In most modern Yoga Teacher Training programs there is a requirement to study the Yamas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. These 5 ‘ethical rules’ are commonly interpreted as principles for living in a morally and spiritually correct way. (For more on why this is only ONE way of interpreting this teaching, and perhaps not the most accurate one, check out my other articles). Patanjali’s Yamas, or restraints, are Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (abstinence) and Aparigraha (non-grasping).

 

Yoga teacher trainees often adopt these principles as a code for ‘proper conduct’ throughout their training and beyond. Moreover, some Yoga studios, businesses and peak bodies adopt them as a type of mission statement or code of conduct. For example, Yoga Australia, my country’s self-declared ‘peak body’ for Yoga teachers, uses the Yamas to inform their Statement of Ethics (view here) , which ‘underpins the Yoga Australia Code of Professional Conduct…’

 

Whether using the Yamas in this way accords with Patanjali’s original intention is immaterial to this article (hint: it doesn’t.) What is important is that many Yoga teachers, businesses and bodies hold these ‘restraints’ up as the ethical code by which, as Yogins, we should all conduct ourselves.

 

But to what extent are we actually adhering to them?

 

Specifically let’s look at Asteya, or ‘non-stealing’.

 

Again, looking to Yoga Australia’s interpretation of this concept in their Statement of Ethics, Asteya requires that ‘as yoga professionals we only take what is rightfully ours.’

 

Sounds good, right? You wouldn’t shoplift a pair of tights from Lululemon. You wouldn’t pocket a student’s cash payment when no one was looking. You wouldn’t swap your old mat for one of the studio’s new ones…

 

… and yet I’m seeing Yoga teachers stealing from each other All. The. Time.

 

Today, I’m calling for it to stop.

 

 

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‘Intellectual property (IP) is the property of your mind or proprietary knowledge’, the Australia Government website https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ says. ‘Basically, the productive new ideas you create. It can be an invention, trade mark, design, brand, or the application of your idea.’ (Here’s the source).

When you have ideas and create works, this is your intellectual property, or IP: the property of your own intellect, based on your ideas, experience etc. Here are some Yoga business examples:

 

·      The content of your course.

 

·      The teacher training manual you wrote.

 

·      Your memoir.

 

·      Your website copy and branding.

 

·      Your video trainings.

 

·      The material on your membership site.

 

You get the idea.

 

So when someone else takes your intellectual property and uses it for their own business, this is IP theft. This is stealing. This is STEYA, not ASTEYA. And this—if you apply the Yamas as Yoga Australia and many, many other Yoga businesses, teachers and bodies do—is AYOGIC.

 

Let’s pause for a contemplation exercise.

 

Cast your mind back. Can you think of a time when you’ve appropriated an idea without attributing it to its original source? Have you ever drawn from others’ books into your own works without citing them? Have you ever been inspired by someone else’s website and lifted the copy, switching out only the occasional word?

 

In high school I remember being taught about plagiarism and how to avoid it. Cite your sources. Create a reference list or bibliography. Do your own thinking. It’s likely most Yoga teachers have had at least a small exposure to this sort of thinking before qualifying as a teacher.

 

And yet this sort of theft seems rife currently in our industry.

 

Since qualifying as a coach in 2014 I’ve had entire webpages plagiarised by other businesses. I’ve had SO many of my own great ideas only to see them pop up under the name of my former clients. My logo, branding, style guide. Even the name of my signature program has been ‘ripped off’ (as we say in Australia) by a competing Yoga business.

 

Not only is this type of stealing Ayogic, it’s shitty business and—frankly—it’s lazy.

 

 

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So what is to be done about this?

 

Let’s head back to Patanjali for a moment.

 

Consider these two translations/interpretations of the Yoga Sutra concerning Asteya, Chapter 2, Verse 37:

 

 

‘When one is established in refrainment from stealing, all jewels manifest.’

Bryant, Edwin F (2009) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: a New Edition, Translation and Commentary. North Point Press, New York

 

‘When one is grounded in Asteya, material and spiritual resources of all kinds become available’

Finger, Alan & Newton, Wendy (2018) Tantra of the Yoga Sutras: Essential Wisdom for Living with Awareness and Grace. Shambhala, Boulder, Colorado

 

I find these passages incredibly heartening because they suggest that when we don’t steal, we will have what we need. Recall my hypothesis earlier: stealing from another Yoga business is shitty and lazy (Amy’s Yoga Sutra!!). But, according to the Sutra itself (and a hefty dose of my interpretation) when we stop being shitty and lazy about creating content, we’ll actually create our OWN ideas.

 

If you’ve identified that you are guilty of Steya in your Yoga business, and have stolen someone else’s material, copy, images, concepts etc, don’t worry. Just stop doing it. And then, try doing this:

 

·      Read and study widely then assimilate your own learnings from multiple sources.

 

·      Cite your references whenever you draw from them.

 

·      Seek permission for sharing someone else’s images or graphics (where the platform you’re using doesn’t have this as an in-built feature).

 

·      If you’re using templates for your graphic design etc, make changes to them so your content can’t be mistakenly identified as stolen.

 

·      If you’re creating quote cards and memes with other people’s quotes, make sure you’ve attributed them correctly. (The Nelson Mandela/Marianne Williamson quote is classic here.)

 

·      Do your own practice and thinking so the ideas you have are yours from the outset.

 

·      Call out bad behaviour when you see it (with compassion: many people don’t seem to know they’re stealing).

 

·      Shout out people you find inspiring, teachers who motivate and grow you, influencers who are doing things you aspire to do.

 

 

Looking for more guidance and support? I’m offering 30% off all my 90-minute coaching intensives through to the end of March, 2022. And the best part? You’ve got until August 1st to use them!

 

Learn more here: https://www.amymcdonald.com.au/intensives