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may/june 2018yogajournal.com.auI WAS EIGHT YEARS OF AGE when I had
my first #metoo experience. A specialist
doctor I had been sent to for advanced
treatment for my childhood asthma
instructed my mother to leave the room
so he could perform some tests on me.
He took his opportunity to violate me
and because I was so convinced he was a
fancy doctor, I never said a word to
anyone until I was 21 years old. By this
time, my life had taken a chaotic turn as
I was acting out behaviours in an
(unconscious) attempt to unravel what
had happened to me. I was
promiscuous and had no regard for my
sacred sexual energy as I carried an
ingrained belief that it was ok to be
used, so long as I could be liked, even
if only temporarily.
Then yoga found me. Thank the stars
above. Through the powerful intrinsic
healing methods contained within a full
yoga practice, including meditation,
self-love rituals, honouring of my
physical body as a soul temple, I came to
know myself as a Goddess – a soul
having a physical experience. I knew at
my deepest core, that a Goddess needs
to be treated by herself and others with
absolute respect. A Goddess needs to
take as long as she needs to heal her
wounds, carried from her childhood
and from eons of sexual abuse trauma
energetically carried by all women.
A Goddess commands only the highest,
the purest and the most holy. A
Goddess can create her destiny of love,
peace, abundance and success on her
terms despite what others may have
inflicted upon her and what she mayhave inflicted upon herself. The time is
NOW and there is always an opportunity
to start fresh and become the woman
you know you can be.
Recently we have seen an explosion
of women finding their voice through
the powerful #metoo campaign. This
campaign has seen the likes of Oprah
Winfrey stand tall in delivering a knock-
out speech when accepting an honorary
award, choosing to take the limelight off
herself and instead, empower every
woman with a #metoo story to find their
voice. The stories have filtered through
into the yoga world. Yoga Girl, Rachel
Bratheren, with her 2 million Instagram
followers created a forum for women in
yoga to share their stories of sexual
abuse involving yoga teachers, some
very prominent ‘yoga celebrities’,
including the now indicted Bikram
Choudhury of the famous Bikram Hot
Yoga. We all sat aghast as story after
story was told. Even the big-hitters like
from Patthabi Jois, founder of the
popular Ashtanga Yoga system, was
called into the spotlight of scrutiny with
video evidence of inappropriate
adjustments and stories of lewd
comments to pretty female yoga
students. Many have called out those
who continue to support and practice
Ashtanga Yoga, claiming that to honour
the women abused, we must take a stand
against this form of yoga that has a
rotten root system. Others chose to hold
steadfast to a tradition they claim has
supported their spiritual growth and
healing. Kino McGregor, a world-wide
recognised Ashtanga Yoga teacher,
made her own stance, stating she would
continue her practice but to support
those who chose to walk away. At the
end of the day, there is no right or wrong
choice but we must all take the time to
look and feel deeply within, to make our
own choices based on our soul knowing
and in the Native American words, ‘do
what you know to be right’.
If you find yourself in need of healing
sexual trauma or abuse, know that you
have the inner strength to move yourself
out of anguish and into freedom.
Yoga is a holistic healing system that
can offer so much ritual and insight into
how to heal and why we have chosen to
have such a painful life experience.
Ultimately, yoga will bring you back to
the awareness that you are a Sovereign
Being and you have the power toYoga teacher
Carrie-Anne Fields,
from MyHealth
Yoga, shares her
non-yoga related
#metoo experience
and offers a self-
healing yoga ritual
of asana,
pranayama,
mudra, mantra
and meditation.