What is Spiritual Abuse of Power in Yoga? Examining Psycho-emotional Harm & Healing
WHY YOGA TEACHERS HAVE POWER
Yoga masters and other spiritual leaders are deeply loved and trusted by their followers for very good reasons. Learned teachers can lead students to empowering world views, help them heal physically and emotionally, find direction or purpose in life, provide them with community and a sense of belonging, and guide them to tap into elevated states of consciousness.
The role of a yoga teacher is a position of biopsychosocial power. Teachers direct people when to breathe, how to move their bodies, and what to feel. They influence what students think about and believe is true. Leaders also direct the culture of how students interact with each other. The student’s role is to be receptive to guidance and open to experiences, even when awkward or uncomfortable. Even though students are in the vulnerable position, this power dynamic itself is not problematic. In a healthy dynamic, students can have breakthroughs and make consistent progress in their practice and in other aspects of their lives.
However, the misuse of power within hierarchical structures of spiritual communities is a consistent problem. Abuse of power by the leader is not limited to sexual misconduct (though that is what usually makes the headlines). Other forms of psychological and psychosocial manipulation can also occur within the guru/student hierarchy and be damaging to those most vulnerable. Important to note is that psychological manipulation, (like praise or special treatment of the student) typically precedes sexual offence and creates the conditions in which it can happen.
HOW PSCYHOLOGICAL HARM IS CAUSED
Because members of spiritual communities are often trying to be open to new ideas, they are especially susceptible to being manipulated. The most vulnerable are those seeking to recover from past physical, emotional, or even spiritual traumas. Experiencing aspects of spiritual enlightenment and psychosocial abuse simultaneously can leave students with complicated and difficult to articulate feelings.
Whether consciously used by the leader or not, manipulation and control tactics can have a lasting impact on people’s emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. Especially for those who endure or witness abusive dynamics repetitively over time. Forms of psychological and psychosocial abuse include but are not limited to:
- gaslighting
- weaponizing privileged information (pushing buttons)
- baiting & blaming
- coercing
- belittling
- pawning; favoritism; scapegoating
- lack of boundaries (e.g. commenting on student’s body, weight, looks etc.)
- taking advantage (e.g. using student’s “service” for unpaid labor)
- private shaming
- public humiliation
- silencing (e.g. character assassination of those who disagree with or leave the teacher)
Many ex-yoga community members who report suffering from psychological abuse by a yoga leader also report PTSD symptoms like anxiety, depression, and ongoing trust and self-esteem issues.*
HOW HARM CONTINUES
Oral traditions like yoga don’t last millennia without those who have devoted their lives to the study and practice with a living master. The master holds the most knowledge and embodied practice of the teachings.
If a master teacher openly mistreats a student, members of the community often spiritually bypass any harm being done. This happens when a community has been conditioned to accept the teacher’s authority to know what’s best or true, or their right to behave in ways that “break down” egos. The group dynamic is to hang their heads down and bow to the “lesson,” while the person mistreated may feel immobilized with guilt or shame.
Another reason harm might continue is when the most invested students attempt to conceal the leader’s misuse of power in fear that the teachings themselves might not be carried on if the teacher is dismantled. The most indebted students may be genuinely concerned for the welfare of the knowledge and capacities held by the teacher. A rare few will be blessed and burdened to ensure an ancient living spiritual tradition stays alive at any cost.
For any of these reasons, students who attempt to speak out against the teacher may be ostracized by their peers. Therefore, abuse often happens covertly and only those in direct proximity to it are harmed. But when an abuse of power is more overt, as it is with sexual misconduct, whole communities suffer.
HOW HARM ENDS
When an overt abuse of power goes public, it also validates the more covert experiences of other members in the group; they no longer feel conflicted for their pain or self-doubt. Others will finally feel empowered to tell their story. Others in the group will be shocked and react in a variety of ways. Exposure of the teacher is painful for all who are invested in the organization. Yet, this disruption is when the social accountability of the teacher begins and further harming can end.
HOW HEALING BEGINS
To understand how those who have been affected by the misuse of power by their beloved leader can begin to heal, it helps to understand what healing means in both a personal and community context:
- Emotional Healing is acknowledging one’s inner experience of painful events and compassionately honoring what we need to move forward with our lives.
- Collective Healing is recognizing that someone else in your community may have a different experience than you. Collective healing is holding everyone’s needs in acknowledgement and care. Not just our own.
Collective healing begins with seeking to understand what is needed for the individuals within a community to emotionally stabilize after a painful event or circumstance, leaning into whatever is most supportive with self-acceptance and compassion, and allowing each other the grace to do the same without judgement. Healing deepens when members feel seen, heard, valued and supported.
CHALLENGES TO HEALING
There are limitations for some to heal with the community itself. At the same moment that the guru falls from the mantle, every other member is standing in their position within the organizational structure. Each will have to rectify their position in their own time and way. Some will need to exit immediately. Others will empathize with the leader and stay involved. Some might feel obligated to stay. Some may come forward with additional allegations. Some will be triggered, angry, or conflicted. Some will defend the teacher or deny allegations. Others may shame victims. All of it is as it will be, but not all of it is safe for the whole group to be with. So, it’s important that those most harmed have outside spaces to process their experiences.
HOW THOSE MOST HARMED CAN HEAL
Though not all abuses of spiritual power mean the group was a cult, all cults are founded on abuse of spiritual power. So there is something to learn from them about healing from it:
Research on support groups for ex-cult members from the British Association of Social Workers revealed that support groups for people leaving cults cannot function like other support groups. They cannot in any way resemble the cult itself. Support groups have to be orchestrated as “self-help” groups, being sensitive to the needs of each member and to the particular context of the cult from which they exited.
Similarly, in a yoga community, those most harmed can only truly heal outside of the hierarchical social dynamics of the group they were harmed in. The way to help these people (often women) is to fully support them to leave the group and obtain professional therapy.
A LOVING REMINDER TO ALL YOGIS
For all members of a disrupted yoga community, remembering that the true value of the time and resources they invested was always in the teachings themselves and the uplifting experiences they had with them. So even if their teacher falls from grace or an organization is dismantled, the practice and education is not lost and may serve as a useful part of the healing process. Yoga belongs to the practitioners of it, and safe spaces to study and practice do exist.
A NOTE FOR ALL YOGA TEACHERS
The first yama or ethical commitment of a yogi is called ahimsa, non-harming (Yoga Sutra 2.30 and 2.35). Examining relationships with students and personal ethical behavior should be an ongoing part of a teacher’s practice. Humans make mistakes. It’s important for teachers to look closely at their motivations for and the impact of unskillful or uncompassionate moments with students.
If a teacher’s words or actions were inappropriate, they need to understand how to best atone for the mistake. This may be as simple as a change in future behavior. It may include needing to make an apology. In extreme cases, even stepping down from teaching, either permanently or after time and consistent therapy. If a yoga teacher feels guilty about something they said or did or they are confronted about their behavior, the ethical thing for that teacher to do is to seek outside professional counseling.
CONCLUSION
Yoga teachers are in a position of biopsychosocial power and must understand the potential for harming students within the power dynamic. Unfortunately, the abuse of spiritual power is an epidemic in yoga communities. Abuse comes in both overt and covert forms and can be difficult to recognize until publicly reckoned. Healing for those harmed is possible, though it requires time and the right kinds of support. Yoga belongs to those who study and practice it, and it may help with recovery from psychosocial abuse. Teachers of yoga must hold themselves accountable to non-harming so their students (or the public) don’t have to.
SELF-HELP SUPPORT RESOURCES
- In September 2021, an independent, non-hierarchical group formed to create space for those needing to process painful experiences with a spiritual teacher or community. Anyone needing a strictly empathetic space to be heard can join this confidential interest list.
- Internal Family Systems therapy and EMDR treatment are recommended for personal healing work. (Links are to finding a clinician).
- International Cultic Studies Association resources may also be useful to some people.
*Sources are protected by confidentiality. Sources include thirteen ex-members of four high profile yoga organizations over ten years.
Karina Ayn Mirsky is a best selling author and the founder of Sangha Yoga Institute and Yoga Mindset Coaching (YMC). She has a Bachelor’s in Business Management and a Master’s in East/West Psychology. Karina has taught yoga since 1998 and been in private practice since 2009 specializing in internal systems therapy. She facilitates yoga and YMC trainings, retreats, and collective healing programs. Karina is committed to restorative justice and anti-racism work in the yoga industry. She liberated herself from the dysfunctional dynamics within a yoga community in 2009 and is wiser, healthier and happier today.