Yoga is often described as a path toward greater awareness, compassion, self-discipline, and spiritual awakening. We turn to our teachers for guidance, hoping they will help us cultivate qualities that bring us closer to our highest selves. We may admire their wisdom, their physical mastery, their ability to hold a room, or the way their words seem to reach something deep within us. Sometimes, we place them on a pedestal, believing that the person who can guide us toward enlightenment must have achieved a level of personal purity that places them beyond ordinary human failings.
Yet the history of modern yoga has given us painful reasons to question that assumption.
Across numerous yoga traditions, prominent teachers and spiritual leaders have faced credible allegations of sexual abuse, harassment, exploitation, and other abuses of authority. These scandals have affected communities built around Bikram Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Viniyoga, Kripalu Yoga, Anusara Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga, among others. The details differ, and the evidence varies from case to case, but a recurring concern emerges: when a teacher is treated as an unquestionable authority, the power imbalance can make it extraordinarily difficult for students to speak up, challenge misconduct, or leave a community that has become central to their lives.
This is not an indictment of yoga itself, nor of every teacher who carries these traditions forward. It is an invitation to look honestly at what happens when spiritual authority becomes disconnected from ethical responsibility.
When Teachers Become Untouchable
Consider some of the high-profile cases that have shaken the yoga world. Bikram Choudhury, founder of Bikram Yoga, faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. In 2016, a California jury awarded his former legal adviser, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, millions of dollars in damages in a case involving sexual harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. Choudhury denied the sexual misconduct allegations.
In the Ashtanga tradition, multiple students accused its influential founder, K. Pattabhi Jois, of sexually inappropriate touching and abuse during physical adjustments. In the Iyengar community, senior teacher Manouso Manos faced allegations of sexual misconduct during adjustments; an independent investigation commissioned by the U.S. Iyengar organization substantiated multiple allegations against him. These cases raised difficult questions about how physical contact can be justified in the name of tradition, and why students' discomfort or objections may be dismissed when a teacher is considered highly accomplished.
In 1994, Amrit Desai, founder of the Kripalu tradition, resigned from his leadership role after acknowledging sexual relationships with students. In 2012, John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga, faced a major scandal involving sexual relationships with students and employees, along with other ethical and organizational concerns. Friend acknowledged some of the relationships and accepted responsibility for being out of integrity in his intimate relationships.
The Viniyoga tradition also experienced controversy when Kausthub Desikachar, grandson of T. Krishnamacharya, faced allegations of sexual, emotional, and mental abuse from students in 2012. He stepped down from leadership positions at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram and the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation at that time. He later acknowledged that students had made serious complaints, while apologizing for the hurt the situation had caused.
In the Kundalini Yoga community, an independent investigation commissioned by organizations associated with Yogi Bhajan concluded in 2020 that many allegations of sexual misconduct were more likely than not to have occurred. The findings prompted painful reckoning within a community whose members had often regarded Bhajan as a spiritual authority.
These are not identical cases, and they should not be treated as though every allegation, finding, or outcome were the same. What matters is that, across different traditions, serious questions have arisen about the relationship between authority, accountability, and the treatment of students.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
The more influence we have over another person's life, the greater our responsibility to exercise that influence with care. This is true for yoga teachers, spiritual leaders, therapists, coaches, doctors, and anyone entrusted with another person's vulnerability.
A yoga teacher may see students at their most exposed, physically and emotionally. Students may disclose personal struggles, trust a teacher's hands to guide their bodies, or look to that teacher for direction during difficult periods of their lives. A charismatic instructor can inspire profound transformation, but charisma is not a substitute for integrity. A deep knowledge of yoga philosophy does not guarantee emotional maturity. The ability to lead a powerful meditation or demonstrate an advanced posture does not mean someone has developed the self-awareness needed to hold authority responsibly.
Some teachers who rose to extraordinary fame and influence appear to have failed to maintain the ethical boundaries their positions required. Whether driven by entitlement, ego, sexual desire, financial ambition, or a belief that their spiritual status placed them above ordinary rules, the result can be devastating for the people who trusted them. When a teacher begins to believe that their own desires are more important than the autonomy and well-being of their students, the teachings themselves become a tool of exploitation rather than liberation.
I believe this is where we must be especially discerning about the idea of a spiritual master. A person can possess extraordinary knowledge without possessing extraordinary character. Someone may understand ancient texts, teach complex practices, inspire thousands, and still have serious personal shortcomings. We should not confuse the ability to articulate wisdom with the willingness to live by it.
The Danger of Putting Spiritual Teachers on Pedestals
It is tempting to imagine that someone who has dedicated their life to spiritual practice should have transcended the desires, insecurities, and temptations that affect the rest of us. Yet spiritual practice does not automatically eliminate ego, nor does it guarantee ethical behavior. In some circumstances, being treated as enlightened or exceptional may actually make it easier for a person to rationalize their own misconduct.
When students believe a teacher possesses special access to truth, they may begin to distrust their own instincts. They may interpret discomfort as resistance to growth, accept boundary violations as part of a profound spiritual process, or fear that questioning the teacher means they are spiritually immature. If an entire community reinforces the idea that the guru is beyond reproach, speaking up can mean risking friendships, professional opportunities, a sense of belonging, and even one's spiritual identity.
This is one reason accountability matters so much. No teacher should be beyond questioning. No lineage should be above scrutiny. No spiritual explanation should be used to override consent. Genuine wisdom should make us more capable of recognizing harm, not more willing to excuse it.
A teacher's responsibility is not merely to inspire students but to create conditions in which they can learn and grow safely. That includes respecting boundaries, acknowledging mistakes, accepting criticism, and understanding that the trust students place in them is a responsibility—not a privilege to exploit.
Yoga Is Bigger Than Any One Guru
One of the saddest consequences of these scandals is the confusion and grief experienced by students who have genuinely benefited from a practice but later discover troubling truths about a teacher they admired. People may feel betrayed, embarrassed, angry, or uncertain about whether they can continue practicing. They may question the experiences that once felt sacred or wonder whether the positive changes in their lives were somehow invalidated by the teacher's behavior.
I believe it is possible to acknowledge the harm caused by a teacher without dismissing every meaningful experience a student had within that tradition. A breathing practice may still help someone find calm. A sequence of postures may still strengthen the body. Meditation may still offer insight and connection. The benefits a person experienced do not excuse a teacher's misconduct, and a teacher's misconduct does not necessarily erase everything valuable about a practice.
At the same time, we must resist the urge to protect a tradition's reputation at the expense of the people who were harmed. Preserving a lineage should never be more important than protecting students. If a community wants its teachings to endure, it must be willing to confront wrongdoing, listen to those who come forward, and change the structures that allowed harm to continue.
Yoga is a vast tradition with many teachers, interpretations, and paths. No single individual owns its wisdom, and no one person's behavior should define every practitioner who studies within a particular lineage. We can honor meaningful teachings while examining their history honestly and choosing to carry them forward with greater care.
What Ethical Leadership Should Look Like
As yoga practitioners and teachers, we have an opportunity to create a different culture—one in which integrity matters as much as expertise and accountability is understood as an essential part of spiritual practice.
That begins with ordinary but meaningful commitments. Teachers should maintain clear professional boundaries, obtain consent before physical adjustments, respect a student's right to decline an instruction, and avoid using spiritual authority to pressure someone into intimacy, secrecy, or compliance. Training organizations should establish transparent complaint procedures, independent oversight, and meaningful consequences for misconduct. Communities should listen seriously when concerns arise rather than automatically defending their most celebrated members.
Students also deserve to know that they are allowed to ask questions, say no, leave a class, seek another teacher, or disagree with an interpretation of the practice. Discomfort is not always a sign of growth, and obedience is not the measure of spiritual maturity. A healthy teacher-student relationship should strengthen a student's discernment and autonomy rather than create dependence on the teacher's approval.
Most importantly, we must stop assuming that spiritual authority is proof of spiritual attainment. The people we learn from are human beings, and they should be held to standards appropriate to the trust they have been given. Humility, honesty, compassion, and accountability are not obstacles to a teacher's authority. They are part of what makes that authority worthy of trust.
The True Measure of a Teacher
I return to the principle that with great power comes great responsibility. Those who guide others through physical practice, emotional exploration, and spiritual inquiry have an obligation to approach that role with exceptional care. The more people look to them for direction, the more important it becomes that they remain grounded, self-aware, and willing to be held accountable.
Perhaps the real test of a teacher is not how many students they attract, how advanced their practice appears, or how convincingly they speak about enlightenment. Perhaps it is how they treat the people who trust them, especially when those people are vulnerable, when no applause is forthcoming, and when doing the right thing requires them to confront their own desires.
We do not need perfect teachers. We need honest ones—people who understand their limitations, respect the humanity of their students, and recognize that the work of self-awareness never ends. We need communities that value truth over reputation and safety over celebrity. We need spiritual spaces where questioning is welcomed, boundaries are respected, and compassion is demonstrated through action rather than merely discussed in philosophy.
The purpose of yoga is not to teach us to surrender our discernment to someone who claims to have transcended ordinary human limitations. It is to deepen our awareness, cultivate understanding, and become more conscious in how we live and relate to one another. Any teacher or institution that asks us to abandon those capacities deserves our scrutiny.
Wisdom without integrity is not the highest expression of spiritual practice. Power without accountability is not leadership. True mastery must include the responsibility to do no harm, to acknowledge when harm has occurred, and to protect the dignity of the people who place their trust in us.
