The Importance of Psychosocial Safety in Yoga

It often comes as a surprise

People outside of the Yoga profession are often surprised to learn that bad bosses and exploitation are just as common as in other fields. It’s meant to be all peace, love and flexibility right?!

Unfortunately, the reality is that some of the worst workplace experiences I’ve had in my career have been as an employee, contractor or ‘karma yogi’ in yoga studios across Australia and internationally. In fact, my personal experiences were so bad that they drove me to study trauma-informed psychotherapy so that I could offer educated support to other Yoga teachers to help them avoid inflicting unintentional harm on their students, colleagues or employees and where necessary, heal from their own traumatic experiences.

Sadly, many of my colleagues and friends have had similarly awful experiences of exploitation, financial fraud, unpaid superannuation, unpaid labour, manipulation, bullying, psychological and emotional abuse (including cult dynamics), physical and sexual abuse, and exclusion or judgement in their Yoga studio workplaces or as Yoga students, mentees and teacher trainees. These can all be considered as infringements on a person’s psychosocial safety that can leave a lasting legacy of trauma.

It’s a complex and nuanced thing to commercialise a spiritual practice. Yoga comes with the added challenge of translating traditions deeply rooted in the culture of a people and place that are not the same as the locations these traditions are now being practiced widely.

As Yoga has grown in popularity, there have been attempts to self-regulate via governing bodies like Yoga Australia, Yoga Alliance in the USA and the Wheel of Yoga in the UK. But just as there are a diversity of Yogic lineages, there are just as many diverse ideas and opinions on how best to guide the professional practice of Yoga education and sharing outside of its spiritual and cultural home, India.

In Australia, Yoga teachers and business owners are not obliged to join any self-regulating governing body, though many do, as gaining insurance to practice often requires membership of a regulatory body. But as professionals conducting business in Australia, all Yoga teachers are bound by a number of legal frameworks that determine how we conduct ourselves ethically and professionally. These include tax laws, privacy laws and OH&S laws. These laws are in place to protect employers, employees and the public.

Recently in Australia the Workplace Health and Safety Act (2011) introduced a new amendment that puts the onus on employers to provide a ‘psychosocially safe’ workplace. The rise of awareness of the need to provide a workplace that is inclusive and equitably addresses diversity and specific needs of staff, while being free of discrimination and bullying has led to this inclusion.

It’s a step in a positive direction for integrating inclusive trauma -informed values and ideals and protecting the rights of all to experience a workplace free of mental, emotional or physical harm.

What is psychosocial safety?

Neurobiologically, humans perform best in a safe environment. The consideration and provision of this safety  is now the responsibility of the employer which then creates the question – how do I create a psychosocially safe workplace? 

From a trauma-informed perspective, having consideration for the diversity of needs that might present in your community and putting in place methods to meet them makes sense.

According to Safe Work Australia, a psychosocial hazard is anything that could harm someone’s mental or emotional health.  From an OH&S perspective, they include things you may commonly associate with harmful behaviour such as bullying, harassment and violence. But can also include circumstances and experiences that include the failure to provide appropriate support to employees, a lack of justice and fairness, a lack of role clarity, lack of recognition, poor change management and isolation.

Why does it matter to Yoga studios and teachers?

The commercial Yoga industry treads a fine line between authenticity, personality, exploitation and profitability. Many teachers struggle to make a living in the gig-style economy of studio teaching where they may be paid as contractors or expected to volunteer hours in service or ‘karma’ yoga.

Many studios struggle to create a profitable business model without an income stream from fast-track Yoga Teacher Trainings. This may lead them to prioritise filling these trainings creating a glut of teachers that are forced to compete for classes on the studio timetable.

These financial pressures along with some of the less well translated traditional Yogic concepts such as the guru-student relationship can lead to an imbalance of power, or power being used unethically in the pursuit of economic success.

Being mindful of these risks and beginning your Yoga business well informed and aligned with your values can help protect you and your employees from psychosocial hazards rife within the industry. 

What does this really mean in practice?

Work Safe Australia has developed Guidelines regarding what can broadly be considered as psychosocial hazards and strategies to create a psychosocially safe workplace. These can be a great place to begin educating yourself about your legal responsibilities if you’re an employer, or your rights if you’re an employee.

Due to the nature of humans being wonderfully and diversly human, what will feel safe to one person, may be deeply threatening to another, making it complex ground to navigate. But it can be approached broadly with some high-level trauma-sensitive principles that can help guide you towards creating a safe and equitable work or practice space for all. 

How you can make a Psychosocially Safe space

Trauma-sensitive/informed principles can help create a felt sense of safety and welcoming for some of the more vulnerable and marginalised people who may not currently feel that Yoga has a place for them.

• Define, communicate and practice your values.
• Consider your potential clients, students and employee’s needs, backgrounds and circumstances.
• Know the risks associated with your job roles and the unique context of your workplace/s within the yoga industry.
• Conduct a risk assessment to assist you with identifying risks and create solutions or strategies to reduce and manage potential psychosocial hazards.
• As an employer, consult with your staff on psychosocial hazards. Vulnerable and marginalised groups may be directly affected by specific psychosocial hazards. These include workers with disabilities, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
• Have business policies in place for communicating grievances considering privacy and protection for those raising concerns, and processes for addressing concerns in a transparent and timely manner.
• Always work within the remit of your qualifications and have a community of referral partners who can meet the needs of your community that you can’t e.g. psychologists and counsellors, physiotherapists and exercise physiologists, GPs and other allied health or holistic health providers.
• Consider deepening your awareness through training in trauma-informed leadership and facilitation. This kind of specialist training can help you uncover and understand your own internalised oppression and biases to help understand where your blind spots may be. This powerful personal work is incredibly beneficial for developing empathy and resilience so you can create and hold safe, boundaried space for yourself as a Yoga professional and become a safe and sustainable leader of others.