Call Your Dad, You're in a Yoga Cult
Why I Left Baptiste Yoga
SPEAK THE TRUTH, EVEN IF YOUR VOICE SHAKES
It’s time for me to speak out about my experience with Baptiste Yoga— why I left, why I no longer teach the methodology, and why I may have been in a yoga cult. I have had a tumultuous and volatile relationship with Baptiste or BPYI for several years, and there have been many red flags I chose to ignore.
I have left Baptiste before. I removed my affiliation after a terrible experience with the “Faculty in Training program” and somehow…. was drawn back in. This time, in early 2020, I left the organization quietly for many reasons, withdrawing my studio affiliation and certification.
I have been struggling with my silence. I am embarrassed that I was part of what seems like a yoga cult. I feel exposed. I am struggling with feeling weak. Cheated. Vulnerable. Angry. Guilty. Ashamed.
A lot of my silence is because people I care about are still hard in the paint with Baptiste. Still teaching the “methodology” and platitudes. Still going hard at 40 Days and “being a yes.” I have been struggling about speaking out, and harming people I care about, or just making my own changes quietly. I have been silent so I don’t hurt their feelings, but I realize the harm in staying quiet is much greater. If you are still practicing or teaching Baptiste yoga, I invite you to listen to my experience and make choices for yourself. Even if something isn’t true for you, doesn't mean it did not happen. Just because something has not harmed YOU does not mean it is not harmful.
Anaïs Nin famously said, “And the day came where the pain to remain closed in the bud was greater than the pain it took to bloom.” That is where I find myself- and it’s time to open my throat chakra— and speak my own truth.
All of the following statements are based on my experience with Baptiste Yoga. These are my feelings. My Impressions. This is my truth.
HOW IT STARTED
Baptiste Yoga entered my life at a time when I was looking to better myself, and for a time, it did. I was looking for someone or something to hand me the tools I needed to overcome doubt. While most people that meet me see a confident, strong woman, I often did NOT feel that way.
I still struggle with confidence sometimes, but over a decade ago, I was the perfect mark for an organization that preys on people trying to better themselves. (Sadly, there is a lot of manipulation in the wellness industry, and people that are trying to better themselves are the perfect mark for cults and cultish leaders.)
Baptiste gave me tools to lift myself up. At least at first. The slogans and platitudes like “be a yes” and “come from you are ready now” helped me take risks. Helped me believe I could do it. Baptiste Yoga introduced me to an idea of community on a level I had never thought possible. I still call many people that I trained with over a decade ago close friends.
Tools are GOOD but in the wrong hands, a helpful tool can become a dangerous weapon. Like so many other cultish organizations (I see you Landmark) Baptiste took tools that were good on the surface, and misused and abused them. A hammer is a tool. It helps the user put a nail in a wall with little effort. But a hammer in the wrong hands can be an abusive and deadly weapon. In my opinion, Baptiste, much like Landmark, Scientology, NXIVM— used self-helps tools to make it’s followers reliant, compliant, and dependent on more tools.
So while the slogans worked for a while… there came a time when I started questioning… what or WHO am I being a YES for? Are there BOUNDARIES here, or is something wrong??
SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN DENMARK
I had a gut feeling that something was off. Things just were not adding up. Why was I raising money for a millionaire? Why was I sending people to train with Baptiste when I led teacher trainings in my brick and mortar studio? Why was I giving away my power to an Institute that gave nothing back to me? Why was I continuing to train with an organization that was devaluing certification? Why was I training with an organization that was not being honest with me???
My gut feeling that something was off in Baptiste Yoga was correct. My intuition was talking to me, but I was "drinking the Kool-Aid." All of the gaslighting made me question my own intuition and instinct. I made excuses, and stayed.
THE FIRST BREAKUP: DECEPTION, LIES, AND GASLIGHTING
The first time I broke up with Baptiste was when I was enrolled in the Faculty in Training Program. If you look this up— it does not exist. But it DID.
Faculty in Training was sold to us as EXACTLY that—- if you were a Certified Baptiste Teacher who had attended Level 1,2 and 3, you could apply for this program and train to be considered for Baptiste Faculty, where you would lead programs like Art of Assisting, and Foundations in Action. Baron had just taught his “last” level three (how many times have we heard THAT) and was going to start having senior teachers leading more programs.
In our second weekend of Faculty in Training (FIT) we were told that the name of the program was, in fact, NOT Faculty in Training, but FIT to Lead.
Um….. what?????
Furthermore, we were all expected to add an ADDITIONAL weekend to the schedule. We were required to attend the Yoga Journal Conference in Colorado, where we would be presenting workshops in groups. Unpaid, of course. But what an opportunity. We were divided into groups to start preparing our collaborative workshops.
You can guess what’s coming right? After we all flew to Estes Park on our own dime, we found out hat only ONE person from each group would present. When we complained? Spoke out? We were told that we were not being a yes, that we were not team players. That true leaders would not mind doing the unseen work. Baron told me that I wasn't a leader because I wasn't willing to let someone else shine.
Sorry, y’all, but fuck that. That is classic lying, deception, and gaslighting. So I left. I left the program, I left affiliation. For some unknown reason, I kept my certification.
How did I come back? Well, obviously I was in a yoga cult. But seriously…. I had two teachers who worked for me in my studio on the path to certification. When it came time for them to fly to Park City to get certified live, I was invited to go and support them. And somehow— in all the excitement, in Baron welcoming me back and telling me he missed me— my happy ass got love bombed right back into the cult. I am still smacking my head at my foolishness.
APPROPRIATION
This is an important one. It always bothered me that Baron never acknowledged where his teachings came from, but if I am honest, I did not realize it at first. When I found Baptiste and did my training (Level 1, 2,3, more than once) I had already done multiple yoga trainings across a few disciplines. I used to hear people say that Baptiste was ignoring the roots of yoga, and I was like… NO! The roots are right HERE. I didn’t realize it, but I was unconsciously making the connections between the teachings of yoga and Baptiste.
I even created a WORKSHOP that helped people connect the dots! What I did not realize is that Baptiste never acknowledged that all of the things it was teaching came from older sources.
Want examples?
The JIP card has a side called “True North Alignment”. It is straight Mahabhuta. Straight from the Vedas. I have never heard Baptiste credit that source. I was gobsmacked to find it being taught in its original form, and angry I thought Baptiste created it.
Do The Work. Baptiste loves this one. It also comes from the Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 2. Verse 47. “Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results.” This could have been MORE powerful if Baptiste gave credit where it was due.
The lie that I give up is…. that Baron created THAT work. Want proof? Go pick up and read The Voice of Knowledge by Don Miguel Ruiz
There is also the fact that Baptiste Yoga does not teach anatomy, alignment, chakras, koshas, sutras, the Bhagavad Gita…. how can a yoga training skip ANY of these???
It is my opinion that Baptiste didn't just appropriate yoga but in many cases, flat out plagiarized it. As a white woman especially, I know that I am teaching an ancient wisdom tradition, and it is vitally important to acknowledge where the teaching comes from. As a teacher, I can use my own words, but I must honor the roots, and credit the source. I have struggled with this and come to the fact that I have to know what I am teaching. I have to know where it originated. And I have to honor and credit that source.
New Age plagiarism is huge problem across the wellness industry. We have to be careful not to fall into this platitudes and stay aware.
MORE RED FLAGS
Appropriation. Manipulation. Whispers of sexual misconduct. Financial Improprieties. Assisting without consent. The inability to speak up and say "Black Lives Matter." The devaluing of certification. The constant moving of the bar, not to make you better, but to keep taking your money. Osho. For fuck’s sake— Baron taught OSHO, and this guy KILLED people. Level Two is called “The Sannyasin’s Journey” and that cult craziness is straight out of Osho’s compound. How did I miss that? Oh, yeah. Yoga cult. (If you don’t know why OSHO is a problem, I invite you to watch Wild, Wild Country.)
If you want examples and first hand testimony, please listen to Journey Into Yoga Cults. I have included links for this and other podcasts in the resources section of this blog.
Yoga should not be confused with "Baptiste Yoga." Yoga isn't the problem. The problem is when any person or organization feels the need to make it about THEM and about money. If you see a person name a style of yoga after themselves? It might be a cult.
OWNING MY MISTAKES
I have taught many of the manipulative practices of Baptiste to many people. While my intention was never to harm, I DID cause harm. For that I am sorry. I’m digging into that and unraveling it. I have work to do. I have pushed people faster and farther than they were ready to go. I have created environments that included trauma bonding. I have assisted with out explicit consent. I have preached the platitudes and empty slogans, and called it yoga. It was never my intention to harm— in fact, yoga teaches us to practice ahimsa, the LACK of harm, but I am sure that by teaching these practices, I HAVE caused harm.
I don’t blame the teachers who manipulated me, as I know they were being manipulated. Many of the people still teaching these practices are victims themselves. But just because we are victims, we are not blameless. I want to make sure that I am owning my mistakes, and always working to make up for it.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
I am rediscovering yoga and how I want to share it. I am no longer teaching the Baptiste methodology or sequence, and I cringe when a Baptiste platitude spills out of mouth. I am rediscovering my love for teaching and coming back to why I started teaching in the first place.
For all of the mistakes I made, I am sorry. For all of the teachers and students I hurt with cult-like language— I am sorry. When we know better, we must do better. I am here to make amends and take action.
MORE RESOURCES
If you want to learn more, consider following @bpyi_yoga_truth and @yogacultspod on IG and listening to Journey Into Yoga Cults, the podcast I know the yogis who created it and trust them explicitly.
You’ll learn a lot. You can also check out Episode 7 of The Dark Side of the Mat and Culty Hot Yoga: Bikram, Forest; Baptiste by Love & Light Confessionals. which feature the abuse of power in Baptiste Yoga.
In the spirit of giving people their due “Call Your Dad, You’re in a Yoga Cult” is a nod to my favorite podcast, My Favorite Murder.
