Yoga 

Inspite what instagram- with it's abundance of  gorgeous and limbers influencers - might have you believe, yoga is not a seual practice. The true practice has one goal: to calm the fluctuations in the mind. In other words, authentic yoga is the very opposite of the cluttered and hedonistic space yoga currently occupied for many.

I became yoga teacher almost 10 years ago. I discovered that the world of yoga had changed dramatically since my mother's days as a barefoot hippie in white sweatpants. Hundred dollar legging are the norm and women doing handstands on beaches in impossibly skimpy bikinis sell granola bars on Instagram to million of followers. The question is what yoga is or isn't has become muddled, indeed.

Different studios handled consent differently. At my current studio outside london, we use place cards in front of our mats saying weather or not we wanted to be touched. One of my teacher asks us to place hands in our bellies in savasan (corpse pose) if we prefer not to be touched. Consent is vital. When touched feels good, it feels so good. When it feels bad, it's awful.

Another teacher I know was stalked by a student for months because he mistook her adjustment for a sexual pass. In training I was told to be cautious on touch, specially on straight man. Touch is ,after all, t"mother of all senses". Touch can be confusing for men because, as phychologist ofer zur points out, " for most men in our society, touch has been limited to voilant and sexual encounter".

For these reasons, I believe yoga studios have a responsibility to define and explain the purpose of touch to every student who walks in their door. We can't play fast and loose with consent.

          Touch is potentially beautiful thing. It can help relax a body and deepen a posture. But until every single yoga studio nails consent, touching in yoga