When A Yoga Class Was Mistaken For A Crime Scene

Picture the scene: it was an ordinary Wednesday night in a small village in Lincolnshire. Life was happening. Yoga classes were happening. But you know what wasn’t happening? A mass killing. Except that’s what locals mistook the yoga class for.

On September 6 2023, yoga teacher Millie Laws was leading an evening session in a local cafe. It was a restorative class featuring yoga nidra (or yoga sleep), savasana (corpse pose, how fitting), and a sound bath. The room was lit with candles whilst Millie moved around her resting students gently playing a drum.

Now, here’s where it gets funny: a couple out walking their dogs approached the cafe window, took a quick peek inside, and quickly walked away. Perhaps it was a wild imagination, perhaps too many crime docs, but they quickly called the police and reported a ‘mass killing’, according to news sources.

Millie had no clue about this unfolding drama outside. Later, to the BBC, she laughed about it: “A couple with some dogs just came up to the window and were having a look in, but they walked off really quickly, and I didn’t think anything of it.”

Unbeknownst to Millie, those dog walkers had dialed 999. The tranquil vibe she’d worked hard to create was shattered by the wails of five police cars. “I thought it had to be a joke at first,” Mille said. But the police explained what had happened. “These people phoned in saying that there was a mass murderer; they were wearing a robe and they were walking over all of the people, and it looked like some kind of ritual, and that the people on the floor were actually dead,” said Millie.

“I guess from the outside view it could look like that,” she chuckled. “I’m sure their imagination was running wild with what was going on.” Although the actual audio of the call hasn’t been released, the Lincolnshire police commended the emergency caller for their “good intentions”.

The morning after the incident, the cafe who’d hosted Millie’s session took to Facebook to address the incident. They thanked the police for their swift response and reassured the locals, “We are not part of any mad cult or crazy clubs.” As it turns out, the only thing “mad” about the whole situation was the misunderstanding itself.

So there you have it – a yoga class that briefly turned into a crime scene. Maybe a sign that we should all be watching a little less Making A Murderer?