Radio NZ broadcasts an attack on the yoga community in New Zealand

Yoga teacher brings the “Me Too” movement into the yoga movement on national radio

Once upon a time (right through the 80's and 90's) I was a practitioner of yoga and for a long time of Iyengar yoga as well as being a teacher.  Some years ago I distanced myself from the Iyengar scene for my own particular reasons.

I was disgusted to hear an interview with Christchurch-based American yoga teacher, Donna Farhi on the highly-popular Kim Hill Show on Radio NZ that was touted to bring the "me too" movement into the yoga movement.

I knew Donna quite well personally and know her to be a controlled, disciplined and highly ambitious, if not arrogant woman who is not averse to being very self-promoting (something that can be heard clearly in the interview).

That she should use a public platform like Radio NZ (the NZ equivalent of the BBC) to attack a community that has never in my knowledge ever been tainted by the sort of scandal she refers to (she is talking primarily about an American teacher) while attacking the late BKS Iyengar while promoting herself is nothing less than reprehensible.

One thing that was noticeable was that the things she was talking about go right across the entire yoga community, indeed the entire "New Age" movement.  Yet she singles out Iyengar and the Iyengar movement.

However, the brunt of my disgust is directed at Radio New Zealand (and the terrible Kim Hill who is responsible for so much PC social engineering). I have included my letter to them below.

I have seen, in this age of political correctness and malicious finger-pointing just about every person I have looked up to denigrated and attacked because their thought is a rebuke to the fascistic ideology that we are seeing today.

In cases where there has been cases of real sexual abuse this should be addressed.However, much of this is simply an attack on the past where the very baby boomers that were part of the lax standards of that generation are now retrospectively pointing the finger, effectively using an oppressive climate that can only be compared with the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950's to deny their own shadow and project it onto others who committed acts that were in tune with the mores (or lack of) of the time.

Listen to Kim Hill's interview with Donna Farhi HERE

Here is my letter to Radio NZ:

I wish to complain strongly about the interview of yoga teacher, Donna Farhi by Kim Hill.

First some background. I have, in the past, been a practitioner of yoga (specifically Iyengar yoga) as well as a teacher and left the Iyengar scene for my own personal reasons and have not taught for nearly 20 years. I am aware of the general. Issues Ms.Farhi raised in the inteview. I have also known Ms Farhi personally and can attest that she has been saying the same things for about 20 years.

The interview, in my view, was defamatory (“archaic pedagogy”) and attacked a whole group of people in THIS country who have NEVER, to my knowledge ever been implicated in any of the abuse she is referring to. They, however, will face the brunt of this attack.

The issues of abuse, of course, are very real but go right across the yoga community and indeed the whole “New Age” movement and need to be addressed although the cases are historical and relate to another time, to an entire generation of baby boomers whose moral standards in the 1970’s and 1980’s can only be referred to as “lax”.

As an American, Ms Farhi should have addressed these issues in an American context, rather than on New Zealand media.

I also found that it was an attack on others while at the same time being shamelessly self-regarding and self-promoting. It smacked of collusion in an attack on “the opposition”. Ms. Farhi is, let’s face it, not a disinterested  party.

 

My main concern is not the viewpoints being presented (everyone is entitled to their view) but with the decision of Kim Hill’s producers and Radio New Zealand  to collude with this.

The broadcasting standards say quite clearly:

"When controversial issues of public importance are discussed in news, current affairs or factual programmes, broadcasters should make reasonable efforts, or give reasonable opportunities, to present significant points of view either in the same programme or in other programmes within the period of current interest."

and

"Broadcasters should make reasonable efforts to ensure that news, current affairs and factual programming:

• is accurate in relation to all material points of fact
• does not mislead.

Given that the claims made were of a defamatory nature the VERY LEAST Radio New Zealand should have done is to have given representatives of the NZ Iyengar Yoga Association the right to response.  The very airing of highly biased and defamatory comments on public radio without the right of response is WRONG.

I shall therefore be making a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Yours sincerely etc....