salty bake club

Sacred or Stolen? A Teacher's Honest Look at Western Yoga

• sara grace • Season 1 • Episode 6

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Here is where you get in touch. Work with me, share your experience or requests > this is how to reach me. Love, - Sara

What happens when a decade-long yoga teacher takes a hard look at her own industry? Brace yourself for some uncomfortable truths about Western yoga.

From my teaching space in Austria's yoga loft, I'm serving up this episode with a side of birthday cake and a heavy dose of honesty. Yoga—this practice I've devoted my life to—has become a complex love-hate relationship as I've watched it transform from ancient spiritual tradition to Instagram-worthy commodity.

Let's get something straight: yoga comes from Hinduism, not Buddhism, and it means "to yoke" or create connection. While science confirms why yoga feels so good (those magical myokines flooding your brain!), the Western yoga industry—projected to reach a staggering $288 billion by 2034—has often stripped away yoga's sacred roots and repackaged it in expensive leggings.

As a white Western woman teaching yoga, I acknowledge my role in this problem. I've watched countless teachers pass on perfectionism rather than liberation, creating mini cults of personality instead of honoring the tradition. When we dress up cultural appropriation in spirituality without accountability, we perpetuate harm. Meanwhile, the power dynamics in yoga spaces have led to widespread abuse that rarely gets addressed.

Teaching yoga isn't just about crafting the perfect sequence; it's about having the capacity to hold space for trauma, vulnerability, and transformation. That's why my teacher trainings focus on developing authentic teachers who honor yoga's lineage while making it relevant to modern life.

Despite all its contradictions, I remain in this messy industry because yoga's magic lies in forming connections deeper than our minds could create alone. The practice has shaped who I am, and I'm committed to sharing it with the reverence it deserves.

Want to continue this conversation? Share this episode with a fellow yoga enthusiast or teacher and let me know your thoughts. Then join me next week for another serving of Salty Bake Love!

Speaker 1:

Hey friends, welcome back to Salty Bake Club, where it's sweet, salty, soulful and just a little bit unhinged. I'm your host, sarah Grace, and today is an episode that I might have been putting off for a while, because it's quite something to bash on your own industry, but I've got some thoughts and they need to be spoken. So sit back, get yourself some cake and let's kick off what I think is going to be a really daring episode. If you are not watching this but only listening, then let me paint the picture for you really quickly. I am sitting in the very spot where I record my yoga classes. I'm at the yoga loft here in Steyr. This is where our yoga teacher trainings happen. So this is a really sacred space, and my emotional support for this week's episode is a piece of birthday cake that I baked for my lovely friend and co-teacher, jeff.

Speaker 1:

Most of you know that because before I was a podcast host, I was a yoga teacher, and I still am. It is my profession, but it seriously fills my heart. I love what I do and I consider myself so, so very lucky to be doing exactly that. I feel very fulfilled by my quote-unquote job. I burn for it and I have been working for myself in that industry for a decade and, just like it always is, when you get very, very close to a topic or a person or a job, you start noticing the beautiful parts, but also the shadowy parts, the parts that people usually throw under the rug. Think of what you see when you walk into a yoga class and you perceive that yoga teacher. You see the incense, you see the smiles, you see the curated playlists. What you do not see is the emotional labor, the heritage those teachings hold, the cultural appropriation that we practice day by day.

Speaker 1:

Yoga is not a practice that's happening barely on the mat. It is a life practice. Per definition, yoga means to yoke. We could translate that into connection. Yoga means creating a connection, that is, to yourself and the outside world. Because, once again, it's not a linear pathway, it is not a one-way street. It regards everything, what we are and the world outside.

Speaker 1:

So yoga in itself stems from Hinduism. Let's please all stop that nonsense and keep on repeating that yoga is stemming from Buddhism. It is not. It is not. Let's just please all sit down and stop taking away the ancient wisdom and the heritage of those Hinduist traditions, those lineages. Yoga stems from Hinduism and, as you can imagine, that Hindu world is colorful. It is viewing life from a completely different perspective than we as Westerners have. And this is the first, really tricky point. We as Westerners do also teach yoga, but we do not have that awareness of the multifacetedness of life, of the colorful shades. I even want to go so far and say that we have a totally different angle of viewing life.

Speaker 1:

Even though yoga stems from hinduistic, it is not a religious practice, it is a spiritual practice. Now, spirituality is believing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected. It is the notion that there is something beyond us, something higher, and it does not matter at all If you call it God, allah, shiva or the universe itself. It is simply believing and celebrating that there is something wider, broader and more sacred than what we can grasp as humans. Religion, on the other hand, is tying you in knots. Religion is saying it's only this, it's only that ours is the right one. Spirituality and yoga is so much more wide, and you can see that in those pathways that are written down in every philosophical stream In yoga, we have the yamas and niyamas, but they are not constructed in tight and very clear words.

Speaker 1:

They are leaving space for a lot of interpretation. But also it is opening the window to a wider concept of life. Just to paint a picture, in the Christian commandments there is the sentence that you shall not murder or harm. I'm sorry that I'm not fully getting that right, but that is quite a clear call to action. You shall not do this Now. The yamas and niyamas have something very similar, but it's called ahimsa. Ahimsa means the absence of violence. You could say we're talking about the same thing. But it also includes avoiding violent thoughts, avoiding violence towards yourself, avoiding violence in any subtle form, so that it doesn't even get to that physical form where you have to punch somebody because your anger is going through with you. So on a spiritual level, yoga has a very wide ocean, a depth that is really, really tricky for us Westerners who like matter, form, the stability to grasp, to really hold in our hearts. So let's get to that form. Let's get to the matter, to the science of it. Right, there have been numerous studies by the University of Illinois, by the Beckman Institute and by an Australian scientist that I don't recall the name of that have proven why contracting your muscles makes us feel so, so good when people come to a yoga class or, yes, of course, do any sports at all then they are mostly contracting muscles.

Speaker 1:

This releases molecules into your bloodstream. These molecules are called myokines, and those myokines stream through your blood and enter your brain and make you feel really good. They're going to boost your mood. They're actually growing new brain cells. They're improving your memory. They're also releasing other neurotransmitters like serotonin. Serotonin makes you feel all yummy, yummy, good, happy, happy. So when I say yoga heals, I mean it. It isn't cliche. It is a biochemical love letter to your nervous system.

Speaker 1:

I could go on and on about why yoga is so great and how it makes you feel, but just a couple more things that go beyond the muscle contraction. It improves proprioceptive feedback of your brain. Now what is that? Proprioception is your notion of how you move in space. So if you are a person that frequently hits their toe on the same step in your apartment, mentally you would know where that step is, but you keep doing it. Well, look into that concept of proprioception.

Speaker 1:

And also, yoga connects the outer and physical well-being factors with the inner ones. Now this is where it's different than Pilates or just going to the gym. Yoga asana, that's the body and postures. They are extraordinary bridges between the outer and the inner world. Now we have these meridians, or nadis as we say in yoga, and these are just guiding the energy flow. If you think that's getting really woohoo, now just research how much of your whole existence is energy and how much is matter. The very, very minimum is matter. You are mostly energy. So let's talk about the energy in the body. And what yoga does? It connects those cycles, it cleanses those pathways and it aligns the outer and the inner world. Just in that, sacred asanas make the meridians, nadis or even energetic pathways flow in a certain way so that you will get a reaction, meaning you get more confident or more soft or more clear, because these inner pathways are stimulated in a certain way.

Speaker 1:

And ooh, I could go on and on about why yoga is so freaking fantastic and how it feels so good, because, yes, there's a lot of science behind it, but there's also a lot of ancient wisdom that cannot be seen but felt. But I want to talk about more than the feel-good side of yoga. As I said in the beginning, I have worked in this industry for quite a long time and I've seen this industry develop in certain areas of the world. I was teaching globally. I was learning and studying in many, many countries. I had teachers of all ethnic backgrounds. It really hurts me to see how the topic of cultural appropriation is screaming into our faces to open our eyes and become more aware of what's going on out there.

Speaker 1:

The yoga industry is a rapidly growing market. In 2024, its estimated value laid at and now take a deep breath and projections suggest that by 2034, it reaches the amount of 288 billion US dollars. Now we cannot lean back and say I'm just teaching my yoga classes and I'm shutting my eyes between what is happening out there, because it is a systematic market led by westerners. I hope I made that clear enough. This heritage is not ours. It is coming from an ancient kindu tradition. It's been passed on over thousands of years just by the word of mouth, by what is called parampara passing on teachings from a teacher to a student, from a teacher to on teachings from a teacher to a student, from a teacher to a student, from a teacher to a student, right, and that student grows into a teacher and passes it on and on, and on, and on, and all of a sudden the Westerners have figured wow, we can make a whole lot of money out there and they did and they still do.

Speaker 1:

And you know what? I am well aware that I am part of the problem. I'm a white Western woman and I'm teaching yoga teacher trainings. You could argue that I'm exploiting that industry, that I'm enriching myself with the knowledge and the sacred traditions that are not mine. Believe me, I struggle with that regularly. It is in my awareness and yet I also know that I have a place there. Now what I'm trying is to be as responsible and as open as I can with those teachings, and it's both a blessing and a curse that I've been teaching that for quite a long time and I've seen quite a lot of yoga teachers.

Speaker 1:

And please believe me when I say that the large majority of Western yoga teachers teach mind-led and not heart-led. Why I have a problem with that? Because we are projecting, projecting our own Western mentality onto the yoga. We are teaching people the same patterns of perfectionism that are seen in any other industry, and I don't want to make you feel bad if you are a yoga teacher and you feel quite guilty of teaching from your mind because, yes, yes, the vast majority does it. I want to create awareness of that we shall not teach and just pass on what we've heard from others if we haven't done the inner work, if we haven't freed ourselves from those ties, from those traumas, from those ways that the mind keeps you captivated. You find a lot of really cool, really hip yoga teachers. I know myself that a lot of people aspire to be like them, aspire to be like those popular, pretty gurus, those modernized version of a guru, pretty gurus, those modernized version of a guru. But please and I really urge you to not be fooled by the shimmering spark of what Western yoga has portrayed.

Speaker 1:

We have created a cult of personality that has covered the sacred teachings, though, yes, I'm not okay with somebody saying yoga is just like sports or I am going to a yoga class to get my workout in. If that's your aim, then please join a Pilates club. Yoga is a sacred and spiritual practice to harmonize the body and open your eyes to the connection within and to the world, to meet life as something sacred. And no, I don't want to preach any religious practices on you. I'm not saying believe in the Hindu gods. I'm saying meet life in every moment as if life was God, as if life was the most sacred thing you can only imagine it is. Yoga was never meant to be a performance. Yoga was never meant to be turned into content. And yes, come for me, I'm doing it too, because I am stuck in that Western yoga machinery, that industry, and I am still learning and navigating my way through it, trying to act in the most ethical ways I can. And that brings me to something I cannot not talk about Cultural appropriation and abuse in the yoga scene.

Speaker 1:

Because, yes, with that cult of personality that we've been cultivating, yoga teachers have a lot of power. Guiding bodies in space, especially in that very sacred, vulnerable practice, gives you a lot of power. And again, as Westerners, we have a really weird dynamic and relationship to power itself. I mean, only look at the people who hold power politicians and teachers. They are usually authority figures who very, very often misuse that power. So, even if we start with a good intention, a lot of yoga teachers are captivated by that power. They try to sequence the best sequence they can and for a long time. That comes out of a moderately good intention, but at some point your ego is tying you to that perfectionism because you made it about you and yoga is not about you. Now, yoga is sacred, certainly not for weight loss, it is certainly not for reels or for your Instagram growth. And yet in the West, we've often stripped yoga off its roots and dressed it neatly and nicely in lululemons.

Speaker 1:

Cultural appropriation is if we take something from another culture that doesn't belong to us, strip it off its roots and use it for ourselves, create a product of it and make a billion dollar industry of that very thing. And since this whole topic of cultural appropriation is a relational topic, there is no guide for it. That's what makes it so hard. So is it cultural appropriation if you go to your local furniture store and buy that Buddha statue? Probably yeah, but if you are a very dedicated Buddhist, practicing on the daily and you've researched the sourcing of that statue and this is really something sacred for you that you're bowing down to every day in the morning, then no, then it's not. And I know I'm speaking to a lot of Western yoga teachers. If you take one thing away from this podcast, the whole topic of cultural appropriation is not about being perfect. Appropriation is not about being perfect. It is about being accountable, and I know that's very hard, but that is your job, that is your responsibility if you want to continue in that industry. Now about that power dynamic. There have been tons of Western, tons of Indian yoga teachers who have misused their power. I have witnessed and heard of so many stories where, in that sacred practice, in that yoga shala, a lot of teachers have misused their power, their closeness to their teachers and the words, words, the stories stemming from ancient tradition.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you've ever led a yoga retreat or even just a simple yoga class, you know that people break open. Yoga unravels a lot of trauma because it's working on the outside, on the physical level, but also on the mental layer and the emotional layer. It is stimulating what we usually hold captivated in our unconscious, the things that we stuff down very neatly, might bubble up very, very easily in a yoga class. That can look like laying in a happy baby. And if you're watching this, now, here you go, you're getting a little extra happy baby. It's. You're watching this, now, here you go, you're getting a little extra happy baby. It's a yoga pose that looks like that you have your back on the floor, your feet are up and your knees are bent, you're holding the outer edges of your feet and here you find happy baby, how it is mostly referred to. This pose usually gives a really nice hip opening and a grounding feeling for most yoga practitioners. But if you have experience with sexual violence or misconduct then this pose might be really triggering for you. Another issue I said it's mostly referred to as happy baby. Well, the original name of that asana is Anandbalasana, which translates to blissful baby, and bliss is certainly not just being happy. Back to my point.

Speaker 1:

Students of yoga expose and show themselves in a very vulnerable way. A lot of teachers do not fully understand that. If you are teaching yoga classes, you must be rooted enough and confident enough to hold space for trauma, to hold space for when somebody has a very, very harsh reaction to your teachings. If you dip into the self-shame or perfectionist spiral, well, you haven't done the inner work and that doesn't mean you have to be a sage. I understand that it's very likely that we all never get to a fully healed place, but you must be grounded enough to step into the role of a teacher, to be accountable and to be responsible for what's happening in the yoga shala. I bet you didn't think of that when you signed up for your yoga teacher training. But here we go. It is hard inside work and if you are on that path of healing yourself, well, I know that you are going to come out of it as a transformed, grounded, strong and resilient human being.

Speaker 1:

I know I'm being more strict in my words than other yoga teachers, but that is my responsibility because I'm passing on that knowledge and I'm forming new teachers, and when I do that I want to form the understanding in their minds that it is their responsibility to deal with hard situations and to be aware of cultural appropriations and to do their very heartfelt best to worship the ancient wisdom of yoga. So that's what I'm trying to pass on in my teacher trainings and if you haven't known, well, that's what I do. I teach yoga teacher trainings 200-hour yoga alliance certified yoga teacher trainings in the heart of Austria. And you know what? I'm not one of those yoga teachers who is up there telling you that your problems with your mother is stemming from a blockage in chakra too. Well, it might be, but I'm standing on the ground with you.

Speaker 1:

I'm trying my best to pass on those traditions in a grounded way that doesn't eradicate the lineage and the heritage, but that gives you knowledge and the practice of yoga in a way that you can actually apply it in your modern life. And that is a fine line, my friends. But that is why, in my teaching, I'm having a focus on not shaping a teacher from the outside in, but waking up something in the inside of you as my student, that brings you onto a journey labor of the heart but that very stimulation that started within will transform you into a very authentic human being and yoga teacher, and that's what I'm here for, why I'm still doing that, why do I stay in that messy industry? Because in the middle of all that chaos there lays that sacred moment of our little messy humanness, our jiva, that spark inside us, though we're often losing sight of it. Yoga is in fact, magical and allows us to form connections that are so much deeper than what we could form led by our minds. It has shaped me to be who I am today and I'm utterly grateful for that practice and for all my teachers who have made immense sacrifices, passing on that knowledge so that it could reach me. That is why I think it is my responsibility to hold that teaching as the sacred thing that it is and spread it in a relevant, grounded and magnificently magical way.

Speaker 1:

So this is my sweet and salty little love letter, my love-hate relationship to the yoga industry. It is flawed, it is full of contradictions, but it is also full of possibilities. So here is a collective invitation to stay humble, to keep our feet on the ground and to keep leading from our hearts. If this episode has steered something within you, share it. Tag a fellow yoga teacher or just take a moment to sit with your own truth. It has been a pleasure to hang out with you again and again. Now go and stretch something, preferably your heart, and I'm gonna see you next week for another episode of Salty Bake Love. Finish this magnificent piece of birthday cake. It even has sprinkles inside.