SLO yoga instructor assaulted three men during massage sessions, lawsuit says - San Luis Obispo Tribune

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A local yoga instructor was accused of sexually assaulting three men during water massage sessions between 2010 and 2019, a lawsuit alleges.


Kevin Hauber, founder of Abundant Health Yoga and Wellness, has been teaching yoga since 2005 according to his website, and also practices “aquatic bodywork including watsu, water dance, and aquatic integration in addition to a number of other modalities.”


Watsu is a form of water therapy that involves massaging, stretching and acupressure while the client floats in water.


It’s the therapy Hauber offered three men before he allegedly assaulted them.


According to the December lawsuit, Hauber was administering watsu or yoga massages to three different men on three separate occasions where he groped the men’s groin areas without consent.


The three men are not named in the lawsuit.


In an email to The Tribune in February, Hauber declined all allegations against him and alleged his accusers have been trying to “defame” him.


Hauber filed his response in court in April, formally denying all the allegations against him.


“Our clients trusted Hauber to relieve them from their pain and he took advantage of that trust,” Rebecca Coll, one of the men’s attorneys, told The Tribune. “He needs to be held accountable.”


One of the alleged victims told The Tribune he reported his assault to the San Luis Obispo Police Department but has yet to hear back from the agency.

Yoga instructor groped man’s genitals, lawsuit says​

According to the lawsuit, the first assault occurred in 2010.


A 33-year-old man had been taking yoga classes from Hauber at a San Luis Obispo yoga studio. The man said Hauber would approach him after class asking if he had any questions or wanted to work on anything in particular, according to the lawsuit, and the man told Hauber he had lower back pain.


Hauber shared personal details of his life and continued to engage with the man after class, the lawsuit said, “paying extra attention” to the man compared to other students.


Hauber told the man his “root chakra” was probably blocked, which was causing his back pain, and suggested the man take watsu from Hauber.


The man finally agreed to try the treatment with Hauber “after numerous invitations,” the lawsuit said. It is unclear exactly when the watsu session took place.


The watsu session was at a private pool in San Luis Obispo.


Hauber told the man that watsu is “very intimate” and “it can feel uncomfortable to be helped by another man,” the lawsuit said. Hauber told the man to not worry, stay relaxed and that watsu “was like being nurtured, to be held safely, like a baby.”


The man would benefit from watsu if he would allow his mind to relax, Hauber told the man, according to the lawsuit.


Hauber held the man so close that the man could smell Hauber’s breath, the lawsuit said, and kept telling the man everything was OK and to relax.


That’s when Hauber began to swirl the man through the water and brushed his hands across the man’s inner thigh, the lawsuit said, making the man uncomfortable.


The man continued to attend Hauber’s yoga classes and Hauber told the man after class that there was a way to release the block in the man’s root chakra, which the man agreed to try as he was “desperate for relief from his pain.”


The man met Hauber at a private residence, and Hauber told the man to lie of his back so that Hauber could massage the area of his root center.


The root chakra’s center is located at the base of the spine.


Hauber massaged the man’s stomach before moving below the man’s belt line toward his genitals, the lawsuit said, then Hauber told the man to remove his pants “to properly massage the root energy center.”


According to the lawsuit, the man trusted Hauber and wanted to learn the “yogic way.” The man believed Hauber’s assertions that he only needed to relax, so the man removed his pants, the lawsuit said.


Hauber then massaged the man’s inner thigh and buttocks and told the man he needed to remain still and relax even though the man “was clearly uncomfortable and began to squirm,” the lawsuit said.


Hauber then began to touch the man’s genitals, the lawsuit said, and told the man it was “part of the process.”


That’s when the man abruptly got up, put his pants on and told Hauber to leave, the lawsuit said.


The assault left the man with “considerable trauma” with feelings of shame and deep violation, the lawsuit said.

Yoga instructor ‘groomed’ victim into water massage, lawsuit says​

The next assault named in the lawsuit occurred in 2012 to a 24-year-old man. Hauber was in his 50s at that time, the lawsuit said.


The man was taking yoga classes from Hauber, seeking relief from pain he was experiencing in his arm from a prior injury.


The man trusted Hauber to help relieve him from this pain, the lawsuit said.


“After a long period of grooming,” the lawsuit said, the man agreed to attend a watsu session with Hauber at a private pool.


Hauber was holding the man “like a baby” in the pool, the lawsuit said, which restricted his movements.


Then, “without permission,” Hauber moved his hand beneath the man’s bathing suit to his pubic area, the lawsuit said.


The man tried to squirm away and claimed it tickled to try to stop Hauber before he reached the man’s genitals, the lawsuit said. The man ended the session “feeling frozen and traumatized.”


The lawsuit said Hauber then tried to “manipulate” the man to return to the pool or go to Hauber’s home to use Hauber’s inversion table — another “restrained environment.”


The man had an emotional breakdown and still suffers with the emotional impact of the assault, the lawsuit said. He lost trust in medical providers and male authority figures, is hyper-vigilant and has anxiety.


The third assault reported in the lawsuit occurred in 2019, involving a man who was suffering from a “debilitating condition” in his forearms that caused weakness and tingling in his fingers on both hands.


The issue prevented the man from performing in his profession, so he was trying alleviate the pain, including physical therapy and hand therapy. He eventually sought help from Hauber, who told the man watsu could help with the pain.


The man attended seven to 10 watsu sessions with Hauber between January 2019 and July or August 2019, the lawsuit said. During those sessions, the lawsuit said, the man noticed Hauber appeared to be putting a large emphasis on touching the man’s hips and groin area and spent little time on his hands, arms or shoulders.


Even during sessions where the man told Hauber prior that he wanted to focus on his upper back, hands or arms, Hauber would spend more time on the man’s groin area.


But the man trusted Hauber, the lawsuit said, and believed this must be what watsu was.


The man began to suspect Hauber may be touching him in sensitive areas for sexual reasons, the lawsuit said, and on multiple occasions Hauber touched the man’s genitals with the back of his hand while massaging the groin area.


“Hauber’s unwanted touching made (the man) feel very uncomfortable, but he was in a very vulnerable frame of mind and doubted himself.”


The man eventually became so uncomfortable with Hauber’s conduct he stopped attending sessions, the lawsuit said, despite “being desperate for relief from his symptoms.”


The man suffered emotional stress because of Hauber’s “manipulative conduct and sexual assaults,” the lawsuit said, which caused the man “a considerable amount of confusion and to question his ability to accurate perceive the reality of people’s intentions.”


The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 9.

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Chloe Jones is a courts and crime reporter at the San Luis Obispo Tribune. She is originally from Phoenix, where she earned her B.A. in journalism and M.A. in investigative journalism at Arizona State University. When she’s not reporting, she loves exploring the outdoors and spoiling her two rescue dogs, Camilla and Bugsy Malone.


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