Posted on Jan 3, 2023
She was a popular yoga guru. Then she embraced QAnon conspiracy theories
864
13
3
4
4
0
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/02/ [login to see] /yoga-guru-qanon-conspiracy-theories
The baseless conspiracy theory that claims that a cabal of Satan-worshipping, blood-drinking elites control politics and media — is closely identified in political circles with some supporters of former President Donald Trump. But it also has a toehold in yoga and wellness circles.
Themes like everything is connected, nothing happens without a purpose, and nothing is what it seems are central to both yoga philosophy and conspiratorial thinking.
"If you've been practicing yoga, these are going to be very familiar ideas to you," said Matthew Remski, a former yoga teacher and journalist who hosts a podcast about conspiracies, wellness and cults called Conspirituality.
During the pandemic, many yoga teachers began to speak more openly about their belief in conspiracies, to the point that there is now a term to describe this phenomenon: the "wellness to QAnon pipeline."
To understand what wellness and conspiracy theories have in common, I decided to follow the radicalization journey of a Los Angeles-based Kundalini yoga teacher named Guru Jagat (to hear the full story, subscribe to the LAist Studios podcast Imperfect Paradise: Yoga's "Queen of Conspiracy Theories," which publishes on Jan. 3).
The baseless conspiracy theory that claims that a cabal of Satan-worshipping, blood-drinking elites control politics and media — is closely identified in political circles with some supporters of former President Donald Trump. But it also has a toehold in yoga and wellness circles.
Themes like everything is connected, nothing happens without a purpose, and nothing is what it seems are central to both yoga philosophy and conspiratorial thinking.
"If you've been practicing yoga, these are going to be very familiar ideas to you," said Matthew Remski, a former yoga teacher and journalist who hosts a podcast about conspiracies, wellness and cults called Conspirituality.
During the pandemic, many yoga teachers began to speak more openly about their belief in conspiracies, to the point that there is now a term to describe this phenomenon: the "wellness to QAnon pipeline."
To understand what wellness and conspiracy theories have in common, I decided to follow the radicalization journey of a Los Angeles-based Kundalini yoga teacher named Guru Jagat (to hear the full story, subscribe to the LAist Studios podcast Imperfect Paradise: Yoga's "Queen of Conspiracy Theories," which publishes on Jan. 3).
She was a popular yoga guru. Then she embraced QAnon conspiracy theories
Posted from npr.org
Conspiracy Theories
Donald Trump
Yoga
Wellness
Philosophy
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
3
3
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."One follower leaves, but others remain
Jaclyn Gelb stopped taking classes with Guru Jagat; she was angry with her former teacher.
"She was so intelligent. She had so much power," she said. "She could have done so much good."
But as Guru Jagat radicalized, she kept many of her followers.
Nancy Lucas is another one of Guru Jagat's long-time students who said she liked hearing what she called "every side of the story" in her class and on her podcast.
"I think she was giving people from all walks of life that opportunity to come there and speak and give their point of view," she said. "I do think she felt that the press was being biased, and I think I do too. I mean, if you're banning people's comments from Twitter and Facebook, we don't have an open forum for dialogue."
Guru Jagat's story came to a sudden, unexpected end on Aug. 1, 2021, when she died of a pulmonary embolism. She was 41.
Since her death, her yoga studio, the RA MA Institute, initiated an elaborate period of mourning, including two weeks of continuous chanting, a gong ceremony, and a 13-day-long "Mayan ceremony for clarity and direction."
Since then, Guru Jagat has become a saint-like figure to many of her followers.
In a YouTube tribute, student Angela Sumner described her this way: "Even if you think that she's a scam artist, even if you think she's a conspiracy theorist, you can't look at her eloquence and her teachings and deny that she is one of the greatest teachers that's ever lived during our time."
..."One follower leaves, but others remain
Jaclyn Gelb stopped taking classes with Guru Jagat; she was angry with her former teacher.
"She was so intelligent. She had so much power," she said. "She could have done so much good."
But as Guru Jagat radicalized, she kept many of her followers.
Nancy Lucas is another one of Guru Jagat's long-time students who said she liked hearing what she called "every side of the story" in her class and on her podcast.
"I think she was giving people from all walks of life that opportunity to come there and speak and give their point of view," she said. "I do think she felt that the press was being biased, and I think I do too. I mean, if you're banning people's comments from Twitter and Facebook, we don't have an open forum for dialogue."
Guru Jagat's story came to a sudden, unexpected end on Aug. 1, 2021, when she died of a pulmonary embolism. She was 41.
Since her death, her yoga studio, the RA MA Institute, initiated an elaborate period of mourning, including two weeks of continuous chanting, a gong ceremony, and a 13-day-long "Mayan ceremony for clarity and direction."
Since then, Guru Jagat has become a saint-like figure to many of her followers.
In a YouTube tribute, student Angela Sumner described her this way: "Even if you think that she's a scam artist, even if you think she's a conspiracy theorist, you can't look at her eloquence and her teachings and deny that she is one of the greatest teachers that's ever lived during our time."
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
2
2
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
(2)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google