Rodney Yee

Rodney Yee is an American yoga instructor who rose to national prominence in the mid-1990s when he was featured on the cover of Yoga Journal magazine and later starred in a series of Gaiam/Living Arts yoga instructional videos and DVDs.[1] Yee has narrated meditation audios and written two books.

Rodney Yee
Born1957
OccupationYoga instructor
Years activeearly 1990s–present
Spouse(s)Donna Fone; Colleen Saidman

Life and career

Rodney Yee was born in 1957, the Chinese-American son of an Air Force Colonel, and spent his childhood on military bases in Altus, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico. He was a gymnast during his high school years and later became a ballet dancer, performing with the Oakland Ballet Company and the Matsuyama Ballet Company of Tokyo, Japan. He began studies in philosophy and physical therapy at the University of California, Berkeley, though he dropped out in order to pursue ballet full-time.[2]

Yee became a yoga enthusiast in the Iyengar school, but now teaches a blend of Iyengar Yoga and his own invented style. He began his Yoga teaching career at a studio called The Yoga Room in Berkeley; in 1987 he co-founded the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland.[2]

In 2002,it was revealed by several students of Yee's that they were having sexual relations with Yee and that the behavior had been going on for some time.[3]

Yee has three children from his first marriage to Donna Fone, whom he divorced in 2002 after twenty-four years of marriage.[4] He married former model Colleen Saidman, one of his students, in December 2006. Since dating students violates the precepts of yoga teacher conduct as defined by the Yoga Alliance, this led to division in Yee-oriented communities.[5] They live in The Hamptons. Both yoga instructors continue to pursue their own careers (Yee with YeeYoga and Gaiam; Saidman with Yoga Shanti) and in May, 2008 opened an online yoga club / virtual yoga studio together called The Gaiam Yoga Club. Yee now teaches around the world at workshops, retreats, and conferences.

Works
  • Yoga, The Poetry of the Body, Saint Martin's Griffin, 2002. ISBN 978-0312273316
  • Moving Toward Balance, Rodale Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0875969213

References
  1. Donahue, Dierdre. "Look at this man's body: This is what yoga can do for you." USA Today, April 24, 2002 (full text)
  2. Schneider 2003, pp. 76-81.
  3. Goodyear, Charlie; Marech, Rona (May 12, 2002). "Yoga guru in compromising position / Celebrity instructor Rodney Yee faces allegations of misconduct with students". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  4. Pogrebin, Abigail. "An Illicit Yoga Love Story". New York Magazine. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  5. Goodyear, Charles; ibid.

Sources
  • Schneider, Carrie (2003). American Yoga | The paths and practices of America's greatest yoga masters. Barnes & Noble. pp. 76–83. ISBN 978-0760745588.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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