In a peculiar turn of events, police rushed to a community space in Britain after local dog walkers misinterpreted a group meditation exercise during a yoga class as something akin to a "ritual mass murder."
Police officers received a call to the North Sea Observatory in Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire, on Wednesday night due to concerns of a potential large-scale criminal incident.
However, it was later discovered that the group of individuals involved had simply been lying on their backs with their eyes closed, participating in the relaxation stage of a class.
The yoga practitioners were performing Shavasana (Corpse Pose).
The unusual incident was documented by the Seascape Cafe and shared in a Facebook post.
Lincolnshire Police later said that everyone was safe and in good health, acknowledging that the call had been made with well-intentioned concerns.
Yoga teacher Millie Laws told the BBC that she thought reports of her being a "mass murderer" were a "joke at first".
The 22-year-old teacher told the news outlet that she was teaching seven students at the Seascape Cafe, which is inside the building, when she saw two dog walkers peering closely through the glass window during the Shavasana, or relaxation, stage of the class.
"They're [students] lying down with blankets over them; their eyes are closed. It's very dark in there. I just had candles and little tea lights lit the whole room, and I was just walking around playing my drum. I had a nice floaty top on with large bell sleeves," she said.
"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.I didn't know until after we left that 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," Millie Laws told the BBC.
"I guess from the outside view it could look like that, because they're all really still, very nice, and relaxed. I'm sure their imagination was running wild with what was going on."
