triyoga's latest symposium was a discussion focused on the diversity problem in yoga. This is an audio recording of the event that took place on 6th November 2017 with an audience and five panelists at triyoga Camden in London, UK.

ABOUT THE SUBJECT

Look around most yoga studios in London and you’ll probably find the student body is predominately white, able-bodied, lithe and middle-class. From vinyasa to restorative, yoga classes are generally not reflective of the diverse city in which we live where 44 percent are black and minority ethnic, 63 percent are obese or overweight, and the gap between the rich and the poor grows wider. 

How did we arrive in this place where yoga is practiced largely by a priveldged, homogenous set? Are we as yoga schools, teachers and students reinforcing existing barriers and divisions, and how can we actively dissolve them? How can we create a more inclusive space for everyone no matter their size, their ethnicity, their income and their gender? 

Without diversity in the yoga room, is our view and understanding of society thus limited? 

THE PANELISTS

Jonathan Sattin, the founder and managing director at triyoga, started the business in 2000 with the intent of creating a space where everyone and anyone could practice yoga regardless of their background or ability.

Dana Falsetti, an American yoga teacher, encourages self-love through positive body image and is recognised by millions across social media for her message that anybody can practice yoga.

Corrie Ananda Preece, who leads triyoga's Shoreditch Mysore programme, is bi-racial and a 3rd culture kid. Corrie is bi-sexual, in a same-sex relationship and is the mother to two teenage boys, one of whom identifies as gender fluid.

Isa-Welly Locoh-Donou, born and raised in Togo, teaches pilates and barre teacher and is a wellness coach. Through her 20 years travel throughout Europe, she understands the true meaning and importance of cultural differences and how it impacts people day-to-day.

Frederique Sardais was the first UK teacher to specialise in Adaptive Yoga - specialist classes for people living with disability and limited movement. Her vision is to equip teachers of all traditions with the tools to open their classes to those who feel excluded from most yoga studios.

triyoga Teachers Symposium

05 – diversity in yoga

London's leading centres for yoga, Pilates + treatments.

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