Joelle Tamraz is a Lebanese-American-French-British writer living in the UK with her husband and two dogs.

She discovered the power of writing when her eighth-grade English teacher handed out composition books and asked the class to write their thoughts and experiences. Joelle and her journal became inseparable and she even recorded an entry from a Bloomingdale’s changing room in New York City where I grew up. She often felt alone, and writing gave her the space to process her feelings.

At university, she was idealistic and wanted to change the world. She majored in social studies and wrote her senior thesis on Gandhi-inspired social activism in India. A post-graduation travel grant allowed her to further her studies by exploring the country's spiritual heritage.

At the time, it felt like a gift from destiny. And it did change her life, but not how she imagined.

In Rishikesh, the spiritual home of yoga, she met a man who became first her teacher, then her romantic partner and husband. But it was not a match of equals. Her guru controlled her emotionally, financially, socially, and physically until she finally broke free from his coercive control eighteen years later.

Covert abuse is insidious and deliberately confusing. If she hadn’t experienced such deep deception and manipulation, she wouldn’t have imagined it was possible.

When she awoke from her living nightmare, she knew she would bring her love of writing into practice and tell her story--both to regain the agency she had lost for so long, but also to expose one-to-one/family cults and help others who have had this experience feel less alone.

Her first memoir, The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga, was published in August 2023, ten years later.

Joelle's experience taught me not to trust “gurus”—experts who tell you what’s wrong, then sell you the solution. Spirituality exists not primarily for self-development, but to bring people together in helpful and loving relationships, for the common good of the planet we call home.

Today she lives in freedom, grateful for her second chance.

Professional Bio
Joelle earned an Honors BA degree in social studies from Harvard and an MBA from INSEAD. She held senior roles in technology companies for over two decades and owned a yoga studio for ten of those years. She is trilingual French-English-Spanish, a certified life coach, and a youth mentor. She's passionate about sustainability and loves spending time outdoors, walking, cycling, or simply being in nature.

Joelle shares stories and interviews authors on her YouTube channel, Elevating Voices in Memoir and Fiction.

She is a member of the Society of Authors, UK, and is available for talks, interviews, and podcasts.