The Disturbing Story of Bikram Yoga

Bikram Yoga has become one of the most well-known forms of yoga in the US since its founder, Bikram Choudhury, introduced it in Beverly Hills California in the 1970’s. Bikram has spent decades using his power, status, and wealth to take advantage of and violate countless of his female students. He has been sued by about half a dozen women over the past 10 years, fled the US to evade paying the $7 million he was ordered to pay one of them, yet he still has a thriving career as a yogi all over the world.

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[AnnasAnalysis]

I'm so sorry for the audio in this 😭 I hate it but I didn't want to refilm the entire thing... but I know it makes it hard to listen to :(

[mitchellbarnow]

He wanted the room really hot, but he always had air conditioning pointed directly at himself so that he didn't have to be uncomfortable. My friend was a mechanical engineer at a hotel where he was teaching a class. My friend told me about the elaborate way that the air conditioning duct had to be hidden.

[LouisaWatt]

I tried bikram yoga a few times because there was a membership trial at a place near my work, but I have a condition which wasn’t diagnosed at that time called essential tremors (it’s not as severe as Parkinson’s but does get worse over time) so I had trouble holding poses. The instructors would get really frustrated with me and keep telling me to hold it even if my leg was shaking so hard I was about to fall. Zero patience. It felt like only perfection was allowed and anything less was annoying. Didn’t purchase a membership after the trial.

Edit: I also once worked for New Age “energy healers” which was a real eye-opener.

[Forestfreud]

I think the ideas of sculpting your body to perfection and pushing through discomfort, which are very common within hardcore yoga circles, are really prone to being taken advantage of by bad actors. It’s hard to figure out the line between pushing yourself and violating your boundaries, which makes it easy for someone to try and define that line for you. Nasty.

[DavoWillo]

This is the longest I’ve seen you not post a video. Hopefully everything is alright.

[moonmedicineyoga]

I’m glad to see you (of all people) covering this story. As a yoga teacher and student myself, I find it so important to stay educated about predatory teachers and red flag behavior. Thanks for your thorough coverage as usual. ❤️

[KnowoneHFRC]

A little over 20 years ago, I lived at The Kripalu Yoga center in Lenox Massachusetts.
Every time that we would have Bikram there, the place would become like a sexual circus!
One night when I was sitting in the sauna downstairs, he came in.
I ignored him like I did with most of the iconic figures and egos when I would be in a situation in which interaction was not necessary.
Eventually he broke the silence by asking me if I had ever met any famous gurus before to which I replied, no.
He then went on to list a bunch of different gurus asking me if I had met them to which I had reaffirmed my initial response of no.
Eventually he asked me, "have you ever met Bikram Chodhury?"
To which I replied, "yes, that's you ."
And then he shook my hand and said, " now you know a famous guru!"
I was so enamored that my third eye burst open and my Kundalini energy shot out of me and I took on the title of Swami bullshitananda.
(I just made up that last part. Honestly though, being in this scene turned me off so deeply to the idea of gurus and egos who somehow miss the understanding that they are just temporal figures in the bigger picture and completely less than necessary.)

[lexiejad]

Anna hope your okay❤️ miss your uploads💕🎀

[bryanmoyna]

Just by the look of his attire and style i can tell this dude was at the least fishy (full of BS). He mightve known yoga (idk) but theres something wrong with him. The kind of person that would make me quit the building as soon as i enter the classroom, and i might be wrong sometimes but i rather not risk it with these guys, sick "hair"style.

[aprilkeroack]

Good luck in school Anna and you just do what you need to be successful. 😊 I do like your long form content but I also remembered how crazy my junior & senior year was too!

[EvanBear]

I listen to your videos instead of watching them so this new direction is fine for me. AND I don't mind the white noise, it's not that bad.

[Redstripe]

Did MrBikram kidnap Anna ? She hasnt posted in 1 year !

[KaylaNoelle]

Someone asked my hot yoga teacher if he’d ever tried Bikram yoga and he said “r*pist yoga? No, never. Plus I like to change up the flow rather than doing the same sequence every day.” 😅

[rhiannon]

Miss you Anna! I hope your studies are going well!

[ashleywilliams]

Does anyone know when Anna is gonna post videos again? 🥺🥺

[tukamousa]

Hope college is going well. Miss your insight

[magiccheeseball]

Anybody know what happened to her? I started watching her when she was a vegan then building her van then traveling and eventually moved to Texas then changed her channel name did some of these type of videos and now she's gone

[uncannedspaghetti]

This only relates tangentially to the issue, but this video reminded me of my yoga teacher training and the lead teacher/owner of the resort. He was very narcissistic and the way he handled any criticism or even remotely negative feedback really showed it. He left for a few days (didn’t tell any of the students when he did) and the entire place was so much more relaxed. He also told all of us at our orientation that “my staff doesn’t want to sleep with you, okay” with this attitude that made it very clear he wouldn’t believe anyone who suggested otherwise. As someone who’s been a victim of SA, it was incredibly off putting and if anyone did feel uncomfortable or unsafe, they wouldn’t have any course of action to handle it.

[Kristers_K]

I'm not quite certain in my own mind which is more disturbing, the fact he is getting rich off his ''business'' and shows it off or the sexual exploitation of individuals itself. The inflated ego makes him even worse.
By the way, love the subtle humor from you, can see that subtle smile, such as the part where he needs cars to be spiritual. ^.^ At least i think that's what you said, 2/3 in your video, so might have forgotten that detail.

[deborasilva]

I was in the canary islands last month and walked right by a bikram yoga studio. My mouth was wide open at the sight of that. I could not believe. I truly thought that after the documentary was made his career would've come crashing down and so I was bewildered to know he's still very much in business. I don't understand how people can live with themselves knowing they're supporting a predator "because it's a good workout", like what