Pantanjali Rolls Over In His Grave

[Administrator]

I won't mention the name of the yogi.

But a very popular yoga teacher recently visited our home town.

He offered a two hour workshop at a local yoga studio.

Sixty people crammed into a space where fifty had never been.

There was excitement in the air. The anticipation was high.

And then, the class began.

Two hours of yoga bootcamp.

The yogi took on the personality of a marine drill instructor.

Screaming and yelling at everyone for most of the two hours.

I watched a friend walk out 45 minutes into the program.

I was too kind. I stayed sitting on my mat for the rest of the workshop.

I stopped participating.

Listening to the ranting and the yelling turned my stomach.

I could not do yoga under these conditions.

Yelling at everyone - like a fitness instructor - to go deeper. Put more into the pose. Faster, faster.

And from time to time he would pause. And let people rest on their backs or their fronts for a moment and then it would all begin again.

During one rest period, I watched him doing non-standard adjustments walking on peoples' backs that could have seriously hurt people.

But what he did during Savasana took the cake.

Holy cow.

He went up to a young girl in the front row and knelt in between her knees.

He lifted up her legs and holding her thighs, scooted in and placed her legs over his thighs so they were genitals to genitals.

And then he bent over on top of her.

As he came up. He saw me looking directly at him.

He put her down and did not touch anyone for the rest of Savasana.

I passed along the information to the studio owner afterwards.

Nothing like a sexual abuse lawsuit to ruin your day.

I can not believe this person is a prominent yoga teacher.

And as you all know, I am NOT a yoga teacher so I asked several expert yoga teachers about the "adjustment" I witnessed.

They were shocked.

Yep, old Pantanjali would be rolling over in his grave if he saw what happened to yoga.

I'm still stunned.

Do you think this is normal?

Peace.

Harlan

[Christine]

Based on the information as you present it, I would not even call this person a yogi. There are teachers like that out there, and some are very popular.

I had a similar experience with a very popular yoga instructor. This person also yelled at the students, used sexual references in teaching and seemed oblivious to students that were in very dangerous positions. Some students in attendance were awed by the instructor's abilities. This person was quite a performer, and it seemed ovious to that the spectacle was meant to enhance the ego of the teacher and not to instruct students. All I could think the entire class was: "where's ahimsa here?"

Asana is the third branch of yoga. If a teacher cannot first embody yama and niyama he has no place trying to instruct asana. Patanjali set the eight limbs in a certain order for a reason.

Kudos to you, Harlan for staring him in the eye. We must all be alert to avoid hero worship and putting famous instructors on a pedestal. Nothing good ever comes of it, even if they are virtuous, because doing so forces us to give away some of our own personal power.

[scmittal]

Hi Harlan,

Thanks for sharing this eye-opening story. You have decided not to share the name of the yogi. I think it would be really nice if you could divulge the name so your readers could be pre-warned and not attempt to attend any workshops offered by this person, thus avoiding the verbal and emotional abuse that he could put you through. Instead of discussing this behavior as an academic exercise, I think we need to confront him and tell him directly that this is an unacceptable behaviour, especially coming from a so-called well-known yoga teacher. I would certainly like to know how others feel about it.

Subhash

[pegasus]

Sadly, there are people out there who really are on an ego trip with any type of teaching or leadership role. We have plenty of them in corporations, gyms, and even churches. Cults are born in such ways.

[Administrator]

A lot of people have asked me about the name of the yogi.

I'd love to think this person could change.

And I do understand people want to protect themselves from be exposed to this behavior.

Let me think about it.

Peace.

Harlan

[roguemama]

Wow. Guess he didn't think you were watching. If you don't end up divulging his name, then you might consider reporting him to YA. Or to his guruji. Did the woman react at all to his "adjustment?"

[jul]

I am graduating from Yoga Teacher Training in a couple of weeks and I must tell you that I am disgusted and very sad reading about this most unfortuante occurance. I am in agreement with those who have asked for the name of this individual so I can avoid participating in any future events he may be part of. I am also in agreement that Yoga Alliance should be made aware of this man's unacceptable actions.

[stephlit]

This teacher obviously has some deep unresolved issues that he has not addressed yet with his heart. That

[yogachick123]

I think it is so sad to see what can happen when people are given this kind of power. If this happened anywhere else, there would have been arrests, charges filed, and lawsuits. Especially since this was a yoga class, and he is very well known-he should be reported to the proper authorities. Famous or not-the ethics of teaching yoga should be upheld under all circumstances.

[Janna Peterson]

The second YAMA, or ethical principle of yoga, is Satya (Truthfulness). As yogins it is important to seek truth in all of life's situations.

Rather than releasing this person's name - and perhaps putting yourself into some legal jeapordy - simply share the studio name, their website address, and date of this "Yoga Workshop". Also, you could share this individual's upcoming "Yoga Workshop" schedule so we can figure out on our own who this particular individual is. (Yoga Workshop is in quotes, because what you describe isn't quite what I would consider a yoga workshop to be).

If this individual is registered with Yoga Alliance, definitely report him to them. Then they can take appropriate action with regards to this individual being listed on their national registry. Yoga Alliance expects all of its registrants to adhere to the highest ethical principles. And if this individual mindfully did what you saw him do, none of us want any association with him.

Sincerely, Janna Sage Peterson, RYT 500