually practice themselves, too.

3. Not tricking people into buying memberships and a faux community. But, having yoga be the magnet for students.

4. Raising the standards for teachers so that students feel safe where they practice and avoid injuries.

5. Paying teachers well so that they can dedicate their time to teaching only and respect what they do more.

6. Weed out the narcissists in teachers by taking note of teachers who genuinely care about yoga and their students.

7. Having more teachers as owners. Not former professionals who see it as a place to make money only. This is where the greed comes in.

8. Separating yoga from the fitness industry. Yoga is more than physical, it is not only about what it looks like.

9. Taking out words like Yoga Sculpt, Yoga Barre. There is no such thing as a yoga practice with weights. Yoga is meant to be minimal and simple.

3 Dark Truths about the yoga industry revealed.

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I have happily decided to temporarily leave the yoga industry at the moment. After 8 years of teaching, it is clear to me that a lot of yoga studios are not only mismanaged but need a refresher.

We need more transparency, respect and integrity in the yoga industry because right now, the caliber of studios will not suffice. Obviously, I am speaking about the places that I have taught at and visited. So, this is not all places or studios.

However, as a whole, things need to change. There are secrets in the yoga industry that need to be revealed and brought to light so that we can heal them.

Here are 3 Secrets revealed about the yoga industry:

1. It is driven by greed.

When I began teaching 8 years ago, I wondered to myself if I could make it happen teaching full-time and be financially sustainable. I was toying between teaching yoga and teaching children. I was going to go back to school to become a kindergarten teacher. I am very glad that I chose to teach yoga and do not regret it at all.

However, just because I don’t regret the path that I chose doesn’t mean that I can’t speak of it. Once I started teaching and making money, I saw very quickly that it was driven by greed on all sides. Greedy studios and teachers who are trying to survive. Therefore, they end up misleading and trapping people into contracts or signing up for things that they didn’t sign up for.

I have worked for my fair share of yoga studios to have seen that there is a deep lack of integrity in the yoga industry. I think it stems from the studio owners who use starting a studio as a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme so teachers are often underpaid and not recognized. Thus, teachers end up in survival-mode barely making anything.

My solution to this is simple and maybe one day, I will open my own to create a high vibration amongst studios. It is that owners need to be held up to a higher standard of integrity. Whether by their students or other studios. Accountability will shift the energy and direction that they have taken, as a whole.

2. There is very little Yoga practiced anymore.

Whatever the influence of the lack of the yogic principles, very few yoga studios practice the foundations of yoga:The 8 limbs of Yoga.

I used to teach for a yoga studio that was named after the 8 limbs of yoga but was far from it. They lacked all of them: asana, pranayama, dhyana, dharana, niyama&yamas, pratyahara and samadhi. They would pretend that this was the foundation; however, from teaching there and being in those spaces, it is all a front.

There are a lot of yoga studios that put on a front of being spiritual and a place where one can find themselves. However, it all a facade because deep down, it is about money.

While I am a capitalist and business owner (myself), I believe in holding others accountable and being honest. Until, there is transparency in the yoga industry, fake yoga studios will be a common trend.

3. It is filled with narcissists.

I cannot tell you the amount of narcissists that I have met who teach yoga or own a yoga studio. You’re probably shocked to hear this but it is a reality of the yoga industry that needs to be revealed.

It’s almost like yoga studios have become a place where people can hide their traumas and avoid doing the work. Most yoga teachers I have met will tell other people what to do and do not do it themselves. I have seen yoga teachers steal, lie, take narcotics and more dubious behavior. Following this, there will be phrases to gaslight such as ‘we are all doing our best’ or ‘who are we to judge’.

While I genuinely believe only God can judge, we are allowed to put up boundaries of what we want to have around us. The blanket statements to deflect blame and responsibility from those who are tainting this industry needs to end.

It is okay to practice yoga in an authentic way without the trends, substances or extra technology to assist you. The whole purpose of yoga is to connect your mind, body and spirit. We have been disillusioned to think that we need to have a community, a place where we pay tons of money and learn from a ‘superstar’ yoga teacher to do so.

That is completely inaccurate. Practicing yoga should be one of the most simple things that you have done in your life. If it’s not, it’s time to get down to the basics. Find a genuine studio with dedicated students who are not there to be famous or seen but there to just be. Find out if your teachers are paid enough and decide whether you still want to practice there after knowing how they might or are being treated.

‘There is no like in life. There is only love. Love is truth.’

Hali Tsotetsi is a Yoga Teacher in Los Angeles, California. She is The Founder of BiologiqueLife

1. What style (s)of yoga do you teach? And, where are you located?

I teach Bikram yoga, Vinyasa and Yin Yoga. I am located in Los Angeles, California. 

2. What is your intention behind teaching?

To help others heal from the inside out as I have (and still am) able to do so myself. 

3. What have you realized about yourself as a yoga teacher? 

That I can’t control everything and everyone. I used to be a people-pleaser and wanted to control others so that I didn’t have to accept that only my Ego wants to be like. There is no like in life. There is only love. Love is truth. 

4.What does Satya mean to you as a practitioner and teacher? 

Satya, to me, is the foundation for life: truth. Until we speak from a place of truth and are truthful with ourselves and others, we won’t grow. 

5. Please mention a book that you have read about yoga that has had a positive impact on you?

I haven’t read a Yoga book in a long time. I love watching Podcasts about Yoga. But a recent book I read that I recommend is ‘Work your Light’ by Rebecca Campbell. 

6. What has a student taught you about yoga? 

I have the best students. When I think about their dedication, love for yoga and enthusiasm for life, I tear up with gratitude. I used to teach 6am classes for almost six years and recently stopped. The reason why I was able to get up so early was because of them. They made my day. 

One of my male students who would take my class often heard me say it was my birthday when I was talking to another student and came in on my birthday with a gift card to store that has spiritual things that I am into. It left an imprint on my heart. I have had very generous students and met some of the best people teaching yoga but this meant a lot to me because a lot of people have forgotten my birthday in my life and it reminded me that I am doing what I love and surrounded by people who are just as grateful for me as I am for them. 

7. How often do you practice Dharana and Asana? 

I practice Dharana everyday and Asana 5-7 times a week. 

8. How do you implement the other 7 limbs of yoga into your life other than Asana? 

I live a life of awareness not perfection but one of truthfulness. So, I implement as many of the other limbs into my life without judgement and punishing myself but from a place of compassion and truth. 

9. What does stillness mean to you? 

Being one with God. 

10. How can we keep up with you on social media? What is your IG handle and/ FB name?

My IG is @halitsotetsi.