Hot, sweaty and scandalous
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?
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Nora Isaacs
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/04/04/bikram/index_np.html
April 4, 2003
Kim and Mark Morrison thought they had achieved small-business nirvana.
Eight years after Kim borrowed $25,000 to open a tiny yoga studio in
Costa Mesa, Calif., it has grown into a bustling enterprise that employs
12 instructors and offers 40 classes a week in several styles of yoga.
After years of working long hours, and investing more than $100,000 in
expensive renovations, the Morrisons' venture, Yoga Studio Costa Mesa,
has become more than just a place to bend and stretch. The studio -- with
its meditation room, yoga programs for kids and pregnant women, spaces
for baby showers and weddings -- has become the nexus of a small but
devoted community.
But that might be about to change.
A year ago, the Morrisons received a letter that threatened the future of
their beloved business. The correspondence came from lawyers for Bikram
Choudhury, founder of the fastest-growing style of yoga in America,
Bikram Yoga. "It was a dagger of a letter -- long, nasty and filled
with allegations," says Mark, who is also a lawyer. The missive
alleged that the Morrisons were violating a recently acquired copyright
and insisted that they comply with a long list of demands and pay fines
starting at $150,000 -- or risk a lawsuit. The warning, the Morrisons
say, makes a mockery of yoga's ultimate promise of both peace of mind and
freedom. "We're not just scared about what this could do to our
finances," Mark says. "Yoga is something really personal,
something that we love. And that's being attacked."
If Choudhury has his way, every Bikram Yoga studio in the world will soon
be franchised and under his control. To start this process, he recently
obtained a copyright for his particular sequence of yoga poses—a
90-minute series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises done in room
heated to 105 degrees. Choudhury says that yoga studios that want to
continue teaching Bikram Yoga must pay franchise and royalty fees, change
their name to Bikram's Yoga College of India, stop teaching other styles
of yoga, use only Bikram-approved dialogue when instructing students,
refrain from playing music during classes, and a host of other
stipulations.
"From the business side, I kind of understand it," says Judith
Hanson Lasater, a prominent Bay Area yoga instructor who has been
teaching since 1971. "But from the yoga side I think it's really
sad."
---
You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: [email protected]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [email protected]
