This year celebrates the UN´s 10th International Day of Yoga (21 June 2024) with the theme “Yoga for Self and Society.” Yoga is supposed to offer harmony of mind and body (thought and action), restraint and fulfilment.

Yoga´s integration of body, mind, spirit, and soul is meant to bring inner peace. Its power to transform is what’s being celebrated.

The day seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of practicing yoga. There are many. I personally watched myself progress from barely being able to stand on one leg without wobbling to things I never thought I could do. Admittedly it was probably a little more Dawn French than performance art, but it was incredible progress.  I will always be grateful to the incredibly patient, supremely bendy bods who oversaw my yoga class. And to classmates who never giggled at my weird contortions while they gracefully stretched and bent, despite my own helpless giggles at times.

That is the positive, powerful side of yoga.

Sadly, at CAAGe we are aware of how the spiritual side can turn from healthy, mindful practise to grooming, including sucking people into cults.

The Yoga Cults

Because of the link between mind and body, the wellbeing feeling that yoga can produce, our guard may be let down. How can anything that makes us feel this good in mind and body be anyway toxic.

It´s this feeling of wellbeing that false gurus rely on. Some of the known predators are covered on our growing resource on cults , but they include the founder of Bikram yoga (´hot yoga´), Bikram Choudhury; ´Manny´ Patel, founder of DRU Yoga; and even some proponents of Hare Krishna.

The fact that these people are toxic does not make all proponents of their yoga methods bad, but an awareness of cult and grooming behaviours can keep individuals safe.

Who´s Who?

• Yogi: a yogi is an individual who has made a commitment to incorporating yoga into their life, including everything physical, mental and spiritual.

• Guru: The term guru is very overworked, but in a religious and spiritual sense refers to a leader, notably in Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

• Yoga Teacher/Instructor: There is no formal requirement to become a yogi to teach yoga, or rather the ´asanas´- the physical side of yoga. However, most gyms and clubs insist on formal, current qualifications before trusting them with their members.

Red Flags

The Red flags for a yoga ‘guru’ who is either sucking people into a cult or sexually grooming people in their class/group include:

1.      Singling out individuals in a class or group for special attention or praise;

2.      Very tactile behaviours with class participants – beyond what is required to correct posture or push the body harder;

3.      Self-absorption, often with a high dose of charisma;

4.      Overtly sexual behaviour;

5.      Exclusion, sidelining or ´punishment´ of anyone raising doubts or concerns.

Although couched in highly spiritual terms, this article by spiritual leader Swami Mukundananda in The Times of India explains the traits of a GOOD guru, should you pursue the spiritual alongside the physical side of yoga: How to Recognise a Guru

The important thing to take away is that most yoga teachers/gurus are – or should be - positive influences in your life. Look for the following in your teacher:

Connected: yoga instructors should make EVERYONE feel comfortable and like they belong. Every great yoga teacher will touch the heart of their students in some way. They should be helping everyone to feel uplifted (even those, like me, who can´t do as much to start with).

Good Energy: Everyone is different and a good teacher will tap into their own personality to help you focus on feeling calm and centred. Even though we all have occasional off days, their enthusiasm for yoga should be inspirational. That enthusiasm is contagious.

Prepared: The yoga teacher should have the class well prepared, arrive early/on time, and be welcoming. (they should also know enough to be able to adapt the class to the participants needs.)

Understanding of Physicality:  the teacher should understand movement, alignment and physiology.

If a Yoga Teacher/Guru Oversteps the Mark

The Society of Yoga Teachers suggests in its code of ethics that yoga teachers must:

·        Respect the right, dignity and worth of every person.

·        Act with honesty and integrity.

·        Consistently display high standards of behaviour and appearance.

·        Maintain clear sexual, physical and professional boundaries with students and/or their carers.

The yoga community is, nominally at least, divided over the last issue, the issue of whether yoga teachers should restrain from sexual access to their students. (See Yoga, Sex and the Techer/Student Relationship, by Carol Horton, 2014 https://vesselify.com/2013/09/yoga-sex-and-the-teacher-student-relationship/.)

The heady mix of physicality and emotional high in yoga classes are obvious environments for sexual attraction. This doesn´t normalise it or make it right. The term ´guru´ itself seems to make some yoga teachers feel immune to basic ethics.

Our view is more protective of students. We view teachers predating on their class members as grooming.

·        The ´yogi´-student relationship is akin to that of a therapist and their client, a doctor and their patient, and – more pertinently – teacher and student. There is an automatic imbalance of power.

·        It affects other students as well as the teacher´s target.

·        Often predatory teachers will single out a single student, making them feel wanted and special (when often the teacher is doing the same with others in other classes, but using the need to keep the energy of the class positive to ensure their victims´ silence).

·        It´s inherently dishonest and not in the student´s best interests, when a key principle for yoga teachers is that their students´ wellbeing is paramount.

·        Being grabbed at, groped, even raped, breaches the ´Ahimsa´ (non-violence) core principle.  And lying breaches the ´Satya´ (truth) core principle.

Who should I tell?

Who you choose to tell, if you choose to tell, will depend on the structure of the group and whether the ´yogi´ is independent or employed/ freelance.

1.      Is there a friend at the group that you can confide in? Often this first move will allow you to open up, and there´s a fair chance that if there are others, gossip will have spread.

2.      Is what they´ve done breaking the law? (Think sexual harassment, rape, etc.) If so, could a report to the police be worthwhile? Without evidence, such as cameras in the yoga studio or witnesses  etc, it may be hard to pursue, but at least you will have the abuse on their radar.

3.      Are they a member of a certain stream of yoga? If so, might another yogi from within the same genre be a good point of contact? Or could there be an organisation behind their type of yoga who should know: List of Yoga Organisations.

4.      Are they a member of an organisation or federation belonging to the International Yoga Federation? If so, nominally at least, the Federation upholds certain standards and don´t want their name tarnished, so they should listen.

5.      If they are teaching at a gym, could you report it to the gym manager?

6.      If you know of repeated abuses, could there be safety in numbers by passing it to the media to investigate?

7. If you have been sucked into a ´closed group´ or sect, choose your escape route safely. Get support before you leave, as there are often reprisals and repurcussions.

8. Before you tell, what outcome do you want? Why are you telling? Whistleblowing is never easy and having this clear will help direct yopur actions and avoid it eating up your life. Remember that you are under no obligation to put yourself at risk or make yourself uncomfortable by telling. We would encourage you to do it - of course, we´re trying to raise awareness of adult grooming and want it to stop - but we are also aware that any kind of whistleblowing is not easy

CAAGe offers a listening service that allows people to find their own solutions and gives space to express and talk though concerns: Contact