Published August 18, 2026 11:12AM
Sometimes as yoga teachers, we fall into a sort of magical thinking. One that tells us we should always know the “right” response to any situation. That we are representatives of a body of wisdom greater than ourselves, a higher knowing, a moral standard that imbues our every word and action. I know I’ve certainly struggled with this stereotype.
Yet yoga teachers sometimes find ourselves in situations that no YTT manual explains how to handle. Situations that are are more the usual issues of determining how loudly to play the music or struggling to recall which pose comes next. Situations that feel more like an ethical dilemma in which we are challenged to prioritize the needs of one student versus the entire class or navigate applying the principles of yoga in morally vague situations. In these instances, the “right” thing to do isn’t easy to identify.
None of us are alone in navigating these ethical quandaries. Although there isn’t usually a simple answer to these situations, each time we navigate a dilemma, we learn more about how to handle the next one. Following are some challenging situations that stand out in teachers’ memories for being tricky to discern right from wrong, fair for one or best for all.
Ethical Dilemmas That Yoga Teachers Commonly Experience
Consider how you would navigate the following situations.
Persistently Disruptive Students
Different students come to group classes with different expectations, personalities, and behavioral norms. Many students consistently—and noisily—arrive late or leave early. Others regularly forget to silence their phones. Some follow along to some internally led sequence that’s completely different from yours. I had a regular student who liked to hold Plank when everyone else was in a restorative floor pose.
In those moments, amid the swirl of thoughts and emotional reactions and what ifs, it can feel impossible to remain compassionate to every student without compromising the class experience. Is the badly timed Plank Pose less disruptive than the teacher calling attention to it? Or is it an opportunity to remind everyone of the need for balance between effort and ease?
The Person With Preconceptions
Some of the most common ethical dilemmas are based on discrepancies between how the student and the teacher perceive the larger definition of yoga. These quandaries start well before students unroll their mats.
I once arrived at the home of a new one-on-one yoga client, a man I had not met or taught before. He scanned me up and down and then seemed to take on an expression of being distinctly disappointed. When I asked if anything was wrong, he admitted he had expected me to look different. In his words, to be a little “hotter.” He clearly had a different take on the role of the yoga teacher than I, and it prompted some serious internal debate as to whether I should stay to teach and how to engage with him. I remained to lead the class that I had committed to teach, but I did not return.
Students Seeking—or Ignoring—Healing
Although yoga teachers cannot diagnose or advise on injuries, some situations test that stance in unexpected ways.
“I’ve come across folks who are looking to me for medical guidance,” says yoga and movement educator Elena Cheung. She can provide limited support as a therapeutic specialist, but Cheung explains she has to be very thoughtful about direct medical concerns or medical questions outside of her scope.
“It’s required me to be very frank and to set boundaries about the scope of my practice,” she says. “It can be tough to handle these situations in a way that leaves folks feeling seen, supported, and taken care of without stepping outside what I consider ethical.”
I am very aware of the limits on my expertise, and for that reason I am a strong believer in student autonomy. But there have been times when that stance has been tested. Once a student was practicing Shoulderstand in class when I knew she was in significant pain from a so-far undiagnosed neck injury. Was it my responsibility to stop her from practicing this potentially risky pose? On the one hand her body, her practice. But I couldn’t help feeling conflicted when she was potentially putting herself at risk. In this instance, I quietly asked her not to practice Shoulderstand in my classes until she had received medical advice.
Studio owner Lizette Pompa has felt a similar tug between responsibility and allowing for independence. “Every so often, a student comes in who’s clearly overexercising, visibly too thin, losing weight, taking two physically demanding classes back to back and struggling but pushing through anyway, week after week,” she says. “My teachers notice it, too, and it places them in an awkward position. They don’t want to say anything directly to the student, so they bring it to me instead to address.”
In those instances, Pompa has a private, compassionate conversation with the student in which she expresses her concern. It’s a good idea to keep a list of trusted places to refer students to for support that goes beyond what yoga teachers are equipped to provide, whether local healthcare professionals or hotlines.
Students Wanting Friendship—or More
Confusion can easily arise in the vaguely defined and easily blurred area between personal and professional. Something that starts as a teacher and student chatting after class about experiences with other teachers can slide into gossip or even innuendo. It’s also not uncommon for students to misinterpret a friendly vibe and sincere interest in their well-being for friendship.
“I think almost all teachers have had students wait after class who are chatty for one reason or another—they feel safe and understood in their presence, they want to be their friend, or maybe they have a crush,“ says yoga teacher and Yoga Journal Editor in Chief, Renee Marie Schettler. “I’ve been that student on occasion.” But when she was teaching at studios and gyms, she drew the line at socializing beyond class.
It can be a tricky space to navigate. “Sometimes people overshare or feel a closer bond due to the nature of our role,“ says teacher and trainer Angus Knott, who explains that he has become aware of the need for boundaries. “For myself, I have ‘Angus’ and ‘work Angus,’ and those are separate. That doesn’t mean I’m cold with students. But they won’t know anything about my personal life. It’s not relevant.”
The Confusing Role of Physical Adjustment
It should come as no surprise that there can be confusion and concern related to teachers placing hands on students in class. A friend once shared how shaken he was when a yoga teacher adjusted his alignment from behind without warning. After gauging my friend’s shock, the teacher responded with, “You don’t trust the world, do you?” That comment left my friend feeling even worse. I understand how easy it is to unintentionally misstep as a teacher, yet I felt defensive for my friend and wrestled with leaving the situation to him to resolve as he saw fit versus wanting to address it myself with the teacher or studio manager.
Sometimes we feel responsible not only to students but fellow teachers. Schettler once overheard students talking in the locker room about a physical adjustment by a teacher whose class they had just attended. “I struggled to discern my role,” says Schettler.
“I mentioned it to the studio manager, simply to bring it to his awareness, but with the caveat that I didn’t witness the assist. I hated to qualify it, as if I didn’t believe the student when they asserted something didn’t feel right or safe from a male teacher,” she explains. “But I also wanted to be careful about hurling an accusation, as things can sometimes be misinterpreted.” She notes that she has also seen plenty of lingering touches in class teachers of each gender that could potentially be misconstrued by students.
Leading Classes That Aren’t Exactly Yoga
Sometimes the ethical dilemma doesn’t directly include students. Yoga and meditation teacher Yely Rivas has received multiple opportunities to teach at venues where the sequence and structure of classes were not what she considered to be yoga.
“Yoga was treated more like exercise,” Rivas explains. “At times I was in need of work, and I had to face the ethical decision of whether I wanted to teach exercise, or stay truthful to what yoga is.” She weighs each decision to teach, or not, carefully, to ensure she feels true to her values. Despite that, she adds, “I still often deal with the dilemma of how to teach yoga to appeal to the masses and remain true to the foundations of what yoga is all about.”
The Business Side of Teaching Yoga
The philosophical foundation of yoga sometimes clashes with the financial reality of teaching it not just as a calling, but as a business. Many teachers struggle with what to do when a studio requests they change their style to make classes more broadly appealing.
Other teachers find themselves in the position of weighing the pros and cons of continuing to work with studios, gyms, and other entities that are always late with pay or one-on-one clients who cancel sessions at the last minute more often than not.
There can also be a build-up of ethical concerns regarding the business side of yoga that reaches a tipping point. During the chaos of the early pandemic, Schettler was teaching at a studio that paused in-person classes—but not students’ autopay memberships. When her students reached out to complain the studio wasn’t responding to their messages, Schettler couldn’t effect change and was torn as to whether to stay or quit.
“It was one of the more popular studios in our city and I wanted to continue to teach my regular students when classes resumed,” she explains. “But I had other concerns about the studio and felt as if I was perpetuating what they were doing simply by being associated with it.” She ended her relationship with the studio.
How to Navigate Challenging Teaching Situations
Even after leading thousands of hours of studio and one-on-one yoga classes, yoga teachers rarely find easy answers when it comes to ethically questionable situations. There are decisions to make and actions to take that you must be willing to live with afterward. Following are things you can consider as you pause and take a breath before you respond.
1. Take the Situation Seriously
Navigating a student arriving late can feel less significant than non-consensual touch or dealing with a studio that is always late paying its teachers. But a situation doesn’t need to escalate to that level to require your attention. Listen to your instincts when they direct you to notice small signals in a situation. The seemingly small issue might require some thoughtful action.
2. Pause
Take a moment before reacting in the heat of the moment, especially if the situation or behavior is the first time you are encountering an issue with a student. This is where, as teachers, we get to practice what we preach. So pause, breathe, and ground yourself before taking any action.
3. Don’t Assume You Have All the Information
Also, remember that even when a pattern is consistent, you don’t know what’s behind it. The disruptive student who loudly packs up their things and leaves early could be struggling with childcare issues. The student seemingly challenging your authority could be someone who needs more information than the average person to process a situation. The late payment from a studio or client could be a technical glitch rather than a careless oversight.
Remain open to the possibility that there might be more contributing to the situation than what you see. Knowing more doesn’t always excuse the behavior, but might help explain it—and remind you not to assume the worst of someone.
4. Identify What Actions You Could Take
It can be easy to let ourselves become stuck in false dichotomies. Quit or stay and smile. Confront a distracting student and lose them from class or put up with their behavior and keep them coming back. But there are usually multiple potential courses of action in any situation, including…
• doing nothing
• modifying our teaching slightly to accommodate the issue
• talking privately to the student, teacher, or manager
• implementing more formal changes in policy or procedure, if possible
• referring the situation to a manager to resolve
• removing ourselves from the the situation
Most situations don’t require immediate escalation or resolution. So unless a student is in imminent physical or emotional danger, such as practicing with an injury or subject to discrimination, or the disruption is significant enough to halt your class entirely, consider talking the scenario through with a trusted friend, a more experienced teacher who shares your values, or a therapist. They can help you explore alternate options you might be overlooking.
5. Act With Intention
Implement your action as thoughtfully as you can. You might never need to explain your decision-making process to anyone else, but you want to be able to clearly articulate it to yourself.
6. Observe the Outcome
Even when you are clear about what you’re doing and why, remember that you can only control your own actions. Other parties might respond in any number of ways, whether undesirably or more agreeably than you could have imagined.
Whether or not the situation resolves in the way you anticipated, the best outcome is knowing you handled a difficult situation as well as you could and learned something along the way for the next time it happens. Because if anything is for certain, it’s that yoga teachers will continue to land in situations that confront us with the unexpected.
