A dance teacher who says she was left traumatised after an intensive yoga retreat in India made her relive suppressed childhood memories is suing the camp’s organiser for more than £200,000.
Personal trainer Melissa Revell, 35, says she suffered a life-changing emotional breakdown following the ‘self-exploration’ drill at the £2,250 yoga teacher training course in Goa in 2019.
She claims the session involved an unadvertised psychological exercise which led to her being ‘retraumatised’ when memories relating to her being adopted resurfaced.
It saw her massaging a partner’s shoulders and stroking their hair while picturing them as her parent in a drill designed to ‘forgive them for things they had done’, a court heard.
But Ms Revell claims it triggered suppressed memories to resurface, which left her a ‘recluse’ with PTSD, unable to work, destroyed her relationship with her partner and saw her balloon from a size six to a size 16.
She is now suing the Luton-based company which put on the course, The Yoga People International Ltd – run by British yoga guru Jamie Clarke, 59, and Mexican instructor Dulce Aguilar, 43, – for more than £200,000 compensation.
Ms Revell, from Richmond, London, says she has gone from fit, active and working to being ‘not able to care for herself’ and leading ‘an extremely reclusive, impoverished and dysfunctional life’ with ‘acute anxiety whenever she leaves the flat’.
But lawyers for the yoga company insist Mr Clarke, Ms Aguilar and its other staff did nothing wrong. They deny there was any ‘psychological’ element to the training and say Ms Revell’s emotional collapse was not a foreseeable risk.
Personal trainer Melissa Revell (pictured), 35, says she suffered a life-changing emotional breakdown following the ‘self-exploration’ drill
She is now suing the Luton-based company which put on the course, The Yoga People International Ltd – run by British yoga guru Jamie Clarke, 59 (pictured)
The course was led by Mexican yoga instructor Dulce Aguilar, 43 (pictured)
In documents lodged at London’s High Court, Marcus Grant, for Ms Revell, says she paid £2,250 for a 200-hour training course in Goa in September and October 2019, with the aim of becoming a qualified teacher of Ashtanga yoga.
But she ended up leaving India early and flying home after having a meltdown triggered by an exercise in exploring childhood memories, her barrister says.
Describing the exercise, he said: ‘On September 24 2019, Ms Aguilar instructed the claimant and the other students on the course to participate in a somatic touch session led by her.
‘Ms Aguilar explained the purpose of the exercise was for the students to explore their childhood memories and their relationship with their parents so they could forgive them for things they had done, heal and move forward.
‘As part of the exercise, the students were instructed to pair up and sit in a circle with one person sitting in front of the other. They were told to take turns in their pairs to hold the other person.
‘Whilst holding the other person, they were instructed to imagine that the other person was their parent and massage their shoulders, hold their hands and stroke their hair. Ms Aguilar said words such as “I love you, you are my teacher, my carer, my nurturer and I forgive you”.’
The barrister says that ‘following the session the claimant started shaking and feeling ill’ and was gripped with ‘overwhelming anxiety’.
Over the following days, she told Mr Clarke how she was feeling and that it was bringing up previously suppressed memories of her childhood, he said.
‘Mr Clarke responded that he could not spend all his time with one student, but offered one to one therapy sessions back in the UK,’ he added.
Ms Revell (pictured) claims the session involved an unadvertised psychological exercise which led to her being ‘retraumatised’ when memories relating to her being adopted resurfaced
The barrister says this ‘dismissive response’ and being ‘left with no resolution or support’ along with ‘coercive pressure to participate’ in further ‘psychology focused exercises’ caused Ms Revell to ‘become very ill’ and fly home.
She was subsequently diagnosed with ‘significant and severe complex PTSD and comorbid depersonalisation/derealisation disorder’ and ‘functional neurological disorder’.
‘She remains significantly incapacitated by her injuries,’ he says. ‘Her long-term relationship with her partner…failed as a result of her psychological illness.
‘Now she lives alone and leads an extremely reclusive, impoverished and dysfunctional life.
‘She does not go out much. She is not able to care for herself. She cannot cook or clean or do grocery shopping. Her home is untidy and dirty as a result. She struggles with self-care.
‘She can go for days without changing her clothes or washing her hair. She doesn’t eat properly. As she is unable to exercise, she has gained weight; she used to be a UK size 6-8 and now is a size 14-16.’
Although she had a history of mental health problems going back to her adolescence, she had been in good mental and physical health since 2013-14 and until the yoga course, he continues.
‘Nowhere in the brochure was she put on notice that the course would entail any psychology/psychotherapy aspect,’ he says.
Lawyers for the yoga company insist Mr Clarke (pictured), Ms Aguilar and its other staff did nothing wrong and that her emotional breakdown could not have been foreseen
‘At no point was any warning given as to the risk of possible retraumatisation as a result of engaging on any of the exercises on the yoga course.
‘Participation in all the sessions on the course was mandatory in order to obtain their yoga teacher accreditation.
‘Had she been informed about the requirement to engage in psychology and or psychotherapy based on potentially traumatic or distressing childhood memories and parental interactions she would never have signed up for the course.’
But in the company’s defence, its lawyers deny any fault and say there was no psychological nor psychotherapy element to the course.
‘It was, however, a yoga course and there was therefore an inevitable focus on physical, mental and spiritual practices,’ they say. ‘There are discussions about feelings as part of yoga.
‘There was no requirement to engage in psychology/psychotherapy and the claimant knew that yoga involved spiritual healing.
‘There was no “somatic touch psychotherapy session” led by Ms Aguilar or at all. There were no “psychology focused exercises”.’
In fact, Ms Aguilar had led a Yamas exercise, which focuses on non-violence – including kindness, accepting and forgiveness – and truthfulness, seeing fears and emotions that twist a practitioner’s reality, the company says.
Following the drill, Ms Revell (pictured) was diagnosed with complex PTSD, a court heard
‘Each participant chose a partner and took it in turns to play each role. The students do not talk during the exercise. The students were told to place their hands on their partner’s shoulders or hold a hand and seek forgiveness/love for mothers, fathers, friends/strangers – a parking warden which was the example given.
‘There was no focus, or even reference, to considering traumatic events. The philosophy was of archetypes – fostering connection and love.
‘The claimant completed the exercise without complaint or distress and at the end of the session approached Ms Aguilar and said she had loved the exercise and was moved by it. She gave Ms Aguilar a hug.
‘It is denied the claimant was obliged to engage in any exercise. Students were advised they needed to complete all the hours in order to achieve their certificates, but this does not mean they were obliged to do every exercise.
‘It is denied she was required to “access her childhood memories and parental interactions”.
‘The claimant was told what the purpose and goal of the…exercise was before it commenced, along with how it would be conducted. She could have refused to participate if she so wished.
‘It is denied the purpose of the exercise was to elicit potentially traumatic or distressing childhood memories. The purpose of the exercise was purely to feel love and develop forgiveness for anyone who had wronged you. This included parents and parking attendants.
Ms Revell, a former fitness instructor, is now suing the yoga company for more than £200,000
‘It is admitted that no warning was given as to possible re-traumatisation as a result of engaging in any of the exercises on the course. Re-traumatisation was not foreseeable as a consequence of the exercise carried out by the claimant.
‘It is denied the defendant was obliged to carry out any sort of prospective assessment of the claimant’s psychological state. It was sufficient for the defendant to enquire whether the claimant had any physical or mental conditions.
‘The claimant…confirmed, when signing the waiver, that she had no existing mental and physical conditions and no pre-existing conditions, both physical and mental, which may affect her performance.’
The company also denies its staff were aware that Ms Revell was experiencing the symptoms she claims while in India and that she had attended a party where students danced and sang karaoke on a beach.
‘It is denied the claimant was “severely unwell”…prior to the end of the party. People who are severely unwell do not sing karaoke. The defendant does not know whether the claimant became unwell after the party,’ the company’s lawyers added.
The case reached court for a brief pre-trial hearing before Master Gary Thornett, who heard the trial will hear evidence from a yoga expert.
Defence barrister Anna Symington told him there will be a factual dispute about what did happen, adding: ‘I know that the director [of the company] is extremely upset by what happened.
‘There is an issue of foreseeability…if the defendants’ version of events is correct, the claimant cannot succeed.’
The case is now set to return to court for a full hearing at a later date.