Diversifying Yoga
I can’t do yoga because: I’ll never be able to do a headstand… I can’t get up from the floor… no one looks like me… I have too many challenges… I cannot hear the instructor. These are actual reasons I have heard, over my 25 years of teaching, that highlight why non-practitioners find yoga inaccessible. More to the point, why they think they can’t do yoga based on what they have been told or what they have seen. So, it is time for a branding revolution and diversify yoga.
When I hear what holds people back from accessing the benefits of yoga, I often jump to my standard defense: ‘if you can breathe, you can do yoga’. However, there is a big part of the American public that sees things differently. I recognize not everyone is going to do or even try yoga. The Yoga in America Study conducted in 2016 by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance found 28% of all Americans have participated in a yoga class at some point in their life. This is an amazing number. However, when you look deeper into the demographic, there is a void of information around who is or is not accessing yoga. Physical limitations, pathologies (cardiovascular disease, COPD, stroke…), disabilities (physical dependence on a wheelchair, cane or walker, cognitive, behavior…) and a plethora of other identities (Deaf and hard of hearing, weight, color, race, religion, sexuality…) are underrepresented, even missing in the data.
Diversity
In my work as a yoga research consultant with UW-Madison, I have studied diverse communities such as rural and Deaf and hard of hearing. One of those studies did a needs assessment with 214 respondents. It found 25% said they were too out of shape to do or try yoga, 22% cited health issues (asthma, hip or knee replacement, balance concerns, back issues, arthritis) and 25% stated that they are “too old to do yoga”. These are all legitimate concerns. However, education, community support and addressing accessibility could help overcome them. Underlining these statistics is a negative branding picture that connotes only flexible and/or young people can do yoga.
So, what is driving this exclusive branding? Western depictions of yoga in media is one main player. Take for example a popular trade publication, the Yoga Journal. Doing a non-scientific analysis of the past 15 years of covers put out by the journal available on-line (these were not the totality of covers), I made some staggering observations. Of the 125 covers available from 2006-2020, only 5 had men on them, one person had a prosthesis, one person had a bigger body, there was no use of props, the wall or a chair and from my purely subjective opinion, age (over 65) was not highlighted as a brand. I documented only 11 covers that resembled a pose I would include in an introductory, accessible class. There were 14 poses that came close, but I disqualified them because the photograph depicted abilities often unavailable for many individuals (like extreme end-range of motion). So, what does this mean and why does it matter? I am not writing to bash the Yoga Journal. (When approached with publishing this article, I did not get a response.) The question I want to raise is: why does a cover matter? I think it is about first impressions. The cover says it all. Publications can have amazing articles addressing issues around access and diversity. However, if the cover turns off or isolates the potential reader, then those articles never get consumed. It is not just the Yoga Journal… I have seen a lack of diversity in many mediums. I was doing a photo shot for a workshop on healthy aging and yoga and had to insist we publish the shot of me using a chair for support. There are books branded specifically for the healthy aging population with covers depicting inaccessible and unappropriated pose. One even has an older adult doing the splits (Hanumanasana). Great for her, but maybe access and identifying should surpass inspiration with this one!
The community (Kula) is such an important part of branding. The needs assessment from our research showed 65% of those surveyed knew someone who had done yoga before and 67% would try yoga because of that person. The branding of a class, where everyone looks like me, may be more important than we think. 8% sited not practicing yoga because “there may not be others like me in the class”. So, how do we address this problem. I have succeeded in recruiting participants, not by branding a class as beginner’s level, chair or even accessible, but by tapping into their community. I can spark interest when I introduce yoga at gatherings of like-identifying individuals: an Alzheimer’s or healthy-heart support group or a gathering for the Deaf and hard of hearing community. The group supportive dynamic immediately takes the “them vs me” out of the equation.
Even the branding of a class’ name might be an important factor. When we asked individuals what name would peek their interest in attending a yoga class, Flexibility for Healthy Aging and Yoga for Healthy Aging were the top 2 choices. Yoga came in third. To diversify yoga, we should be asking: how do we brand yoga to the population we wish to invite in; what are the words, language and communication methods we utilize to reach them; are we inclusive, inviting and soothing with our approach?
Accessibility
Roughly 37 million Americans practice yoga today. What the number doesn’t tell us is: how many more would like to practice yoga. Accessibility go hand in hand with the branding of yoga. Everyone should have access to the benefits of yoga, then all that’s left is their willingness to reach for those benefits.
Our research found cost was a factor for 32% of the respondents as to why they don’t access yoga. The sad reality is many individuals who experience certain pathologies or disabilities are often financially unable to afford a wellness program like yoga. A great solution is to increase evidence-based research in yoga, which would open the doors for federal funding to filter down to community based organizations and have them offer yoga to their underserved members. An analysis of published yoga research studies from 1967 to 2013, states: The population at large has observed a parallel surge in the use of yoga outside of clinical practice. The use of yoga as a complementary therapy in clinical practice may lead to health benefits beyond traditional treatment alone; however, to effect changes in health care policy, more high-quality, evidence-based research is needed.
We also found that 53% of those surveyed were either unsure if or knew that there was no access to a yoga class within a 10-mile radius. This number highlights the disparities rural communities face in finding access to wellness programming. ‘Rural’ is often missing from the lexicon when describing underserved communities. Compare our 53% number to the number in the Yoga in America Study which found nationally, only 11% never tried yoga because there wasn’t a local option. This difference could be a result of factoring in urban settings. Either way, having new methods for delivering yoga (virtually) needs to be explored.
Many new students come to a class because of a doctor or medical provider’s referral. Doctors may suggest yoga, but then what? If there isn’t a safe and effective yoga class, teacher or studio for them to access, then the referral is moot. A provider may say, seek out a yoga class for a particular challenge, but then the patient is left to their own devices. We have wonderful resources like the Yoga Alliance, the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Yoga Journal, however there is a need to establish a cohesive system for referring people to a yoga class that fits them.
All the rest
The current branding of yoga is well represented for a certain demographic. They get it: why they should do yoga. I want to invite everyone else in. I want to start a branding revolution, one where diversity is honored and even celebrated. Where diversity is shown as strength. I want the yoga community to rejoice and be illuminated through the experiences of individuals who identify with their diversity. By listening to, learning from and living alongside these great story individuals hold, we enlighten ourselves to our own abilities and Self. We need to redefine diversity not as frailty but as resilience. I don’t think branding of yoga is something we need to be afraid of, if anything, it should be embraced. Like one of my 86-year-old students said, we need to make using a cane (in and outside of yoga) sexy again! We can all have an impact on this branding revolution. As the Dali Lama says, “if you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room”.
Here are five easy ways to brand yoga and develop an accessible class.
1. Seek out the communities that speak to you: I always felt comfortable around the healthy aging population. My biggest mentor was my grandmother. She taught me to respect myself and from that place, respect others. Follow what your passions are. Then network with others who can support that journey.
2. Jump into research: You do not need to do the research. If you live near a university, they probably will have a department that would like to explore a new facet of yoga research. If you don’t want to or can’t participate in research, then read up on it. There is always something new. Try PubMed: type yoga in the search field and be amazed.
3. Lose the agenda get rid of the class plan. Honor your yoga community and the direction they lead you as a teacher. Some of my best classes were spontaneous and addressed a student’s comment or concern. This, ‘stepping away from the norm’, allows everyone to learn in a new way, with a new perspective.
4. Keep it simple: When it comes to communication, access or simply offering variations of a pose, simple is the rule. In a group dynamic, no one wants to be left out, so they struggle through doing what the group does. If you see an individual struggling with a pose, invite the group to explore the more accessible variation together.
5. Encourage yoga as a life choice: If someone has never experienced yoga, they might find more power in learning one or two ‘tools’ that they can include with their activities of daily living, rather than learning an intricate and inaccessible sequence of poses. Help them create a healthy habit through the joy of yoga.