Rodney Yee is an American

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

instructor who rose to national prominence in the mid-1990s when he was featured on the cover of ''

Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...

'' magazine and later starred in a series of Gaiam/Living Arts yoga instructional videos and DVDs. Yee has narrated meditation audios and written two books.

Early life and education

Rodney Yee was born in 1957, the

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

son of an

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, and spent his childhood on military bases in

Altus, Oklahoma Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 18,729 at the 2020 census. Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air Force training base for C-17, KC-46 and KC-135 ...

and

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. He was a

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

during his high school years and later became a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer, performing with the Oakland Ballet Company and the Matsuyama Ballet Company of

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He began studies in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, though he dropped out in order to pursue ballet full-time.

Career

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 Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

; in 1987 he co-founded the Piedmont Yoga Studio in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

. In 2002, several students of Yee's stated that they were having sexual relations with Yee and that the behavior had been going on for some time. Yee was sued for breach of contract, the claim alleging multiple sexual affairs with his students.

Personal life

Yee has three children from his first marriage to Donna Fone, whom he divorced in 2002 after twenty-four years of marriage. 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. Yee and Saidman live in

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Bibliography

* ''Yoga, The Poetry of the Body'', Saint Martin's Griffin, 2002. * ''Moving Toward Balance'', Rodale Press, 2004.

References

Sources

External links

*
Gaiam Yoga Club featuring Rodney Yee and Colleen SaidmanRodney Yee's websiteRodney Yee's videos produced by Gaiam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yee, Rodney American male ballet dancers American people of Chinese descent American yoga teachers 1957 births Living people People from Altus, Oklahoma University of California, Berkeley alumni