Editorial Independence & Sponsorship Policy

Last updated: August 6th, 2026

Sunlight Media (Inside Yoga Magazine, Working In Yoga, The Back Room) accepts sponsorship and partner support. This page explains exactly what that support does and does not buy, so readers, sponsors, and the organizations we cover all know where the lines are.

1. What sponsorship funds

Sponsor and partner support funds distribution, production, and named placements: newsletter mentions, webinar co-hosting, media kit tiers, podcast pre-roll, and similar. All of it is labeled "Sponsored" or "Partner Content" wherever it appears, distinct from reported editorial content.

Sponsorship never funds, and is never exchanged for, coverage, quotes, favorable framing, or advance notice of editorial content.

2. The conflict rule

No current sponsor, advertiser, cohort participant's employer, or Back Room–affiliated organization will be the subject of investigative or critical coverage while the relationship is active, without that financial relationship being disclosed in the piece itself.

If we accept sponsorship from an organization after publishing critical coverage of them, or begin critical reporting on an organization we currently sponsor with, that relationship — past or present — is disclosed directly in the piece, not buried in a footer.

3. What counts as "investigative"

Sponsored content and profile-style coverage (a new program, a product, a founder story) can run as labeled Partner Content. Coverage examining a sponsor's or partner's governance, executive compensation, labor practices, pricing, safety claims, or financial filings is investigative — and that's the category the conflict rule locks. This line is drawn here, in advance, rather than negotiated case by case when a specific relationship is on the table.

4. Recusal, not rationalization

If a current sponsor becomes the subject of a story that matters, one of two things happens:

●       The story runs with the financial relationship disclosed in full, or

●       If independence can't be maintained, the reporting is handed off, delayed until the relationship ends, or the relationship is ended before publication.

What doesn't happen: quietly softening a story to protect a paying relationship.

5. Public record

A current list of Sunlight Media sponsors and Back Room partners is maintained at thesunlightexperience.com/who-funds-this, updated as relationships change. If you want to know who funds this outlet, that page — not our word for it — is the answer.

6. Why this exists

Sunlight Media reports on organizations, certifications, and companies that shape the yoga and wellness industry, including trade bodies with governance and financial disclosures of their own. Readers, teachers, and sponsors alike benefit from a wellness press credible enough that being covered fairly — or scrutinized fairly — means something. This policy is what makes that possible.

Questions about this policy or a specific relationship: rebecca@insideyogamagazine.com