# Rodney Yee
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{{short description|American yoga instructor (born 1957)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rodney Yee
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = March 1, 1957[{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C4F7AE2LrCL/ | first=Colleen | last=Saidman | authorlink=Colleen Saidman | title=Over the weekend we celebrated Rodney’s birthday | quote=Colleen Saidman: "Hey Rod." Rodney Yee: "Hey." CS: "What day is today?" RY: "March 1st!" CS: "What does that mean?" RY: "My birthday.... I'm sixty-seven." | date=March 4, 2024 | access-date=March 10, 2024}}]
| birth_place =
| occupation = Yoga instructor
| years_active = early 1990s–present
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* Donna Fone;
* Colleen Saidman
}}
| children =
| website =
}}
'''Rodney Yee''' is an American [yoga](/source/yoga_as_exercise) instructor who rose to national prominence in the mid-1990s when he was featured on the cover of ''[Yoga Journal](/source/Yoga_Journal)'' magazine and later starred in a series of [Gaiam](/source/Gaiam)/Living Arts yoga instructional videos and DVDs.[Donahue, Dierdre. "Look at this man's body: This is what yoga can do for you." ''[USA Today](/source/USA_Today)'', April 24, 2002 [https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/2002/2002-04-24-rodney-yee.htm (full text)]] Yee has narrated meditation audios and written two books.
== Early life and education ==
Rodney Yee was born in 1957, the [Chinese-American](/source/Chinese-American) son of an [Air Force](/source/United_States_Air_Force) [Colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_States)), and spent his childhood on military bases in [Altus, Oklahoma](/source/Altus%2C_Oklahoma) and [Puerto Rico](/source/Puerto_Rico). He was a [gymnast](/source/gymnast) during his high school years and later became a [ballet](/source/ballet) dancer, performing with the Oakland Ballet Company and the Matsuyama Ballet Company of [Tokyo, Japan](/source/Tokyo%2C_Japan). He began studies in [philosophy](/source/philosophy) and [physical therapy](/source/physical_therapy) at the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley), though he dropped out in order to pursue ballet full-time.{{sfn|Schneider|2003|pp=76-81}}
== Career ==
Yee became a yoga enthusiast in the [Iyengar school](/source/Iyengar_Yoga), 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](/source/Berkeley%2C_California); in 1987 he co-founded the Piedmont Yoga Studio in [Oakland](/source/Oakland%2C_California).{{sfn|Schneider|2003|pp=76-81}}
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.[{{cite web |last1=Goodyear |first1=Charlie |last2=Marech |first2=Rona |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Yoga-guru-in-compromising-position-Celebrity-2836809.php |title=Yoga guru in compromising position / Celebrity instructor Rodney Yee faces allegations of misconduct with students |date=May 12, 2002 |newspaper=[San Francisco Chronicle](/source/San_Francisco_Chronicle) |access-date=26 April 2013}}] Yee was sued for breach of contract, the claim alleging multiple sexual affairs with his students.[{{cite news |last=Moss |first=Rebecca |title=Elle Report: Why Do Sex Scandals Keep Rocking the Yoga World? |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a15245/bikram-choudhury-sex-scandals-in-yoga/ |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=[Elle](/source/Elle_(magazine)) |date=15 May 2013}}]
==Personal life==
Yee has three children from his first marriage to Donna Fone, whom he divorced in 2002 after twenty-four years of marriage.[{{cite web |url= http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/12023/ |title= An Illicit Yoga Love Story |last1= Pogrebin |first1= Abigail |magazine= New York Magazine |date= 13 May 2005 |access-date=26 April 2013}}] He married former model Colleen Saidman, one of his students, in December 2006.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/fashion/weddings/07Vows.html|title=Colleen Saidman and Rodney Yee|first=Lois Smith|last=Brady|date=January 7, 2007|via=NYTimes.com}}] Since dating students violates the [precepts of yoga teacher conduct](/source/Sexual_abuse_by_yoga_gurus) as defined by the [Yoga Alliance](/source/Yoga_Alliance), this led to division in Yee-oriented communities.