12 minute read
Equity for Equality, Judy Waldman
Equity for Equality
An Event Organised for the IY(UK) Annual Convention 2021
Judy Waldman
“Yoga is for all of us. To limit yoga to national or cultural boundaries is the denial of universal consciousness.” – BKS Iyengar
Since the murder of George Floyd last year, the deeply entrenched systems of power, exclusion and oppression embedded in our society have been more widely questioned and challenged. A trickle of people of colour in social media, yoga equipment and clothing websites may have emerged, but is this only window dressing when the public face and membership of the Iyengar yoga (and wider yoga) community in the West are mainly white, female, able-bodied and middle class? Despite equality and human rights laws, discrimination still exists in every social institution, including in our yoga community.
We are guided by the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali, which begin with the yamas, the societal code, the first of which is ahimsā, non-violence. Yet, the exclusiveness we witness and somehow perpetuate is violence, and the opposite of compassion, karuņā, which embeds equality and social justice in action.
Iyengar Yoga in Action (IYiA) for Black Lives Matter was formed in June 2020. We have held several fundraisers for Black charities including The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and Black Minds Matter. They were extremely well attended, so it was clear that the support to promote anti-racism, equalities and equity was strongly felt. Inspired by several international online symposiums focusing on yoga and equity last year, hosted by the Iyengar National Association of the US, discussions in IYiA with support from IY(UK) led to the decision that the 2021 convention was the ideal moment for the first Equity for Equality seminar. The hope was that it could act as a catalyst for reflection and change in making Iyengar yoga more representative of the diversity of the world that we live in.
This event was the first ever Unconscious Bias programme in the Iyengar community in the UK. It also marked the launch of the IY(UK) Equity Committee chaired by Margaret Hall. Almost 40% of all convention delegates attended, over 450 people. As part of the seminar, IY(UK) commissioned Challenge Consultancy to present a training course in Unconscious Bias. Delegates also heard from Iyengar teachers Craig Blake and Tina Freeland, who spoke eloquently about their experiences and visions based on lived experience of racial discrimination.
In conclusion, event feedback suggests strongly that the majority of the attendants feel a need for greater inclusivity on all levels. Strong opinions were expressed about continuing the conversation at this event in further seminars to share ideas, and making it part of Professional Development. Let this be the start of continued reflection and action to develop equity for equalities in the Iyengar yoga community. We will be planning future events which will be more interactive to include deeper engagement and more voices in this subject. It’s up to all of us to do our own and collective soul-searching as to how we can be true to Guruji’s vision and to the guiding lights of ahimsā and karuņā.
The event was advertised as “inspirational diversity training and talks for the yoga community” and the majority of the feedback suggested that this was both delivered, and, what was hoped for, by the majority of the audience. IY(UK) will continue to need to seek out external support and expertise to carry out the work that needs to be done in improving inclusivity and equity. We will also encourage members to get involved in bringing to life the actions that are needed.
Over 500 people attended the event, and over 136 attendees completed the post-evaluation survey that we designed. Most of the feedback was positive, with constructive suggestions for future events.
82% of attendees joined the event to support social justice in the local and global yoga community as well as in the wider community. Of the attendees, 62% did not feel that there is a wide diversity in the yoga community community, and 77% of attendees had themselves experienced prejudice or discrimination. 96% said they either agreed, or strongly agreed with most of what the speakers said. 93% said they agreed or strongly agreed that the talk on unconscious bias helped them to be more aware of this issue. 96% rated the effectiveness of the training as very good or good.
There were a number of queries and comments about better interaction using tools such as breakout rooms. However, with over 500 attendees this was impossible. We will look at different formats in the future to allow interaction with smaller groups. There was a technical difficulty, which meant that the chat function at the event was not working. Instead, attendees used the Q&A function for comments and questions, which was also a useful tool for gathering views. Q: Did you attend this event to support social justice in the local and global yoga community as well as in the wider community? 23% agreed, and 59% strongly agreed.
Q: Do you feel that there is wide diversity in the yoga community, including race, age, religion, body size, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability, mental health issues, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy? (These are the legal 'Protected Characteristics' of anti discrimination) 18% strongly disagreed, 44% disagreed.
Q: Do you believe there is an issue of unconscious bias or exclusion in the Iyengar Yoga community that should be addressed? 48% agreed, and 19% strongly agreed. Very few disagreed.
Q: Has this talk helped you to be more aware of these issues? “This talk on Unconscious Bias has made me aware of the issues.” “We need to have more courageous conversations.” “Most of what I heard I knew already and as a person on the ‘brown’ side I am acutely aware of some of the issues in the workplace and I am never shy to say what I think.” “I worry that those who truly needed the training opted not to attend.” “An opportunity for IY(UK) to look at itself and its practices, and to have a conversation about what steps it needs to take to address racism.” “Confirmed what I already believe that systemic racism is embedded into the fabric of all societies and will take may generations to eradicate. We’ve joined a struggle that will entail everyone to become aware and to challenge any acts, words, laws that are used to injure and oppress a people.” “I will look forward to seeing some more concrete and positive action reaching people who chose not to attend and for some reason did not think this was an important issue.”
Q: Have you experienced prejudice or discrimination of any kind? 59% agreed, 18% strongly agreed. This was due to: age 47%, disability 41%, gender reassignment 20%, race 80%, religion 44%, sex 44%, sexual orientation 43%, body size 59%, mental health issues 46%.
Q: Did these talks make you feel more comfortable about addressing unconscious bias, or discrimination of any kind, when you experience or witness it? 66% agreed and 26% strongly agreed that it did.
Q: Do you feel that the eight limbs of Iyengar yoga and the ethical principles of compassion and nonviolence are a guide towards anti-racism? 89% agreed or strongly agreed. “We should as teachers talk about the eight limbs more. We get so desensitised about issues of violence and abuse via media that we ‘accept’ unacceptable behaviours sometimes…I am terrified of confrontation.” “For self-reflection I need to acknowledge that people are angry about racism and not be closed, feeling I’m not one of the racist ones”. “The eight limbs encourage us to focus on our commonalities rather than differences and to recognise the divine in all of us.” “It is integral in our practice.”
Q: What did you hope to get out of this course? “I love the expression upstander as opposed to bystander and by doing nothing I’m implicit.” “Being willing to get it wrong and learn is crucial, as inaction leads to paralysis.” “Maybe one thing that wasn’t discussed is that standing up against discrimination can be messy and uncomfortable. It is good to be prepared for that. It can be awkward, and it can involve giving up some of our privilege.”
Q: What did you find most useful? “I really enjoyed hearing from the three teachers (of colour) from Iyengar Yoga in Action. I don’t feel as if I see a representative number of Iyengar teachers of colour and it is so important.” “Tina’s point struck me that we have the privilege of having Iyengar practice and it is our duty to make it accessible to as diverse a range of people as we can”. “I’ve come away feeling energised about change and also glad to be part of this community where anti-racism is on the agenda. It makes me feel supported to do my bit on an individual level.”
Q: Any suggestions to improve this course? “Class was also mentioned and I think needs some more analysis around poverty and the many other struggles people face – how good are we at thinking through what the relevance of yoga is to people who face very diverse challenges in their daily lives, and how can we make it accessible?” “Religious beliefs weren’t mentioned much in this session…how would a Muslim woman be helped to feel more comfortable in terms of what people wear to class?” “As a person of colour, I have done my own work concerning my power and unconscious bias…I wonder if it might be possible to have a conversation with POC about how to care for yourself in your practice in the face of flippant or biased racial/gender/sexuality attitudes from teachers or even yoga studios?”
Q: What can we learn going forward? “This event was an opportunity for the IY(UK) community to begin to develop an anti-racist strategy which is sorely needed after the events of last year.” “Great informative session and equity for equality should be included as part of the professional development of Iyengar Yoga Teachers on an annual basis.” “It needs to be repeated so that more teachers and students can attend.” “I think it is something we need to keep doing: it’s a bit like yoga – you have to keep practising and there is a lot of backsliding.” “The course should be mandatory on a yearly basis as a PD day for educational and learning including resources."
Judy Waldman is a Level 3 Iyengar teacher, living and teaching in London, with a passion for social justice born from lived experience and observation of discrimination. Her thanks also go to Co-organiser Isabel Jones Fielding, and to Margaret, Craig and Tina for their excellent and heartfelt contributions.
The IYN team asked for your feedback from the Equity for Equality event. Here are two attendees' thoughts:
A Missed Opportunity
By Nicky Britten
I had high expectations of the IY(UK) Diversity webinar. I assumed this meeting would address the difficulties arising from the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust fundraising event in July of the previous year, and would give some idea about how IY(UK) plans to tackle racism. But the webinar was a missed opportunity to identify, and start addressing, the problems of our whitedominated organisation. The best part of the event were the contributions from two black speakers. Tina Freeland spoke about the difficulties faced by black people in yoga spaces, and what allyship would look like: “see, listen, wait” and “please be less defensive”. She said how tiring it is to be the only person of colour, and that she cannot speak up all the time and risk spoiling the atmosphere of a yoga session. There was no discussion of the issues she raised about financial and other constraints experienced by people of colour who wish to attend Iyengar yoga classes; the challenge of white spaces and ‘yoga types’ on social media populated by skinny, white women in lycra. She asked what is being done to improve inclusion, and received no answer. So, to be constructive, what would I like to see? I would like a clear acknowledgement of the problems in IY(UK), for example unwelcoming yoga spaces. There should be a transparent and inclusive process for formulating an anti-racism strategy, which would involve people of colour as key contributors. As far as possible, IY(UK) should aim for diversity on all its committees. Other organisations trying to recruit underrepresented groups have made efforts to reach out, and there may be ways that IY(UK) can reach out to people of colour. This won’t help if white students don’t make an effort to welcome new students, and so it is up to those of us who are white to think about the microaggressions we may be committing without realising it. The diversity event did provide us with some examples of these microaggressions, such as “Did you know this is an advanced class?” and “Aren’t you too large to do yoga?” This part of the event provided the most useful guidance by providing examples of micro-affirmations such as welcoming body language, eye contact and active listening. We all need to play our part. Exeter-based Nicky Britten has been an Iyengar yoga student since studying with Kofi Busia in 1974.
Thoughts on the Equality Seminar
By Annie LaPaz
I attended the 2021 Iyengar yoga UK convention and was really pleased to see that it included a seminar on equality and diversity. I knew that IY(UK) had been unwilling to endorse the Stephen Lawrence Foundation yoga fundraiser in 2020 and was expecting the session to be an exploration of the organisation’s relationship with anti-racism activism. I was also hoping there would be an exploration of how the analytical framework of cultural appropriation might apply to Iyengar practitioners, and a discussion of how we could work to minimise any risks. I was therefore very disappointed when neither of those topics was raised. If there had been a journey of self-reflection and modification within IY(UK), I would like that to have been shared. On the issue of cultural appropriation, there was one reference to it in the presentation, with the commentary that it was a big issue and not going to be addressed. The core of our practice is to reflect deeply on our actions, to face them with honesty and acceptance, and then work steadily and with focus to improve them. Over four decades of practicing, I have had the benefit of some wonderful teachers who have embodied the yoga ethics and shown, through their actions, how they apply to daily life. For me, Iyengar yoga represents a full and integrated practice in which the philosophy is reflected in your āsanas and your life. I was very disappointed that IY(UK) did not live up to those high standards and demonstrate the truth and courage at the core of our common yogic quest. I hope another time the organisation might be more willing to look at its specific relationship with racism and anti-racism, rather than present a generic training module from an outside agency. To end on a happy note, I was delighted to see that IY(UK) endorsed a Black Minds Matters fundraiser this year, and very much hope it was successful. Annie has practiced Iyengar yoga since 1980 when she attended classes at the Oxford Ashram.
