Bikram Choudhury is a yoga instructor and the founder of the Bikram yoga method, a wildly popular form of the practice that involves students working through 26 poses in a room that’s heated to 105 degrees. He has also been dogged by allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct for years, with some cases originating at the flashy, self-styled guru’s teacher trainings.
A number of those lawsuits are coming to a head, as the plaintiff in a sixth civil suit alleges that Choudhury raped her during a 2010 training. Another case, regarding a separate alleged rape during a training that same year, is also moving forward, according to The New York Times.
According to my training records I have been to 313 yoga classes since I started. At the moment I get a five sessions a month subscription at Bikram Yoga Wimbledon and generally go at 8 am on Saturday. I stayed in bed and didn't make it last week, and tried and failed to get up early for it again yesterday and now this morning. This means I have to get there three times by the end of Tuesday to get my money's worth. I wonder if there is a psychological element to this with all the controversy that is lapping around? I also suspect Wimbledon is moving away from the method's strict brand. They have started a one hour class; a move that was previously a no-no as Bikram insists on a standard 90 minute set of asanas that should be the same in any hot studio anywhere in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment