Gurus Who Have Broken Trust

Part III of III

Many of your teachers can tell you how their lineage traces from a handful of teachers who introduced yoga in the Americas, e.g., Krishnamacharya’s student, B. K. S. Iyengar, or his disciple’s grandson, R. Sharath Jois. Many of your teachers’ teachers were beautiful humans whose memories live in them.

Teachers also have taken hold, however, who unequivocally violated their students’ trust through economic exploitation, humiliation, body shaming, sexual assault, and even rape. Survivors of those schools describe conditions we identify with cults.

Many franchises still exist today borne from that “pick me” culture. Teachers earmarked students as special enough to pay to attend training. The teacher eventually permitted the student to go out on their own, but survived on access to the guru. The abuses became generational.

There also are systemic problems with yoga. The 2024 death of a black trans woman student from a retreat in the Bahamas shed light on the demographic and class disparities in the yoga economy abroad. Casey Taylor’s death remains unsolved.

Common themes emerge in stories of abuse by gurus. The red flags seem no different than other relationships. When you see them, just walk away. Call out the behavior and name it. For example, it should not feel good when your teacher compliments you because they so often criticize you.

Over the last two decades, Yoga Alliance introduced a series of policies designed to regulate behaviors above the level of individual studios. Those policies relate to abuse, marketing claims, and scope of practice. Your teachers at Yoga Moderne can talk to you about them. While we offer hands on adjustments, you can change your mind at any time by flipping your coin over, even as your teacher walks towards you.

Economic transparency in teacher pay may also play a role in breaking the patterns of abuse. These questions may require you, as the student and consumer, to determine the value of your values. Trust transforms.