Pillar 4: Attitudinal Access - What We Assume Matters

When we talk about accessibility in yoga, we often think about physical barriers, instructor skills, or the cost of attending a class.

But there is another kind of access that can be harder to identify.

What happens when the barrier is an attitude?

In the Inclusive Yoga Framework, the Attitudinal Access Pillar looks at the beliefs, language, and habits of mind that either open the door or quietly close it.

Start with intersectionality

Disability is complex. It intersects with other aspects of a person's identity, including age, race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status.

These overlapping identities shape a person's experiences and can create multiple, intersecting barriers to accessing yoga.

A person who has a disability may also be a racialized person, a senior, and someone living on a limited income. Each part of their identity can influence their experience of the world and their experience in a yoga space.

Understanding intersectionality helps you appreciate the full scope of someone's experience rather than viewing disability in isolation.

Recognize ableism

Ableism is the belief that typical abilities are inherently superior. It can be intentional or unintentional, and it often shows up in our attitudes, language, environments, and systems.

Ableism can create assumptions about what people who have disabilities can or cannot do.

In a yoga studio, it might show up when modifications are treated as lesser options, when a student is given less instruction or encouragement, or when an instructor makes assumptions about what a student can handle.

Ableism also creeps into our everyday language. Words or phrases that stereotype, demean, or exclude people with disabilities are found in all forms of common speech, from informal conversations to professional settings and public discourse.

It can be obvious:

"You're so lame."

Or more subtle:

"That's crazy."

Regardless, it's important to remember that language shapes attitudes, and attitudes shape actions.

Examine unconscious bias

Every day, we make countless decisions without realizing we're making them. Our brains rely on shortcuts and past knowledge or experiences to process the enormous amount of information we encounter.

These shortcuts can contribute to unconscious bias.

Our biases are shaped over time by our families, our communities, the media, our education, and even the images of yoga we have been exposed to. Many of us have also grown up with very little representation of disability in yoga.

Unconscious bias isn't a character flaw.  But it can have consequences.

Once you recognize that these biases may exist, you have a responsibility to examine them and consider how they may influence the way you teach.

Watch for stereotypes and microaggressions

Stereotypes are fixed, inaccurate beliefs about people based on their membership in a group.

People who have a disability are often underestimated. They may be assumed to be fragile, dependent, or unable to make decisions about their own lives.

In a yoga studio, these assumptions can shape what you offer, what you expect, and how much you invest in a student's experience.

Then there are microaggressions—small, often unintentional comments and behaviours that can cumulatively shape someone's experience.

• Saying things like: "You're so inspiring for being here."

• Speaking to a support person accompanying a student rather than speaking directly to the student.

• Congratulating a student who has a disability for completing the same pose as everyone else in a way that singles them out.

  
  

Each moment may seem small.

But each one communicates something about how the student is being perceived.

Awareness is the starting point. And awareness gives you the opportunity to change the habit.

Language matters

Language isn't separate from inclusion. It is often the medium through which inclusion either happens—or doesn't.  Present options as options—not as better and lesser versions of the practice. 

Instead of:

"If you can't do the full pose, use a block."

Try:

"Choose the version that works for your body today."

The way you refer to people also matters. 

Person-first language, such as "a person who has a disability," puts the person before the diagnosis. Identity-first language, such as "a disabled person" or "an autistic person," recognizes disability as part of a person's identity.

Neither is universally correct – people have preferences.  If you don’t know, and you need to, just ATP – Ask The Person. And, when a student tells you how they prefer to be identified, follow their lead.

From protection to empowerment

One of the most important shifts in attitudinal access is moving from a protective mindset to an empowering one.

From:

"I should be careful not to push them too hard."

To:

"I will give this student the same quality of guidance I give everyone and trust them to know their body."

Risk is not the enemy of inclusion.  Overprotection is.

Adults who have a disability are adults. They have the right to take risks, attempt challenging postures, and make choices about their own bodies.

Your role is not to decide what a student can handle. Your role is to provide excellent, attentive, adaptive instruction—and trust your student with the rest.

Attitudinal access improves when your awareness improves

The goal isn't perfection.  It's awareness—and a willingness to examine the beliefs, language, and habits that influence how you teach.  And then make changes.

Before your next class, consider:

• Where might you be making an assumption about a student's ability?

• Where have you framed an option as a fallback?

• Where might you be protecting a student instead of empowering them?

• Where could you simply Ask The Person?

  
  

What is one assumption, phrase, or teaching habit you could examine this week?