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Melissa Revell was ‘retraumatised’ and now cannot look after herself or exercise
Richard GittinsFriday 21 November 2025 09:33 GMTComments
open image in galleryMelissa Revell says a breakdown experienced on a yoga course left her unable to work (Supplied by Champion News)
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A British dance teacher has won her fight for a payout after having a breakdown on a yoga course in India.
Melissa Revell said that self-exploration exercises on the £2,250 course, which she attended in Goa in 2019, triggered a meltdown which has left her unable to work.
The 35-year-old said she was “retraumatised” when memories relating to being adopted were triggered by unadvertised psychological exercises.
She was in good health both physically and mentally before the course, but now cannot look after herself or exercise and has gone from a size six to a size 16, she said.
Ms Revell sued the company behind the course, TYP International Ltd, for more than £200,000.
The company is run by British yoga guru Jamie Clarke, 59, and Mexican instructor Dulce Aguilar, 43.
Now, Ms Revell is in line for a payout after Mr Clarke told the London High Court that the company has dropped its defence over liability for what happened to her.
open image in galleryMs Revell now lives an ‘extremely reclusive’ life (Supplied by Champion News)Ms Revell, from Richmond, London, says she has gone from fit, active and working to being “not able to care for herself” and leading “an extremely reclusive, impoverished and dysfunctional life” with “acute anxiety whenever she leaves the flat”.
Lawyers for the yoga company in a defence lodged with the court had previously insisted Mr Clarke, Ms Aguilar and its other staff did nothing wrong.
They denied there was any “psychological” element to the training or that the emotional collapse Ms Revell says she suffered was a foreseeable risk of a yoga course.
But Mr Clarke has now confirmed to the court that the company would no longer be disputing the issue of liability, having run out of funds and parted company with its lawyers and lost a key pre-trial skirmish meaning they were unable to adduce their own expert medical evidence.
“The company is no longer trading as of July 2022,” he told judge, Master John Dagnall.
“We are now unable because of funds to defend the claim. We feel it is not probable that the claimant would win on liability, but we are in the catch 22 situation where there is not money to pay for our defence.
“With [the company's former solicitors] Kennedy's no longer acting, we find ourselves no longer with representation or funds to defend the claim.”
open image in galleryMs Revell used to be fit and active (Supplied by Champion News)In documents lodged at London's High Court, Marcus Grant, for Ms Revell, said that she paid £2,250 for a 200-hour training course in Goa in September and October 2019, with the aim of becoming a qualified teacher of Ashtanga yoga.
But she ended up leaving India early and flying home after having a meltdown triggered by an exercise in exploring childhood memories, he says.
Describing the exercise, he said: “On 24 September 2019, Ms Aguilar instructed the claimant and the other students on the course to participate in a somatic touch session led by her.
“Ms Aguilar explained that the purpose of the exercise was for the students to explore their childhood memories and their relationship with their parents so that they could forgive them for things they had done, heal and move forward.
“As part of the exercise, the students were instructed to pair up and sit in a circle with one person sitting in front of the other. They were told to take turns in their pairs to hold the other person.
“Whilst holding the other person, they were instructed to imagine that the other person was their parent and massage their shoulders, hold their hands and stroke their hair. Ms Aguilar said words such as 'I love you, you are my teacher, my carer, my nurturer and I forgive you'.”
The barrister says that “following the session the claimant started shaking and feeling ill” and was gripped with “overwhelming anxiety”.
open image in galleryPreviously suppressed memories were triggered by the exercise, Ms Revell said (Supplied by Champion News)Over the following days, she spoke to Mr Clarke and told him how she was feeling and that it was bringing up previously suppressed memories relating to her childhood, he said.
“Mr Clarke responded that he could not spend all his time with one student, but offered one to one therapy sessions back in the he UK,” he added.
The barrister says that this “dismissive response” and being “left with no resolution or support” along with “coercive pressure to participate” in further “psychology focused exercises” caused Ms Revell to “become very ill” and fly home.
She was subsequently diagnosed with “significant and severe complex PTSD and comorbid depersonalisation/derealisation disorder” and “functional neurological disorder”.
“She remains significantly incapacitated by her injuries,” he says. “Her long-term relationship with her partner...failed as a result of her psychological illness.
“Now she lives alone and leads an extremely reclusive, impoverished and dysfunctional life.
“She does not go out much. She is not able to care for herself. She cannot cook or clean or do grocery shopping. Her home is untidy and dirty as a result. She struggles with self-care.
“She can go for days without changing her clothes or washing her hair. She doesn't eat properly. As she is unable to exercise, she has gained weight; she used to be a UK size 6-8 and now is a size 14-16.”
open image in galleryMs Revell had a history of mental health problems (Supplied by Champion News)Although she had a history of mental health problems going back to her adolescence, she had been in good mental and physical health since 2013-14 and until the yoga course, he continues.
“Nowhere in the brochure was she put on notice that the course would entail any psychology/psychotherapy aspect,” he says.
“At no point was any warning given as to the risk of possible retraumatisation as a result of engaging on any of the exercises on the yoga course.
“Participation in all the sessions on the course was mandatory in order to obtain their yoga teacher accreditation.
“Had she been informed about the requirement to engage in psychology and or psychotherapy based on potentially traumatic or distressing childhood memories and parental interactions she would never have signed up for the course.”
In the company's defence, its lawyers had previously denied any fault and said there was no psychological nor psychotherapy element to the course.
“It was however a yoga course and there was therefore an inevitable focus on physical, mental and spiritual practices,” they sid.
“There are discussions about feelings as part of yoga.
“There was no requirement to engage in psychology/psychotherapy and the claimant knew that yoga involved spiritual healing.
“The claimant completed the exercise without complaint or distress and at the end of the session approached Ms Aguilar and said that she had loved the exercise and was moved by it. She gave Ms Aguilar a hug.
“It is denied that the claimant was obliged to engage in any exercise.
“It is denied that she was required to ‘access her childhood memories and parental interactions.’
“The claimant was told what the purpose and goal of the...exercise was before it commenced, along with how it would be conducted. She could have refused to participate if she so wished.
“It is denied that the purpose of the exercise was to elicit potentially traumatic or distressing childhood memories. The purpose of the exercise was purely to feel love and develop forgiveness for anyone who had wronged you. This included parents and parking attendants.
“It is admitted that no warning was given as to possible re-traumatisation as a result of engaging in any of the exercises on the course. Re-traumatisation was not foreseeable as a consequence of the exercise carried out by the claimant.
“It is denied that the defendant was obliged to carry out any sort of prospective assessment of the claimant’s psychological state. It was sufficient for the defendant to enquire whether the claimant had any physical or mental conditions.
“The claimant ...confirmed, when signing the waiver, that she had no existing mental and physical conditions and no pre-existing conditions, both physical and mental, which may affect her performance.”
After a short hearing conducted via videolink, Master Dagnall told Mr Clarke: “If you are not going to turn up to defend the claim, your chances of success would seem to be remote.”
The judge went on to make a so-called “unless order” directing that the company's defence on liability be struck out unless Mr Clarke confirmed by the end of Monday 17 November that he intended to personally turn up and fight his company's case in court in the absence of lawyers.
Lawyers for Ms Revell later said outside court that Mr Clarke, on behalf of the company, had confirmed it would not be attending trial, meaning judgment will be entered for the claimant on liability, with damages to be assessed.
The value of her claim will now be assessed during the next stage of the case.
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