Now #MeToo enters Yoga world: Women create comic strip to expose teacher's sexual abuse

Bengaluru, Nov 7: For many, Yoga alone is a life-enhancing practice since it completely transforms life but others have encountered instructors who exploit the physical closeness and touch that are often part of yoga instruction.

#MeToo now hits yoga fraternity

You must have heard about #MeToo stories of sexual misconduct in the film industry, media, comedy circuit by victims who have been speaking out their experiences, now the tremors have been felt recently among the members of the yoga fraternity.

Women create comic to perfectly depict the sexual abuse

Instead of taking the usual route to voice their #MeToo stories, a group of women decided to use art as a cry against the atrocities allegedly committed in the name of a spiritual practice by a Yoga teacher, Mohan Palamar (He is a yoga teacher at The Practise Room, a yoga centre in Cooke Town in Bengaluru), through a comic entitled "The Illustrated Woman's Guide to Yogabuse"

Comic strip describes the ordeal and harassment

Around 10 women have come together and created a comic describing the ordeal and harassment they allegedly faced at the studio. The comic strip describes how in the beginning, the studio was a peaceful and safe place, but then, their yoga teacher began to touch them inappropriately under the garb of ‘adjusting their asanas.'

Matter is now under investigation by an internal committee

The teacher, Mohan, says he cannot comment on the issue and that the matter is under investigation by an internal committee. "The complainants are being spoken to, and a report will be put up on the website in a week's time."