The other night I was watching 60 Minutes and they had a segment called McYoga. It basically revolved around Bikram Yoga and how it may be the first "McYoga" around. In most large cities throughout the U.S you can find a Bikram Yoga Studio that teaches the same 26 pose set. Now the story goes that four people out of a family of five paid to become Bikram Yoga instructors. To me this is a great thing but the family ended up shelling out appox. $20000 to have the four people become certified. After they became instructors they opened a studio that was doing well...until they recieved a letter. The letter stated that because they were teaching other types of yoga besides Bikram Yoga that they would have to stop teaching Bikram's yoga set or be sued. To take it one step farther Bikram had his 26 pose sequence copyrighted. for the longest time most of the yoga community was against copyrighting poses that have been around for thousands of years. Well, Bikram won and if anyone teaches his 26 pose sequence they owe. I also read that Yoga Works is becoming one of the biggest non-franchised yoga studios in the U.S. They buy out "suffering" yoga studios and make it almost a carbon copy of all their other studios. Now if you are still reading this I just want to know. Do you think it's alright to making yoga more of a business then a way to heal and stay healthy. Does trying to make large amounts of money with yoga alright? Anyways, that's my rant tonight.
Hahahahahah. That's what you get for doing McYoga... Anyone who didn't see this coming is wilfuly blind.
I dont see a problem with people making money, after all, we are a capitalist society....I do have a problem with the fact that people can have something like a yoga pose copyrighted (!) how can you "own" a pose that someone was doing thousands of years ago?
I watched that program as well. I thought it was ridiculous how that Bikram had his poses copyrighted. For goodness sakes, what if someone else out there, not knowing or not wanting to know of Bikram's yoga, made a sequence of poses similar to his? Yet they never once were exposed to any of his poses? He's going to sue, and for what? That guy doesn't give a crap about the real benefits of yoga, he's a money-hungry jerk.
I agree with you fully. When he started going on about how he has all the benifits of yoga (physically/spirtually), I was so pissed. Once he sold himself he lost everything that was ever spirtual about his practice.
If he had all the spiritual benefits of yoga, he would never have felt the need to copyright his poses.
yeah i think the copywriting thing is missing the point of yoga. everyone has to learn thier own lessons tho - if you don't agree, then don't do Bikram Yoga. Around here there are plenty of "HOT YOGA" studio's which is pretty much Bikram but obviously you can't use the trademark Bikram without purchasing the rights. its how capitalism works....
NAMASTE After that showed arired there was a clip on the news and in hinduism today that India is claiming all rights to yoga and that no one can be the the owner of any poses.They are meeting with some heads of the copyright dept. here in the U.S. showing that no one can coptright what is many thousands of years old.It is sad to see someone who is from India being caught up in the whole money trip.Much less seeing traditions altered as they do here and label it as another form of yoga and then charge for what has been free for so long. In Love and Light Pritam
I guess this Bikram guy was able to copyright on the basis that it wasn't the poses he was copyrighting but the sequence. He doesn't actually own any of the poses. I don't agree with any of it though. It totally misses the point. DB
That is pretty much why I decided not to go back to my old studio as they do some of his poses and frankly I want nothing to do with them at all. Shame on Bikram. The ancients in India need to sit down with him and ask him when he sold out his soul for money did he feel any more spiritual than that. LA Yoga mag did an interview with him which made him IMO look like a pompous arse. Someone here said that they had no problem with his making money and another said this is how capitalist society works. Seems to me that this is the problem; monitary gains are placed higher sometimes more important than spiritual gains. How does this make us equals in a society were we are judged as haves or have nots?
how many free yoga classes are offered in your area? I only know of one around here... I agree yoga should be free, but I also agree that we all need to eat and there's just not good hunting in the city...
most free yoga classes are just hooks to get you into a studio anyways.... welcome to yoga y2k its up to the world now to decide how yoga will transform in the new world...
Bikram was always about Bikram from the start. He used to win the yoga olympics and brag on himself much like Jack LaLaine. Unfortunately, sometimes trademarking and so on is the better of evils where the other evil is unscrupulous fakes acting like they know something and diverting people from the real teachings.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2005/03/18/stories/2005031800120200.htm Can't find other sources right this second. But here's this years winner.
