I Was Groomed & Trafficked into a TANTRIC YOGA SEX CULT

Cults to Consciousness

Shelise Ann Sola, Jonathan C Rosales

Society & Culture

4.8 • 574 Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2017, Miranda signed up for classes at Tara Yoga Centre in London — a studio associated with the larger network Atman federation (also sometimes called MISA in other countries). At first, the classes were marketed as esoteric or tantric yoga — spiritual practices about inner work, self-improvement and body awareness. As time went on, students were encouraged to date the teachers, blurring lines and creating a toxic power dynamic. Only the true seekers attended the many expensive retreats, which groomed her into desiring a tantric session with the all powerful Guru nobody had met. Slowly, things would become more sexual in nature and those who didn’t participate were seen as prude. After demonstrating her devotion, she was sent to meet the Guru in Paris at an undisclosed location with blacked out windows and other women coming and going blindfolded. She would then be forced into a “spiritual initiation” with the Guru which left her feeling empty and confused. After the ritual, most women were taken to another location where they were told to liberate the world, they needed to be Cam girls. In November 2023, Bivolaru was arrested in France along with many associates. Authorities accused him and the group of kidnapping, trafficking, and sexual exploitation of women under the guise of spiritual practice. Miranda continues to speak out about her experiences.

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https://atmanyogafederation.org

https://atmancultalert.org resources in multiple languages with media on the organization to date

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Chapter Marks

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:33 Miranda's experience telling her story

00:10:07 Group background

00:14:11 How Miranda got involved

00:15:46 When Miranda realized what she'd gotten into

00:26:03 Miranda's experience at the retreat

00:36:19 Meeting the "spiritual guide"

00:54:05 Noticing red flags

01:12:21 How Miranda felt after leaving

01:15:40 Miranda's deconstruction

01:21:30 Prosecution

01:27:29 What brings Miranda joy now

01:32:22 Linda, Listen

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Transcript

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0:00.0	These are spiritual people, you know, this is a yoga school and everyone's really lovely and happy and loving.
0:05.0	And perhaps if I can overlook some of this kind of surprising, shocking material,
0:11.0	I'll grow and have all of these amazing spiritual experiences that they claim to be having.
0:16.0	We were encouraged to wear lingerie to the group, supposedly to connect us with our femininity and our sensuality,
0:23.6	they took a photo, a naked photo, which was then sent to the guru to read my aura,
0:29.6	to decide if I was spiritual enough to be chosen for this women's camp.
0:34.6	Amazing news, kind of, you know, really gushing.
0:38.2	You've been chosen.
0:39.7	It's a yes.
0:42.2	Oh, we're going to have such a beautiful time together. And the camp in Romania, the summer camp,
0:45.1	is where things really kind of started to deepen.
0:48.1	There were kind of rules and expectations
0:49.6	that the retreat in Romania were preparing and grooming us
0:53.4	to kind of normalize the things that would
0:55.9	then happen when we were tracked to Paris. Phones were taken, the SIM cards were removed,
1:02.9	we weren't allowed to use the phones at any point, and inside the seat pockets of the car
1:08.7	were hats and sunglasses with tape on the inside.
1:13.6	And we were only to take them off if we were stopped by the police, in which case the story was that we were all there of our own free will and we were going to do a yoga holiday.
1:21.6	Five to seven women in an average bedroom, so I sleeping in double bunk beds.
1:25.6	I woke up and there was someone new
1:27.8	who I'd never met in the bed next to me sleeping. That was the first time where I really heard
1:33.0	of him being spoken about as beyond human. I wasn't connected to him at all. I didn't want to be
	...

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