Lately, I have noticed two types of reaction when I tell people I do Bikram yoga. If the person doesn't do yoga or has just dabbled into it, they'll say, "Oh! Cool! I heard that's awesome/hard/tough/sweaty. I've been wanting to try that."
Otherwise, if it's someone who's been doing yoga for a long time, who's gotten more into yoga than merely doing the asanas (poses), there'll be a slight pause, ever so slightly, but still a pause. "Oh, Bikram, ok," they'd say. I know some of them echo my coworker's aforementioned sentiment, more or less. I can totally see the thoughts running through their mind, assessing my "yoga street cred". I also do Vinyasa, Flow, and Power yoga, I'd rush to add, lest they think less of me as a serious yogini.
I've been doing yoga, more or less since 6 or 7 (see my previous post on my yoga journey). Naturally, in my inquiry into All Things Yoga, the more I read about Bikram Choudhury and his lawsuit, the more I became really turned off.
Bikram yoga, often disparagingly referred to as the “McDonald’s of yoga”, is a highly profitable practice that was pioneered by the notorious yogi, Bikram Choudhury, who immigrated from India to the United States 30 years ago. Bikram’s signature series involves a specific arrangement of 26 postures and two breathing exercises performed over a 90 minute period in a studio heated to 105°F. Approximately five years ago Bikram began officially registering copyrights and trademarks on his yoga series. In 2002 he began his first lawsuit for copyright violation against a studio owner who was his former student. This suit was settled out of court and no decision was established about the validity of Bikram’s claims. However, because Bikram continued to threaten legal action against other studios and the issue remained unsettled, Open Source Yoga Unity (OSYU) was formed to address these issues.
Salon's article Hot, sweaty and scandalous asked:
Bikram Choudhury, founder of the fastest-growing style of yoga in America, has copyrighted his poses and is threatening to sue anyone who teaches his "hot" style without permission. Is this enlightenment?
With all this noise, I generally shied away from hot yoga. If it was convenient, I'd totally do it, but I wasn't going to the studio just to do it.
So, with my wrists still throbbing, but my body was totally craving yoga, I went to Bikram for Bikram.
Some people look down on hot yoga because of its lack of spirituality, and perhaps the criticism is due to the fact that Bikram teachers tend to regurgitate the same dialog. However, through my experience with my first Bikram teacher Marta McDermott, I can vouch that this is not always the case. True, some teachers do do this, and we barely get know them. They walk in, talk for 90 minutes, and leave. A good teacher can make a huge difference with what he/she says in class. Marta didn't just recite a canned speech, she weaved her personal knowledge and wisdom in the instruction.
In addition, certain poses in hot yoga requires an extreme amount of concentration, and after 7 years of doing it, I'm just now getting what it means to kick and reach with equal effort in Dandayamana - Dhanurasana, Standing Bow Pulling Pose. This pose also requires you to have supreme control over your breathing, and you absolutely cannot be tense while doing it. Interestingly enough, the more I relax, reach, and lean forward, the more stable I am in the pose.
B.K.S Iyengar said in his book Light on Life:
... True meditation leads us to wisdom (jnana) and awareness (prajna), and this specifically helps in understanding that we are more than our ego. For this one needs the preparations of the postures and the breathing, the withdrawal of the senses and concentration.
This process of relaxing the brain is achieved through asana. We generally think of mind as being in our head. In asana our consciousness spreads throughout the body, eventually diffusing in every cell, creating a complete awareness. In this way stressful thought is drained away, and our mind focuses on the body, intelligence, and awareness as a whole.
This allows the brain to be more receptive, and concentration becomes natural. How to keep the brain cells in a relaxed, receptive, and concentrated state is the art that yoga teaches. You must also remember that meditation (dhyana) is part and parcel of yoga; it is not separate. Yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi, all these are the petals of yoga. There is meditation in everything. Indeed, in all these petals of yoga one needs a reflective or meditative mood.
The stress that saturates the brain is decreased through asana and pranayama, so the brain is rested, and there is a release from strain. Similarly, while doing the various types of pranayama the whole body is irrigated with energy. To practice pranayama people must have strength in their muscles and nerves, concentration and persistence, determination and endurance. These are all learned through the practice of asana. The nerves are soothed, the brain is calmed, and the hardness and rigidity of the lungs are loosened. The nerves are helped to remain healthy. you are at once one with yourself, and that is meditation.
Sure, Bikram yoga mainly focuses on the two limbs of yoga: asana and pranayama, and less on the other limbs. Perhaps it is even aptly named as the McDonald's/Starbucks of yoga. It's still the "gateway" for some people into the world of yoga. It is still a way to open up the body, and that's not a bad thing.
Having defended Bikram yoga as *real* yoga, I will say that I thought the lawsuits were, in technical terms, "totally not cool", and I'm grateful for the Open Source Yoga Unity. I hope their mission lives on forever: "To ensure the continued natural unfettered development of yoga for all to enjoy". Take that, Bikram!
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