A couple of years ago I almost lost my with to a Pheonix LGAT. Luckily with the help of this site and persistence I was able to get her out. I think it has happened again. Maybe you all can help.

My wife has always been interested in Yoga and did some classes here and there and it was never a problem. Until I started doing some research on this a few days ago, I never dreamed this was going on again and I can't believe I didn't see the signs. Here is my story.

About a year ago she started going to Janes House of Yoga and wellnes. The wellness part should have tipped me off. About 6 months ago she signed up for Yoga Teacher Training. It is expensive and we got into a big fight about it, but I finally said whatever, if it makes you happy. Big mistake. It is a year long class consisting of two 9 hour classes one weekend per month. I think it is like 200 hours for a "certification", which I have found out means squat. Over the last 6 months my wife has been more and more angry and physical with me. She increasingly puts down every thing I do. She will never talk about what goes on in these "classes". She has been taking more and more classes in addition to this training class. She has been getting up at 5AM to do yoga, and is the tired at night.

3 weeks ago she initiated an argument with me after I had had quite a few beers. I kept trying to leave and go into another room or downstairs and she just kept coming at me and coming at me. It finally came to a head and she started getting physical, kicking me, punching me, scratching me. I should have left the house, but I didn't, and I finally said if you hit me one more time I am going to hit you back. Well she clawed my face and I hit her in the eye one time. I realized what I had just done and backed off and she went inside and we both called the cops. Cops came and nobody was arrested and I had my dad come pick me up. This is the first time I have ever hit anybody in my whole life. I really don't know what happened other than I finally snapped.

The next day she took my child, all financial information, and all financial paperwork. The day after that she finally contacted me and said she was bringing the kid home. Instead she showed up with the cops and served me an ex parte order. I was kicked out of my home, could not see my child, and now looked like a criminal to everybody. After 3 weeks waiting for a hearing, I got the child orders dropped and I can see my kid every other weekend, but my lawyer made me do a consent order on her because she had super bloody pictures that she took immediately after I hit her. I don't remember it being that bad. So I am still barred from my own house. I filed for divorce because I couldn't believe that she was being so cruel including the child. She told everybody that her lawyer made her do that.

I am a great dad and I have never hit anyone ever. This is just been a nightmare.

A couple of days ago I got an email from an old Facebook profile I forgot I had. So I signed in and just for kicks I look at her profile (I was banned immediately on my normal profile). She has everything private so all I can see is her profile picture which is some yoga love bullshit quote "sprinkle love on your soul blah blah blah". Anyway, I look at who "liked" it. Well TONS of people from her new yoga community just LOVES it. No actual friends "liked" it except for the one who got her in the last LGAT. Lightbulbs go off in my head, alarms are ringing, and I realize what has just happened AGAIN.

So the more I research this, the more I am convinced it is cult type stuff they do. Facebook likes are a perfect 5, everybody just praises everything. Over half of the people in her "class" have been there forever. They do retreats in Jasper Arkansas, a known cult town. They sell their yoga business every 8 years or so and start a new one. They have multiple aliases, they have tons of addresses and phone numbers.

CirclYogaShala was selling the last weekend class they did at Jane's House of Yoga and Wellness for $65. So I bought it. I had to wait a day for an "invitation" from a moderator to get a login to the private site. I downloaded all the videos with a program that can do that figuring I would not have access long. Sure enough, within about 4 hours I was blocked and my money refunded. Later I learned my wife never even knew that it was for sale. It was only 9 hours of an 18 hour class and I am sure all the really bad stuff is omitted. Most of it is really creepy though, some start with them coming out of some trance stuff and a bell ringing. The very first video starts out with my wife blowing her nose on some tissue and obviously she had been crying. Most of the videos they are in a circle. Most of the videos the guru only looks one way and directly in my wife's direction. I am assuming the people that have had the class a billion times are on one side and the new recruits are on the other. One video there is some weird dude that keeps trying to touch his arm to my wife's arm and I can tell she is trying to scoot over so she doesn't touch him. They have their back against the wall for some reason and my wife is next to a window, so she can only scoot over so far. When the are doing "yoga", the guru pays a lot of attention to my wife and touches her many many times "correcting" her posture, etc. The more I watch these the more they creep me out.

95% of our mutual friends are on my side and can't believe what she is doing. It seems she doesn't care and is just doing MORE yoga.

Maybe you all have more info than I can find. Maybe I am wrong, but my gut tells me they got my wife to do ALL this stuff, not her lawyer. But here is what I have so far. I can put the videos on youtube, but they would probably sue me. I know this will be moderated and if you feel it shouldn't be posted just let me know. I am just looking for a second opinion. Thanks again.

[www.janeshousestudio.com] - Place my wife goes. Robin Buck owner
[www.circleyogashala.com] - These people seem to be the real "gurus" Holly and Matthew Krepps. Their teacher lineage includes several people that show up on this site.

[www.circleyogashala.com] - Teacher lineage


[www.facebook.com] - Jane's House of Wellness
[www.facebook.com] - Holly Krepps
[www.facebook.com] - Matthew Krepps
[www.facebook.com] - Robin Buck

[www.amazon.com] - amazon review by Robin Buck of a book that my wife sent me a link to. And no, I am not an alcoholic.

[www.amazon.com] - Holly Krepps Amazon wishlist - interesting list of items.

[www.barefootstudio.com] - Business the Krepps sold in 2009.

Ok, update. Holly Krepps lists Living School of Action and Contemplation on her studies.

It used to point to here: [cac.org]

Richard Rohrs. Another name that shows up here.

Now it points to here: [www.facebook.com]

Some black guy giving me the finger? lol. I guess they are on to me.

I also forgot to mention they have a house on Mt. Zion loop in Arkansas, which is a street that surrounds Mt. Zion Church in Morrilton, Arkansas.

Anyway, all I can do is hope my wife comes out of her trance and catches on to their bullshit. Thanks all for the support.

I am going to keep updating this post in hope that it helps someone else. This yoga studio is into all kinds of Hindu spiritual stuff including breathing exercises, Asurana yoga, Hatha yoga, Kundalini yoga, and their "own" yoga, dynamic yoga method.

They are also linked to Peter Goodman [www.facebook.com] , who is linked to John Friend. [www.zoominfo.com]. , who once again shows up on this site and is involved in one of the biggest yoga scandals ever. [www.culteducation.com]

Scary stuff. I see the tree starting to form. The more I read on this yoga craze the more I feel it is one of the biggest hidden cult movements America has ever seen. All under the guise of being healthy. Doing yoga at home or at the local gym is one thing, doing it at a place that has a "guru" and includes all these Hindu spiritual practices can be quite dangerous and adversely effect your social connections, friends, family, physical, and mental health. I am living the nightmare.


My wife has now alienated almost all or our mutual friends. She has sent nasty text messages to several and in general has pissed everybody off in her life that is not "into" her yoga. She is now reading tarot cards, doing even more yoga, and accusing me of crazy things. Everybody feels she is going off of the deep end. So far she has kept my daughter out of this cult, but I fear it is only a matter of time. She is telling my daughter that she is learning a lot in yoga training and wants to be a better person for her and everyone that she is around, which is her yoga cult members and maybe 1 or 2 friends she has left. Anyway, I am going to include some good links that I have found on the dangers of yoga. Even the American Yoga Association says yoga is not for kids, yet Janes House of Yoga and wellness has a kids class!

[dangersofyoga.blogspot.com]

[kundalini.se]

So my wife has been taking our daughter to this Jane's House of Wellness. Their kids class is an hour and a half long. Parents are not allowed. My daughter tells me they lock the door and nobody can leave or enter (control). This sounds against the law somehow. They are having her do poses of "animals" and they have them make animal noises. (breathing exercises). They listen to music and sit still (meditation) and they finish them off with crafts of shape making, my daughter mentioned stars (Pagen also? They seem to like trees and roots). This is really all I know.

Am I the only one that thinks this is weird? My daughter is seven, she needs to be outdoors playing soccer or baseball or running in the park, not in a locked room with a Hindu spiritual guru practicing "mindfulness".

Dear DB1, I am not a professional, just a citizen.

Suggestions:

What you describe could be against local fire regulations.

Have a chat (non emergency number) with someone in the local fire department.

Do not go in saying my wife is in a cult and now has my kid in that same
yoga cult taking classes!

Instead, keep your cool and describe the situation in the just plain facts format which is exactly how fire officials, social workers write out reports.

who/persons involved (your child, your wife, its leader/teacher), what (how long the class, doors locked during class) when(days, time of day) where, (name of class, location, type of building).

Difficult to do this but it is the nuts and bolts information that these people need in order to size up a situation.

If concerned about how long the classes are in relation to your daughter's age, talk to her doctor and, perhaps a social worker. Use the same nuts and bolts format, because that is same format medical and social service officials
use when filling out their reports.

The best thing if you have any doubt, is talk to a legal advisor. Look for a legal clinic in your area if you cannot afford the feeds. Many attorneys give a first interview for free. Use the same nuts and bolts format.

I am no expert, that is why it may be best to run this past an attorney.

C



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2016 09:51PM by corboy.

Update. James House of Wellness has spiritual classes with Dandapani.
[dandapani.org]

A Hindu Monk who studied under Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (Gurudeva) at Kauai's Hindu Monastery

[www.himalayanacademy.com]

I can't find much on this site or the web, but stumbled upon this amazon review.

[www.amazon.com]

The tree just keeps growing. I fear it is too late to save my soon to be ex wife. She has been hypnotized and meditated so much I don't even know who she is anymore. She even stayed late tonight to listen to this Dandapani ex monk while my daughter was at her grandparents. [www.facebook.com]

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my daughter and she is going to get to bed late. It seems my wife cares more about her guru than our daughter. I don't know where this will end, but I fear it is not going to end well.

My hope is that this will help somebody else in the future to avoid these snakes. The last cult she was in took a couple of years for somebody to back me up on my claims. Hopefully somebody will come forward someday and back me up on this one. This goes WAY beyond Yoga. My former atheist wife is now listening to an ex Hindu Monk when she should be getting our daughter to bed for her first day of school. The amount of money she has given to these people is staggering. Be careful what you get into when you join a yoga/wellness studio with a "guru". It sure is life changing as they advertise.

So the final chapter is, I no longer have a consent order of protection against me, so I can talk. I'm divorced to a yoga convert. She lost all of her friends. But she has a new circle of friends in Yoga. As well, I believe she is borderline personality disorder. I had to fight a corrupt system to gain almost 50/50 custody of my child. It was not easy. I will spare details, as that is another subject. Yoga is bullshit if accompanied with new age bullshit and they get in your personal business. The big sign is the "love bombing" which is just drawing you in. So is tagging people in their Facebook posts.The "guru" will use adding you to Facebook posts to control your feelings about the group. Will you be included this time? Think people. Good luck.

dirtbikes1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
Yoga is bullshit if
> accompanied with new age bullshit and they get in
> your personal business. The big sign is the "love
> bombing" which is just drawing you in. So is
> tagging people in their Facebook posts.


I had to comment on this. When i started down my path, in the 1970's, i did not hear anybody calling it "New Age." It was not organized , but just a bunch of random people with similar beliefs. Most were independent thinkers. There was no "New Age Movement, " to speak of. That was the good part.

On the flip side, there was no real "community," such as you would get with a church. I think that what these cult founders did was to see a potential for $$$, and power, and offered a sense of community around "New Age" teachings. I think they tapped into people's desire to be a part of something. But they tweaked the teachings, just as the crusaders and the Inquisitors tweaked Christanity.

What is being taught by many of these groups starts out along lines that are pretty congruent with the older New Age, but then splits off and goes 180° from what they were teaching in the past. Maybe they do it this way to encourage complacency before they start in with the b.s. I don't pan ALL new age teachings, but find myself having to sift very carefully.

To me, the big red flag was the part where they get into your personal business. This seems to be reported across the board, in all of these organizations. The love-bombing is another sure sign, imho.

I am very sorry to read about what you have been through. I would (regretfully), have to agree with you that much of what has been presented as "New Age" in recent years is b.s. There are some great people out there, but someone who is new to it should approach with extreme caution, and if someone advises something that flies in the face of common sense - run!

* I will add a couple of specifics here.

Traditional new age teachings had nothing to do with totalitarianism, but I see many of my old friends headed in that direction and believing that it speaks of a more 'evolved" spirituality. "You must do what is in the highest good of 'The Collective.'" How on earth would I (or anyone else) know that?

There were no real authority figures in "new age." Not much dogma. It was accepted that different people had different beliefs. Everyone was seen as being on their own path, and one would not presume that what worked for one person would work for another. For this reason, most "new agers" were very hesitant to give advice.

Other religions were seen as being equally as valid. "Each to his own." Now i see old friends posting that all religions should be outlawed. Didn't they already try that in the USSR?

Thank you kdag for your comments. I was not aware of what "new age" really was until all of this happened. I was surely not aware that this yoga group practiced so much of it, as they do not advertise any of it.

Sure I heard the term "new age" before, but I did not really know what it was all about. After doing a lot of research, in my mind most of it is total bs. I am an atheist and so was my ex wife before she got "into" this yoga group. Now I have no idea what she believes. Don't get me wrong, I am not against religion, I think everybody has a right to believe in what they want to believe in. That said, religion and "spirituality" can be very dangerous tools for recruitment and mind control, especially when combined with group meditation and group think.

There are rumors that this group is also into witchcraft. I cannot verify that at this time. What I can do is list some things I know for a fact they are into and do not advertise as part of their "yoga":

Love bombing. Be prepared to have the entire group love you and be your instant new friend. Especially on Facebook. Social media is a huge recruitment for them.
Advice for your personal life. They seem to think they are life coaches and not just yoga instructors. Be prepared to be told how you should live your life.
Healing crystals (Total bs)
Tarot cards (Total bs. I have heard my ex wife was making life decisions based on tarot card readings. Unbelievable.)
Essential oils - the big flag is they have students peddle this stuff ( I know some of these may be actually be beneficial, but much is not proven)
Group Chanting and Meditation. (A very easy way to manipulate the weak minded or people with emotional problems)
Group Dancing and singing. (I know this sounds harmless, but is it yoga? Most cult like groups incorporate this into their programming)
The use of many new age terms. (awakening, centring, consciousness, cosmic energy, enlight­enment, force of life, human potential, transformational, contemplation, Transcendental Meditation, etc, etc.)
Many pictures of teachers and students wearing robes and putting dots on their forheads. (Really culty if you ask me)
Use of control. (Students must arrive on time for class or they are locked out and not let in to join if they are late. Children's classes are also behind locked doors and parents are not allowed in. I believe there may be temperature control going on too. My ex wife used to take a sweater "just in case it was cold".)
Kundalini Yoga and Kundalini "awakening" - a simple search of the internet will reveal how dangerous this stuff is on the mind.
Reiki
Shamanism
Spiritualism - LOTS of spiritualism.
Lots of trees, roots, stars, circles, etc.
Expensive "retreats" - virgin islands, arkansas, costa rica, etc.
Lots of Eastern practices, teachings, sanskrit, etc.

I just wonder how many people join a yoga class thinking it is just physical exercise and get sucked into all this other stuff. It's mind boggling to me.

I want to also note, watching some youtube videos from students and staff in this group are really creepy. Their eyes just look so crazy. I don't know how to explain it other than glazed over. I have seen this before when my wife was hypnotized in her last cult. It looks the same to me. Too much meditation. Most of the videos are simply praising the "guru" and the "community". Really weird.

I am pretty much done with this post. I just want the info available if anybody ever has any doubts and are searching the internet on this group of people. Hopefully this post will help them keep an open mind and they can do their own research and be aware when things get weird. I will say it again, be careful when you join a yoga "community" with a guru. You are going to get a whole lot more than just physical "yoga", you are going to get all the mental "yoga" too. And a lot of it. Good luck.