Bikram yoga petaluma

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When you think of yoga, you might picture a blissed-out instructor calmly leading a quiet room of people relaxing and feeling the namaste, and who focuses on the spiritual world over the material one. That's not what Bikram Yoga is at all. This high-intensity hot yoga is not for the faint at heart, nor for those looking to relax when doing the ancient asanas.AdvertisementBikram Choudhury, the founder behind the practice, isn't your typical yogi. He moved from India to Hollywood in the 1970s and quickly secured A-list clientele. He claims Shirley MacLaine got him on Johnny Carson to get him his big break. Celebrity clientele for Bikram Yoga has also reportedly included Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham, Madonna, George Clooney, and Lady Gaga.Choudhury is known for making millions off his namesake yoga and is infamous for wearing a diamond-encrusted Rolex and driving Rolls-Royces, a far cry from yoga pants and chai tea. One writer even nicknamed him the "Walter White of yoga." Ouch.Choudhury, also called the "bad boy of yoga" for his personality, has been in legal hot water in recent years due to sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations. Here's a look at the most shocking things about him and Bikram Yoga.Advertisement The Bikram Yoga company is super-strict with their franchises Bikram Yoga, named after Bikram Choudhury, the man who came up with the idea in the early 1970s, is a very specific type of yoga. It is done in a room that is heated to at least 104 degrees Fahrenheit and 40 percent humidity. There are 26 yoga positions and two breathing exercises done in a specific sequence for 90 minutes.AdvertisementBikram Yoga has strict rules, not just on the exercises and temperature, but on the yoga studio's rooms themselves. The floor in the Bikram Yoga room must have a carpet on it, which is supposed to help ease joints better than hardwood floors would. Mirrors must be on the front wall. Instructors are supposed to use only the company-approved dialogue for the classes, speaking in headsets. The studios are not allowed to host any other type of yoga. The official rules also say that "No physical contact, hands on corrections or adjustments of students is permitted (with the exception of Bikram)." In addition, the instructors must be certified by Bikram Yoga as well.It is also not cheap to become a franchise. Entrepreneur magazine said: "Opening a Bikram franchise is expensive, starting with a $10,000 franchise fee. Studio owners are then required to pay a percentage of sales to Choudhury, including a royalty fee of 5 percent of gross revenues and an advertising fund fee that is 2 percent of gross revenues." That's a lot of lucre.Advertisement Choudhury became filthy

Rich doing yoga What Choudhury did was unique in the yoga world. He took positions that were invented thousands of years ago, added some heat and specific rules, and started franchising his style. He also tried to copyright Bikram Yoga, so that nobody else could teach it without paying him. In addition, "hundreds of cease-and-desist letters were slapped on competing studio owners" by Choudhury, according to the Harvard Business School's website.AdvertisementUltimately, a federal court ruled in 2015 that you cannot copyright an idea like yoga sequences. "Because copyright protection is limited to the expression of ideas, and does not extend to the ideas themselves, the Bikram Yoga Sequence is not a proper subject of copyright protection," the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said.Due to that ruling, other yoga practitioners can now create their own hot yoga studios, and even use the same 26 positions, without having to credit Bikram Yoga. But in the meantime, this franchising made him a very rich man.And Choudhury doesn't exactly live frugally with that type of coin. Vanity Fair wrote about him tooling around Beverly Hills in one of his Rolls-Royces with the license plate "Bikram."AdvertisementHe also doesn't look like a typical yoga instructor. Vanity Fair also described him as directing "classes in his signature outfit of black Speedo, jewel-encrusted Rolex, and headset mike, his chest waxed, his thinning black hair pulled into a topknot, his baby-soft skin radiating a miasma of cologne." His out-of-class outfit usually consists of "a fedora, Zoot suit and white Gucci loafers," the Daily Telegraph said, which estimated him as earning $7 million a year at one point from his empire. They also reported that he owns over 40 classic cars. Bikram Yoga requires teachers to pay for their own training Not only do the official Bikram Yoga franchises have to pay for the privilege of the name, and follow all of the rules, but they can only use teachers who have been certified by Bikram Yoga. And the teacher training is monumentally expensive. Those who want to be certified pay between $12,500 and $16,600 (including lodging for the training) to do so. And they have to get re-certified every three years, paying another $1200 or so.Advertisement The Bikram Yoga studio is a torture chamber A "torture chamber" is what Bikram Yoga founder Choudhury admittedly calls the type of yoga studio he created. He himself acknowledges that such intense heat can be unbearable. But he also claims the heat is critical to making the body malleable and pliant. However, according to Consumer Reports, the heat can make people overstretch their muscles, leading to injuries.Advertisement”Heat increases one's metabolic rate, and by warming you up, it allows you to stretch more,” sports

"told not to talk about training with students" when she returned home.When she opened her studio three years ago, she had Bikram Yoga in the name but decided to change it after the copyright laws were reversed. In a letter to her students explaining the name change, she wrote, "I couldn't bear the thought of one person feeling uncomfortable about stepping inside this studio because of the allegations."AdvertisementYoga student Caileen Kehayas of Los Angeles, CA told me she has been practicing Bikram Yoga for about a year, and has noticed "that studios distance themselves from the name Bikram, calling the 26 asana classes hot yoga instead." Kehayas added that "another studio I visited in Boston received a phone call as I was getting ready for class. The call was criticizing the association with Bikram. The instructor calmly explained that their practice has nothing to do with the man and his misdoings, but rather the practice and well-being of the students."David Rachford, a yoga teacher in Santa Monica, CA, "used to practice at a Bikram studio," he told me, but "began to feel uneasy about the practice" as the allegations added up. "As the son of a rape survivor, and having known way too many women in my life that have survived sexual assault and harassment, I side with the survivors." he said. He told me he "could no longer associate with the name, or the practice" and "moved on to a power yoga studio." Choudhury's wife left him Shutterstock Bikram Choudhury no longer legally owns Bikram Yoga Minakshi "Micki" Jafa-Bodden, Choudhury's ex-attorney, became the first of his numerous female accusers to win against him in court. In February 2017, The Guardian reported that "a Los Angeles county jury awarded her a total of $6.8 million in damages for a range of charges including unlawful dismissal and sexual harassment."AdvertisementThe same article claims that Choudhury has fled the United States and went back to India. "In December, with Choudhury refusing to return to the US, the judge ordered that the income from his studio franchises and his intellectual property be handed over to Jafa-Bodden." Additionally, his fleet of 40+ exotic cars now appear to be missing in action, most of his studios are closed, and the name Bikram has been forever tarnished. He still faces more lawsuits, too.Now that Jafa-Bodden owns Bikram Yoga (although that is not immediately clear from the company website) it remains to be seen what will happen to the company's future. She spoke to The Daily Mail, saying, "Bikram is no longer the boss of Bikram Yoga. I am. I've been to hell and back, but the jury has spoken. Bikram has tried to conceal assets and has

Tom and Jonalyn Henle began practicing Bikram Yoga in July 2008. Both have been certified to teach Bikram Yoga by Bikram Choudhury at his nine-week Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in Southern California. They have raised their two sons in Tracy, and own a construction company here as well. Tom and Jonalyn love living in Tracy and bringing this practice to their community is a dream come true.Jonalyn knew after her first class that she wanted to teach this yoga: never had she experienced such mental peace and clarity. She embraced this practice wholeheartedly and continues to be amazed at the positive changes it makes in her life. Tom was reluctant to try yoga at first, sweating and stretching in a hot room just didn’t sound like fun at all. It didn't take long for him to experience the benefits of Bikram Yoga, mainly the healing of injuries, old and new. After years of working in construction and his weekend hobbies of extreme sports, Tom's body: mainly his back was feeling the effects and decided he couldn't quit just because it was hard. After a few years of regular practice, his back is completely pain free. Tom and Jonalyn (Tomalyn as their students refer to them) love to travel, scuba dive, ride their Harley, and recently have started outdoor rock climbing. They attribute their vibrant health and strong marriage to this yoga practice. Come in soon and begin your own journey!