Do you think there’s an element of classism in the yoga community?

This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered.

The Question

I taught Ashtanga full time in NYC pre-pandemic. Most of my students and teacher friends were from very wealthy backgrounds & it's something I've never been jealous or resentful of. I'm originally from a large family in the rural south (My parents are truck drivers)& just felt increasingly alienated at the times I saw fellow teachers blame people from my background for the pandemic or racial division exc. It really hurt my feelings (this is my family they've insulted). Anyone else feel the community lacks inclusivity? Edit: Thanks everyone for you kind words & empathy. Really made me feel a lot better about the yoga community. Also very happy to read Im not alone in my feeling. The most frustrating part has been being gaslighted. Taking deep breaths & rising higher than trivial emotions

— via r/ashtanga

Our Response

Yeah. You're not wrong.

Ashtanga communities can be incredibly insular. Especially in big cities. Especially when everyone in the room went to the same college.

Here's the thing: yoga practice is supposed to reduce ahamkara. Ego. The part of you that identifies with your story and defends it.

But yoga communities? They can amplify it. They become echo chambers. Everyone performs the same politics. The same diet. The same vacation photos from Mysore.

And if you don't fit that template, you feel it.

What you're describing isn't about wealth. It's about people using their practice to confirm what they already believe instead of questioning it.

You didn't do anything wrong. You just saw it clearly.

So what do you do?

Teach anyway. Find your people. They exist. They're just not always in the room with the expensive leggings.

Your background is not a liability. It's honesty.

The practice doesn't belong to one class or coast or accent.

It belongs to anyone willing to show up and do the work.

You're doing that.

Keep going.