And because the specter of litigation shadows teacher misconduct, Yoga Alliance has had to solicit the advice of legal researchers to identify how federal and state laws would apply to yoga’s ethical questions. On this point, Hansa gives a real-life example of a man who accused a yoga teacher of sexually assaulting his girlfriend. The woman herself didn’t have a problem with the act, but her boyfriend still pressed forward with his grievance. What are the last of this? Hansa asks. Is this grievance of legal or an ethical issue? And another question for the lawyers: When a group has a teacher sign a document agreeing to X,Y, and Z behavior, does that imply a legally binding guarantee for students that the teacher is ethical? Could the organization be held responsible if the teacher breaches the code?
Having to apply the rigid, sometimes stick rules of the legal system to the organic practice of yoga seems unfortunate, to say the least. In some ways, the exercise itself might prove harder on the community than just letting individual preferences prevail. (After all, if teachers treat people poorly, they’re likely to find themselves with an empty studio). But some feel its worth navigating the rough waters to honor yoga’s foundation in the yamas and niyamas and to prevent even one injustice.
We can’t have the respect and privilege of being in a profession like this and say we don’t need to hold ourselves to a code of ethics, in a speech to aspiring instructors. We can’t on one hand define teaching yoga as a profession and on the other hand say that ethical behavior is left to individual interpretation.
But the proper course of action is anything but clear. With so many issues to consider, Yoga Alliance is moving cautiously. It’s easy to sit down and write an ethics statement. It’s much harder when you realize that what you’re doing will impact the world of yoga forever.
ref: yogajournal
