Naman Shrestha
Apple TV’s ‘Twisted Yoga’ is a three-part true crime documentary series that chronicles the alleged crimes of a tantric yoga guru named Gregorian “Grieg” Bivolaru, who expanded his teachings across the world through MISA. When former members of his yoga school came out to speak against him and his alleged criminal practices, the authorities began investigating the allegations and found several pieces of evidence that indicated that Grieg allegedly indulged in abuse and manipulation. The docuseries also features exclusive interviews with his former students, who recount their experiences with the Romanian yoga guru.
Gregorian “Grieg” Bivolaru Gained Popularity Through His Tantric Yoga Teachings
Born in 1952 in Tărtășești, Romania, Gregorian Bivolaru attended high school in Bucharest. In his late teenage years, he began practicing and teaching yoga, which was banned in Romania due to the nation’s communist regime. When his activities came to light, he was sent behind bars twice and even forcibly hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. His run-ins with law enforcement increased over the years as he was arrested for the distribution of pornography in 1977 and sentenced to one year in prison for the same. Although he didn’t have to complete his sentence, he was once again taken into custody for distributing pornography in April 1984. A few years later, on August 17, 1989, he was arrested again for being a menace to society.
A couple of days later, he was hospitalized at The Poiana Mare Neuropsychiatry Hospital in Dolj County instead of being imprisoned. Despite being a threat to the communist regime, Gregorian reportedly never stopped practicing and teaching yoga. Not long after the regime ended in 1989, he founded a non-profit association called the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) in 1990. In the following years, he expanded MISA under different names in different nations, including Tara in the United States and the United Kingdom, Natha in Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden, and Satya in India. It was also known as the Atman Federation in some areas. As he gained popularity, Gregorian Bivolaru gained multiple nicknames, such as Grieg, Guru, Grig, and Magnus Aurolsson.
Gregorian Bivolaru Was Allegedly Linked to Sexual Crimes Against Minors
In March 2004, the authorities raided multiple properties associated with MISA and reportedly found multiple women inside. A few days later, Grieg appeared on the Marius Tuca show, where he claimed he was not the group’s leader but only a mentor of the movement. He was later charged with multiple counts of crimes, including sexual exploitation, sexual corruption, engaging in sexual relations with minors, trafficking of minors, and attempted illegal border crossings. Meanwhile, he continued denying all the allegations against him. By the time his trial approached, he had fled to Sweden, where he was provided political asylum. In 2008, Grieg and his associates, linked to MISA, were expelled from the European Yoga Council.
In the next few years, Grieg’s trial was repeatedly postponed, and some charges were eventually dropped due to insufficient evidence and because the statute of limitations had expired. However, in 2013, the Romanian tantric yoga guru was convicted and sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for having sexual relations with a minor girl. Three years later, he was finally located and arrested in France, from where he was extradited to Romania. After his six-year term was reduced to one year and three months, he was released from prison on parole in 2017. Once again, Grieg fled the country, after which he became a wanted man in Finland and France for his ties to human trafficking between 2008 and 2013 and other crimes, including sexual abuse.
Gregorian “Grieg” Bivolaru is Currently Behind Bars in France Awaiting Trial
In 2023, Gregorian “Grieg” Bivolaru was linked to various crimes, including aggravated human trafficking and sexual assault. The yoga guru was accused of having ritualized sexual relations with minors at his apartment in the Paris suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine and forcing them to perform in sex work, including working as webcam models under harsh conditions. On November 28, 2023, the authorities raided his apartment and arrested him, alongside five other people associated with MISA, on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, kidnapping, and exploitation.
The following months also led to the arrests of his other associates, including the wife of his right-hand man. As the investigation against him continued, the authorities found several brothels in France, Monaco, and Italy, linked to Grieg and MISA. He is currently in custody in France, where he is awaiting trial and faces accusations of organized crime, rape, kidnapping, and human trafficking. With his trial scheduled for 2026 or 2027, Grieg continues to maintain his innocence, denying involvement in all charges against him.
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