In the News: Strange Phenomenon in Yoga Studios

Yes we are a bath and body company, yumscrub.com, and our blogs usually focus on those things related to it. But, Yum Scrub Organics’ founder, Denise, is also a yoga teacher. She found this article in the San Jose Post so alarming she thought we should share it in case you or anyone you know practices yoga – just to be prepared.

A new unexplainable phenomenon is happening to yoga students in yoga classes in California and apparently spreading eastward.

It began a couple of weeks ago in a class at the Mudhatama Yoga Studio in San Jose, California while students were doing cat and cow pose. Cat/cow is a movement done on the hands and knees. Students flex their spine by moving from rounding it to extending it. It is called cat/cow because the rounding of the spine resembles a frightened cat, and the extending of the spine where the belly drops down looks like a cow. This time though the poses took on a life of their own. Students involuntarily began to meow and moo spontaneously.

The teacher, Josh Riddel, sensed right away that something was wrong–that this was no game. He said he felt chills go up and down his spine at the sound because they were so realistic. Riddel could see by the bewilderment and fright on the students’ faces that something strange was going on. The sounds stopped when the class of about 24 students moved from cat/cow to sitting.

After the students calmed down, Riddel asked if they could explain what happened. The students could not explain. They all reported the same experience: Something uncontrollable came over them, and the meows and moos emanated from their mouths on their own volition. Several of the students were so frightened they began to sob while others laughed it off as part of the yoga experience.

Riddel asked for student volunteers to go back into cat/cow to see if the sounds would emanate from them again. Several students did volunteer, and once again they all meowed and mooed. He had no explanation to give his students. It didn’t end there. Other teachers at the yoga studio reported the same sensations were happening in their classes. And soon, posts on social media showed that the meowing and mooing were not limited to this one studio. Like a virus, it had spread to other yoga studios all over California.

Some gurus are saying that this is merely students embodying the essence of the pose. “I know that yoga is to transform me. But I don’t know if I’m ready to be transformed into a cat or cow even if cows are sacred in India. Well…besides we aren’t in India, and I’d probably get eaten here in the U.S. This is what has become of me since that day; I make no sense at all when I speak. This whole experience has ungrounded me,” said Flo Hardy, a yoga student in Riddel’s class.

Since the San Jose Post broke the story, many students are staying away from yoga classes while other people who have never done yoga are flocking to them. They want to have what they see as a once in a lifetime experience. During the full moon in March, many yoga classes were held outside so students could meow/moo at the moon…a yoga version of howling at the moon.

The SJP interviewed medical personnel in various fields to see if they could offer any insights or explanations, but no one as been able to identify a cause. Strangely, it is only happening in yoga classes and only with the cat/cow movement. Students are not barking in downward facing dog………not yet. Also, teachers are not affected, and individuals practicing at home do not report the same experience.

Some speculate that maybe a mass Kundalini awakening or enlightenment is happening, and others say it is a sign that points to the birth of the aquarius age. The aquarius age, which humanity is in the beginning stages, is said to cause consciousness rising. Unsettling consequences can happen to those not prepared for higher levels of consciousness in this new age, Dr. Shaman Mee, director of Spirit Rising explains. Whether it is related no one knows for sure–all is speculation. What is known, however, is that the phenomenon is not just isolated to California.

It is moving east. Reports of the Meow Moo Mantra, as it is now being called, are coming in from Oregon, Washington State, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. Since it seems to be spreading like a virus, it’s only a matter of time that yoga studios nationwide may be affected.

If you or someone you know practices yoga, all that we can tell you to do is:

Have a Happy April Fool’s Day!

Love and Light to All~

Denise & Mackenzie