Another Yoga Scandal. And You’re Still Shocked?
It happens like clockwork. Another yoga scandal breaks, and suddenly the community is gasping in collective disbelief. How could this be? they ask. He seemed so wise and humble. So … yogic. His Supta Kurmasana were flawless, his Yogi tea on point, and his Sanskrit impeccable. Surely a man who could bend like a double-bent pretzel couldn’t possibly be bending morality, too.
And yet here we are—again. The whispers in the changing rooms, the cautious stories finally spoken aloud, the evidence that becomes too heavy to sweep under the cork mat. The adored teacher, the so-called guru, turns out to be an abuser. Every time the pattern repeats, yogaland goes through the same predictable sequence: shock, outrage, silence, forget. Repeat. You don’t have to dig deep to find accusations and evidence of sexual assault and abuse in yoga. It’s not the exception, it’s a pattern. Yoga is a #MeToo battleground.
And you know what astonishes me? People are still shocked—despite a yoga world that has witnessed countless sexual assault and abuse scandals by teachers… forever.
Abuse doesn’t appear out of nowhere, it thrives in systems built to protect it. And yogacommunities—despite their chants of liberation and love and light—are often structured more like a monarchy than a community. One person on the throne, the rest orbiting in adoration. Community is dialogue, accountability, and reciprocity. But what we have instead in yogaland is obedience in the name of devotion. And obedience has consequences.
Because when the guru is elevated above question, their actions are no longer scrutinized. Many yoga students are slowly indoctrinated into this culture. In an atmosphere where the will to please the teacher is celebrated, discomfort—even pain—is framed as an enlightenment lesson, while the will to ask critical questions or protect oneself is quietly punished or shamed. That’s how Pattabhi Jois could sexually assault women under the guise of “adjustments,” pressing his body into theirs, even touching genitals—all while students tried to convince themselves it must be part of the teaching.
When young students hang on every word their teacher whispers, when seekers mistake charisma for wisdom, and interpret unwanted touch or verbal harshness as part of their spiritual growth, red flags start to look like prayer flags. Questions about consent are often brushed aside, and others remain silent. Allowing adjustments to cross boundaries, manipulation to masquerade as teaching, and silence to do the rest.
The silence is maybe the most dangerous part. The same silence families keep when the uncle hugs a little too tight. The silence institutions wrap around their own dirty secrets. Yoga isn’t immune to this, of course, it’s not. And often, silence doesn’t mean acceptance—it means people are too uncomfortable, too intimidated, or too indoctrinated to speak until after class, when they whisper: “I’m so glad you said something, that was so weird, I thought I was alone.”
And the silence doesn’t only come from students afraid of speaking out. Too many senior teachers, those who might see through the fog, stay quiet as well. They know what’s happening, they talk behind closed doors, but they rarely go public.
Abuse of power and trust, and the teacher-student dynamic in yoga is rarely discussed with the honesty it deserves. And abuse doesn’t only happen with celebrity names. It happens in small neighborhood studios, anywhere a power dynamic between teacher and student exists.
Especially in yoga styles that are highly body-focused and filled with hands-on adjustments, the ground is fertile for inappropriate touch, for crossing physical and emotional boundaries, for manipulation framed as spiritual guidance. What makes it more dangerous is that students often interpret these experiences through a spiritual lens: if it feels uncomfortable, maybe it’s a “lesson in surrender.” Maybe the pain is “breaking down the ego.” This spiritualized framing can trap students in silence and complicity. That is how power dynamics in yoga become so insidious: the teacher is not just an authority on alignment, but on meaning, truth, even liberation. Questioning them starts to feel like questioning the path of yoga itself.
That’s one reason why I never gave myself fully to any yoga community. Especially when I saw the groupies clustering around teachers, mistaking mystery for enlightenment and success or charm for spiritual wisdom.
But mistrust alone won’t dismantle the system. Abuse will keep repeating until there’s real education in teacher trainings and yoga studios. Not just anatomy and philosophy talk, but conversations about power dynamics, manipulation, and boundaries. Until the cases are named openlyçfrom Pattabhi Jois or Bikram Choudhury to Ruth Lauer-Manenti or Taylor Hunt—nothing will shift.
And while it’s not only men who abuse and manipulate, sexual assault in yogaland remains overwhelmingly men preying on women. Abuse is not a cultural accident, but a systemic feature wherever power goes unchecked. And still, the myth of the untouchable guru is maintained, as if moral authority were part of the title.
That myth is poison. Because abuse in yoga isn’t an exception, it’s a predictable consequence of patriarchal and hierarchal structures. They don’t vanish just because you roll out your mat. They seep in. And if a yoga community refuses to confront oppressive systems, it will replicate them. Just with a sense of spiritual superiority, a chant, and a hand on their heart.
The indoctrination and teacher cult runs so deep, that even when abuse goes public, these teachers still have a following and sell out retreats. Their glorification is so entrenched that, despite countless past scandals, people are still shocked each time. Not much has changed. The system itself remains untouched.
So where do I stand? I don’t orbit anyone’s sun. I don’t advocate for gurus, teachers, or mentors. I advocate for truth only. Truth isn’t comfortable or popular, and it often doesn’t attract followers—but it’s the only thing that liberates in the long run.
If yoga wants to live up to its promise of liberation, it has to stop rehearsing this theater of shock and start doing the real work: dismantling hierarchy, patriarchy, and oppressive systems altogether, facing abuse head-on, and refusing to confuse silence with peace—or titles with moral high ground. And it absolutely has to rethink its cultish obsession.
Otherwise, yogaland will keep mistaking obedience for devotion and abuse for spirituality.
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