Picture This: No Photos In Yoga

Dear Yoga Teachers,

Before you are tempted to snap that photo of students attending your class please consider this: You are potentially causing harm and if so, you'll probably never even know about it. If you're feeling triggered by these words, trust me, it doesn't compare to how triggering it can be to have your yoga practice hijacked through a teacher's camera lens.

The numerous times teachers have taken my photo during a yoga class always leaves me feeling vulnerable, exposed, and used. So much so that I have come to avoid public classes where I know the teacher is ready to capture the next "special moment" with their phone.  We've come so far in learning to use inclusive language, awareness about trauma, and to be sensitive to the needs of yoga students. And yet, somehow photographing students during their practice has slipped under the radar. Can we please add this to the list of harmful actions we've taken as yoga teachers and just fucking stop it?

I have been hesitant to voice my concern and opinions publicly on this topic because in the past my feelings about this have been dismissed. I can only assume it's because it's so prevalent and so many teachers do it. It's a practice that's been normalized.

Just because so many teachers do it, doesn't make it okay!

The truth is you never really know what someone else is going through. We talk about trauma a lot in the yoga world and yet for some reason the potential harm through photographing students has been overlooked. I have been on the receiving end of this more than once, even after I asked to not have my picture taken. I've had my feelings on this topic minimized, dismissed, and even ridiculed. My images have appeared more than once on social media platforms to promote a yoga class, always without my consent. And this is nothing short of exploitation.  If you think I am being dramatic let's look at the word exploitation and its meaning: "To make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource)." It seems that the main objective in taking photos during a yoga class is for teachers to promote their class or worse yet, themselves.  Asking for consent isn't helpful  because it simply puts the student on the spot.

I am not here solely to focus on the problem so here's a solution: If you want to promote your classes with photos then offer a complimentary class for the sole purpose of capturing images. This puts the onus on the teacher. Why should a student's privacy be comprised for the teacher's marketing purposes?

Trust me, as a teacher I am sure I have caused harm to students without even realizing it. It is painful and uncomfortable to be honest about our missteps and foibles but as Maya Angelou said, "when we know better, we do better." I am always learning new ways to teach in a more thoughtful and intelligent way. I work really hard to check my ego at the door so I don't cause harm and yet, I am well aware that sometimes it still happens. I am far from perfect and hope to always make new mistakes. What I am asking is a big ask because it challenges teachers to set their egos aside and to do better. It asks teachers to stop promoting themselves and their yoga class at the expense of the student's anonymity in the moment.

Most of us who show up to practice yoga are healing. I mean, aren't we all healing? And we never know what others are healing from. When students show up in our classes we as teachers have a responsibility to respect their practice enough to not publicly document it. I cannot understand why this is even an issue except that we're becoming conditioned to document everything. We've normalized stealing the precious present moment simply to capture an image. 

When we step into a yoga class as a student, it's our time. Time that should be respected by our teachers. Time to set worldly roles and responsibilities aside so we can listen and learn about ourselves. This precious time has been paid for in hopes that the teacher will create a space that's separate from all the information and technology we're inundated with all day long. If the teacher instructing us to be fully present "mind, body, breath", turns around and in the next breath picks up their phone to snap photos, credibility is lost, trust is compromised, and you're left with a heap of meaningless words that amounts to nothing more than bullshit.

So please, I write this with love and hope, put the damn phone down and practice what you teach.