"Traditionally, asteya is described as not taking what is not freely given. Stealing pertains not only to physical things. It is taking time. Taking ideas. Taking labor. Taking credit. Taking content."
"It shows up in ample ways in the online yoga space. Specifically, when someone reposts your words or rebrands your method or your reel as their own without credit. When teachers are asked to create online content "for exposure" and without compensation. When studios request recorded classes, workshops, or teacher trainings that they can repeatedly sell without payment beyond the usual single-usage rate."
"Asking for ethical exchange in yoga spaces is often treated as disruption rather than alignment. Yet none of this is aligned with yoga. I want to acknowledge the complexity here. Yoga itself has been taken, diluted, and repackaged by the West. That history matters, and it should humble us."
Asteya, traditionally defined as not taking what is not freely given, represents a foundational yoga principle often overlooked in contemporary practice. In online yoga communities, asteya violations manifest through content reposting without attribution, unpaid labor requests framed as exposure opportunities, studios reselling recorded classes without fair compensation, and copying community-centered offerings for private profit. These practices contradict yoga's ethical foundations. While acknowledging yoga's own history of appropriation and dilution by Western culture, and recognizing patterns of theft from marginalized communities, these historical injustices should not excuse unethical behavior within yoga spaces. Instead, this history should inspire practitioners to uphold higher ethical standards and practice restraint with one another.
Read at Yoga Journal
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