Naomi Klein says yoga teachers and ‘white wealthy’ fitness gurus are fuelling vaccine scepticism

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. These are the conversations Naomi Klein claims are taking places at classes in yoga studios on both sides of the Atlantic, which have turned into “hotbeds” for conspiracy theories. open image in gallery The Covid-19 vaccine became a hotbed for conspiracy theorists “So many of those fit and beautiful influencers stopped merely offering encouraging words to motivate our workouts and green juicing,” she writes, “and started whispering to us alarmingly about dark forces coming to poison us, and eventually to gag, jab and dominate us.” She was also unsurprised by figures showing the uptake in the measles vaccine were lowest in wealthier, more affluent postcodes where boutique gyms and yoga studios are more common In March the House of Commons library revealed that the local authorities with the lowest rates of MMR vaccines were the London boroughs of Westminster and Kensington of Chelsea. open image in gallery Kensington and Chelsea had one of the lowest MMR vaccine uptake rates for under fives Klein herself turned to yoga several years ago and “grew obsessive” with the practice as she was treated for thyroid cancer. “Not all yoga, but I think there’s a reason why yoga studios were very much a hotbed for conspiracy culture.” open image in gallery Canadian author and commentator Naomi Klein “These figures positioned themselves as having access to a higher form of knowledge because they had taken a six-week yoga teacher training class, or maybe even been to India once,” she added.