I encountered Ben Wolff at a workshop where his practice ‘disappeared’ some long-term addictive behaviour. I wanted to understand how he did this and was taken in by his intellect and charisma. Over seven months I attended workshops and 1-2-1 sessions primarily to support my book, along with weekly mentoring where I shared daily drawings of my internal process. In March 2021 he texted out of the blue to say that as I was ‘affiliated with abusers’ I was no longer welcome. It was a shocking betrayal of trust.
At the workshops I had observed, but over-ridden, the warning signs of overt flattery with some students and shaming of others, unsafe disclosure boundaries, bad-mouthing other modalities and publicly pathologizing students who were not ‘fixed’ by his practices.
I have learned a lot about bullying, safety and the power that teachers hold from this process and am grateful for the opportunity to speak openly, at last. This has been possible because of the support of my peer groups and colleagues, and the courage of other people speaking out, The Shala and Norman Blair amongst others. The statement from The Shala is copied below, Norman has compiled a statement which you can download here. You may also be curious in this podcast featuring Norman talking about how to choose a teacher and Norman’s article on the same topic.
It troubles me deeply that my brief involvement with and promotion of the menopause course exposed more people to unsafe behaviour. If I introduced you to Ben Wolff, I can only apologise, I am truly sorry.
If you have encountered abuse in yoga of any kind, I can recommend Yoni Shakti the Movement and their associated Facebook community as a safe place to find help. If you are wondering whether you have found the right teacher, then this article may be of use.
