Uma Thurmans Brother, Jivamukti Teacher & Wild Child Dechen Thurmans Sexual Misconduct Exposed

It seems Uma Thurman, star of the upcoming film Nymphomaniac, isnt the only Thurman getting steamy under the sheets.
Maria Sliwa, a former police officer and decorated journalist, says she was privy to Umas brothers sexcapades with students from the Jivamukti Yoga School. Her story below: Plenty of women there [at Jivamukti] express plenty of feelings, and sometimes I do reciprocate as is my right as an individual to do so. Sometimes there are as many as five or six women in the class who I have slept with, said Dechen Thurman in a private message. I was also privy to his numerous violent mood swings, bouts of crying, threats of suicide, and professions of sexual addiction. After witnessing his most recent massive meltdown in October, I finally reported his written admissions to the school in a 41-page expos, with the hope that they would provide him with professional counseling. These are very serious allegations which the school takes very seriously and can lead to the teacher [sic] termination.Please reassure [sic] that we will handle it with the outmost care and seriousness, responded Carlos Menjivar, Managing Director of the Jivamukti Yoga School, in an email.

Yet despite these assurances and multiple promises during two meetings with the school, nothing has changed.
Jivamukti, which was co-founded by Sharon Gannon and David Life and boasts of celebrity supporters such as Donald Trump, Madonna, Donna Karan, Sting and Russell Simmons, has a Code of Professional Standards to ensure a safe and protected environment in which a student can grow physically, mentally and spiritually. This agreement, which all teacher trainees must sign prior to the onset of their training program, says: All forms of sexual behavior or harassment with students are unethical, even when a student invites or consents to such behavior involvement. Sexual behavior is defined as, but not limited to, all forms of overt and covert seductive speech, gestures and behavior as well as physical contact of a sexual nature; harassment is defined as, but not limited to, repeated comments, gestures, or physical contacts of a sexual nature. So why is Jivamukti allowing an admitted sex addict teach yoga, engage in sexual relations with multiple students, and continue as a showcased teacher? Perhaps one reason is because Thurman teaches 9 classes per week, which is more than any teacher at the school. He also mentors two

apprentices, recently completed a European tour of Jivamukti centers abroad, and will be on tour again in Prague, South Africa, and Venice this year. Sexual misconduct in the yoga community ripples far beyond Jivamukti, more notably weve seen it happen with John Friend and Bikram Choudhury. Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad, coauthors of The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power comment on aspects of this phenomenon: Yoga has an aura of being beneficial, transformative, safe, beyond reproach and spiritual, which inspires and often programs unwarranted trust in the teacher. This context presents dangers for students in which unscrupulous, callous, or unskilled teachers can take unfair advantage of the situation. In Yoga & Vegetarianism, Sharon Gannon says, When sexual energy is directed wisely, it becomes a means to transcend separation, or otherness. When sexual energy is used to exploit, manipulate or humiliate another, however, it propels us into deeper separation and ignorance (avidya). Having five or six women in a yoga class that have all had sexual relations with the teacher can only be seen as exploitation. Allowing that teacher to continue, without professional therapy on a regular basis, is also exploitation by the school. So why isnt Jivamukti enforcing their own code of ethics and helping Thurman with his critical issues? While the school is covering its bases for liability in print, sadly, it is not adequately protecting its students. Photo Cred: Moviepilot.com Yuki Tanaka/LFI
About the Author:

Maria Sliwa is known for her reporting on human rights. As a press agent for the Sudan Campaign, she played a major role in publicizing the genocide, slavery and rape of civilians in Sudan and Darfur. She launched and managed an Internet news service, Freedom Now News, focusing on international human rights issues with over 100,000 subscribers. She also covered the self-immolation of Tibetans, and the plight of Richard Wurmbrand, an activist who spent fourteen years in imprisonment and torture in his homeland of Romania. She has lectured extensively on sweatshop labor, human trafficking, and issues of race and gender. Her reporting and activism helped convince the states of New York and New Jersey to divest from Talisman Energy of Canada, an oil company that was complicit in the Government of Sudans genocidal war against its own population. The New York Times, Daily News, and New York Post have reported on Sliwas work. Her work has also been aired on ABC (Good Morning America), NBC (Today Show), NBC (Dateline), and CBS News. She has appeared on FOX 5, UPN 9, MSNBC and on numerous radio stations including WABC, WOR and 1010 WINS. Her articles have been published in a number of print outlets including: Contemporary Review, The Center for Advanced Studies of

African Society, Pravda (Russia), Revue-Politique (France), The Nederlands Dagblad (Netherlands), Watani (Egypt), The Sudan Tribune, The Daily Monitor (Uganda), New Vision (Uganda), The South Africa Daily, The Panama News, Bulgarian News Network, The National Interest, The New York Sun, Huffington Post, AlterNet, and Global Tryst. Read more about Maria here. - See more at: http://yoganonymous.com/uma-thurmans-brother-jivamukti-teacher-wild-childdechen-thurmans-sexual-misconduct-exposed/#sthash.j8gpuDtD.dpuf