hot yoga - Not drinking water in hot environments will kill you.
Posted by:
The Anticult
()
Date: June 29, 2012 03:07AM
Report the death and the blog about not drinking water in hot yoga to the local coroner, they might do an investigation.
Not drinking water in hot environments will kill you.
Hot yoga could be the same as the James Ray deathlodge.
Not drinking water in hot environments will kill you.
Hot yoga could be the same as the James Ray deathlodge.
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
good enough
()
Date: April 03, 2013 12:10AM
Yoga’s evolution: From basement studios to big business
Lululemon, large studios contribute to — and profiting from — the recent surge in yoga’s popularity.
RENE JOHNSTON
When Kathryn Beet started out as a yoga entrepreneur in 1994, there was a sense among Toronto yogis that their quest for spiritual bliss had no place in the business world.
At the time, there were six studios in the city. Teachers ran classes in community centres, church basements or their homes; most yogis, Beet says, explored the practice as a life philosophy, not an exercise routine.
“You weren’t a real yogi if you were trying to make money off it,” says Beet, who held 90-minute prenatal yoga classes at St. Matthias church on Bellwoods Ave. north of Queen St. W. Her 30 or so students paid her $10 per class.
But by 1996, Beet’s classes drew more yogis than could fit inside the church, and she relocated to a repurposed photo studio nearby and named her business Yogaspace. A year later, her weekly revenue had grown 10 fold.
Photos View gallery
A woman does yoga at the Garden Holistic Yoga Centre. zoom
Nowadays, it seems like everyone is doing yoga. zoom
A woman in modified headstand. zoom
Since then, hundreds of studios have sprouted up in the GTA. Ruth Dargan, co-founder of the eight-year-old Yoga Conference, which expects 20,000 people at its event this weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, keeps a database of Toronto-area studios. She says there are 669 studios in the GTA, more than twice as many as five years ago.
The yoga explosion “was so rapid it was unbelievable,” says Beet, who incorporated Yogaspace and moved into a 4,000 square-foot studio on Ossington Ave., near Dundas St. in 2004. Earlier this month, she opened a second Yogaspace studio, in Thornhill.
Once the mysterious practice of new age spiritualists and countercultural hipsters, yoga has moved out of the ashram and into the mainstream. Superstar American gurus and high-profile celebrity practitioners have helped transform the 5,000-year-old Indian philosophy into a multi-million-dollar, transnational industry.
According to the most recent numbers from Statistics Canada, 1.4 million Canadians practiced yoga in 2005. Estimates of the number of global yoga practitioners are as high as 250 million. As a result, yoga has become a cash cow, with American yogis, for example, spending more than $10 billion annually on classes and equipment, according to Yoga Journal magazine.
Last year, Lululemon, the Vancouver-based yoga-apparel brand, earned more than $1 billion worldwide. And the 15-year-old company’s success has been partially responsible for a recent upsurge in yoga-related entrepreneurism. From 2010 to 2013, 138 people filed trademarks on yoga styles and products, compared with 160 submitted from 2000 to 2010, according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
While Vancouverites claim the heart of Canada’s yoga community is out west, Toronto yogis insist the GTA is the country’s yoga capital, with more studios on a per-capita basis than anywhere else in North America.
“Yoga has boomed in Toronto more than anywhere else, in terms of the number of studios that exist, their density and that there is not much turnover,” says Raj Gandhi, co-founder of Passport to Prana, an eight-year-old Toronto-based coupon program that offers deals to yoga centres in 18 North American cities.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint why, yoga has a tendency to take root in major cities where, Gandhi says, health-conscious urbanites need a way to escape the stresses of big-city life.
Across the GTA, there are studios geared toward the strictest aspirants of mind-body bliss, for the neophytes experimenting with ashtanga and kundalini styles, and for fitness junkies simply after a sublime “yoga butt.” Hybrids, such as Spynga (yoga/cycling), Yogalates (yoga/pilates) and Yoganetics (yoga/kinetics), and other variations (naked yoga, anyone?) are now widely offered.
But while the industry has taken on a something-for-everyone mindset, some say yoga’s rapid expansion has diluted its foundational core: to achieve serenity in our bodies and minds, shut off from the burdens of daily life.
“(Hybrids) might be interesting as a physical discipline, but … if it’s not focused on the concept of body and mind integration, I don’t think it’s yoga,” says Tama Soble, co-owner of Esther Myers Yoga Studio, which opened in Toronto in 1979.
Regardless, local studio owners have realized their niche market has grown into big business, rife with competitive pricing and territory disputes. At her new Thornhill location, Beet has installed heating panels to draw customers looking for hot yoga, a popular form where students do their practice in 40C rooms.
In September, smaller studios will face added competition when YYoga, a massive Vancouver chain with a slate of wellness services, opens its first Toronto location in a 10,000 square-foot downtown space. Investors have reportedly funneled $9 million into the expansion, which YYoga CEO Terry McBride hopes will eventually reach 40 locations across southern Ontario.
McBride, a former digital music executive, insists that despite their corporate exterior, his yoga centres promote community — among students and teachers — just like neighbourhood studios.
Beet, however, offers a harsher comparison — an ominous sign, perhaps, of how far yoga has come in Canada’s biggest city.
“It’s the difference between the neighbourhood book store and Chapters.”
[www.thestar.com]
Lululemon, large studios contribute to — and profiting from — the recent surge in yoga’s popularity.
RENE JOHNSTON
When Kathryn Beet started out as a yoga entrepreneur in 1994, there was a sense among Toronto yogis that their quest for spiritual bliss had no place in the business world.
At the time, there were six studios in the city. Teachers ran classes in community centres, church basements or their homes; most yogis, Beet says, explored the practice as a life philosophy, not an exercise routine.
“You weren’t a real yogi if you were trying to make money off it,” says Beet, who held 90-minute prenatal yoga classes at St. Matthias church on Bellwoods Ave. north of Queen St. W. Her 30 or so students paid her $10 per class.
But by 1996, Beet’s classes drew more yogis than could fit inside the church, and she relocated to a repurposed photo studio nearby and named her business Yogaspace. A year later, her weekly revenue had grown 10 fold.
Photos View gallery
A woman does yoga at the Garden Holistic Yoga Centre. zoom
Nowadays, it seems like everyone is doing yoga. zoom
A woman in modified headstand. zoom
Since then, hundreds of studios have sprouted up in the GTA. Ruth Dargan, co-founder of the eight-year-old Yoga Conference, which expects 20,000 people at its event this weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, keeps a database of Toronto-area studios. She says there are 669 studios in the GTA, more than twice as many as five years ago.
The yoga explosion “was so rapid it was unbelievable,” says Beet, who incorporated Yogaspace and moved into a 4,000 square-foot studio on Ossington Ave., near Dundas St. in 2004. Earlier this month, she opened a second Yogaspace studio, in Thornhill.
Once the mysterious practice of new age spiritualists and countercultural hipsters, yoga has moved out of the ashram and into the mainstream. Superstar American gurus and high-profile celebrity practitioners have helped transform the 5,000-year-old Indian philosophy into a multi-million-dollar, transnational industry.
According to the most recent numbers from Statistics Canada, 1.4 million Canadians practiced yoga in 2005. Estimates of the number of global yoga practitioners are as high as 250 million. As a result, yoga has become a cash cow, with American yogis, for example, spending more than $10 billion annually on classes and equipment, according to Yoga Journal magazine.
Last year, Lululemon, the Vancouver-based yoga-apparel brand, earned more than $1 billion worldwide. And the 15-year-old company’s success has been partially responsible for a recent upsurge in yoga-related entrepreneurism. From 2010 to 2013, 138 people filed trademarks on yoga styles and products, compared with 160 submitted from 2000 to 2010, according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
While Vancouverites claim the heart of Canada’s yoga community is out west, Toronto yogis insist the GTA is the country’s yoga capital, with more studios on a per-capita basis than anywhere else in North America.
“Yoga has boomed in Toronto more than anywhere else, in terms of the number of studios that exist, their density and that there is not much turnover,” says Raj Gandhi, co-founder of Passport to Prana, an eight-year-old Toronto-based coupon program that offers deals to yoga centres in 18 North American cities.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint why, yoga has a tendency to take root in major cities where, Gandhi says, health-conscious urbanites need a way to escape the stresses of big-city life.
Across the GTA, there are studios geared toward the strictest aspirants of mind-body bliss, for the neophytes experimenting with ashtanga and kundalini styles, and for fitness junkies simply after a sublime “yoga butt.” Hybrids, such as Spynga (yoga/cycling), Yogalates (yoga/pilates) and Yoganetics (yoga/kinetics), and other variations (naked yoga, anyone?) are now widely offered.
But while the industry has taken on a something-for-everyone mindset, some say yoga’s rapid expansion has diluted its foundational core: to achieve serenity in our bodies and minds, shut off from the burdens of daily life.
“(Hybrids) might be interesting as a physical discipline, but … if it’s not focused on the concept of body and mind integration, I don’t think it’s yoga,” says Tama Soble, co-owner of Esther Myers Yoga Studio, which opened in Toronto in 1979.
Regardless, local studio owners have realized their niche market has grown into big business, rife with competitive pricing and territory disputes. At her new Thornhill location, Beet has installed heating panels to draw customers looking for hot yoga, a popular form where students do their practice in 40C rooms.
In September, smaller studios will face added competition when YYoga, a massive Vancouver chain with a slate of wellness services, opens its first Toronto location in a 10,000 square-foot downtown space. Investors have reportedly funneled $9 million into the expansion, which YYoga CEO Terry McBride hopes will eventually reach 40 locations across southern Ontario.
McBride, a former digital music executive, insists that despite their corporate exterior, his yoga centres promote community — among students and teachers — just like neighbourhood studios.
Beet, however, offers a harsher comparison — an ominous sign, perhaps, of how far yoga has come in Canada’s biggest city.
“It’s the difference between the neighbourhood book store and Chapters.”
[www.thestar.com]
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
good enough
()
Date: April 03, 2013 12:21AM
Why is yoga so cult-like? Is it a substitute for organized religion?
Yoga can be like a cult; it can take over one’s whole approach to living.
Yoga shape a practitioner's approach to living, often as a substitute for seeking spiritual fulfilment and community.
By: Ken Gallinger Ethically speaking columnist, Published on Tue Mar 19 2013
Q: Yoga can be like a cult; it can take over one’s whole approach to living, often as a substitute for seeking spiritual fulfilment and community. What is it about yoga that makes this so? Is it mentally/physically healthy? And is yoga a good substitute for organized religion?
A: Let’s begin with a concept whose roots are in Irish spirituality. There is evidence that, even before the arrival of the Celts, there was belief in “thin places.”
There are as many understandings of “thin places” as there are people to write about it. To put it simply, the idea is that a veil separates the mundane things of everyday life from the higher sacred qualities, like ultimate truth, beauty and peace. A thin place exists anywhere this veil becomes so wispy that ordinary folks can penetrate it, and “touch” the eternal.
Thin places can be physical locations. I recently travelled to Sedona, Arizona, where many people believe there are “vortexes” around which it’s easy to feel sacred energy. More often, thin places are found in ordinary times — watching an especially beautiful sunrise, sharing in the Mass, seeing a baby born, reading the Qur’an, retelling the story of the Exodus at a Seder meal.
Whether or not they use the metaphor of thin places, religious traditions around the world agree that experiencing holiness requires a person to put aside the dreary concerns of daily living. Religious architecture, music, language — the “smells and bells” of various worship traditions — are intended to move worshippers beyond the mundane, for a short while at least, in order to be open to the sacred.
Simply put: it’s hard to focus on the wonder of love when you’re worrying about your income tax. Spiritual disciplines, whatever their brand, are designed to help folks focus on things that will still matter after April 30 has come and gone.
Which brings us to yoga. For many people, yoga is nothing more than a physical fitness program; that’s fine, as far as it goes. Remember that for many people, attending church/temple/mosque is nothing more than a social outing, business opportunity, or political gathering. Proximity to spiritual discipline does not ensure participation.
For some, however, yoga provides a helpful vehicle for touching the thin places. The earliest yoga texts, going back 500 years before Christ, talk about eight different “limbs” of yoga. One limb relates primarily to the physical postures (asanas), which are well known today. The other seven, however, relate to developing attitudes and practices that many would label “spiritual” — practices such as purity of thought, truthfulness, non-violence and healthful sexuality. More than anything else, yoga is about letting go of tension, rigidity and fear, and in the process opening yourself to new possibilities. It’s about being flexible, and flexibility is a spiritual value, albeit one which fundamentalists in “organized” religions seem not to understand.
Yoga doesn’t work for everyone. It doesn’t work for me, but then, neither does the church anymore. From an ethical point of view, however, each of us has final responsibility for becoming fully human. The important question is not where we find tools to be our best. If it’s in organized religion, fine. If yoga or meditation or secular social service, that’s fine, too. The real question is: will we keep looking for thin places, even when they’re so damned hard to find?
[www.thestar.com]
Yoga can be like a cult; it can take over one’s whole approach to living.
Yoga shape a practitioner's approach to living, often as a substitute for seeking spiritual fulfilment and community.
By: Ken Gallinger Ethically speaking columnist, Published on Tue Mar 19 2013
Q: Yoga can be like a cult; it can take over one’s whole approach to living, often as a substitute for seeking spiritual fulfilment and community. What is it about yoga that makes this so? Is it mentally/physically healthy? And is yoga a good substitute for organized religion?
A: Let’s begin with a concept whose roots are in Irish spirituality. There is evidence that, even before the arrival of the Celts, there was belief in “thin places.”
There are as many understandings of “thin places” as there are people to write about it. To put it simply, the idea is that a veil separates the mundane things of everyday life from the higher sacred qualities, like ultimate truth, beauty and peace. A thin place exists anywhere this veil becomes so wispy that ordinary folks can penetrate it, and “touch” the eternal.
Thin places can be physical locations. I recently travelled to Sedona, Arizona, where many people believe there are “vortexes” around which it’s easy to feel sacred energy. More often, thin places are found in ordinary times — watching an especially beautiful sunrise, sharing in the Mass, seeing a baby born, reading the Qur’an, retelling the story of the Exodus at a Seder meal.
Whether or not they use the metaphor of thin places, religious traditions around the world agree that experiencing holiness requires a person to put aside the dreary concerns of daily living. Religious architecture, music, language — the “smells and bells” of various worship traditions — are intended to move worshippers beyond the mundane, for a short while at least, in order to be open to the sacred.
Simply put: it’s hard to focus on the wonder of love when you’re worrying about your income tax. Spiritual disciplines, whatever their brand, are designed to help folks focus on things that will still matter after April 30 has come and gone.
Which brings us to yoga. For many people, yoga is nothing more than a physical fitness program; that’s fine, as far as it goes. Remember that for many people, attending church/temple/mosque is nothing more than a social outing, business opportunity, or political gathering. Proximity to spiritual discipline does not ensure participation.
For some, however, yoga provides a helpful vehicle for touching the thin places. The earliest yoga texts, going back 500 years before Christ, talk about eight different “limbs” of yoga. One limb relates primarily to the physical postures (asanas), which are well known today. The other seven, however, relate to developing attitudes and practices that many would label “spiritual” — practices such as purity of thought, truthfulness, non-violence and healthful sexuality. More than anything else, yoga is about letting go of tension, rigidity and fear, and in the process opening yourself to new possibilities. It’s about being flexible, and flexibility is a spiritual value, albeit one which fundamentalists in “organized” religions seem not to understand.
Yoga doesn’t work for everyone. It doesn’t work for me, but then, neither does the church anymore. From an ethical point of view, however, each of us has final responsibility for becoming fully human. The important question is not where we find tools to be our best. If it’s in organized religion, fine. If yoga or meditation or secular social service, that’s fine, too. The real question is: will we keep looking for thin places, even when they’re so damned hard to find?
[www.thestar.com]
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
good enough
()
Date: April 03, 2013 12:26AM
When yoga harms
Common injuries include rotator cuff, lower back and hamstring problems
Common injuries from yoga include rotator cuff, cervical disc, lower back, wrist, hamstring and knee problems.
By: Isabel Teotonio Living reporter, Published on Fri Mar 22 2013
Yoga heals. But it can also harm.
That’s why Raza Awan, a sports medicine doctor, and Riki Richter, a Pilates and yoga instructor, created a yoga injury prevention workshop for teachers and studio owners.
The idea came after the duo, who co-own and run Synergy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, noticed yoga-related injuries at their Toronto clinic, near Lansdowne Ave. and Bloor St. W.
They wanted to show practitioners the more common injuries — rotator cuff, cervical disc, lower back, wrist, hamstring and knee — and how to prevent them.
The benefits of yoga outweigh the risks, but awareness of its potential dangers is needed, especially since the yoga community hasn’t traditionally tracked injuries.
“We need dialogue (with the community) because (yoga) is growing in popularity,” says Awan. “And there are going to be injuries.”
Yoga poses can cause injuries or exacerbate existing conditions. Often injuries are linked to a sudden spike in activity, such as teacher trainings, weekend workshops and retreats. Since most are the result of repetitive strain, people can hurt themselves when they increase activity level.
Damage to the rotator cuff results from weight put on the arms and can be brought on during poses such as plank, chaturanga, handstand and arm balances.
Cervical disc issues occur from extending and flexing the head and compressing the neck. Poses that can result in injury include camel, upward dog, cobra, plow, headstand and shoulder stand.
Lower back pain is common because of extreme forward and backward bends. Weight-bearing poses such crane and downward dog can hurt the wrist; standing or seated forward bends can injure the hamstring; and twisting and hyper flexing during warrior, hero and pigeon can damage the knee.
American science writer William Broad, also a longtime practitioner, explores the dark side of yoga in his 2012 book The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards.
One of the biggest myths about yoga is that it’s safe, says The New York Times writer. Some poses have caused nerve damage resulting in disabilities that range from relatively mild to permanent. And although rare, some poses restrict blood flow to the brain, which can cause a stroke and result in death, he says.
“Yoga can kill and maim — or save your life and make you feel like a god,” writes the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. “That’s quite a range.”
[www.thestar.com]
Common injuries include rotator cuff, lower back and hamstring problems
Common injuries from yoga include rotator cuff, cervical disc, lower back, wrist, hamstring and knee problems.
By: Isabel Teotonio Living reporter, Published on Fri Mar 22 2013
Yoga heals. But it can also harm.
That’s why Raza Awan, a sports medicine doctor, and Riki Richter, a Pilates and yoga instructor, created a yoga injury prevention workshop for teachers and studio owners.
The idea came after the duo, who co-own and run Synergy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, noticed yoga-related injuries at their Toronto clinic, near Lansdowne Ave. and Bloor St. W.
They wanted to show practitioners the more common injuries — rotator cuff, cervical disc, lower back, wrist, hamstring and knee — and how to prevent them.
The benefits of yoga outweigh the risks, but awareness of its potential dangers is needed, especially since the yoga community hasn’t traditionally tracked injuries.
“We need dialogue (with the community) because (yoga) is growing in popularity,” says Awan. “And there are going to be injuries.”
Yoga poses can cause injuries or exacerbate existing conditions. Often injuries are linked to a sudden spike in activity, such as teacher trainings, weekend workshops and retreats. Since most are the result of repetitive strain, people can hurt themselves when they increase activity level.
Damage to the rotator cuff results from weight put on the arms and can be brought on during poses such as plank, chaturanga, handstand and arm balances.
Cervical disc issues occur from extending and flexing the head and compressing the neck. Poses that can result in injury include camel, upward dog, cobra, plow, headstand and shoulder stand.
Lower back pain is common because of extreme forward and backward bends. Weight-bearing poses such crane and downward dog can hurt the wrist; standing or seated forward bends can injure the hamstring; and twisting and hyper flexing during warrior, hero and pigeon can damage the knee.
American science writer William Broad, also a longtime practitioner, explores the dark side of yoga in his 2012 book The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards.
One of the biggest myths about yoga is that it’s safe, says The New York Times writer. Some poses have caused nerve damage resulting in disabilities that range from relatively mild to permanent. And although rare, some poses restrict blood flow to the brain, which can cause a stroke and result in death, he says.
“Yoga can kill and maim — or save your life and make you feel like a god,” writes the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. “That’s quite a range.”
[www.thestar.com]
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
OutofTransition
()
Date: April 08, 2013 04:04AM
I would second the idea that before you start doing yoga that you check with your health care practitioner first and also find out just what kind of poses you will be asked to do. Some of them can be quite harmful for people with certain conditions. For example, about a year ago I developed brachioplexus/thoracic outlet syndrome which is similar to carpal tunnel in that it affects the hands and wrists and is a repetitive motion injury from using the computer. Fortunately I caught it in time to avoid further damage and won't need surgery. Anyway, what this has to do with yoga is that because of my particular condition I must be very careful about putting stress and weight on my wrists. This rules out many yoga positions that involve wrist bending. Even the familiar namaste pose is a no-no if you have carpal tunnel or brachioplexus syndrome because it bends your wrists. On the other hand, there are gentle "chair yoga" exercises that are not so damaging and are beneficial. I find that when my hands start acting up doing the exercises I have bee shown in therapy does help relieve the symptoms.
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
good enough
()
Date: May 16, 2013 01:59AM
I never had a good feeling about Bikram Choudhury (founder of the successful hot yoga chain) and now he's been accused of rape and human trafficking.
[www.rawstory.com]
Millionaire yoga guru Bikram Choudhury accused of rape and human trafficking
By Dominic Rushe, The Guardian
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 19:36 EDT
Millionaire yoga guru Bikram Choudhury has been accused of rape, sexual assault and “human trafficking” in two new lawsuits filed by former students.
According to the suits, filed in Los Angeles this month, Choudhury has “a propensity to sexually assault young women”. The two suits, filed by women named only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, charge Choudhury and Bikram Yoga College of India of sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and other counts.
Calcutta-born Choudury, the 67-year-old founder of the “hot yoga” chain, runs an international empire of about 650 yoga studios across three continents. Choudhury claims to have taught yoga to presidents Nixon, Reagan and Clinton. Celebrities including Lady Gaga, David Beckham and Madonna have practiced Bikram, a series of 26 yoga poses that take place in rooms heated to over 100F (37.8C).
Another former Bikram student, Sarah Baughn, filed a suit in March claiming Choudhury made sexual advances while she was training to be a teacher. That complaint alleged sexual harassment but not rape. The two new plaintiffs have opted to maintain their anonymity.
All three women are being represented by Mary Shea Hagebols of Shea Law Offices in Oakland, California. “I have worked with the victims of sexual assault for decades,” she said. “It is very difficult for someone to come forward and speak out against someone powerful and wealthy.” She said her clients wished to protect other women from similar assaults.
Petra Starke, president of Bikram Yoga College of India, said she could not comment on the cases.
Jane Doe 1, who filed her suit on 7 May, claims Choudhury raped her twice in the fall of 2011. She claims that Choudhury’s inner circle (identified in the suit as defendants 1-25) were aware of their boss’s behaviour.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes that after defendant Bikram Choudhury lures the young women to his place of business, through various schemes and designs and with the participation of his inner circle who are knowledgeable of and complicit in the abuse, he sexually assaults and/or rapes them,” the suit alleges.
In March this year Jane Doe 1 said she confronted Choudhury and told him his conduct was “unlawful, unwanted, and unconsented to”. She said Choudhury tried to “inflict guilt” on her by saying if she came forward, the Bikram community would suffer.
Jane Doe 2, who filed on 6 May, claims that Choudhury raped her in November 2010 after her boyfriend gave her a gift of a $13,000 nine-week teacher training programme at Choudhury’s Bikram Yoga studio in San Diego. The grueling training programme began at 7am and ended at between 2am and 3am. During the sessions, would-be teachers were told what they could eat, wear (skimpy clothing and nothing green), what they could say and “the expressions on their faces”, Jane Doe 2 alleges.
During weeks of gruelling training Choudhury singled out Jane Doe 2 claiming she was “a piece of gold in a roomful of brass”. His approaches became more sexual and were rebuffed. The suit alleges the exhausted student was raped when she was “too weak and overwrought to fight him off”.
The suits paint a cult-like atmosphere at the training camps. Trainees were allegedly told that Choudhury is on the same level as Jesus Christ or Buddha, that Bikram yoga can cure cancer and that practitioners will be able to live to 100 years old. Trainees were bullied and humiliated as well as praised, the suits say, and Choudhury allegedly gave lectures in which he disparaged gays, Americans and made ethnic slurs.
Jane Doe 2 claims that Choudhury recruits volunteers from overseas who are “so in fear of defendant Bikram Choudhury’s wrath that they will travel to the US and risk violating immigration laws in order to serve him. Once in the US these volunteers work for little or zero pay. “Their duties include grooming him, massaging him, making his tea, bring[ing] him food and being forced to submit to sexual assaults and rapes against their will,” the suit alleges.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2013 02:06AM by good enough.
[www.rawstory.com]
Millionaire yoga guru Bikram Choudhury accused of rape and human trafficking
By Dominic Rushe, The Guardian
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 19:36 EDT
Millionaire yoga guru Bikram Choudhury has been accused of rape, sexual assault and “human trafficking” in two new lawsuits filed by former students.
According to the suits, filed in Los Angeles this month, Choudhury has “a propensity to sexually assault young women”. The two suits, filed by women named only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, charge Choudhury and Bikram Yoga College of India of sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and other counts.
Calcutta-born Choudury, the 67-year-old founder of the “hot yoga” chain, runs an international empire of about 650 yoga studios across three continents. Choudhury claims to have taught yoga to presidents Nixon, Reagan and Clinton. Celebrities including Lady Gaga, David Beckham and Madonna have practiced Bikram, a series of 26 yoga poses that take place in rooms heated to over 100F (37.8C).
Another former Bikram student, Sarah Baughn, filed a suit in March claiming Choudhury made sexual advances while she was training to be a teacher. That complaint alleged sexual harassment but not rape. The two new plaintiffs have opted to maintain their anonymity.
All three women are being represented by Mary Shea Hagebols of Shea Law Offices in Oakland, California. “I have worked with the victims of sexual assault for decades,” she said. “It is very difficult for someone to come forward and speak out against someone powerful and wealthy.” She said her clients wished to protect other women from similar assaults.
Petra Starke, president of Bikram Yoga College of India, said she could not comment on the cases.
Jane Doe 1, who filed her suit on 7 May, claims Choudhury raped her twice in the fall of 2011. She claims that Choudhury’s inner circle (identified in the suit as defendants 1-25) were aware of their boss’s behaviour.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes that after defendant Bikram Choudhury lures the young women to his place of business, through various schemes and designs and with the participation of his inner circle who are knowledgeable of and complicit in the abuse, he sexually assaults and/or rapes them,” the suit alleges.
In March this year Jane Doe 1 said she confronted Choudhury and told him his conduct was “unlawful, unwanted, and unconsented to”. She said Choudhury tried to “inflict guilt” on her by saying if she came forward, the Bikram community would suffer.
Jane Doe 2, who filed on 6 May, claims that Choudhury raped her in November 2010 after her boyfriend gave her a gift of a $13,000 nine-week teacher training programme at Choudhury’s Bikram Yoga studio in San Diego. The grueling training programme began at 7am and ended at between 2am and 3am. During the sessions, would-be teachers were told what they could eat, wear (skimpy clothing and nothing green), what they could say and “the expressions on their faces”, Jane Doe 2 alleges.
During weeks of gruelling training Choudhury singled out Jane Doe 2 claiming she was “a piece of gold in a roomful of brass”. His approaches became more sexual and were rebuffed. The suit alleges the exhausted student was raped when she was “too weak and overwrought to fight him off”.
The suits paint a cult-like atmosphere at the training camps. Trainees were allegedly told that Choudhury is on the same level as Jesus Christ or Buddha, that Bikram yoga can cure cancer and that practitioners will be able to live to 100 years old. Trainees were bullied and humiliated as well as praised, the suits say, and Choudhury allegedly gave lectures in which he disparaged gays, Americans and made ethnic slurs.
Jane Doe 2 claims that Choudhury recruits volunteers from overseas who are “so in fear of defendant Bikram Choudhury’s wrath that they will travel to the US and risk violating immigration laws in order to serve him. Once in the US these volunteers work for little or zero pay. “Their duties include grooming him, massaging him, making his tea, bring[ing] him food and being forced to submit to sexual assaults and rapes against their will,” the suit alleges.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2013 02:06AM by good enough.
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
good enough
()
Date: May 16, 2013 02:25AM
Another article about Bikram's latest scandal.
[www.yoganonymous.com]
Two Women Claim Bikram Choudhury Raped Them
By YOGANONYMOUS
Bikram Choudhury raped two students, and his acolytes recruit women for him knowing whatfs in store for them, two Jane Does say in separate lawsuits.
Jane Doe No. 2 sued Choudhury and Bikram Yoga College of India in Superior Court on Monday, alleging sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and seven other counts.
Jane Doe No. 1 filed a similar complaint Tuesday against the same defendants in the same court.
The two lawsuits follow one from another former student, Sarah Baughn, who claimed in March this year that Choudhury made sexual advances while she was training to be a teacher in 2005. That complaint alleged sexual harassment, but not rape.
In her complaint, Jane Doe No. 2 claims that Choudhury raped her in November 2010 after her boyfriend gave her a gift to be trained as a teacher at Choudhuryfs Bikram Yoga studio in San Diego.
Doe No. 2 says in the complaint that defendant Does 1-25, gother persons in defendant Bikram Choudhuryfs inner circle, were aware of defendant Bikram Choudhuryfs pattern and practice of causing, inducing or persuading young women to enroll in teacher training classes to become yoga instructors only so he can sexually assault and/or rape them.h She claims the Doe defendants knew this was in the cards, but gdid nothing to prevent this from happening to plaintiff or to protect her.h
Her 36-page complaint claims there is a disturbing cult-like environment in the studios, where studio owners and instructors enroll attractive, vulnerable young women for Choudhury to sexually assault or rape.
Choudhuryfs Bikram Yoga franchise is a form of Hatha Yoga practiced in studios heated to 105 degrees.
Doe No. 2 claims the brutal nine-week teacher training program cost $13,000. During the program, students must abstain from sex, are taught that Bikram Yoga can cure cancer and other diseases, and instructed that Choudhury is akin to a God, she says in the complaint.
During teacher training, gevery moment of a studentfs day is controlled by the schedule set by defendant Bikram Choudhury,h the complaint states. gThe day usually starts at 7:00 a.m., and ends between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Students are required to attend each and every class and spend eight plus hours a day being instructed. When they can eat, what they can drink during class (water only, and even that is heavily frowned upon by defendant), what they wear (must not wear color green and must wear tight, skimpy clothing), the expressions on their face, the words that come out of their mouths and the position of their bodies are all controlled by defendant Choudhury and other instructors.h
Doe No. 2 claims the grueling schedule was designed to gbreak down her body, will and spirit,h and brainwash her with Choudhuryfs gvision and teachings.h
She describes Choudhury as a combustible tyrant who orders students during classes to remain mute, and treat him gwith unquestioning obedience.h
gStudents are also often required to attend evening lectures, where defendant Choudhury rants on subjects including his negative views on certain races; negative views on homosexuality; the moral lassitude of Americans; his guru; his views on sex, marriage, and relationships; and whatever else he should care to talk about,h the complaint states.
Some students are pushed so hard they faint, vomit, urinate on themselves, or suffer heat strokes and seizures, Doe says in the complaint.
gOther students have reported that it is common for students to collapse and be unable to rise, or to be overcome with weeping in a room full of hundreds of people due to the sheer physical exhaustion,h the complaint states.
Doe claims that before she entered into teacher training, she was a ghappy carefree person.h
Though she was initially flattered by the gspecial attentionh and compliments she received from Choudhury in class, she says that changed when he made advances and professed his love for her.
She says she rebuffed Choudhury and reminded him that she had a boyfriend and that he was married. But his advances continued until he sexually assaulted her on Nov. 18, 2010 in his room at the studio, she says in the complaint.
Doe claims that on the night of the attack, Choundhury told her he wanted to discuss a job offer in his room.
gDefendant Bikram Choudhury said he saw himself in plaintiff (he had said that to her before) and that, eI need to spiritually enlighten you. In order to do that, we need to become one.f Then, without warning or consent, defendant Bikram Choudhury forcefully pulled plaintiff towards him and had one hand around her and the other was unbuttoning her jeans. He hooked his hand at the top of her pants and tried to pull them down with force,h the complaint states.
Though in a gweakened stateh from her training, Doe says she pushed Choudhury away, but he threatened her, grabbed her by the wrist and forced her into his bedroom.
gDefendant Bikram Choudhury pulled her pants down and forced her onto the bed. Plaintiff Jane Doe No.2 could not stop crying and kept begging him over and over to stop. He forced his unprotected penis in her vagina. Within moments it was over. The only thing defendant Bikram Choudhury said was, eHow many times did you come?f Plaintiff Jane Doe No.2 was in pain, in shock and could not speak. Defendant Bikram Choudhury then ordered plaintiff to watch him until he fell asleep,h according to the complaint.
Doe adds: gThe next day during lecture, defendant Bikram Choudhury made offensive sexual comments to the whole class. It was demoralizing and humiliating. He told the plaintiff and rest of the class that when he first moved to the U.S. women raped him all the time and taught him how to have sex. Defendant Bikram Choudhury said he would have sex marathons. Then he started talking about womenfs bodies and how he liked epussyf without hair on it. Defendant Bikram Choudhury said, eI canft stand fat unattractive women.f As he spoke, his voice was becoming more and more intense and his language more vulgar.fh
Doe claims the defendant studio did nothing to protect her from Choudhury. She claims that a male instructor her to finish the program, telling her: geWe all know how Bikram is, thatfs just part of it.fh
She claims: gDuring graduation, defendant Bikram Choudhury insisted that plaintiff stay by his side the whole time. By this point her spirit was drained and she was operating out of total fear. Defendant Bikram Choudhury made her sit next to him at the dinner table even though his wife Rajashtee (Raj) was there. It was humiliating. At one point during the dinner, as if knowing what had happened, Raj told defendant Bikram Choudhury to elet her go.fh
Doe claims that when she told Choudhury she planned to leave the studio, he told her, among other things, geIf you fuck with me, Ifll fuck with you.f c
gPlaintiff Jane Doe No. 2Œs life unraveled after she returned home. Her long term relationship fell apart, she went into a severe depression, attempted suicide, started drinking, doing drugs, engaged in uncharacteristically impulsive behavior, quit her job and cut off communication from almost everyone in her life,h the complaint states.
She says she glived in constant fearh that Choudhury would come to her home and attack her. Doe claims that some people enter the United States illegally to gvolunteerh in the program.
gOnce in the United States, these evolunteersf are required to serve defendant Bikram Choudhury for zero or little pay. Their duties include grooming him, massaging him, making his tea, bring him food and being forced to submit to sexual assaults and rapes against their will,h according to the complaint.
Doe seeks punitive damages, lost wages, and costs.
Jane Doe No. 1Œs complaint is substantially the same. She claims that Choudhury raped her twice.
Both women are represented by Mary Shea Hagebols with Shea Law Offices, of Oakland.
[www.yoganonymous.com]
Two Women Claim Bikram Choudhury Raped Them
By YOGANONYMOUS
Bikram Choudhury raped two students, and his acolytes recruit women for him knowing whatfs in store for them, two Jane Does say in separate lawsuits.
Jane Doe No. 2 sued Choudhury and Bikram Yoga College of India in Superior Court on Monday, alleging sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and seven other counts.
Jane Doe No. 1 filed a similar complaint Tuesday against the same defendants in the same court.
The two lawsuits follow one from another former student, Sarah Baughn, who claimed in March this year that Choudhury made sexual advances while she was training to be a teacher in 2005. That complaint alleged sexual harassment, but not rape.
In her complaint, Jane Doe No. 2 claims that Choudhury raped her in November 2010 after her boyfriend gave her a gift to be trained as a teacher at Choudhuryfs Bikram Yoga studio in San Diego.
Doe No. 2 says in the complaint that defendant Does 1-25, gother persons in defendant Bikram Choudhuryfs inner circle, were aware of defendant Bikram Choudhuryfs pattern and practice of causing, inducing or persuading young women to enroll in teacher training classes to become yoga instructors only so he can sexually assault and/or rape them.h She claims the Doe defendants knew this was in the cards, but gdid nothing to prevent this from happening to plaintiff or to protect her.h
Her 36-page complaint claims there is a disturbing cult-like environment in the studios, where studio owners and instructors enroll attractive, vulnerable young women for Choudhury to sexually assault or rape.
Choudhuryfs Bikram Yoga franchise is a form of Hatha Yoga practiced in studios heated to 105 degrees.
Doe No. 2 claims the brutal nine-week teacher training program cost $13,000. During the program, students must abstain from sex, are taught that Bikram Yoga can cure cancer and other diseases, and instructed that Choudhury is akin to a God, she says in the complaint.
During teacher training, gevery moment of a studentfs day is controlled by the schedule set by defendant Bikram Choudhury,h the complaint states. gThe day usually starts at 7:00 a.m., and ends between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Students are required to attend each and every class and spend eight plus hours a day being instructed. When they can eat, what they can drink during class (water only, and even that is heavily frowned upon by defendant), what they wear (must not wear color green and must wear tight, skimpy clothing), the expressions on their face, the words that come out of their mouths and the position of their bodies are all controlled by defendant Choudhury and other instructors.h
Doe No. 2 claims the grueling schedule was designed to gbreak down her body, will and spirit,h and brainwash her with Choudhuryfs gvision and teachings.h
She describes Choudhury as a combustible tyrant who orders students during classes to remain mute, and treat him gwith unquestioning obedience.h
gStudents are also often required to attend evening lectures, where defendant Choudhury rants on subjects including his negative views on certain races; negative views on homosexuality; the moral lassitude of Americans; his guru; his views on sex, marriage, and relationships; and whatever else he should care to talk about,h the complaint states.
Some students are pushed so hard they faint, vomit, urinate on themselves, or suffer heat strokes and seizures, Doe says in the complaint.
gOther students have reported that it is common for students to collapse and be unable to rise, or to be overcome with weeping in a room full of hundreds of people due to the sheer physical exhaustion,h the complaint states.
Doe claims that before she entered into teacher training, she was a ghappy carefree person.h
Though she was initially flattered by the gspecial attentionh and compliments she received from Choudhury in class, she says that changed when he made advances and professed his love for her.
She says she rebuffed Choudhury and reminded him that she had a boyfriend and that he was married. But his advances continued until he sexually assaulted her on Nov. 18, 2010 in his room at the studio, she says in the complaint.
Doe claims that on the night of the attack, Choundhury told her he wanted to discuss a job offer in his room.
gDefendant Bikram Choudhury said he saw himself in plaintiff (he had said that to her before) and that, eI need to spiritually enlighten you. In order to do that, we need to become one.f Then, without warning or consent, defendant Bikram Choudhury forcefully pulled plaintiff towards him and had one hand around her and the other was unbuttoning her jeans. He hooked his hand at the top of her pants and tried to pull them down with force,h the complaint states.
Though in a gweakened stateh from her training, Doe says she pushed Choudhury away, but he threatened her, grabbed her by the wrist and forced her into his bedroom.
gDefendant Bikram Choudhury pulled her pants down and forced her onto the bed. Plaintiff Jane Doe No.2 could not stop crying and kept begging him over and over to stop. He forced his unprotected penis in her vagina. Within moments it was over. The only thing defendant Bikram Choudhury said was, eHow many times did you come?f Plaintiff Jane Doe No.2 was in pain, in shock and could not speak. Defendant Bikram Choudhury then ordered plaintiff to watch him until he fell asleep,h according to the complaint.
Doe adds: gThe next day during lecture, defendant Bikram Choudhury made offensive sexual comments to the whole class. It was demoralizing and humiliating. He told the plaintiff and rest of the class that when he first moved to the U.S. women raped him all the time and taught him how to have sex. Defendant Bikram Choudhury said he would have sex marathons. Then he started talking about womenfs bodies and how he liked epussyf without hair on it. Defendant Bikram Choudhury said, eI canft stand fat unattractive women.f As he spoke, his voice was becoming more and more intense and his language more vulgar.fh
Doe claims the defendant studio did nothing to protect her from Choudhury. She claims that a male instructor her to finish the program, telling her: geWe all know how Bikram is, thatfs just part of it.fh
She claims: gDuring graduation, defendant Bikram Choudhury insisted that plaintiff stay by his side the whole time. By this point her spirit was drained and she was operating out of total fear. Defendant Bikram Choudhury made her sit next to him at the dinner table even though his wife Rajashtee (Raj) was there. It was humiliating. At one point during the dinner, as if knowing what had happened, Raj told defendant Bikram Choudhury to elet her go.fh
Doe claims that when she told Choudhury she planned to leave the studio, he told her, among other things, geIf you fuck with me, Ifll fuck with you.f c
gPlaintiff Jane Doe No. 2Œs life unraveled after she returned home. Her long term relationship fell apart, she went into a severe depression, attempted suicide, started drinking, doing drugs, engaged in uncharacteristically impulsive behavior, quit her job and cut off communication from almost everyone in her life,h the complaint states.
She says she glived in constant fearh that Choudhury would come to her home and attack her. Doe claims that some people enter the United States illegally to gvolunteerh in the program.
gOnce in the United States, these evolunteersf are required to serve defendant Bikram Choudhury for zero or little pay. Their duties include grooming him, massaging him, making his tea, bring him food and being forced to submit to sexual assaults and rapes against their will,h according to the complaint.
Doe seeks punitive damages, lost wages, and costs.
Jane Doe No. 1Œs complaint is substantially the same. She claims that Choudhury raped her twice.
Both women are represented by Mary Shea Hagebols with Shea Law Offices, of Oakland.
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: May 16, 2013 11:02AM
Quoted from Dissecting the Dynamics of Yoga Sex Scandals
[www.itsallyogababy.com]
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[www.itsallyogababy.com]
[webcache.googleusercontent.com]
Quote
Then there is the susceptibility of the student-teacher relationship to corruption. Reading Carol Horton’s recent book, Yoga Ph.D.: Integrating the Life of the Mind and the Wisdom of the Body, I was struck by how her analysis of the contemporary yoga scene may reveal some of the potential factors behind abuse: namely, that yoga culture’s tendency to give teachers celebrity status while dismissing critique and encouraging constant positivity can silence students while inflating the narcissism of some teachers.
As Horton writes, “The yoga teacher-student relationship is inherently fraught with with interpersonal issues not dissimilar to those of the therapist-client…the most common reason many yoga students tend to idealize their teachers is that many of us unconsciously yearn for a perfect, parent-like figure that will care for us in an all-knowing, all-loving way (112).”
Combined with a culture that, as Horton says, **encourages positivity over critical thinking, this makes for a fertile ground for exploitation**.
(Asterisks by Corboy for emphasis)
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: May 16, 2013 11:06AM
Quoted from above source
Quote
Daniel Shaw spoke of abusive dynamics : “While apparently inviting others to attain his state of perfection (shameless - ness) by following him, the cult leader is actually constantly involved in inducing shame in his followers, thereby maintaining his dominance and control.”
In many ways, this is the dark, unexamined side of yoga sex scandals – the way that the act of teaching leaves the student vulnerable to exploitation in the guise of affection and acknowledgement by the teacher, if the teacher becomes unethical and corrupt.* I don’t think it’s correct to claim, as William Broad essentially did after the Anusara scandal, that unethical sexual behavior is the result of libido-raising “rapid breathing” and spandex in yoga classes (the “it’s the Tantric yoga, stupid,” defense).
I’m more concerned that cases of teacher-student manipulation might parallel what psychologists call “grooming” of the victim in child sexual abuse cases.
Because the teacher-student relationship can replicate the imbalance of authority between an adult and a child, I think the comparison is an intriguing one. In that situation, warning signs of abusive grooming could include things like giving special attention to vulnerable students, controlling student behaviors, and sexualizing physical interactions between student and teacher as “tests” to see which students are least likely to protest inappropriate behavior.
Re: The downside of yoga
Posted by:
corboy
()
Date: May 16, 2013 11:08AM
The comments following this article are interesting. This one especially.
Quote
Reply
Earth Energy Reader says:
April 12, 2013 at 1:56 pm
This article <3<3
To be perfectly frank, while I completely agree there does seem to be fatigue around stories of yoga sex scandals, I don't think the underlying topic of abuse which is behind this kind of behavior has been touched on enough and that's a discussion which needs to be vigorously pursued at this juncture.
Carol and Hope have both cited the teacher-student relationship dynamic as being one of the factors, but I also think a more insidious factor is has something to do with economics. Some of these more charismatic and popular instructors bring in much-needed cash to studios, many of which struggle to stay open. Instructors with "a following" seem to be ripe for the narcissist, abusive ploy, and feel that they can get away with it and if they're let go, they take their following with them which then may or may not put the studio in the red. This culture of enabling comes from all directions, it's not just students and/or followers
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