Hi all. Last week I wrote about in incident that deeply disturbed me at last weekend’s Northwest Yoga Conference. I spent much of the following days asking questions and trying to get clarity.
- What happened before the video was taken? (Because there was obviously a backstory no one was sharing.)
- What would make a yoga professional behave so truly awfully on camera?
- Why did the conference continue to make the matter worse by throwing Savitri and Aadil out of the event?
- How can we find learning and healing in all of this?
I posted questions on Facebook. I read statements from both parties. I spoke to people with insider information. It brought up MANY more questions, but I still have no answers. Just a heart that’s a little bit broken, and a spirit that is horrified by the hate, name-calling, and vitriol that erupted from supposed yogis on the discussion groups. Frankly, I’m surprised the obscenity filters even let many of the comments through.
I sent the e-mail below to my current yoga teacher training group on Saturday, and it sums up how I feel today. I want my words to build clarity, not fuel more anger, so unless more information is revealed from both parties involved, at this point I’ll remain quiet and hope for a future reconciliation.
“Hi. This issue has continued to take up much of my headspace over the past week. Since our last class, I have been made privy to some information that the NW Yoga Conference has chosen not to make public. Nothing I’ve learned excuses what Melissa did in the video in my mind, but it does explain what happened after, at least partially. If Aadil, Savitri, and Melissa ever get together with a professional mediator, I’ve agreed to participate. I wish we had the full story, but I don’t think we’ll ever get it at this point. The more I learn, the sadder I become. I wonder if even the people involved have a clear memory of what happened anymore. I’m particularly saddened by the social media comments and the severe language and vitriol written there by people who are supposedly yogis.
Melissa has dropped from the NW Yoga Conference Facebook page and has deleted her personal Facebook account. I don’t blame her. I don’t know what the future holds for her or the conference. May we all work toward holding everyone involved in healing light and hope that what happened can be a catalyst for each of us to examine our actions, reactions, and beliefs in a way that brings greater equality and peace to our world.”
Namaste
Tracy Weber
Thank you Tracy.
You’re welcome.
Thank you for the update! I sincerely hope everyone involved can find resolution and healing, and that our local community can, in time, reflect with real wisdom on how everything was handled (as well as how we responded).
I hope so as well!
Thank you Tracy. These are the words we need to hear. Calm, clear, non judging, patient to hear all sides, and knowing that none of us know all that brought these actions to be. May all who have been hurtful take time to reflect, and may this reflection bring healing.
Thank you.
Spot on!
Thanks!
Hi. I’m Zenia, Savitri’s daughter. They haven’t apologized or been willing to hear both sides of the story when was asked for an explainaition weeks ago. Because it seems to still be very one sided. The lack of apology shows that they’re bias to their own side. An apology, a simple thing to create peace, is a sign that there is more going on than we are aware of. My mother was never aware of any animosity. My mother doesnt need to apologize when she didn’t do anything wrong, in fact she asked what she did wrong and no one gave her an answer. My mother gave her earnings as a gift to NWYC before the incident. We were kicked out suddenly and without reason. We lost so much due to this. That’s a side one might have forgotten. The issue is no one should have treated my mother with such disrespect considering her age, her wisdom, and her contribution to this world. I would believe there are two sides, if I didn’t know my mother the way I do. I know she is not one to ever create disharmony and I’ve never seen her be anything but loving my entire life. And I know her much better than most. All that has been done as them trying to censor us, taking comments off pages, not talking to Aadil, blocking people who tried to kindly reach out to them and lastly WE did the work to find the mediator. So perhaps there’s a side that truly hasn’t been seen. Respect is a must, there is no excuse for rudeness. My parents taught me the importance of respect and morals, one does not treat a meditation master in such a way.
Thank you for commenting, Zenia. I truly hope that the mediation brings closure and peace. And may we all work to rebuild the sangha that is so important.