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Not too long ago, hands-on adjustments were the norm in yoga classes. If you practiced yoga in a studio, it wasn’t uncommon for a teacher to gently place their hands on your hips or shoulders during a pose and physically move you into a slightly different alignment—and to do so without expressly asking for consent. Many students even expected teachers to make these manual adjustments.
Slowly, however, this practice has shifted. Many teachers currently refrain from sharing adjustments. Others ask students to raise their hands at the beginning of class if they prefer not to be adjusted. These changes were necessitated in part by sexual assault allegations against yoga teachers who were accused of inappropriately touching students and the #metoo movement empowering individuals to speak out in support of their needs. Also, teachers became more aware of students who preferred not to be touched, whether due to trauma, injuries, or personal preference. The pandemic and social distancing further prompted the yoga community to reevaluate its practices.
There is now a heightened awareness of the responsibility that accompanies placing hands on students—and the potential liability. As an attorney, I know that the safest way to avoid liability is to stop placing hands on students altogether. But as a yoga teacher, I understand the potential value of these adjustments. The following best practices can help minimize exposure to potential liability for yoga teachers who offer hands-on alignment suggestions with students who have consented to receiving them.
What Yoga Teachers Need to Know About Legal Liability
The risks of hands on-adjustments fall into two main categories: allegations of sexual misconduct by a student and allegations that the teacher has negligently caused an injury to the student.
To fully understand the extent of these risks, it’s important to understand the legal concept known as implied assumption of the risk. Anyone who does a recreational sports activity assumes the risk of that activity. For example, under California law, if someone breaks their arm during a flag football game with friends, they cannot recover any money lost as a result of that injury (i.e. from missing work) from the person who caused the fall.
The same concept applies to a yoga class. Students accept that they could be injured to some degree when they participate. If a student pulls or ruptures their achilles tendon during a routine yoga class, they likely cannot recover money from the yoga teacher or studio for that injury. However, different states apply this legal concept slightly differently. So the damages a plaintiff could recover may be different depending on which state you live in. However, in certain situations, instructors may still be liable if a student is injured due to a manual adjustment. This is because instructors have a legal duty to students not to increase the risks of the activity beyond those inherent in the learning process.
Practically speaking, this means that if an instructor is reckless, they could be liable. “Recklessness” is a legal standard that does not have a precise definition, but is determined on a case-by-case basis. This means the adjustment is one they know or suspect could be dangerous. An example of a hands-on adjustment that would likely be deemed “reckless”to push a student too intensely in a stretch, despite warning signs such as physical or verbal resistance from the student, and causing injury, such as a torn hamstring.
The concept of implied or express assumption of the risk does not protect teachers or studios from allegations of sexual misconduct as yoga students never assume that risk when taking a yoga class. For example, if a teacher touched a student inappropriately during class under the guise of giving that student an adjustment, this is not the type of conduct that a student would ever expect to encounter during a yoga class. This means that a yoga student never knowingly takes on the risk of sexual misconduct in the form of an inappropriate adjustment in the same way they do take on the risk of injury during more appropriate hands-on adjustments.
Although there is no such thing as complete immunity to teachers or yoga studios from liability, the following practices can help teachers and studios minimize the risk against both types of allegations.
1. Ensure That Students Sign Waivers
Many yoga studios require students to sign waiver forms before they can unroll their mat in a class. In legal terms, these are “express assumption of the risk” waivers. The legal concept is almost identical to implied assumption of the risk. The key difference is an express assumption waiver requires the student to sign a written form, while an implied waiver is something that legally exists but to which the student does not explicitly consent.
Why should yoga studios and individual teachers use waivers, if it is already implied that students assume the risks of yoga classes? Essentially, waivers act as an extra layer of protection in the event of an allegation or lawsuit. Lawyers can use these waivers to defend teachers or studios against allegations of negligence (i.e. accidentally injuring a student). The exact language required for these waivers differ depending on the state, but studio owners and teachers should always require students to sign waivers before allowing students to take any class, whether in person or online.
2. Ensure There Is Consent
Always request and receive consent before giving any hands-on adjustment to a student. At the beginning of class, some teachers ask students if they would like to opt-out of adjustments in any number of ways. Some teachers ask students who prefer not to be touched during class to raise their hand early in class, during Down Dog or Child’s Pose, when other students’ gazes are averted. Other studios have cards or chips students can place on their mats to indicate they prefer their physical space during class. Still other studios have started using consent cards where one side indicates “open to adjustments” and the other side indicates the opposite.
When you approach a student who has opted for hands-on adjustments, ask again for consent verbally (i.e. “May I adjust you?” or “Are you okay with an adjustment?”). It’s important to allow students to opt out of hands-on adjustments at any point during class, as they may have changed their minds during class due to any number of factors.
Also, always approach students from the front, rather than the back, of the mat so as not to surprise them.
3. Do Not Adjust Students Who Are New to Your Class
If you teach regular classes at a studio or other location and a student attends your class for the first time, refrain from sharing physical adjustments with them. Use that first week or three to get to know them and allow them to get to know you. Not only will returning students feel more comfortable when you approach them, but you will have been able to observe how the student moves so that you can offer more informed adjustments.
4. Be Aware of Where Your Body is in Relation to the Student
Just as you cannot know what the student is thinking, the student cannot know your thoughts and intentions. While you may have the most helpful of intentions, a student may misconstrue an accidental positioning as a sexual advance. For example, you could accidentally brush your hand against a student’s glutes as you walk between mats in a crowded class. Or maybe you are trying to encourage a student to externally rotate their shoulder by placing your hand near their upper pectoral muscle, but the student feels that your hand is too close to their breast.
To avoid such miscommunications, always respect the student’s personal space. This may seem like a contradiction since you are touching the student. Some YTTs caution teachers to always angle your hips away from the student and keep your torso and face a respectful distance from the student when performing adjustments.
Before doing any adjustment, it can help to pause and place yourself in the position of a student and ask, “Would this make me feel uncomfortable?”
5. Never Give Adjustments With Any Part of Your Body Other Than Your Hands
Although this may seem obvious, many yoga teachers have been taught to come up with creative ways to give adjustments with other body parts, like their hips.
For example, a yoga teacher might stand behind a student in Half Moon and press their hips against the student to enhance stability in the standing balancing pose without thinking about what the student experiences. In another example, a teacher might lean their chest against a student’s back when the student is in Down Dog. It’s not hard to imagine why the student might feel uncomfortable in either of these scenarios.
In everyday teaching settings, adjustments should only be performed with the hands.
6. Always Check in With the Student Receiving an Adjustment
As you are giving the adjustment, ask the student, “Is this okay?” Even when a student tells you they are fine, if you sense something is off or that the adjustment could injure the student or the student is otherwise uncomfortable, immediately back away. Always err on the side of caution.
As yoga teachers, we are very aware of the limits of our bodies, but we cannot know precisely how students feel in their bodies. After all, our bodies carry our histories, including past trauma and injury.
We must first and foremost always respect our students’ right to opt out of any physical contact during class. And when students entrust us to make hands-on adjustments, then we must always proceed with respect and caution.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice. Anyone seeking specific legal advice or assistance regarding this matter should contact an attorney. The receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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