West East Yoga

I would not recommend this program due to the professional misconduct of the program director, Jaime Sanchez, and shortcomings of the staff which I will outline below.

The owner missed several days of class, arrived late to our make up days, came unprepared to teach, provided no lectures, and failed to hold himself accountable after my concerns were presented to him. He brought up getting payments from students more than he brought up homework assignments, and even ended class an hour early one of the days to have someone come in to sell the school’s merchandise. It felt like he was more concerned with expanding the school and making money than actually leading a meaningful and worthwhile program.

This program doesn’t meet Yoga Alliance’s standards and I’ll be submitting a formal letter of complaint to Yoga Alliance in addition to this review.

On the first day we had class with the program director, he took photographs of me without my permission while I was bending backwards in a seated position and arching my back, leaving me in a vulnerable position. He then distributed a photo without my permission to the rest of the group. Not only does this violate my right to privacy in a setting where I have reasonable expectation to have it, but this directly violates Yoga Alliance’s Code of Conduct.

They also misrepresented the quality of the teacher training program in many ways, including but not limited to:

- The program director (Jaime) didn't attend class or provide a substitute instructor capable of teaching the subject material on the first day of class on March 19, 2021. He missed the second day as well and scheduled a make up day that some of the students (there were only 4) couldn’t attend;
- Jaime didn't attend class on April 23, 2021, instead providing a substitute instructor who admitted herself multiple times that she was not capable of teaching the subject material;
- Jaime didn't show up on time to class on Sunday, May 2, 2021;
- A lack of guidance including a failure to provide any feedback on completed assignments;
- Failure to adhere to the program’s syllabus or provide guidance on what materials needed to be
studied for individual classes;
- Failure to adhere to the program’s scheduled class dates;
- A general lack of preparedness by the lead instructor including showing up late to classes, having to borrow source materials from students when he did not bring the correct materials, and
reading from the text book rather than teaching lectures.
- A general failure to uphold the program standards set by Yoga Alliance.

I met with the program director to discuss his misconduct and my continuation of the program. In the meeting he verbally and explicitly stated he would provide me a refund if I decided not to continue. After deciding to leave the program, the financial director, called me and claimed I had entered a “work study” program and would not receive a refund, even though this directly goes against what is stated in their contract. Despite being promised a refund, I did not receive one until I had a letter of demand sent by an outside party.

During my Meeting with Jaime, he also told me he had already spoken to and apologized to the other students directly for his conduct. He claimed he had met with them and that they all felt my email outlining what I felt was going wrong was “mean." I told my peers this and they confirmed he had not spoken to them. He gaslit me during the meeting.

I hope this helps you make the best decision on what school to choose if you’re thinking of doing a YTT.

Edit to add: Jaime’s response was a lie and unfortunately further shows how inappropriate his behavior is.