With 72 percent of yoga practitioners female and 84 percent white, a lack of diversity in yoga is a big problem in the West.

Yoga teachers are aware of the issue, and sometimes talk about the importance of including diverse groups of people in yoga. But what is the best way to help more people find a connection to yoga, beyond just renting a yoga DVD or watching an online video?

Traditionally, after a yoga student learned a sequence of yoga poses or a meditation practice, he or she went away—originally to a forest or cave, but now to their living room or backyard—to explore the deeper aspects of yoga … alone.

Self-study (what’s known as svādhyāya) is important in yoga, but so is the connection between a student and a yoga teacher. Yoga can’t exist without this kind of “union.” For a long time, yoga lineages have relied upon knowledge being passed from teacher to students (some of whom then become new teachers themselves)–like water flowing from one pool to the next.

Try connecting to a DVD or a book in that way. It’s not that you can’t learn downward-facing dog from an online YogaGlo video, or explore the mysteries of the Yoga Sutras by downloading a podcast. It’s relatively easy to study the spiritual practice of yoga, or stumble your way through a few poses until you work up a nice sweat, but book knowledge only gets you so far on the road to yoga.

The Role of the Teacher

If you want to dig deeper, the fastest way to advance is by working with an experienced teacher. Best of all, a good teacher has already traveled (and suffered on) the same path, and can offer insights gained through practical experience. The teacher also sees things in you that you may not like looking at—such as the way you avoid certain poses because of an old injury, or something more ingrained, like the fact that your past relationship with your parents continues to affect your health.

Because the student-teacher relationship is so important, a lack of diversity in yoga can’t be solved by posting more free videos online, offering occasional free drop-in classes, or encouraging people to walk around like they are yoga students (this latter one, by the way, is already handled by Lululemon’s marketing campaigns).

Any program aimed at increasing diversity has to emphasize building connections between competent teachers and the people who have so far been left out of yoga. This type of “union” immediately plugs students into the long tradition of yoga. Opening the studio doors is not enough, though. Teachers need to encourage students from different backgrounds to become yoga teachers themselves. In this way, the water of the yoga tradition can flow into entirely new pools.

Moving Beyond Free Yoga Classes

In reality, though, the answer—like doing yoga itself—is much more difficult than plowing through a few steps. Free or work-study classes–like those offered in Cyndi Lee’s studios–are useful, but they may not have the reach that’s needed to encourage large groups of underrepresented people to step onto the mat.

Many organizations go beyond just offering free classes, and take yoga out of the studio and into the communities:

• Street Yoga, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Ore., trains yoga teachers to work with people struggling with homelessness, poverty, and addiction.
• The Prison Yoga Project prepares teachers to work with at-risk populations in not only prisons, but also in residential rehabilitation facilities and community programs.
• Even Kripalu, a center for yoga and health in western Massachusetts, offers teachers opportunities to go beyond the traditional yoga class. The center’s Teaching for Diversity Program provides small grants to teachers interested in working with diverse groups of people, including Native American populations, at-risk children, homeless people, and prison populations.

Throwing Out Yoga’s Business Model

Still, compared to the $5.7 billion spent in 2008 on yoga classes and products, those programs make up a tiny fraction of the yoga world. Programs like Street Yoga make important contributions to the mental and physical health of the diverse populations they serve, but it’s unlikely they will change the overall makeup of yoga in the West.

One big problem, as far as diversity in yoga is concerned, is yoga’s business model … or the fact that it has a business model. Most yoga teachers and studios hold classes, retreats, and trainings in order to make money. With that as your core mission, you will naturally seek to attract students who can pay for your classes, as well as buy the Lululemon and Prana gear hanging in the lobby of your chic studio.

Moving beyond this capitalist view of yoga in the West would be difficult … how would all of the yoga teachers churned out by Yoga Alliance certified schools earn enough money to buy Manduka yoga mats, shots of wheat grass, and tempeh-kale stir fries?

Most likely, not all of them would have to give up their yoga teaching jobs. There’s certainly room for pay-as-you-go classes, but it’s time for a shift in how the yoga tradition is nurtured and passed on in the West.

NEXT: Learning About Community from Buddhists –>

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Photo: LA Yoga Leaders to Join Occupy LA. © 2011 Theresa Keil