while i also hope that yoga businesses are operating in line with yogic principles, we can’t assume that they are, just because they’re “yoga.” or because they have slick, conscious marketing. we, the practitioners/consumers, need to ask questions and hold companies accountable. and we also need to reflect on and question our own business practices.

But I wanted to say you’re totally right that there are people that lack the literacy or knowledge or even resources to be able to know when a company is lying/preying through advertising. It’s really unfortunate. Being privy to consumer testing and how it’s conducted (I work in advertising now as a designer…trying to get out as it doesn’t align with my ethics…however I live in NY and my landlord doesn’t give a fuck about ethics, only rent checks…you know the deal I’m sure as a freelance writer hehe) is so disillusioning.

I agree advertising shouldn’t be trusted to be honest 100%, but in this case, and in the yoga business at large, I would like to hope these people are operating in line with yamas and niyamas. But, corruption exists in all fields, so I can’t pretend it doesn’t exist among the yoga business.

Yoga is also about a strict student-teacher relationship. We don’t like that part either – we want to do it our way, teacher be damned! – so we do what we like and blame yoga when we get injured. The core of yoga: be a student. There are yoga classes everywhere so show up and do it THEIR way, and see what yoga has to offer you.

After practicing in Montreal for several months, I drove back to South Carolina and took a couple classes at some studios along the way. In one class I took in Portland, Maine, the instructor led the class like a fitness video, complete with constant joking, counting aloud how long we held our poses, and having us do ‘reps’ of certain poses. There was no talk of centering, breathing, or not pushing your body beyond its limits. And this was at a yoga studio, not a gym offering a yoga class. This guy was certified with the Yoga Alliance.

To be fair, if that’s what you want to get out of yoga, that’s your business not mine, but what frustrates me is that it is presented as “YOGA”. The students in the class certainly got a good workout, but they left with no more understanding of the basic practices and true meaning behind yogic living than if they’d taken a cycling class at Gold’s Gym.

i definitely agree that advertising in and of itself isn’t bad. i even have advertising on this website – it helps me pay my bills and is compensation for the hours of time that i put into this blog. as a freelancer and a writer, i know that i can’t be naive enough to not think of myself as a business. i’m not anti-business.

but i definitely am skeptical of advertising, and i can’t expect an ad for yoga products to have a very progressive or in-depth view of business practices.

and while i agree that we’re responsible for how we respond to advertising, many people are lacking the media literacy skills to respond in a proactive way. and i do actually believe that advertising “preys” on these people. it’s not random or artistic – the content of mainstream ads is researched and intentional.

lots to think about here. it’s a resonant subject for me, because i’m anti-capitalist and trying to figure out how i can present my work in a business-like fashion, without underselling myself. but while adhering to my ethics and ideals.

There is, however, a tremendous amount of literature, political, economic and philosophical, that will tell you that compromising your ethics is actually a very good thing indeed. It’s the same line of thinking that says sweatshops are good things, because at least the people there aren’t starving. Never is the question asked why do we set the bar so low, of course.

tldr; No, in a capitalist system it’s nigh impossible to be ethical in business. Even Adam Smith knew that, if anyone bothers to read him anymore. That’s why there have to be very strong laws regulating corporate behavior, which we do not have in the USA.