‘I ignored all the red flags and ended up in a sex yoga cult’

In 2018, Ashleigh Freckleton had just moved to the UK, been through a break-up, and started a new job – a series of events that she thinks contributed to her getting involved with a ‘cult’. 

As we speak, Ashleigh is now back in Australia – she returned there after a difficult time in Europe, which began after she started going to Tara Yoga Centre in London, the UK branch of the Atman Yoga Federation.  

What followed was a journey that is at the centre of Apple TV’s Twisted Yoga documentary series, where we see Ashleigh begin to become indoctrinated by practices and teachings allegedly exploited to try to control her. 

The more Ashleigh got involved with the school, the more isolated she became from the outside world. She was dedicating hours a week to both theory and practice and attended a retreat abroad, which involved what Ashleigh described in the documentary as ‘a massive orgy’ where the women drank each other’s urine.  

Eventually, she was invited to meet a person whom her school referred to as ‘the spiritual guide’, guru Gregorian Bivolaru – he’s the founder of the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (Misa), a Romanian-based yoga movement. 

Ashleigh travelled to Paris for the occasion, where she was picked up by a woman who took her phone and drove her to an undisclosed location – while in France, women reportedly took part in ‘sexual initiations’ with Bivolaru.  

Twisted Yoga from Apple TV reveals how Ashleigh left before partaking in the initiation and tells the story of women who didn’t.  

When Ashleigh initially started attending classes, she admitted that the yoga was helpful, telling Metro: ‘I was feeling very stressed. At a certain point, I had a lot of symptoms of depression and anxiety, and I would go to class and practice yoga for an hour, and it felt like the vice on my chest had just been loosened.  

‘The sense of calm and inner peace that I got from that was impossible to ignore because it felt so healthy.’ 

However, things soon began to feel off. From being told to send photos in bikinis to the guru to attend a retreat, to being asked to strip naked for her aura to be checked, there were requests that Ashleigh admits in the series were ‘strange’.

Looking back now, Ashleigh told us: ‘There were so many red flags, and I saw all of them.

‘But you dismiss them because you’re under these spiritual ideals and spiritual concepts. 

‘You’re taught to squash the ego. And you start to question yourself rather than questioning the situation. You progressively abandon yourself, until you don’t trust yourself at all.’ 

During the series, Ashleigh tells of arriving at the house in France to meet the guru. She said she had to agree in writing to shaving her head for five years if she was ‘caught trying to steal any of the secret teachings’.

Ashleigh explains that the house was surrounded by a big fence with a locked gate. She had none of her belongings, and the idea of leaving felt ‘too crazy’ at first.

Eventually, Ashleigh listened to her instincts and asked to leave the house in France, but she told Metro that it took battling with her thoughts to conclude: ‘I was starting to get quite paranoid thoughts and sort of thinking: “What would happen to me if I tried to leave? Can I trust these people? Would I disappear, or would they just let me go? I just don’t know anymore what they’re capable of.”’ 

When she told the guru that she didn’t want to go through with the initiation, Ashleigh describes in the series being told she was ‘manipulated by demons’ and that the initiation would exorcise these. 

Reflecting, Ashleigh said to us: ‘It’s very threatening and very scary to let the so-called demons actually get a word in. They’re not demons at all.  

‘That’s your instincts and your safety mechanism saying: “Get out.”’ 

Still, it took time for Ashleigh to acknowledge what she’d been through. 

‘When I left, I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t go: “That’s definitely a cult. He’s definitely a fraud.” I thought maybe, but there was nothing sure in my head. I just knew the only place I was going to get some clarity was to remove myself from the situation.’  

Around a year later, Ashleigh began a ‘cult awareness page’ and started to speak out about what she’d experienced.  

Despite this, she was still nervous about making the documentary, but hopes that by sharing what she’s been through, it might help others to ‘identify what happened to them, put some language and understanding around it, and that can help them to stop blaming themselves’.

When Metro asked Ashleigh what she’d like to say to those who have experienced similar, Ashleigh replied: ‘”It’s not your fault.” Coercive control is not the victim’s fault. 

‘And it might feel that way. But when you’re in a coercive control situation, it’s not consent. And it’s not consent if you’re afraid to say no.’

Bivolaru is currently in custody on suspicion of kidnapping, rape and people trafficking – all of which he denies. 

The producers of Twisted Yoga reached out to the relevant parties for comment and received the following statements:

‘Tara Yoga Centre stated that, due to ongoing legal proceedings, it is unable to comment at this time. Atman stated that it is not responsible for the private lives of staff, students and teachers of affiliate schools, and that all current allegations remain under investigation and are unproven. 

All said they condemned all forms of abuse. 

In a statement, MISA denied all allegations of trafficking, abuse, manipulation or coercion, asserting that the current proceedings in France stem from a long-standing pattern of misunderstanding and discrimination against their teachings, particularly those combining spirituality and eroticism. It emphasised the positive personal development of thousands of its students, dismissing the allegations as a witch-hunt based on the testimony of a few disgruntled people.

Gregorian Bivolaru was contacted through his legal representatives but did not respond. He denies all the charges against him.’

Twisted Yoga is available to watch on Apple TV.

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