Dance teacher Melissa Revell wins payout after yoga course triggers emotional breakdown
A British dance teacher has won her battle for payment after suffering a nervous breakdown at a yoga class in India.
Melissa Revell said the self-discovery exercises she did at a £2,250 course she attended in Goa in 2019 led to a crisis that left her unable to work.
The 35-year-old man said he was “re-traumatized” after memories of his adoption were triggered by ad-free psychological exercises.
She said she was in good physical and mental health before the course, but could no longer look after herself or exercise and went from a size six to a size 16.
Ms Revell sued TYP International Ltd, the company behind the course, for more than £200,000.
The company is run by British yoga guru Jamie Clarke (59) and Mexican instructor Dulce Aguilar (43).
Now Ms Revell is in line to receive payment after Mr Clarke told London’s High Court he was withdrawing his defense of liability for what happened to the company.
Ms Revell, from Richmond, London, says she went from being fit, active and working to being “unable to look after herself” and living a “deeply reclusive, impoverished and dysfunctional life” with “acute anxiety every time she left her home”.
Lawyers for the yoga company had previously insisted in their submissions to the court that Mr Clarke, Ms Aguilar and other staff had done nothing wrong.
They denied there was any “psychological” element to the training or that Ms Revell’s emotional breakdown was a foreseeable risk of the yoga course.
But Mr Clarke has now confirmed to the court that the company will no longer discuss the issue of liability, has run out of funds, parted company with its lawyers and lost a significant pre-trial standoff, meaning they will be unable to present their own expert medical evidence.
“The company is no longer trading as of July 2022,” the judge told Master John Dagnall.
“We are no longer able to defend the claim due to funds. We think the claimant is unlikely to win due to liability, but we are in a catch 22 situation where there is no money to pay for our defence.
“With [the company’s former solicitors] Kennedy is no longer acting, we no longer have the representation or funds to defend the claim.”
In documents filed at the High Court in London, Marcus Grant, on behalf of Ms Revell, said she paid £2,250 for a 200-hour training course in Goa in September and October 2019 to become a qualified teacher of Ashtanga yoga.
But he left India early and flew home, he says, after suffering a crisis triggered by an exercise to explore his childhood memories.
Describing the exercise, he said: “On September 24, 2019, Ms. Aguilar instructed the plaintiff and other students in the course to participate in a bodily touching session led by her.
“Ms.
“As part of the exercise, students were told to pair up and sit in a circle, with one person sitting in front of the other. In pairs, they were told to take turns holding the other person.
“While holding the other person, they were instructed to imagine that the other person was their parent, massage their shoulders, hold their hands, and stroke their hair. Ms. Aguilar said words such as, ‘I love you, you are my teacher, my caregiver, my raiser, and I forgive you,'” Ms. Aguilar said.
The lawyer said that “after the session, the plaintiff began to shake and feel unwell” and became “extremely anxious”.
She said she spoke to Mr Clarke in the following days and told him how she felt, which brought up previously repressed memories from her childhood.
“Mr Clarke said he could not spend all his time with one student but offered one-to-one therapy sessions in the UK,” she added.
This “dismissive response” and “being left without solutions or support,” as well as coercive pressure to participate in “psychology-focused exercises,” caused Ms. Revell to “become very ill” and fly home, the lawyer says.
He was later diagnosed with “significant and severe complex PTSD and comorbid depersonalization/derealization disorder” and “functional neurological disorder.”
“He is significantly incapacitated due to his injuries,” it says. “His long-standing relationship with his partner… failed due to his psychological disorder.
“He now lives alone and leads a very reclusive, impoverished and dysfunctional life.
“He doesn’t go out much. He can’t take care of himself. He can’t cook, clean, or shop for groceries. As a result, his house is messy and dirty. He has difficulty in personal care.
“He can go for days without changing his clothes or washing his hair. He doesn’t eat properly. He gained weight because he couldn’t exercise; he used to be UK size 6-8, now he’s size 14-16.”
Although she has a history of mental health problems dating back to her teenage years, she has been in good mental and physical health since 2013-14 and has continued to take a yoga class.
“Nowhere in the brochure did it state that the course would include any aspects of psychology/psychotherapy,” he says.
“No warnings were given regarding the possible risk of re-traumatisation as a result of participating in any exercises in the yoga course.
“Attendance at all sessions on the course was mandatory in order to obtain yoga teacher accreditation.
“Had she been informed about the need to engage in psychology and/or psychotherapy based on potentially traumatic or distressing childhood memories and parental interactions, she would never have enrolled in the course.”
In the company’s defense, lawyers had previously denied any wrongdoing and stated that the course did not contain any psychological or psychotherapy elements.
“But this was a yoga course and so there was an inevitable focus on physical, mental and spiritual practices,” they note.
“There are discussions about emotions as part of yoga.
“There was no need to attend psychology/psychotherapy and the plaintiff knew that yoga involved spiritual healing.
“Plaintiff completed the exercise without any complaints or distress, and at the end of the session, he approached Ms. Aguilar and said that he loved the exercise and was impressed by it. He hugged Ms. Aguilar.
“It was denied that the plaintiff was obliged to take any action.
“It was denied that he was required to have ‘access to childhood memories and parental interactions.
“The plaintiff was explained what the purpose and goal of the exercise was and how the exercise would be carried out. If he wished, he could refuse to participate.
“It was denied that the purpose of the exercise was to bring up potentially traumatic or distressing childhood memories. The purpose of the exercise was simply to feel love and develop forgiveness for anyone who wronged you. This included parents and park rangers.”
“It is accepted that no warning was made regarding the possibility of re-trauma as a result of any exercise on the track. It is not foreseeable that the plaintiff will experience re-trauma as a result of the exercise performed by the plaintiff.
“It was denied that the defendant had to make any prospective assessment of the plaintiff’s psychological state. It was sufficient for the defendant to investigate whether the plaintiff had any physical or mental illness.
“Plaintiff … in signing the waiver confirmed that he had no existing mental or physical impairments and no pre-existing conditions, both physical and mental, that would affect his performance.”
After a brief hearing held by video link, Master Dagnall told Mr Clarke: “If you will not appear to defend the claim, your chances of success appear remote.”
The judge made a so-called “unless order” ordering that the company’s liability defense be set aside unless Mr Clarke confirms by the end of Monday, November 17, that he intends to take up and fight his company’s case in court in person, in the absence of lawyers.
Ms Revell’s lawyers later said outside court that Mr Clarke confirmed he would not attend the hearing on behalf of the company, meaning liability would be decided along with compensation on behalf of the plaintiff.
The merit of his claim will now be assessed in the next stage of the case.
