The State of the Yoga Profession (In the Wake of COVID19)
Today I saw an announcement that Kripalu will close its’ doors until 2021.
YogaWorks has closed its NY studio.
It is the end of an era.
The landscape of yoga is changing.
I honestly see it as a much needed change. Perhaps long overdue. A rebalancing of sorts. An opportunity.
Fact: A yoga teacher cannot earn a viable living from teaching in studios. Many do “OK” for a number of reasons:
- They are young and energetic.
- They do not know how to make a profession out of teaching yoga.
- They enjoy the privilege of not having to be the bread winner of the family unit. (This was mine… until 2014)
In light of Kripalu’s announcement, I have seen many comments about how sad and tragic this is. And, indeed, it is.
And, “sad” is the very human label we place on the situation.
And though it is true that we feel a sadness or a loss, even a sense of insecurity for what never was actually secure, to suddenly be removed, we will all move forward in some way. We will all move forward in the best way that we can.
Change is inevitable. Progress is not.
Some are READY for this. Some are WILLING for this. Some are shaken to the core, and it will take time to recover.
And for each individual, the less we cling to “sad” the more we see the opportunity.
“The barn’s burned down, now I can see the moon.” — Mizuta Masahide, Japanese poet (1657–1723)
Today I watched a movie with my 15-yo daughter, The Death of Stalin, a Comedy Of Terrors. (It stars Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor, if that says anything.) And while I do not mean to liken the yoga studio to Stalin, in a certain way, it has had the same effect on yoga teachers. The yoga studio has demanded affiliation, promotion, and our personal dedication to it under the fear that if we do not comply we will be out of a job. This, without the ability to promote ourselves, as “more than” yoga teachers. While at the same time we earn a pittance for the work and investment and trust that we put in, to invite the studio’s students to return, time and again. It is an unbalanced agreement. And the yoga teacher, in their good will to the organization, loses.
In the movie, I was fascinated by how it portrayed the unfoldment of Stalin’s inner circle as they each shifted from an outward projection of [false] grief and lamenting into realizing the vast opportunity that came with the situation. And each character shifted in their own time.
I want to reiterate that I do not compare the yoga studio to the tyrannical and terror-filled leadership of Stalin, though I have heard stories from many yoga teachers of the manipulation they have felt from studio bureaucracy and leadership. And, I do believe that once we have time to breathe, and we look more closely at the situation, and are able to detach from what we label as “sad,” we will begin to, all of us, see the opportunity that is presented in this THORN that has many ROSES.
I will restate:
Change is inevitable. Progress is not.
Some are READY for this. Some are WILLING for this. Some are shaken to the core, and it will take time to recover.
And for each individual, the less we cling to “sad” the more we see the opportunity.
“The barn’s burned down, now I can see the moon.” — Mizuta Masahide, Japanese poet (1657–1723)
I may be in the minority, but I am EXCITED for the opportunity. I remain CURIOUS to see what comes. The doors are wide open. I am WILLING to walk through them.
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