Treat all participants, teachers, and staff with kindness, respect, and an open heart. Embrace diversity and create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome.

Respect the privacy of others by keeping personal information shared within the training confidential.

Respect others’ time by arriving at least 10 minutes before scheduled sessions to settle in and be ready for the start time. Be mindful of break times, returning promptly to maintain the flow of the training. See our Attendance Policy for more information.

Show respect for the cultural and traditional aspects of yoga, honoring the teachings and lineage of the practice.

Keep cell phone use to a minimum during class hours and be mindful of others' need for focus and concentration.

Respect shared spaces, keeping them clean and organized for the well-being of all participants.

Respect your body. Prioritize safety during asana practice, listening to your body and following instructors' guidance. Report any injuries or safety concerns promptly to the instructor or relevant staff.

Come prepared to practice yoga in clothes that are comfortable and appropriate.

Communicate openly and honestly with fellow participants, teachers, and staff to foster a supportive learning community. Provide feedback and constructive criticism in a respectful and considerate manner, focusing on growth and improvement.

Understand that violations of this Code of Conduct may result in disciplinary action, including dismissal from the program.

We require 100% attendance to graduate and receive a certificate of completion from our program. Class attendance will be taken throughout the training.

In the case of any emergency absences, please notify the lead trainer immediately. If a student has planned absences that conflict with attendance, please contact the lead trainer to discuss options.

We do not accept unapproved absences, and they may result in dismissal from the program. In this case, graduation will be at the discretion of the lead trainer and studio owner.

Each student is responsible for scheduling make-up time with the lead trainer. Students must pay an additional fee for private make-up sessions.

Our program expects students to be on time for class, after breaks, and after lunch. Please let the lead trainer know if you will be late. Each student is expected to be at each session 5 - 10 minutes before the start time in order to set up, and so the training may begin on time. If the student is 10 + minutes late 3 times or more, this will result in a deduction of hours from their total contact hours.

Deposit

The applicant must pay a deposit of $500 to hold their place in the program. The deadline to pay in full is one week prior to the start date of training.

Three (3) Day Cancellation

An applicant who submits written notice of cancellation within three (3) business days after signing the training agreement is entitled to a refund of all money paid. The refund will be paid within thirty (30) days of receiving the notice of cancellation.

Cancellations After Three (3) Days But Before Program Start Date

An applicant who submits written notice of cancellation of the program more than three business days after signing the training agreement but before the program begins is entitled to a refund of all money paid, less the $500 deposit.

Cancellations After the Program Start Date

The program will not give any refunds or credits after the training starts, save for the special cases detailed below.

Special Cases

In case a student needs to withdraw from the program due to illness, accident, death in the family, or other circumstances that make it impractical for the student to complete the course, the program will provide a reasonable and fair refund.

Training Cancellation

The program reserves the right to cancel any training before it begins. In that case, any payments applicants have made will be refunded in full.

Admission Denials

An applicant who is denied admission into the program is entitled to a full refund of all money paid by said applicant.

Bad Conduct

No refunds will be given if the program removes a student from the program for bad conduct. Bad conduct is violation of the Code of Conduct, harassment, bullying, or any other behavior that is inappropriate or disruptive to the welfare of the program or to fellow students.

Harassment

Harassment is a legal term that means unwelcome verbal and non-verbal conduct directed against someone in a protected class.

We do not permit managers, employees, teachers, independent contractors, students, or others in the workplace to harass any other person because of age, gender (including pregnancy), race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, genetic information, or any other basis proscribed by law.

Harassment is unwelcome verbal or non-verbal conduct, based upon a person’s protected characteristic, that (i) denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward the person because of the characteristic and which affects their employment opportunities or benefits; (ii) has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with their work performance; (iii) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment; or (iv) has the purpose or effect of creating a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.

Harassment includes epithets, slurs, name calling, negative stereotyping, insults, intimidation, ridicule, threatening, intimidating or hostile acts, denigrating jokes, and display in the workplace of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group based on their protected characteristic. Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated minor incidents may not rise to the level of harassment.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a legal term that means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature in the workplace.

We do not tolerate sexual harassment in our studio. Sexual harassment refers to any unwelcome sexual attention, sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

(a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment;

(b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual;

(c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; or

(d) such conduct has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

Examples of sexual harassment include unwanted and unnecessary physical contact; offensive remarks (including unwelcome comments about appearance); obscene jokes or other inappropriate use of sexually offensive language; the display in the studio of sexually suggestive objects or pictures; and unwelcome sexual advances by teachers, students, customers, clients, or other visitors to a studio. Non-physical gesture, behavior, unnecessary physical contact, verbal suggestion, or innuendo may constitute sexual harassment.

Sexual Misconduct

Sexual misconduct is a non-legal term used informally to describe a broad range of behaviors which may or may not involve harassment.

We prohibit sexual misconduct in our studio. Sexual misconduct is any unwelcome sexual advance including requests for sexual favors, sexual touching, and verbal, visual, or physical conduct that creates a sexually hostile environment in a yoga class or studio.

Sexual misconduct exists if a teacher engages in conduct that has the result of requiring a student to submit to such conduct to obtain any benefit or privilege relating to the study or teaching of yoga.

While it is not possible to list all the circumstances that may constitute sexual misconduct, the following are examples of misconduct:

Verbal

• Unwanted sexual teasing, stories, jokes, remarks, or questions

• Sexual comments, stories or innuendo

• Turning work discussions to sexual topics

• Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history

• Asking personal questions about social or sexual life

• Sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anatomy, or looks

• Telling lies or spreading rumors about a person’s personal sex life.

• Referring to an individual as a doll, babe, sweetheart, honey, or similar term

• Repeatedly asking a person out on dates who is not interested

• Unwanted letters, telephone calls, or sending materials of a sexual nature

• Stalking on social media

• Unwanted pressure for sexual favors

Non-Verbal

• Blocking a person’s path or following

• Giving unwelcome personal gifts

• Displaying sexually suggestive materials

• Making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements

• Unwanted sexual looks or gestures

Physical

• Hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking

• Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person

• Unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching

• Giving an unwanted massage

• Sexually oriented asana adjustments or touch

• Promising enlightenment or special teachings or status in exchange for sexual favors

• Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault

Romantic Relationships Between Teachers and Students

Teachers shall not invite, respond to, or allow any sexual or romantic conduct with a student during the period of the teacher-student relationship.

Sexual or romantic interactions that occur during the teacher-student relationship constitute sexual misconduct and are unethical. Sexual or romantic interactions detract from the goals of the teaching relationship, may exploit the vulnerability of the student, may obscure the teacher’s judgment concerning the student, may be detrimental to the student’s well-being and damage the reputation of the yoga community.

Yoga teachers must maintain professional boundaries in their relationships with students so that the best interests of the students are served. The interest of the teacher is not relevant: the art of teaching yoga is focused on serving the spiritual needs of the student. The teacher-student relationship involves an imbalance of power and any appearance that this imbalance has been exploited for the sexual purposes of the teacher is unethical. Even if the relationship is initiated by the student, it must still be avoided by the teacher.

If a teacher is becoming romantically involved with a student, the teacher should end the teaching relationship. The teacher must ensure that any behavior in dealing with students is always professional and not open to misunderstanding or misinterpretation. If a relationship begins to develop, the teacher should seek the guidance of school management.

We have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and/or misconduct. We will not permit anyone to retaliate against you for filing a report of sexual misconduct. Please see our Anti-Retaliation Policy for more information.

Reporting of Policy Violations

We encourage anyone who has been the subject of sexual misconduct or of any other action that violates our policies or Code of Conduct to report the incident to our school management (henceforth referred to as the “reviewing body”).

The report should contain the following information:

• Your full name

• Your email and phone number

• The name of the person the grievance is against

• A description of the policy violation

• The date and location of the policy violation

• Names and contact information of any witnesses with first-hand knowledge

of the situation

• Any other credible evidence that is available to support the grievance.

In the interest of fairness, all reports must be made by the person who has personally experienced the misconduct. We will not investigate a matter based upon a third-party report of misconduct.

All reports must be made in good faith based on information the person reporting the incident reasonably believes to be accurate.

We may request additional information from the person reporting the incident throughout the course of review of the report.

We will take appropriate action to ensure compliance with our policies. The reviewing body will impose any sanctions that it feels are fair, just, and reasonable under all circumstances.

We will not allow anyone to retaliate against any person for making a report in good faith or providing information in connection with an investigation into an alleged violation.

Any information provided during a grievance review will be treated on a confidential basis.

Similarly, any actions taken in response to the report will also be confidential.

Due Process and Procedure

We recognize that our school has an obligation to give a person accused of misconduct a reasonable level of due process. Because the person may lose his or her job and their reputation may be tarnished, the decision-making process must be fair and objective. Due process in this context does not mean that the reviewing body will conduct a mini trial, but it will gather all of the relevant facts surrounding the matter and make a fair and objective decision based on the facts. The reviewing body may need to interview the person who reported the situation, the person who perpetrated the misconduct, and any other people who have direct knowledge about the situation. We will examine all other credible and objective evidence about the situation.

After the reviewing body gathers the facts, we will determine if the allegations are credible.

If it is determined that is the case, the reviewing body will decide on the sanctions to impose and then communicate its decision to those involved.

Sanctions

We recognize the principle of “the punishment must fit the crime.” We do not sentence someone to life imprisonment for jaywalking. There must be a sense of fairness and moral proportion in judging these situations. All cases of abuse and misconduct, from inappropriate commentary to physical assault, will be judged objectively and the reviewing body will fashion a sanction that fairly and equitably addresses the situation, giving due considerations, to all the facts.

In many cases, it may be hard to uncover all the facts, there may be conflicting facts, there may be conflicts of interest, and there may be circumstances and facts that weigh on both sides of the scales of justice.

However, the reviewing body will use sound and careful judgment in deciding what type of sanctions to impose. There are four options:

1. Do Nothing. The facts do not show that the person committed the policy violation.

2. A Warning. The facts show that the person’s actions were minor and that a warning is a fair sanction. The warning could be coupled with counseling.

3. Time Out. The facts show that the person’s actions were serious, and they warrant suspending the person from the studio or community for a decided amount of time. However, the actions were not so serious that they support termination of employment. For example, the person may be good hearted, but made a mistake in judgment. This may weigh toward leniency.

The “Time Out” period is usually one year but it may be shorter depending upon the circumstances.

During the “Time Out” the person gets counseling, does spiritual work, contemplates their actions, etc.

After the “Time Out” period expires, the person can approach the reviewing body to ask to re-commence their teaching activities or allow them to rejoin the community. This body will then determine whether the person has resolved their issues and that it is appropriate for them to return. When making this determination, we will consider whether there has been a sincere apology and contrition, appropriate reparation to the injured parties, rehabilitation, and heart-felt change before the person may return. This decision will entirely at the discretion of the reviewing body.

4. Dismissal. The facts show that the person’s actions were so serious that they warrant dismissing the person from the studio or community. The person is dismissed, and their employment or independent contractor agreement is terminated.

Retaliation means taking an “adverse action” against any person for having reported or threatened to report harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or violations of our Code of Conduct, or for participating in an investigation into a complaint of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation or violations of our Code of Conduct.

We prohibit retaliation against anyone for reporting a violation of our Code of Conduct or other policies, or for participating in an investigation relating to a violation of our Code of Conduct or other policies.

We encourage any person — including employees, non-employees, and students — who believes they have been subject to retaliation to inform an instructor or the studio owner.