Hridaya Yoga Staff Code of Conduct

At Hridaya Yoga, we are committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and professional environment for all program participants, staff, teachers, guests, and community members. All staff members are required to read and sign this Code of Conduct annually, reaffirming their commitment to ethical principles and the well-being of our community.

Scope

This code applies not only to behavior at our centers, but also during off-site activities, online programs, digital communications, and informal gatherings connected to the Hridaya community.

The Hridaya Vision

By choosing to serve at Hridaya, our staff members agree to respect and support both the Hridaya Yoga Vision and the Hridaya Vision on Tantra and Sexuality.

Hridaya exists to support sincere human beings in awakening to the Spiritual Heart, recognizing their True Nature, and allowing this recognition to be expressed through love, clarity, freedom, and compassion in daily life.

Staff members’ presence in the community should support kindness, respect, and a sense of belonging, helping create the intimate and reassuring feeling of being in an authentic spiritual sangha.

While serving, staff are asked to maintain purity of intention and to consecrate the fruits of their actions to the Spiritual Heart. This attitude excludes manipulative tendencies or any willingness to take advantage of others or of their position in the community. Rather, they are encouraged to cultivate a caring, respectful, and loving attitude of service.

Ethical Conduct and Respect

Foundational Agreements

All staff agree to:

Respect the yamas and niyamas and express the Fourteen Hridaya Attitudes and the Hridaya Values and Principles.
Treat all program participants, teachers, staff members, and guests with respect, dignity, and fairness.
Uphold professional and ethical standards in all interactions. This includes reliably fulfilling responsibilities, maintaining appropriate clarity in all relationships, respecting confidentiality, communicating with care, being accountable for mistakes, and using their positions responsibly.
Avoid any form of discrimination, intimidation, or abusive behavior.
Understand that serving at our centers means they agree to be humble and open to constructive feedback from other teachers, Karma Yogis, administrative staff, and program participants.
Offer feedback, questions, and concerns with sincerity, maturity, and a genuine wish to support greater clarity, integrity, and alignment. Hridaya, in turn, commits to receiving such feedback with openness, discernment, and respect.
Keep an attitude of aspiration, openness, and receptivity to the spiritual guidance and recommendations offered to them by Sahajananda and other senior teachers.
Commit to their ongoing spiritual practice and inner deepening, understanding that their presence as a staff member is supported by continuous Self-Inquiry, humility, and transformation.
Recognize that staff members help shape the atmosphere and are encouraged to model appropriate behavior. This includes continuously aspiring to embody the Hridaya values in daily life; honoring sangha agreements that support personal practice, collective harmony, and the retreat environment, including dedicated school-wide mauna times; and participating in sangha gatherings and other events as agreed upon for their position. Hridaya staff members are not expected to appear perfect, but to live sincerely, acknowledge mistakes, remain teachable, and return again and again to the Heart.
Offer their work in the spirit of Karma Yoga, with a willingness to support the center and the community as needs arise, according to their capacity.
Support a sattvic environment by refraining from recreational or illicit drug use and habitual alcohol consumption. This includes not organizing or participating in ayahuasca ceremonies or other events centered on the use of hallucinogenic, psychedelic, or strongly consciousness-altering substances while actively serving as a Hridaya staff member.
Offer any private services or outside workshops with transparency, integrity, and respect for Hridaya’s values. Staff positions and paid services should remain clearly differentiated, and program participants should never feel pressured, explicitly or implicitly, to book additional services or believe they will receive any spiritual or community advantage by doing so.
Inform the appropriate department before offering workshops or services in the local area, and ensure they do not conflict with Hridaya programs or contradict the spiritual values of the organization. Outside workshops and private activities may not be promoted or announced through Hridaya channels without prior approval.

Power Dynamics and Community Responsibility

Staff members may hold a position of trust, visibility, access, or influence within the community. Because of this, they have a responsibility to be attentive to power imbalances, emotional vulnerability, dependency, and the trust that program participants, Karma Yogis, guests, or other community members may place in them.

This responsibility includes ensuring that their role is never used to manipulate, pressure, exploit, or gain inappropriate personal, emotional, sexual, financial, or social advantage over others.

Sexuality, Harassment, and Abuse

Hridaya Yoga understands human sexuality as a divine gift that should be honored with awareness, reverence, and gratitude. Physical sexual intimacy should be expressed in the context of complete consent, sacredness, and love. Thus, it is expected that staff members will always engage in behaviors consistent with this spiritual understanding of sexuality.

Maintain clear and respectful professional behavior at all times, including in one-on-one meetings, private communications, social media interactions, and other online spaces.
All forms of harassment, bullying, or sexual misconduct are strictly prohibited. This includes verbal, physical, and digital misconduct or abuse of authority.
Consent must be clear, enthusiastic, ongoing, and freely given. It can be withdrawn at any time and must be respected immediately.
The following, by themselves, do not constitute consent:
- Perceived flirtation or attraction
- Expressions of warmth, friendliness, or openness
- Tantric, spiritual, or emotionally intimate contexts
- The absence of verbal refusal or resistance
- Previous interactions
- Familiarity or prior relationships
Any sexualized behavior occurring within a context of power imbalance is considered high risk and requires heightened attention, regardless of intent.
In a spiritual community, relationships may naturally evolve over time. A program participant, Karma Yogi, or community member may become a friend, and in some cases, mutual romantic feelings may arise. Hridaya does not wish to treat love as something suspicious or wrong. At the same time, some relationships may carry a natural imbalance of role, influence, trust, and vulnerability; therefore, any movement toward a romantic or intimate relationship with a current program participant or someone they supervise must be held with clarity, transparency, and care.
If staff members wish to pursue a romantic or intimate relationship with a current participant, Karma Yogi, staff member, or community member where there may be a power imbalance or position-based influence, they must first seek confidential ethical consultation from their supervisor or the Head of Sangha before the relationship becomes intimate. The purpose of this reporting is not for Hridaya to control the relationship, but to ensure that any movement toward intimacy is mutual, conscious, and free from pressure or confusion.
Depending on the situation, Hridaya may ask for supportive steps to ensure that the relationship is entered into with care, equality, and freedom from imbalanced power dynamics. This may include changing work responsibilities, removing supervisory or evaluative roles, creating a waiting period, or involving the Care and Accountability Committee.
If the relationship was clearly established before the staff or supervisory relationship began, this process does not apply in the same way. However, the staff member is still expected to act with transparency, sensitivity, and care, in alignment with Hridaya’s approach to sexuality and conscious relationships.

Confidentiality and Privacy

All staff agree to:

Respect the confidentiality and privacy of program participants, staff, and other teachers.
Respect the confidentiality of personal information or experiences shared by program participants and community members.
Handle personal data with care, discretion, and integrity. This includes phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, health information, emergency contacts, registration details, enrollment history, payment information, personal notes, and any other information stored in Hridaya systems. Access, use, or share this information only when necessary for an authorized purpose.
Refrain from sharing others’ personal stories, images, or testimonials on social media or public platforms without explicit prior consent.

Reporting Misconduct

If staff members directly witness, receive a disclosure of, or become aware of credible information concerning possible sexual misconduct, harassment, abuse of power, or a serious safeguarding concern, they will report it promptly using the Form for Reporting Sexual Misconduct, Harassment, or Abuse of Power specific to the center where they are serving (France or Mexico). If the information is uncertain, indirect, or difficult to interpret, they will seek confidential guidance from the Care and Accountability Committee rather than investigating the matter themselves.
If someone shares concerning information with a staff member but asks that it not be reported or that the conversation remain confidential, they will still submit a brief report for documentation purposes. The report will note only that a confidential conversation concerning a potential misconduct or safeguarding issue occurred and that the person requested confidentiality. Where appropriate, and within the bounds of the confidentiality discussed with the person, the report may identify the person raising the concern and the person the concern relates to, without including unnecessary details or otherwise disclosing the substance of the conversation.
Participants may report complaints via the forms linked above or by emailing our confidential addresses for France or Mexico. If a participant speaks to a staff member directly, they will listen with care, avoid pressing for unnecessary details, explain the available reporting options, and support the person in contacting the appropriate channel. Staff members will not promise absolute confidentiality, as information related to safety may need to be shared with a limited number of responsible people.
Complaints will be reviewed with care and discernment by the Care and Accountability Committee, made up of trusted long-term members of the community.
Those who raise concerns or make reports in good faith will be protected from retaliation, exclusion, or informal negative consequences. Appropriate supportive and protective measures may be taken while a concern is being reviewed.
By serving at Hridaya, staff members understand that any complaints against them from program participants, staff, teachers, Karma Yogis, guests, or community members will be examined carefully and with discernment. A report does not in itself establish wrongdoing. Hridaya will seek to avoid both the minimization of genuine harm and premature judgment, labeling, or compassionless criticism.

Concluding Inspirations

These guidelines are not intended to limit our staff members’ freedom, but to support the conditions in which true freedom, trust, and spiritual deepening can flourish. They are offered as expressions of spiritual common sense and as part of our shared aspiration to create a conscious community.

We envision Hridaya as a spiritual community rooted in love, truthfulness, openheartedness, and respect for the sacredness of each being. By living these values with sincerity and consistency, we hope to offer a space that supports genuine transformation and inspires others to reconnect with their Real Nature.

These guidelines apply to all Hridaya staff members. If they are not upheld, Hridaya may take appropriate action, including pausing or ending a staff member’s position. In serious cases, this may include suspension of duties, termination, or, when necessary, legal action to protect the integrity of the practice, the well-being of the community, and the trust placed in us as those serving at Hridaya.

Annual Acknowledgment

Our Vision on Tantra and Sexuality

Hridaya Community Vision

Each year, all staff members affirm that they have read, understood, and agree to comply with this Code of Conduct, committing to uphold these principles in their interactions with program participants, teachers, other staff, and the community.