The Language Of Yoga – Not!

Here is an extract from an excellent article by an ex card carrying member of the Ashtanga cult, Lauren Cahn. For those who have not ventured into the often competitive world of Ashtanga Yoga it is a revealing read. Lauren’s take on all 5 words that do not belong in yoga are right on, below are the two I think are applicable to all yoga asana practice.

Ashtanga yoga (a type of traditional Indian yoga that is based on the linking of breath with movement) is notorious for its rules. From which days on which to practice which poses, to not daring to show up in the yoga room while menstruating, to when you should exhale and when you should inhale, to how many breaths should be taken in each pose, to what to eat and when to eat and exactly how many bites to have, to when and under what circumstances sex is appropriate (something about not having sex when one of the nostrils is clogged, but I can never remember which one), the rules are so numerous that countless books with hundreds of pages apiece are devoted to them. And endless discussion by Ashtanga practitioners. Endless, circular, sometimes angry discussion.

This linear approach to yoga teaching can be appealing to those who have a tendency to enjoy a little competition, whether with themselves or with others. This is odd, considering that yoga is essentially the practice of "stilling the mind", which would seem to subsume such distractions as thoughts of "when will I get the next pose" and "what can I do to get my teacher to love me enough to give me the next pose" and "why does my teacher give poses to so-and-so, but not to me?" and "I think my teacher hates me/I think I hate my teacher."

One of the potential effects of the "rules" of Ashtanga is a need to detail one’s adherence to the rules in the form of blogging. Indeed, this is how my own blog, Yoga Chickie, was born. If you go back to the early days of Yoga Chickie, you will see many references to the Five Words That (I now believe) Do Not Belong In Yoga Practice. I was a card carrying member of the Ashtanga cult, after all. Now, since I’ve managed to extricate myself and find some balance in what was always, essentially, my workout routine (that’s right, for me, the "ugly" truth is that the yoga has always been, first and foremost, a workout for me), I feel kind of embarrassed about that. Nevertheless, I feel the need to confess. So here goes, the Five Words That Do Not Belong In a Yoga Practice (but which I admit, I used all the time in the past):

3. Bad.
In conversations amongst Ashtangis, you will often hear the word "bad", as in "bad lady" (a phrase coined by the beloved Ashtanga guru grandaddy, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in jest) or I am "bad" at hip opening. I am "bad" at backbends. Look, I can’t stand bogus yoga blather like, "there’s no such thing as doing it ‘badly’", but really, it’s true (it just needn’t be said in the middle of a yoga flow). How can anything about practicing yoga be bad, except not practicing? (or being cranked?)

5. Pain.
Ashtangis often talk of pain like it’s a good thing: "If it hurts, you’re doing it right" or "Something snapped, but I think it was a good pain". Some use the word "opening" instead of "pain", as in, "I felt a real opening in my hamstring."
Sorry, but there is no good pain. All pain is a warning from your body. Pain contains no magic. It does not mean you are doing it right. It means you need to stop what you are doing. Pain is not an opening. It means something is being torn or broken. Pain has no place in a yoga practice.
Yoga should be an uplifting experience. It should provide a vacation from the thoughts. If it causes one to conjure up new ways to beat oneself up, then, well that’s criminal.

You can read the whole article on the Huffington Post

 

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IYEA & The Fight For Yogas Freedom

Today aptly sees the launch of IYEA – Independent Yoga Educators of America. In the booming times of yoga asanas popularity the issue of standards in teaching is a contentious one. If there is to be a standard across the board, who sets it and how they set it is never going to be satisfactory and never going to guarantee the quality of yoga teachers.

This hasn’t been too much of a problem until now when the very success of yoga as an ‘industry’ of an estimated $6 billion has brought it into the focus of state regulators. They want a piece of the pie and they see see requiring yoga teacher training programs to obtain licenses to operate vocational training facilities as a way in. There is good reason to believe it won’t stop there.

There are many, myself included who already find it cringeworthy to constantly read about yoga as an exercise and fitness training. The road of regulation would certainly only lead further away from the true purpose of yoga as a spiritual practice. On a broader scale, in an ever more draconian world in which individual freedom is increasingly encumbered and restricted, where will it end?

Behind IYEA is Leslie Kaminoff who some will know as the co-author (with Amy Matthews) of the book Yoga Anatomy. Regulation in yoga is an issue that Leslie is passionate about and with equal measure articulates well. It is an issue that easily muddies the waters but his view of it has remained clear for over 16 years since the debate began in earnest.

"I’ve always believed that the whole notion of industry-wide standards is invalid, because it presupposes an entity that ENFORCES those standards on an entire industry. Yoga and force are incompatible because yoga is about freedom, and yoga is about relationship, and force destroys both. It is precisely that flawed way of thinking we are fighting against when we resist government attempts to control our profession."

So if you are a yoga teacher, teach yoga teachers, want to be a yoga teacher or for any other reason this issue is relevant to you, consider joining IYEA, at least visit the site and read more about the issue and Leslie’s position.

Proposed IYEA Statement of Principles:

I am an independent yoga educator.

I teach about the value of personal freedom on all levels of human experience.

I embrace my own standards for my education, and the training of my students – and am willing to be held accountable for living up to those standards.

I value my freedom to conduct my relationships without coercive interference by third parties.

I will resist to the best of my ability any entity that assumes the authority to license or regulate me as a yoga educator or to enforce its standards upon me.

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Pattabhi Jois Dies Today At 93

From those I know who have, losing your guru is harder than losing a parent, for many around the world Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois was Guruji, and my heart goes out to them today.

While the cause of death has not been made public Pattabhi Jois’s health had been declining for the past few years, with several spells of hositalization.He passed away at his home after another spell of illness.

The word is that his grandson and student Sharath Rangaswamy is likely to take over as head of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India (known today as the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute).

Pattabhi Jois, was along with B.K.S Iyengar and  T.K.V Desikachar  a living legend in the  world of yoga. All three were students of the man considered to be the father of yoga as we know it today Krishnamacharya.

His passing is like the begining of the passing of an age. In that age yoga has become synonymous with asana practice and is today practiced by tens of millions of people worldwide.

On the question of the true goal of yoga Pattabhi Jois Said " The essence of yoga is to reach oneness with God. Ego must be understood, contemplated, and released, if you only try to boost the ego, you will miss the greatest fruits of yoga."

Here in his own words is a small snapshot of the wealth of knowledge and experience from a lifetime dedicated to practicing and teaching yoga, that this wonderful man held.

 

 The world is a poorer place from his passing and a richer place for his living. I hope you will join me in  offering respectful pranams at the feet of Sri Pattabhi Jois. May his life serve as an inspiration for the age of universal yoga he helped birth.

Please also visit YogaDork who has put together links to other  bloggers responces to the passing of Sri Pattabhi Jois

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Yoga Didn’t Originate In India?

 Yoga is commonly believed to be a practice started by Sadhus and Sanyasis of India in the ancient times, but it is not true. One will be surprised to know that first yoga exercise had been introduced in Baghdad in Iraq and later in Iran and Moracco. This was stated by Munger-based Yoga Ashram and Bihar School of Yoga head Swami Niranjananand Saraswati while delivering a lecture at Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library on Sunday.

From there, he said, this was practised in Christian states and then came to India where Sadhus and Sanyasis preserved it. Swami said all the literatures published by his institutions are also translated in Persian and sent to Iraq and Iran which are certified by the governments of those countries. Every year people from those countries also come to Munger, he added.

Swami said what is shown on TV and preached and practised by various yoga gurus was not real yoga. He said about 5,000 years back Maharishi Patanjali had described yoga as a discipline and a source to keep human mind in peace. Read the full article here

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Iyengar Interview

In most of the world, and certainly India it is December 14 and BKS Iyengars 90th birthday,

To mark  this occasion here are two video interviews with the great teacher.The beginning of the first one is slow to get going.Enjoy.

 

 

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Iyengar To Head Yoga Association

 Yogacharya BKS Iyengar has been appointed as the first president of the Indian Yoga Association (IYA). The association has fifteen of the nation’s top yoga centres. The first general body meeting of IYA chaired by BKS Iyengar will be held in Mumbai on January 5, 2009.

Yogacharya Iyengar, who will reach 90 years of age on December 14, said, “Yoga should be made compulsory in all our schools and colleges. I had begun teaching yoga to school and college students in Pune in 1937.”

Full story here

And with more life history here in a good article.

What an inspiration that man is.

  

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Sivananda Yoga

Sivananda yoga was so named by Swami Vishnu-devananda after his master Swami Sivananda who in 1957 sent him to the west to teach, with the words "People are waiting" . Today there are more than 20 Yoga centers and 7 Ashrams + many Affiliated centers and teachers throughout the world. Swami Vishnu-devananda created the first Yoga Teachers Training Course outside India, which to date has trained more than 10,000 certified teachers in the field of Yoga and spirituality.

When most people talk about Sivananda Yoga they are referring to the typical yoga class involving rounds of sun salutation, 12 specific postures, two breathing exercises, and a deep final relaxation. The 12-posture sequence is also called the Rishikesh series as it originates in the region of that little town in the foothills of the Himalayas where Sivanada lived.

Traditionally, Sivananda Yoga classes last ninety minutes.  Emphasis is placed on Savasana, the Corpse Pose, and this is how a class begins.  Breathing techniques, such as Kapalabhati are implemented using the Lotus posture and are accompanied with rounds of the Sun Salutation – Surya Namaskar.  Twelve yoga postures, called asana, are generally used and include:

Headstand- shirshasana
Shoulderstand- sarvangasana
Plough- halasana
Fish- matsyasana
Seated Forward Bend- paschimottanasana – followed by inclined plane
Cobra- bhujangasana
Locust- shalabhasana
Bow- dhanurasana
Spinal Twist – ardha-matsyendrasana
Crow Pose – kakasana or Peacock Pose- mayurasana
Standing Forward Bend- padahastasana
Triangle- trikonasana
Yoga relaxation commences and ends the class in Savasana, or Corpse Pose.

    •    Characteristics of Sivananda yoga also include:
    •    Mantra/prayers at beginning and end of yoga classes
    •    Longer holding of postures
    •    Pranayamas at the beginning or end of class
    •    An overall awareness and focus on breathing and the pranic dimensions of the practice
    
The practice of Sivananda Yoga is intended to tone and strengthen all of the muscle groups of the body. The objective of the class is to instruct students in the correct practice of yoga asanas, enabling the student to deepen his daily practice.

The philosophy of Sivanada Yoga is summarized in the following 5 principles:
    •    Proper breathing: Pranayama
    •    Exercise: Asanas
    •    Relaxation: Savasana
    •    Diet: Vegetarian. A yogic diet is encouraged, which is limited to sattvic foods and devoid of rajasic foods as well as tamasic foods
    •    Positive thinking and meditation: Vedanta and Dhyana

For those who are looking for a gentler pased class, Sivanda yoga may be a good place to look. Because the Sivananda yoga teacher training course is relatively short at 4 weeks, I would also suggest finding out how experienced the teacher is.

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Kundalini

Some say that the ultimate purpose of yoga, is to facilitate the awakening of kundalini. From a certain viewpoint, this is true, and from other perspectives  it is not. So what is kundalini and what is yoga’s relationship to it?

 Vedic philosophy, in particular the school of Tantra,  sees Kundalini as the link between the human body and cosmic Divine consciousness, responsible for creation. Kundalini is a potent seed of this force lying dormant at the base of the spinal column in every human body. According to Vedic and Tantric texts it is coiled around the base of the spinal column in three and a half spirals. Hence the ancient sages of India called it kundalini, the one coiled like a snake, and a snake has been symbolic of kundalini ever since. Kundalini is considered manifest aspect of the Divine – the Divine Mother – ‘Shakti’ (Power or Force). She is seen as the aspect of the Divine present in the manifestation and animation of the physical/material world.

The ancient Rishsi (seers) described an intricate network of 72,000 nadis, an energetic vein-like system spread throughout the human body, very much like the meridians of far Eastern systems. The three most important of these nadis spiral upwards from the base of the spinal column all the way to the crown of the head and the seventh yogic chakra called Sahasrahara. The middle pathway, considered the most important of all, is called Sushumana. The other two major nadis on either side of Sushmana are called Ida (the feminine/moon channel) and Pingala (the masculine/sun channel). The six yogic chakras,centers of consciousness, are located vertically above one another at specific intervals along Sushmana where Ida and Pingala cross Sushumna. This complete web of nadis and system of chakras exists, in a subtler dimension of our being. It remains unknown to science of today as it’s subtle form is undetectable to current technology.

When kundalini is awakened, it begins to rise through sushmana ultimately to reach sahasrahara, uniting with Param Shiva, the eternal unmanifest masculine aspect  of the Divine.  As it spirals upwards through sushmana, kundalini enters the network of nadis and ascending opens the chakras/cakras one by one as it rises.(NB:The chakras of the Indian yogic tradition do not correspond to the chakras as they have been understood and popularized in contemporary times – I will write a separate article on this subject)

It is here that we can see clearly the relationship between yoga and kundalini. As outlined through the eight limbs of yoga,  yoga  as a spiritual practice is a process of ‘purification’. This purification can be seen as preparation for the awakening and rising of kundalini. Essentially the more purification has been achieved, the   faster and more easily kundalini will ascend .

There are many differing ways for the kundalini to awaken and rise. Probably the rarest is when the kundalini rises directly to the crown of the head ’sahasrahra’. For such a rising of the kundalini to take place a great deal of ‘purification’ must already have taken place, as spiritual practice in the current or other lives.  Unfortunately this is often how kundalini awakening is thought of, and without proper understanding seems highly desirable. More  commonly the process takes many many years, and may not even complete  in the same lifetime that the rising began. In such an instance the process will begin again and continue in another life, sometimes beginning as early as childhood. 

Ideally a person has a well-established and integrated spiritual practice prior to, and initiating kundalini awakening and rising. Even more ideally they have the guidance and protection of a Sat Guru or perfect master. If not, my advice would be to find one, and satisfy yourself that they are indeed a fully liberated being. Each individual experiences this opening in a unique way and there are no set pathways. There are lots of common experiences, but each person moves into this awakening on a path of their own. Only a perfect master will be in a position to help guide someone with a kundalini rising.

The Kundalini force in rising, initiates irreversible spiritual purification  as it moves through the subtle channels of the body. This cleansing process manifest in the body as yogic ‘Kriyas’. Kriyas are involuntary body movements that occur mostly during meditation or even relaxation. Swaying of the body, rapid movements of the head, twitching and jerking in the body and limbs, are typical of these ‘Kriyas’. Sometimes kriyas take the form of yoga asanas, with people performing them involunatrily . From the onlooker kriyas may appear strange or even alarming when we don’t understand what is happening within the person. For the person experiencing them they do not cause any bodily harm and can even lead to states of deep absorbtion. ‘Kundalini’, being an energy of Divine consciousness, is aware of what is the appropriate step in the process, making the practitioner perform ‘Kriyas’ that are specific to this end.

Often of greater  challenge  are the mental and emotional dimensions of this transformational process. Our vasanas*, samskaras* and karmas are held, or stored, in the subconscious. The body in turn holds, or stores  the subconscious. We can liken the nadis to the subtle energy storage structure of the subconscious in the body. This means that all experience from our past, that is unhealed, unresolved, or  incomplete, is transmuted by the kundalini in it’s movement upward through the body towards the crown of the head ’sahasrahra’.  This  subconscious material, feelings, emotions, and accompanying beliefs invariably consists of trauma, pain, and fear. In the process of its transformation the egoic mind can experience  depression, darkness, and emotional pain, sometimes so deep and inexplicable it seems unbearable. Obviously this can be deeply distressing, not only to the person, but also those close to them. This is exacerbated if there is no awareness of  kundalini as the cause, or spiritual process.

Yogic texts elaborate how the kundalini piercing the different consciousness centers (chakras/cakras), can equip the practitioner with siddhis (powers) such as, clairvoyance, the ability to see the past and future, and perceive the existence of subtle planes of existance (among the least dramatic). The vivid and colorful descriptions of the siddhis can be another misguided motivator to pursue awakening the kundalini, in fact these can be quite an unhelpful diversion. When the Kundalini reaches Sahasrahara, and the entire system is ‘purified’ the human spiritual journey is complete as nothing now remains to create the illusion of separation from the Divine and True Nature. This final condition, when all vasanas, samskaras and karmas have been dissolved, is  the state known as Moksha. Moksha is then the condition of complete liberation. This differs from enlightenment which begins with the end of identification with mind and reaches it’s final conclusion only with Moksha. Until Moksha is attained, the ‘enlightened’ can still become once more identified with mind, it’s vasanas, samskaras and karmas.

If we make an examination of mystical literature and traditions in cultures outside India we find that kundalini, called by various names, seems to have been a universal phenomenon in esoteric teachings for at least three thousand years. Kundalini-type descriptions or experiences are found in esoteric teachings and symbolism of the Egyptians, Tibetans, Chinese, some Native Americans, and the Kung bushmen of Africa. Kundalini has been interpreted from the Bible as "the solar principle in man," or possibly the concept as ‘pneuma’, and is referenced in the Koran, the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers, possibly as well in alchemical tracts (the philosopher’s stone), and in Hermetic, Kabbalistic, Rosicrucian, and Masonic writings.

 Kundalini is then the power of the Divine within us, and it’s awakening and rising will ultimately result in the ultimate ‘union’ of yoga, the union of Divine consciousness in the human body.

*vasana: (Sanskrit) "Subconscious inclination." From vas, "living, remaining." The subliminal inclinations and habit patterns which, as driving forces, color and motivate one’s attitudes and future actions. Vasanas are the conglomerate results of subconscious impressions (*samskaras) created through experience. Samskaras, experiential impressions, combine in the subconscious to form vasanas, which thereafter contribute to mental fluctuations, called vritti. The most complex and emotionally charged vasanas are found in the dimension of mind called the subsubconscious, or vasana chitta.

 

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TKV Desikachar

TKV Desikachar is the son and student of T Krishnamacharya. He studied with his father T Krishnamacharya from 1960 until Krishnamacharya’s death in 1989. For over 45 years, TKV Desikachar has devoted himself to teaching yoga and making it relevant to people from all walks of life and with all kinds of abilities. His teaching method is based on the fundamental principle of Krishnamacharya’s later life, that yoga must always be adapted to an individual’s changing needs in order to derive the maximum therapeutic benefit.

Despite being Krishnamacharya’s son, or maybe because he was, Desikachar  began yoga quite late in his life.  In his earlier adult life he pursued a career as a civil engineer. Asked in an interview once, why it is that he finally began to study yoga, he said "I started yoga because my father had helped a lady from India who had hardly slept for 30 years and I saw the effect. After that, I thought that I had to learn this from him and then I just started seeing in what ways Yoga really helps people." In his book ‘What We are Seeking’ he writes again about that time when he began to study with his father."When I started learning yoga with my father in 1961, I concentrated all my interest on the physical side and, because of the way I was built, in six months I had mastered all the posture. I thought that I had really made it — three hundred and fifty postures — it was like a status symbol for me. Slowly my teacher brought me to see that there were other aspects. Gradually he helped me to

understand that our progress in yoga is measured by other parameters — in particular the respect and concern we show for others and the spirit in which we act. This sort of evolution comes about on a different time scale — from what is involved for mastering the body. Furthermore, although our health and physical capacities affect our personality and action, it is not simply through an efficient body that we become more caring. No posture makes us more concerned about others. This is worth meditating on."

Desikachar is considered one of the world’s foremost teachers of yoga and a renowned authority on the therapeutic uses of yoga. In 1976 he founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandir (KYM) and continues to oversee it’s work.Today the KYM is a multi-departmental institution with a faculty of over thirty dedicated teachers from varied backgrounds. Desikachar’s wife Menaka Desikachar, one of its founding members, is a senior yoga educator and therapy consultant. Their sons, daughter and daughter-in-law are also a part of KYM. The activities of KYM include Yoga Studies, Yoga Therapy, Research on Yoga and Publications. Vedavani, a separate unit of KYM, is solely dedicated to the teaching and transmitting of Vedic chanting and research into its many aspects. KYM’s MITRA division carries out its philanthropy.

TVK Desikachar is unusual among the major names in contemporary yoga in that the teaching he continues as his fathers work does not have a name. It was briefly termed ‘vini’ yoga but Desikachar abandoned the term, preferring a more anonymous and brand-free approach to his father’s yoga teachings. When asked about this he has said
"The focus should not be to sell a product. The focus is to serve society. For example, I have sent some of my students to my uncle [B.K.S. Iyengar] to study because I thought my uncle would be the right person to help these students. So they went there and learned and received benefits, but they still have connection with me. So I am more interested in how we can help somebody. The moment we use a label, we are more involved with labels….. In India, we don’t refer to “style.” We always call it yoga. Whatever technique works is fine for us. The sad thing today is that the style has become more important than service. Until I breathe my last breath, I am going to fight against that.”

In January 2006 TKV Desikachar along with his student and son Kausthub Desikachar, founded the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF). It’s objectives among other things are: Creation of an umbrella organization that will link all certified teachers and students worldwide who study and teach in the holistic teaching tradition of T Krishnamacharya; Development of a common curriculum of the highest standards that will form the basis of all KHYF Yoga educational and training programs, thus aiding in cross-cultural recognition and exchange of resources; Promotion and support of a highly skilled and interactive network of certified teachers and therapists committed to sharing Yoga with the public as an alternate healing methodology; Collaboration with healing professionals from other fields, as well as development and implementation of new paradigms for enhancing human health and well being.
Acording to their own website, "at the present time, the KHYF program is the only Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist Training Program of its kind in the world. What makes the KHYF Training Program even more unique is that it is supported by the educational, clinical, and research resources of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram – the only Yoga Therapy Center of its kind in the world. The KYM has been providing Yoga Therapy services to the local and international communities for thirty years, and physicians frequently refer patients to the KYM for help managing their ailments. The center is noted for teaching healing techniques to people with epilepsy, gynecological problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and other mental and physical ailments. The KYM’s client-base also includes people seeking to improve their general health and athletic performance."

 

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Bikram Hot Yoga

Some like it hot, Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram or hot yoga  believes at least 105°F ( 40.5°C) and humidity of 40% the ideal conditions to practice yoga asana in.  This is not the only way that the Bikram school of yoga  differs from the other major schools of yoga. Unlike  Iyengar yoga, Ashtanga  yoga  and the nameless school of Desikachar, Bikram  yoga is not based on the yoga sutras  of Patanjali, and the eight limbs of yoga. Instead it is based on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika  which does not impose yamas and niyamas (limbs  one and two of the eight limbs of yoga),  and consists of a series of 26 postures with pranayama. Each Yoga Pose is usually performed twice and held for a certain period of time. Yoga Sessions start from Standing Postures, then the Backbends, Forward Bends, and Twists. The poses are accompanied by Kapalabhati Breath or the "cleansing breath".

The reasons why the room is kept at this high temperature – quoting the official Bikram  website:
Keeping the body from overheating (contrary to popular misconception)
Protecting the muscles to allow for deeper stretching
Detoxing the body (open pores to let toxins out)
Thinning the blood to clear the circulatory system
Increasing heart rate for better cardiovascular workout
Improving strength by putting muscle tissue in optimal state for reorganization
Reorganize the lipids (fat) in the muscular structure

Bikram was born in Calcutta, India in 1946, began Yoga at the age of four with Bishnu Ghosh, the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Author of the popular book, The Autobiography of a Yogi, and founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles). Bikram was trained at Ghosh’s College of Physical Education, (est. 1924) in Calcutta, India. In the late 1960’s he was sent to Japan to establish a school and teach their method of yoga. In the mid-1970’s, he established a school in San Francisco, then settled in Los Angeles and founded the Yoga College of India in Beverly Hills in 1974.

Since 1974 Bikram has become a very wealthy man, a self-styled yoga teacher to stars. in 2002 he created great controversy when he copyrighted his name and style of yoga. He then began to aggressively enforced claims of copyright and trademark protection, threatening many with lawsuits at $150,000 per infringement. As a result no one may teach Bikram Yoga classes unless he/she is a certified and licensed Bikram Yoga teacher. No one may teach or certify others to become Bikram Yoga teachers other than Bikram Choudhury. No one may offer obvious, thinly disguised copies of Bikram Yoga and represent to the public that it is "their" yoga. Bikram asserts "it is for the protection of Bikram Yoga, Bikram Yoga practitioners everywhere and the true spirit of yoga that these imposters must and will be stopped." Bikram yoga is now  effectively a franchise operation with licensed studios all over the world.

Many people, with good cause, have questioned how good this is for yoga, and that it is in the true spirit of yoga. Personally speaking  and I don’t think that somebody who speaks like this while teaching yoga really knows too much about its true spirit. These are all quotes  from a yoga class taught by Bikram  in 2005." I’m feeling sleepy, because I haven’t gone shopping for a long time…. I haven’t bought a car for two years—no, I bought a car last month, the fancy new Chrysler. Okay, move your right leg. Now your left leg." "What is the number-one reason people get divorced in America? Why do men leave? Because they don’t get according to their expectations…. Men have an imbalance of hormones. But yoga helps men maintain [sex drive]. Shit! Shit!"

Bikram  also wants yoga to become an Olympic sport. He and his wife Rajashree  are both past winners of the National India Yoga Championship (whatever that is).  Below is a short clip from the film about Bikram and the rise of McYoga ‘Yoga Inc.’  made in 2006 by John Philip.

 

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