Meet Yoga ‘nazi’: the meanest yoga teacher in Big Apple

NEW YORK - If you thought learning yoga was all about connecting with your inner calm, meet New York’s meanest yoga teacher Otto Cedeno, also popular as the yoga Nazi.

Owner of Bikram Yoga Union Square, Cedeno, 46, runs his class like a hard-nosed commander.

“My friends call me the yoga Nazi. I laugh,” the New York Post quoted Cedeno as saying.

Those, who happen to break one of his many rules, find themselves in yoga detention.

And his many pet peeves include-No water for about the first third of the 90-minute class; wash off all makeup (it leaves streaks on rented towels); no loose-hanging clothes; and hair must be pulled back.

Cedeno often singles out people in incorrect positions, to the extent that he bullies students lying on their backs in the purposefully restful Corpse Pose.

“As a beginner, I was scared that he would single me out for not trying,” said Park Slope resident Kim, 26.

The worst part for Erick Romero, 25, is Cedeqo’s kickboxer mentality.

“He goes around and kicks people’s feet into alignment. He doesn’t say anything and just shoves his foot into your heel,” said Romero.

But Cedeno, who was a Broadway dancer before capitalizing on the popularity of yoga, says he’s not trying to be mean.

His practice appeals to “A-type personalities” who respond to a little abuse.

And towards people who raise a finger on whether he’s even teaching yoga at all, Cedeno is unrepentant.

“I’m not in the business of being nice,” he said. (ANI)