Fighting
UK Yoga ‘warriors’ fighting to diversify booming industry
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 U.K.