Mind and Body Yoga Waran and Vasa Mentally ill yoga studio owner Internet

This is a warning for both yoga teachers and students to understand Mind and Body Yoga. First, the owner has no real regular students, so he flooded discount websites like Groupon and TeamBuy with cut rate prices.

The business is so badly run that the owner began demanding donations from these students, many purchased passes for about $1 per class. The owner refused to honor several people's passes due to his own temperment, and other personal reasons (appearence...hardly yogic, right?).

Be careful. There's no telling when the business will shut down and your passes will become useless and worthless.

As for the schedule, it is arbitrary and changes day to day, depending on which teachers have quit. Owner verbally abuses and berates the employees. Also some harassment and innuendo directed to other females. I've seen him attack people in front of me.

I heard from several teachers that they are waiting for payment, and that they are mad that payment is usually late. Many checks have bounced. When the studio folds for good, they will be out a lot of money, but the ones who quit are happy to leave a toxic workplace behind.

Some good quotes from real reviews on Yelp that detail the harassment and abuse of the owners. Most of the real reviews were filtered out due to complaints from the owner, but so were the fake five star reviews the owner put up:

"So after going back to yoga again, i reread the "donation form" about them not making enough money and it turns out that the owner is asking for $4/class, not per coupon holder.  That works out to an extra $80 if you were to donate each class...definitely not as good of a deal anymore!
Anyways i was prepared to donate for the class i had just done but did point out that paying an extra $4/class would bring the voucher up to $100 in total...he told me that it was a donation and that  i didn't have to pay, i insisted i would, argument ensued, i didn't pay since he refused it.  Quite ridiculous really.  He informed me that people shouldn't feel obligated to pay but when he gives you that form after every class...
BUT besides the owner the classes are decent.
The other major CON is their love of burning incense in the yoga studio during class, when you're breathing in that deeply for an hour...it tends to get suffocating/allergic/cloying/gross.
Not sure what's going to happen with that studio but i would say if you've got that pass - use it asap!"

"Today I went in for my 5th class. The manager has always been pleasant with me but I've always known him to be a bit off. He asked me if I had been practising for long and I said yes. He then asked me if I would teach for him at the studio and I advised him that I only go to classes, I have never been an instructor, nor taken the classes to educate myself on how to instruct. He proceeded to ask me to teach yet again because he said I have a good vibe... I again said "No, because I don't have any qualifications to be teaching". He then walked away and started vaccuming and said "There is peanuts everywhere I have to clean".

It just so happens I have a SEVERE peanut allergy. I advised him of that and he told me to leave. I said "its not an uncommon thing i would like to still practise i only have today at this time i cant come back another day and as you know the pass expires soon" he then remarked "IF PEANUT ALLERGYS ARE SO COMMON WHY ARENT PEANUTS BANNED?!"

The amount of disrespect shown by this manager is unbearable. After yelling at me for something I cannot help he told me to leave and to not argue with him because I was "being so good before". I have never regretted a purchase more in my entire life. I left that studio so upset. PLEASE do not practise here. they may have some good looking deals but that's where it ends."

"This has to be hands down the worst run business I've ever step foot into. As a new customer you'd think that the level of service would be amazing because there are lots of yoga places to choose from in the downtown core.

But no, this is truly awful. I came on a Sunday to get a yoga schedule that would work for my busy schedule. I was greeted by the most unenthused person in the world that made me feel like I wasn't worth his time. After a brief dialogue he actually made me feel like I was trespassing being there. I asked for a yoga class schedule and I was asked to take a photo using a Smart phone of their schedule to interpret on my own. When I asked for a very simple explanation of the times of a schedule that looked like a first grader wrote it - very confusing.  

He said this, "Let me take you back to grade 6, when they taught children how to read this" and he started to give me a lesson on how to read a chart. I simply laughed because you'd think that the objective would be to try to entice me to join but rather he just insulted me.

After a few moments of being treated like a child, I explained this to him. The chart is confusing because it wasn't complete and if someone asks you a question you answer it without hesitation. Then I explained to him that this is not how you run a business and his level of service was disgusting.  

I walked out and laughed. What kind of place is this?

I urge you not to go here. If you already do I urge you to stop as this place needs to be shut down. The receptionist, hopefully not the owner, needs to be fired and never work in service again.

At this point I am willing to refund money back to whoever signed a contract with this place and beg you to not to even walk on the same side of the street that this place is on."

"I didn't like the teacher who was running the class so I opted to instead leave and wait in the lobby for my friend. As I was walking out the owner started making comments that made me feel uncomfortable. Flirting and asking if I came with my husband or boyfriend. After 5 minutes of this he tried to get me to start working. Put the fruit basket on the chairs and told me to take care of it. That  I looked like a hard worker and he knew I would handle it. I sat down on the couch and pulled out my phone and he commented how he needed to run out and get some smokes (hes the only one there aside from the teacher who was busy) looked at me and asked me to watch the place, he'll be right back. Came over and slid the chair with the basket over to me and repeated that I should take care of that and then left.
Now hes getting demanding and rude about the money. First he wants an additional $4 per class and now he wants the taxes. You refuse him and he starts yelling about how you are screwing over revenue Canada."

"The owner or so he calls himself is a crazy man!

On the first day of the class, when I asked for the registration form, he said he was busy and then told me to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, when I got the form, I completed it and returned it to him signed with my email and home address. He insisted that I provide my phone number and data of birth otherwise it is not a "legal" document. This is surprising to me as I would think my signature at the bottom should be enough for the document to be legal not to mention, my home address and email was also there. In any case, when I asked for the form back saying I will complete
it, he claimed that I did not read the form and that I should sit in the sitting area again, read the form and then complete it.

At this point, I told him that I don't need this hassle and that I would like the registration form back which has my personal information and that I will not return to his yoga studio. He refused to give me back the form and threatened me to call the police.

I told him to go ahead to call the police so I can easily explain to the police what was turning out to be unpleasant scene. Of course, personally calling 911 for this matter to me is a waste of pulic resource.

He called 911 and told his story. After a few minutes the instructor for the next class arrived, I explained the situation to her. My friend also came to get me from the yoga studio. By this time, he hung up on 911 saying that he had to go because the next class is starting. When my friend arrived the man finally gave me back the form and we left.

I DO NOT recommend this place to anyone. This is certainly not the experience you would expect at a yoga place."