Yoga Journal
American yoga media brand that evolved from a California teachers' newsletter into a print and digital journal, events platform, and international publishing property.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Yoga Journal is an American media brand focused on yoga, wellness, nutrition, fitness, and related lifestyle subjects. It began in California in May 1975 as a publication of the California Yoga Teachers Association, whose newsletter, The Word, provided the immediate editorial predecessor. The founding project sought to present traditional yoga in conversation with contemporary scientific understanding. Rama Jyoti Vernon was president of the association, William Staniger served as founding editor, and Judith Lasater was involved as a board member and copy editor. The earliest issue was produced with volunteer labor, unpaid contributors, and a print run of approximately 300 copies that the founders distributed themselves. As yoga became increasingly popular in the United States, Yoga Journal developed from a specialist association publication into a national consumer magazine. By the middle of the 1990s, its circulation had reached roughly 66,000. In 1998, former banker John Abbott acquired the magazine and appointed Kathryn Arnold editor-in-chief. A redesign and relaunch followed in 2000. The publication subsequently expanded its audience substantially; reference material reports paid circulation rising from about 90,000 to 350,000 between the arrival of the new ownership and 2010, with readership exceeding 1.3 million. The brand also received repeated recognition from the Western Publications Association, including eight Maggie Awards for Best Health and Fitness Magazine and the association's top award for Best Overall Consumer Publication. Yoga Journal's editorial scope has covered yoga philosophy and practice alongside food, nutrition, fitness, wellness, fashion, beauty, and yoga-related products. Its digital service provides explanatory material on yoga styles, equipment, and more than one hundred asanas. Users can approach pose information by name, movement type, anatomical area, or stated benefit. The brand has also published instructional materials, including DVDs, and organized live programming. Its annual and other yoga events have combined practical classes with talks led by prominent teachers, including Cyndi Lee, Judith Hanson Lasater, Kino MacGregor, and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa. The brand has played a visible role in shaping the commercial image of yoga in the United States. Its editorial style has often joined physiological and clinical language with coverage of spiritual or mystical themes, presenting yoga partly as a therapeutic and wellness practice. At the same time, scholars and journalists have criticized the magazine's historical visual emphasis on thin, white, affluent-looking women. This criticism became especially prominent in the 2010s, when commentators connected Yoga Journal's imagery and advertising to the broader commercialization and racialization of contemporary American yoga. In January 2019, the magazine published two alternative covers for a leadership-themed issue, featuring models with different body sizes and racial identities. The response included criticism and an apology from brand director Tasha Eichenseher, who acknowledged that the publication had harmed communities disproportionately excluded from yoga and said it needed to become more representative in age, race, ability, body type, gender, yoga style, and experience. Yoga Journal also conducts or publishes market research. Its 2012 Yoga in America survey reported approximately 20.4 million American yoga practitioners and estimated the domestic yoga market at more than $10 billion annually; these figures were based on research conducted through the Harris Interactive Service Bureau. The brand has maintained international editions and a substantial online presence. In 2020, Yoga Journal was acquired by Outside, moving the property into a broader outdoor and active-lifestyle media group. It is now primarily encountered as a digital journal and website, while retaining the legacy of its former print magazine and its event, instructional, and community-oriented activities.
History
Yoga Journal originated within the California Yoga Teachers Association in the mid-1970s. The association's newsletter, The Word, developed into a more ambitious publication intended to connect classical yoga with modern scientific knowledge. The first issue appeared in May 1975. Rama Jyoti Vernon led the association as president, William Staniger became the founding editor, and Judith Lasater served on the board while also working as copy editor. The early publication relied on volunteers and unpaid writers, and only about 300 copies of the first issue were produced and distributed personally by the founders. The publication grew alongside the spread of yoga in the United States. It gradually moved beyond the role of a teachers' association newsletter and established itself as a consumer magazine addressing practice, philosophy, health, nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle. By the mid-1990s, circulation had reached approximately 66,000. John Abbott, a former banker, purchased the magazine in 1998 and hired Kathryn Arnold as editor-in-chief. The title was redesigned and relaunched in 2000. Later reference material describes strong audience growth, with paid circulation increasing from roughly 90,000 to 350,000 by 2010 and readership surpassing 1.3 million. Yoga Journal built authority through editorial coverage, instructional material, awards, digital publishing, and events. The magazine repeatedly won Western Publications Association Maggie Awards for Best Health and Fitness Magazine and also received the association's highest overall consumer-publication honor. Its website expanded the brand's instructional function by cataloguing yoga styles, equipment, and more than one hundred poses, with content organized by pose, movement, body area, and claimed benefit. The brand also produced DVDs and hosted conferences and other live events featuring teachers such as Cyndi Lee, Judith Hanson Lasater, Kino MacGregor, and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa. Its development also reflects tensions in the modern American yoga industry. The publication often described yoga using the language of physiology, diet, blood pressure, and therapy, even when discussing spiritual subjects. This helped make yoga accessible to a health and fitness audience but also situated the brand within the commercialization of yoga. Critics argued that its photography and advertising repeatedly presented yoga as an activity for thin, white, affluent women. Judith Lasater publicly criticized the use of sexually suggestive or minimally clothed female imagery in advertising, while later commentators examined the magazine's role in reinforcing a narrow visual ideal. In January 2019, Yoga Journal attempted a more explicit response to these concerns through a Leadership Issue released with two different covers. The issue explored lineage, social media, power, and the changing yoga community. The covers generated significant criticism, and brand director Tasha Eichenseher apologized for harm caused to communities that had been disproportionately excluded from yoga. She described a need for broader representation across race, age, ability, body type, gender, experience, and yoga style. Academic and media analyses have also examined the publication's advertorial formats, particularly the presentation of clothing, supplements, and other lifestyle products in editorial-looking features. Yoga Journal has maintained a website and international editions in multiple countries. Although it was historically identified with a print magazine, the brand's contemporary identity is primarily digital and multimedia. Outside acquired Yoga Journal in 2020, placing it within a larger active-lifestyle media organization. The title continues to draw on its legacy as a yoga specialist publication while serving readers through online journalism, instructional resources, wellness coverage, and related community or event programming.
- 2020
Acquisition by Outside
[1]Outside acquired Yoga Journal as part of its active-lifestyle media portfolio.
- 2019
Leadership Issue representation initiative
[1]The brand issued two covers intended to broaden discussion of representation, lineage, power, and inclusion in yoga.
- 2012
Yoga in America survey
[1]The survey reported 20.4 million American yoga practitioners and estimated the domestic yoga market at more than $10 billion annually.
- 2000
Print redesign and relaunch
[1]The magazine returned with a new design during its post-acquisition expansion.
- 1998
John Abbott acquires the magazine
[1]John Abbott purchased Yoga Journal and appointed Kathryn Arnold editor-in-chief.
- 1990
Circulation reaches approximately 66,000
[1]By the mid-1990s, the magazine had expanded substantially as yoga gained popularity in the United States.
- 1975
Yoga Journal is launched
[1]The California Yoga Teachers Association published the first issue in May, growing the project from its newsletter The Word.
Products and positioning
A specialist authority and lifestyle media platform for yoga practitioners, teachers, and wellness-oriented audiences, combining traditional yoga concepts with scientific, therapeutic, fitness, and contemporary lifestyle coverage.
Magazine · 1975
Yoga Journal Magazine
The original print publication covered yoga practice, philosophy, health, nutrition, fitness, wellness, fashion, and beauty. It developed from a professional association newsletter into a national consumer magazine and received repeated Western Publications Association recognition.
Digital media
Yoga Journal website
The website extends the magazine's editorial mission through articles, practical guidance, yoga-style explanations, equipment information, wellness coverage, and a searchable library of yoga poses. Content is designed for both practitioners and people seeking introductory or therapeutic information.
Instructional content
Yoga pose and practice library
Yoga Journal provides directions and reference material for more than one hundred asanas, allowing users to browse by pose name, movement category, anatomical region, or claimed benefit such as anxiety relief or improved digestion.
Instructional media
Yoga Journal DVDs
The brand has produced instructional DVDs and related learning materials on yoga and associated subjects, extending its practice guidance beyond magazine and web publishing.
Events
Yoga Journal conferences and live events
Yoga Journal's live programming has included annual conferences in venues across the United States, combining practical sessions, lectures, and appearances by established yoga teachers and gurus.
Controversies
2019
Criticism over racial and body-type representation
Critics argued that Yoga Journal's historical imagery presented yoga primarily through thin, white, affluent-looking women. The response to the 2019 Leadership Issue covers led the brand to acknowledge exclusion and apologize for harm.
2010
Criticism of sexualized advertising imagery
Co-founder Judith Lasater publicly criticized advertisements using naked or nearly naked women, arguing that such imagery sold products rather than teaching yoga or celebrating the practice.
Marketing campaigns
- 2019Leadership Issue dual-cover representation initiative
United States
Yoga Journal released two covers for a leadership-themed issue, using contrasting models to address the evolution of yoga and questions involving lineage, social media, power, and inclusion.
Outcome. The initiative generated substantial criticism as well as discussion. Brand director Tasha Eichenseher apologized for harm caused to communities excluded from yoga and committed to broader representation.
Brand decisions
2020
Join Outside's media portfolioM&ABackground
Yoga Journal had evolved from a print magazine into a digital and multimedia yoga property.
Action taken
Outside acquired the Yoga Journal brand.
Aftermath
The title became part of Outside's broader active-lifestyle and outdoor media group.
2019
Broaden representation in editorial imageryStrategyBackground
Journalists and scholars had criticized the recurring portrayal of yoga as an activity for thin, white, affluent women.
Action taken
The brand issued two Leadership Issue covers and publicly discussed representation across race, age, ability, body type, gender, experience, and yoga style.
Aftermath
The covers drew criticism, followed by an apology from brand director Tasha Eichenseher and a stated commitment to greater inclusiveness.
2000
Redesign and relaunch the magazineStrategyBackground
The title was expanding under new ownership as yoga's popularity and the magazine's audience grew.
Action taken
Yoga Journal introduced a new design and relaunched the magazine.
Aftermath
The publication later reported substantial circulation and readership growth during the following decade.
Recent events
- 2020
Yoga Journal is acquired by Outside[1]
M&A
Outside acquired the Yoga Journal property, adding the yoga publication to its outdoor and active-lifestyle media portfolio.
- 2019
Leadership Issue covers prompt debate over representation[1]
Campaign · Other
Two covers featuring models with different racial identities and body sizes generated criticism about the brand's historical representation of yoga practitioners.
- 2012
Yoga in America survey reports growth in practitioners[1]
Other
The publication's survey reported 20.4 million American yoga practitioners and estimated the national yoga market at more than $10 billion annually.
- 2000
Magazine receives a major redesign[1]
Other
Yoga Journal relaunched with a new design during its period of ownership under John Abbott.
- 1998
Yoga Journal is acquired by John Abbott[1]
M&A · Leadership change
Former banker John Abbott bought the magazine and appointed Kathryn Arnold editor-in-chief.
- 1975
Yoga Journal is founded in California[1]
Other
The California Yoga Teachers Association launched Yoga Journal as a successor to its newsletter, The Word.
Sources2 sources
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