Consent isn't a personality trait. I'm not a person who “likes assists” and therefore permanently belongs in the YES category. Consent is specific and contextual, and no one should expect to agree in advance to being touched, without knowing the context and the specifics.

There’s a moment many yoga teachers will recognise. A student approaches before class and mentions their lower back. Perhaps it’s been troublesome for years; perhaps it’s having a particularly opinionated week. They want to practise, but they’re unsure how much to do. “Take it slowly and gently,” we say.

If I teach a series of movements involving lunges, twists, balances and stretches, those movements don't become yoga because I give some of them Sanskrit names and finish the class with everyone lying in Savasana. Without a philosophical and ethical framework, we may have created an intelligent, enjoyable and beneficial movement practice. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But is it yoga?I don't think it necessarily is.