Falling Victim to another Yoga Guru almost Cost Me Everything

Last summer, I left my full-time job and began to train as a yoga teacher. I did research and saw that some yoga teachers in my area had been charging up to $50 per hour for a class! Of course, this interested me as I have been a lover of yoga for years and am always ranting to my friends and family about the practice.

After much research, I found a teacher training that was half the cost of most yoga teaching schools. The Training was given by a local nonprofit organization that was set to bring “Yoga to the Hood” in Dallas, TX. A teacher training with certification can range from $5,000 to $10,000! I stumbled on a program that was just $2000. Of course, I snagged the application.

This training was offered through a local non profit yoga and well-known organization based in Dallas. I drank the Kool-Aid of seeing a plus-sized body do headstands effortlessly, seeing a community of black people practicing yoga together, and the alluring music of Jill Scott and Erykah Badu being played at his class. I decided to sign up without hesitation. The founder of the nonprofit called herself “the ghetto Guru”. I’m self-giving titles such as that should have learned me but I was so high on “ good vibrations” that I did not see anything outside of a cute title.

The next eight weeks were full of haphazard lessons and drills. Textbooks we were promised were not dispersed, there was no location for the training, and the “guru”.

The only thing that we received as students were drawstring backpacks, pre-use yoga mats, and a set of notebook paper with a matching folder. By the end of the training, not many lessons about the principles of yoga or the business of yoga was taught. I just wanted to get my certification and teach myself what I needed to know. I’ll begin studying and preparing, making sure all my teaching hours return then so I can begin pursuing professional teaching. this is when I have a lot of trouble getting in touch with the teacher who was in charge of the program. She does causing only contact me if she needed to fill in adding events or school. I was promised that I would be paid and was not. after 3 1/2 months of not being able to get in touch with her, I contacted Yoga Alliance to take my certification exam with another school.

This is when my heart dropped. I found out that the teacher nor the school or subsequent teachers under the “school“ were certified. This realization meant that I cannot work in the Yoga industry without proper certification. When we managed to track her down, we were told that she was moving to Mexico to escape a domestic situation. The promise was that we would have our refunds by the end of the month. However, the damage had already been done. I left my job and gave up a lot of things to become a Yoga Teacher. (Not the wisest thing to do)

I should have read the red flags the “Ghetto Guru” Ran out the house to remind me that I missed a payment. I should have paid attention to the red flags when every idea we gave to her about fundraisers was met with “yes!! We’re going to be so rich! I just want to be rich!” Or “people will pay for this”. There is nothing wrong with wanting profit but the spirit behind the intent was very greedy. I should’ve seen the red flags when she did not pay me for teaching at three classes where she was paid triple digits and I didn’t receive the $25 promised. I should’ve seen the red flags and we did not receive a text box and there was no designated classroom so we moved to her house for our 12 hour sessions.

I think it is clear that none of us received a refund. Altogether, there were 18 teachers who paid for a certification that she knew she could not provide. We have had lawyers and family members contact her to attempt to collect. She has laughed at these attempts on multiple occasions. She promised to pay one person $100 per month for 20 months. All the while still excepting donations from good-hearted folks on the Internet.

The wellness industry has an alluring language. It is easy for anyone to get pulled into the language of peace, self-love, and promises of an enlightened self. However, as practitioners, we must keep our third eye open and do our due diligence. Take it from me, I will likely not receive my money back. I have had fellow teachers reach out to me about what happened to say they are deeply hurt and feel betrayed beyond belief. This story should be a lesson and a tale of victory. The wellness industry is still an “industry”. Anything that promises to change your life or take you on a spiritual journey should be questioned.

I am now certified as a yoga instructor.