Power and Community in Yoga

A 3-week series of lectures and group discussions online, live and interactive

This course examines abuses of power in modern yoga and how yoga communities have responded to injustice

2024 Dates Coming Soon - sign up to my newsletter to be the first to know.

Content note: in this course I discuss abuses of power. I will give content notes when appropriate and start each session with list of sources of support. I avoid gratuitous descriptions of physical abuse. In each session there will be time to discuss and process. This course centres survivors and not perpetrators.

We will come together to discuss:

  • Power in modern yoga.

  • Different kinds of abuse and how they enable one another - spiritual abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse.

  • Where abuse of power has occurred and how we can understand it.

  • Case studies from within well known modern lineages and yoga traditions including Bikram Yoga, Satyananda Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, as well as less prominent cases.

  • How spiritual and yogic ideas have been mis-used to manipulate and coerce people in yoga contexts.

  • How the yoga industry has responded to abuse.

  • The ways in which cases of abuse have been represented in the media.

  • Issues of victim blaming, gaslighting and racist discourses.

  • Recover from injustice - is this possible within the yoga industry?

  • Examples of models of recovery and community - I will talk about post-lineage yoga and groups such as SATYA (set up in response to revelations of abuse in the Sivananda Yoga context).

This course will equip you with some of the answers and ways of thinking about these questions.

Please read the terms & conditions before booking.

This course is for you if. . .

  • You have heard about abuses of power (read articles or seen the Bikram Choudhury documentary, for example) and wonder why more people aren’t talking about it.

  • You’d like to learn how to talk to your students about abuses of power in yoga.

  • Are wondering what has happened since the #metoo wave of revelations of abuse in yoga.

  • You’re unsure about the connection between abuse in yoga, cults, trauma-informed methods, the online discourse - I can offer some clarity between these ideas.

  • You’re interested in diversifying your understanding of the history of modern yoga and the industry.

  • You want to come together with other yoga teachers and build community with like-minds.

  • You wonder how we can move forwards to co-create some new?

  • You want more FEMINISM in yoga. My theoretical framework is informed by a feminist philosophy of language, meaning and ways of thinking such as hermeneutic and epistemic injustice. Not sure what this means? Sign up to the course to find out.

  • You want to learn from me, Amelia, a yoga practitioner and scholar - I’ve read the sources, brought them together and want to share them with YOU.

Dates and Cost

It will take place on 3 consecutive Wednesday evenings 7-9pm (UK time).

Week 1

Power and abuse in modern yoga - context, definitions and case studies.

I will present a survey of cases that you may be familiar with, and other lesser known case studies.

Week 2

Understandings, misunderstandings and responses to abuse in the industry and the media.

How can we think and talk about abuse in yoga?

Week 3

Community, moving forwards and models of recovery.

Can we resist injustice? What can we do as yoga teachers or practitioners in the industry?

Can’t make every week live? Recordings will be available.

Early Bird £190 (2024 price)

Early bird available until (date TBC).

Bursary £110 (2 available)

DEADLINE - Please apply for the bursary by the deadline (TBC)

Low cost bursary places - newsletter recipients will be the first to get the details of this - sign up to my newsletter list.

Full cost: £220

  • Each week I will discuss distinct topics and consider how they relate to the overall theme of power and community.

    More TBC

  • The sessions will be delivered live, online as lectures on Zoom.

    There will be discussion break out rooms and all-group discussions and plenty of time to ask questions.

    We will take time at the start and maybe throughout each session to do some brief centring practices (breathing, moving for 5-10 minutes).

    The recordings and readings will be uploaded to a Google Classroom each week - this is super easy to use.

  • There are 2 reduced cost bursary places.

    To apply please email me via the ‘contact’ page with the subject as ‘women in yoga course bursary’.

    Please include the following information:

    • Name

    • Where you heard about the course.

    • Have we worked together or been in communication before (in any way!).

    • Tell me in 1-2 sentences:

    • 1) Your experience of yoga - are you a yoga teacher, an academic etc.

    • 2) Why you’d like the bursary - low income, single parent, socially marginalised etc.

    This bursary will be given in good faith (i.e. you won’t have to prove low income) and on the understanding that you will be able to join the course live for at least 3 of the 4 sessions (if not all 4).

    Deadline to apply: TBC

    If you have been successful i will let you know and send you a link to pay the £110 reduced course cost.

    The same terms and conditions apply to the bursary place as to other places on the course - once a purchase has been made the cost is non-refundable.

  • I will record the course and you can watch it back in your own time.

    The replay will be available for 30 days after the end of the course.

  • Yes!

    This course is for people who are enthusiastic about learning more about yoga.

    You don’t have to be a qualified yoga teacher to take part. Some knowledge of yoga and it’s history will be helpful.

  • I have a list of suggested readings - some of these I will share to you as PDFs, others are available online and I’ll share links - but none of it is compulsory.

    It’s super interesting and you’ll have access to the resources to read in your own time, beyond the life of the course.

  • Great question!

    I have an MA from SOAS in the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation and I am now a PhD student, also at SOAS.

    My topic is abuse in modern yoga.

    Very little has been written about this so much of what I cover on the course is my original research and ideas. It’s totally unique!

    There are very few people with this level of expertise on the topic of abuses of power in yoga. There are a few journalists and other academics who have specialised in abuse in a specific yoga group. I’m the only person to study abuse in yoga, as a whole, at PhD level, from a feminist and yoga studies point of view.

  • Due to the sensitive nature of this course it is my preference that cameras are on at all times.

    Part of the course will be interactive, with group discussion. During these times, it would be particularly great if you had your camera on, so we all know who we’re talking to.

    For part of each session I will give a lecture with slides - during this bit it is not essential that your camera is on but again, it’s nice for me to see people’s faces!

    If it’s not possible to have your camera on throughout I would appreciate it if you had it on as you joined, to say hello, before you turn it off again.

    This is for safety and general sense of good vibes.

  • It depends!

    If you are a member of the British Wheel of Yoga you can count it as part of your CPD points. I’ve emailed the BWY to confirm this - you, the student, gets to decide what counts as your CPD points.

    This course is not registered with Yoga Alliance (USA/international) or Yoga Alliance Professionals (UK). As a very small business this is currently out of my scope.

Feedback from previous courses:

“All of the information provided was fascinating and provided a lot of food for thought. Amelia was very knowledgeable but also sensitive in delivery.”
“I enjoyed the whole course - I learned so much and feel like I understand yoga history much better than I did before. To shine a spotlight on women was really inspiring. I feel more connection to [my practice] now I know that women played a role in it’s developments! It’s great when academic researchers share their knowledge. It was lovely to connect with a group of other yoga women and hear their experiences.”

Please read the terms and conditions before booking.

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