Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

UK Yoga 'warriors' fighting to diversify booming industry

Yoga, which originates from India, and pilates — a form of exercise focused on postural alignment — are now a $30 billion-a-year industry.

UK Yoga 'warriors' fighting to diversify booming industry

London-based yoga instructor Stacie Graham is on a mission to make the ancient practice more racially and socially diverse, urging her charges to become "warriors for change" in the booming industry.

Yoga, which originates from India, and pilates -- a form of exercise focused on postural alignment -- are now a $30 billion-a-year industry, according to the Global Wellness Institute.


But this success masks a lack of diversity, which affects the entire fitness sector, argued Graham, who also works as a diversity policy consultant for corporations.

"Here we are in London. If you go to any space where there is a gym or yoga studio, you will likely not see 'London', but typically white, female, able bodies -- middle class -- participating," she said.

"And my question has been: how is that possible?"

A survey of yoga teachers and practitioners in the UK by the medical studies site BMJ Open found that 87 percent were women, and 91 percent white, around 10 percent higher than the national proportion of white people.

Graham has just published the book "Yoga as Resistance," to help industry professionals broaden their clientele.

'Subtle exclusion'

She also convenes regular workshops with other teachers, practising yoga and plotting how to diversify the industry.

"You want to be warriors of change, yoga gives us everything we need for that fight," she tells her charges as they perform the Warrior 2 posture; one leg bent, the other stretched behind, and the arms horizontal, like arrows.

Attendee Ntathu Allen, who specialises in "breathing and healing" sessions for women of colour, told AFP that she is sometimes asked, "if I'm really a teacher" when she arrives at a new studio.

Pam Sagoo, the owner of Flow Space Yoga in London's multicultural Dalston neighbourhood, was also at the workshop.

"You just have to look outside the window and look at the people... to know you need to appeal to a wider audience," giving the examples of black, older and LGBT people.

It is a similar situation in the United States, where "there are not many black women in these spaces, and it does not encourage others to enter," Raquel Horsford Best, a teacher based in Los Angeles, told AFP by phone.

Instructors and owners partly blamed access issues, economic factors and the difficulty of keeping studios afloat.

To be profitable, studios often charge high prices. A single session in London costs around £20, potentially pricing many out.

But Graham points to "more subtle" exclusionary factors, such as a performance-oriented atmosphere that discourages those who are less flexible, less slim and older.

As a result, many people who could "really benefit" from yoga, such as those suffering from pandemic-related mental health issues and long Covid, are missing out, she added.

Despite the awareness generated by the Black Lives Matter movement, Graham believes that economic constraints discourage studio owners from making the necessary efforts and investments to make yoga more inclusive.

The first step would be to diversify the recruitment of teachers and staff. "They should recruit more instructors of colour, LGBT people, Asians," urged Raquel Horsford Best.

And, of course, making the classes more affordable.

Sagoo, for instance, offers substantial discounts to people on benefits, and free classes to certain associations.

(AFP)

More For You

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

Officials greet newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal's interim government Sushila Karki (R) as she arrives at the prime minister's office in Kathmandu on September 14, 2025. (Photo by PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

NEPAL’s new interim prime minister Sushila Karki on Sunday (14) pledged to act on protesters’ calls to end corruption and restore trust in government, as the country struggles with the aftermath of its worst political unrest in decades.

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said in her first address to the nation since taking office on Friday (12). “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

Keep ReadingShow less
UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

US president Donald Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links on July 28, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

THE British government has announced over £1.25 billion ($1.69bn) in fresh investment from major US financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by president Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

Protesters wave Union Jack and St George's England flags during the "Unite The Kingdom" rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

MORE THAN 100,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday (13), carrying flags of England and Britain and scuffling with police in one of the UK's biggest right-wing demonstrations of modern times.

London's Metropolitan Police said the "Unite the Kingdom" march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, was attended by nearly 150,000 people, who were kept apart from a "Stand Up to Racism" counter-protest attended by around 5,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal recalled that in February, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Trade talks with US moving forward positively, says Indian minister Goyal

INDIA’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that negotiations on the proposed trade agreement between India and the United States, which began in March, are progressing in a positive atmosphere and both sides are satisfied with the discussions.

He recalled that in February, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. (Representational image: iStock)

Woman raped in racially aggravated attack in Oldbury

A WOMAN in her 20s was raped in Oldbury in what police are treating as a racially aggravated attack.

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. Officers said the men made a racist remark during the incident.

Keep ReadingShow less