"It never dawned on me, that level of where they were at with serving Guru Jagat," Hughes said last year. Ra Ma Yoga Institute wasn't just a new-agey business with a remarkably devoted team, she thought to herself: It was more like a cult. In that moment, Hughes started to piece together the clues - the around-the-clock working hours Jagat's staff kept, many of them unpaid the expectation that followers treat Jagat like royalty the verbal and financial abuse of teachers. "They literally rounded me up and they were attacking me, like, 'She's your teacher. Hughes refused.Īccording to Hughes, one day in August, seven men and women belonging to Jagat's inner circle surrounded Hughes in the studio, as they berated and screamed at her for refusing to give in to Jagat's demand. But then, Hughes said, Jagat demanded that she have Hughes' bedroom for herself. That was finally happening through a partnership with the turban-wearing guru named Jagat, whose legal name was Katie Griggs and who like Hughes was white.įor five months, Hughes and Jagat shared a yoga studio that Hughes had rented in the resort town of Palma de Mallorca in relative harmony, with Hughes and her 3-year-old son living in an apartment upstairs. Philipa Hughes thought her dream was coming true when she teamed up with the yoga celebrity Guru Jagat to open a studio on the Spanish island of Mallorca in 2016.įor years, Hughes had wanted her own space to teach Kundalini, a niche form of chant-heavy yoga.
Even now, it's not clear what kind of accountability exists within the organization.īut what is Ra Ma and who was Guru Jagat? 'How dare you not serve?' Social accounts tied to Ra Ma and Jagat's inner circle remain active, and sales of its yoga events continue. The institute is looking to move ahead without its founder.
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