laments the loss of the tight-knit group of
people she came together with to practice
Anusara. “The saddest part was that the
community used to be a real asset,” she
says. “It was scarring and disillusioning
how everyone scattered.”
A New Business Model
Years after the Bikram and Anusara
shakeups fi rst came to light, the founder of
each yoga style continues to make the news.
Choudhury—who did not respond to Yoga
Journal’s requests to be interviewed—was
still teaching as of April, according to his
website, and he appeared on CNN in April
saying that he is innocent. Friend, who
admitted to at least one affair, dismissed
Anusara and returned in early 2013 with a
new yoga form called Sridaiva, or “divine
destiny,” which he developed with a former
Anusara student. “I feel good about where I
am and where I’m going,” says Friend. “I
will remember my faults and mistakes and
try not to replicate what patterns led to
pain and disharmony.”
In the wake of the scandals, many
teachers and studio owners are actively
trying to create a different, less rigid, more
diversifi ed way both to teach and do
business, and in the process redefi ning the
role of a “guru.” Noah Mazé, who taught
Anusara from 2002 until the Friend scandal
broke, is one such pioneer. Mazé resigned
from Anusara because he didn’t align with
Friend’s choices after the scandal. He had
also expressed concern over how obstinate
he felt Friend was becoming. When Friend
debuted Anusara in 1997, it was a hybrid of
alignment, therapeutics, and Tantric
philosophy, but toward the end he stopped
incorporating other teachings and evolving
the practice. Mazé was frustrated with
Friend’s inability to hear criticism or
suggestions for improving Anusara (a
critique many teachers share of both Friend
and Choudhury). Mazé, who now owns
YogaMazé in Hollywood, California, has
developed his own style. But he says it’s
infl uenced by other types of yoga, as well as
the study of biomechanics and physical
therapy.
Diversifi cation and independence seem
to be paying off for former Bikram studio
owners, too, thanks in part to Mark Drost,
once a high-ranking Bikram instructor. In
2004, Drost owned seven Bikram studios,
but by 2008 he says he was so put off by
what he saw as the guru’s questionable
business methods and connections with
female students that he purged himself of
all Bikram affi liation and converted one of
his former Bikram studios, in Buffalo, New
York, into Evolation Yoga (in 2009).
Evolation offers hot yoga classes similar to
the 26-pose Bikram sequence. In 2011,
Choudhury sued Drost for copyright
infringement, but Drost refused to settle
out of court, and in December 2012, a judge
ruled against Choudhury having exclusive
claim to a yoga sequence. Suddenly, yoga-
studio doors swung wide open for anyone
to offer the Bikram Yoga sequence, or any
other sequence of poses. More and more
one-time Bikram Yoga studio owners have
quietly migratedaway fromBikram
affiliations and are instead offering the
same or a similar sequence under a
different name.
Still, the question remains: how did
Choudhury and Friend obtain so much
power in the first place? “They presented
their systems as salvation paths, and people
bought into the idea that their way was the
best way,” explains Lola Williamson, PhD,
an associate professor of religious studies at
Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi,
and co-editor of Homegrown Gurus.
Understandably, many teachers seem
highly aware of the potential slippery slope
between instruction and adulation. Some
worry that the authority they need to
deliver a profoundly deep, enduring
knowledge of yoga has become off-limits.
“We’re fearful of being seen as
manipulative,” says the Anusara teacher
who wanted to remain nameless. “I’m
more wary to suggest a mentor
relationship.”
Mazé, too, remains sensitive about his
relationship with students. He’ll sometimes
practice at the back of the room, and says
that a guru’s role is to stimulate dialogue
and debate instead of to suppress them.
“Don’t surrender your critical thinking to
anyone,” he tells practitioners. “I
want my students and community
to be comfortable questioning any
of my teachings.”
Carol Horton, PhD, a yoga
teacher and former political-
science professor who writes
about student-teacher
relationships, suggests that
teacher trainings should
prepare instructors for
dealing with the complex
emotions that yoga can
unearth. “When astudent comes to class, he or she should
have the assurance that the teacher is doing
the work necessary to create a safe space,
where students can explore how to
empower themselves through yoga,” she
says. Teachers also have to be grounded
enough to withstand students’ projections,
she adds.A Full Recovery
But the responsibility of making yoga a safe
place for everyone can’t lie in the hands of
teachers alone. Students need to be
empowered to heal themselves, instead of
looking to someone else for salvation, says
Allyn, and that requires being aware of and
trusting their feelings and thoughts.
Receive knowledge and wisdom from gifted
instructors, says Allyn, but never credit a
teacher with healing you. She suggests
asking yourself, “Am I turning to my
teacher, like I would a partner, to heal old
wounds?” If the answer is yes, consider
trying new yoga styles and communities to
see if the healing properties of the practice
carry with you. Or, revisit the yogic
principle of aparigraha, or nonclinging.
Most importantly, embrace who you are:
“A strong community can only exist when
the people who make up that community
are strong within themselves, affirming
that they are perfect in their imperfection,
just as their teacher or guru is,” says
Williamson.
Carrasquillo is on board. “We each have
an inner guru to be discovered,” says the
former Bikram devotee, who eventually
developed a regular home practice,
completed a non-Bikram teacher training,
and, last year, started teaching vinyasa
classes in corporate settings. “I don’t want
students to look up to me. I want them to
look within to find the answers.”Hell BentPublished in 2013,
Hell-Bentis a look at the science
behind the controversial practice of
Bikram Yoga, a story of greed and
corruption, and a mind-bending tale
of personal transformation that will
change the way you view both bikram
yoga and the inspirational potential of
the human body.YJ Recommends...
Still, the question remains: how did Choudhury and Friend
obtain so much power in the fi rst place?73
august/september 2015yogajournal.com.au