Yoga studios consider name change amid controversy

Several Pittsburgh yoga studios are standing by their staple — Bikram Yoga, or “hot” yoga — even as lawsuits have brought heat on its namesake.

Bikram Choudhury — founder of the popular branch of yoga, Bikram Yoga — has recently been accused of several instances of alleged sexual assault, human trafficking and racist remarks by five women who have filed civil lawsuits in the past year. Although he has not yet been convicted, the impact on his students is already visible.

While a former student first filed a lawsuit against Choudhury in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in March 2013, the most recent claim against him came on Feb. 13. In the lawsuit filed in February, Jill Lawler, a Canadian yogi, alleged that Choudhury raped her in 2010, according to the New York Times.

A representative for Bikram Yoga International Headquarters declined to comment on the lawsuits and the potential fallout at Bikram Yoga studios around the country.

As for the yogis practicing the particular style, some academics anticipate a schism. 

Kerrie Kauer, visiting scholar and part-time lecturer at Pitt and researcher of the connection between yoga and feminism, predicts there will be a divide in Bikram Yoga followers — those loyal to Choudhury and those loyal to the practice. 

Through her research, Kauer said she has seen that, although people believe in the practice’s benefits, some will want to change what they call it for ethical reasons while others will not. 

“But there are others that will be blinded by [the practice] and believe the accusations aren’t true, or they will be in a space where they’re really not caring about the ethics anymore,” Kauer said. 

A session of Bikram Yoga consists of 90 minutes of stretching into 26 poses, in a 105-degree room with 40 percent humidity. The sessions help clients sweat out impurities while improving flexibility and breathing. Choudhury introduced and popularized the practice of Bikram yoga in the early 1970s.

As a former Bikram Yoga student, Kauer experienced the benefits of the practice firsthand.

“It was very healing for me [when I started], but at that time, I was in Los Angeles, which is where [Choudhury’s] headquarters are located,” Kauer said. “I heard some of the things he [allegedly] said [through the Bikram community], and for me, politically, I couldn’t align myself with that anymore.”

Just as Kauer predicted, not all people will be affected by the accusations. 

Zeb Homison, director of the Bikram Yoga studio in Lawrenceville, said the claims haven’t changed his or his studio’s relationship with the Bikram style of yoga. 

“I’ve always been much more connected to the yoga than the man,” Homison said. “He spread a powerful form of yoga all over the world, and you’ve got to give him credit for that, but I’ve never held him on a pedestal.” 

Homison said he has decided to not let the ethics behind the alleged accusations ruin his relationship with the practice.

Kauer said that it may be hard for everyone to separate the ethics and the practice in their mind, but that if they could do so, they would have no problem continuing to practice Bikram Yoga.

“So if people try to disentangle, then they might be OK because the man is very different from these 26 postures,” Kauer said. “But I think a lot of people will see it as more of an ethical issue.”

This tie to ethics is causing a lot of studios to change their names to no longer be affiliated with Choudhury, according to Kauer. Several studios, including Haute Yogi Manhattan Beach in Southern California, have already changed their names by removing mentions of Bikram. 

“I’ve been following the case for several years, and there have already been several studios that decided to remove his name and take away the relationship they have because they believe [the name] supports him,” Kauer said. 

Homison said the situation is complicated, but he does not have any plans to change the name anytime soon.

“It’s a worldwide community, and one of the powerful things about the name is that it is practiced around the world, and it is attached to this guy that is tarnishing the name all over the world, so it’s tricky,” Homison said.

David Kwasnick, partner and chief creative officer at Pittsburgh marketing agency Gatesman + Dave, said keeping the same name that ties to a man accused of these crimes may be a poor economic decision. 

Kwasnick said the wise and right thing for Bikram studios to do would be to change the name.

“I think if you don’t change the name, it’ll hurt you, especially being associated with a man with allegations like that against him,” Kwasnick said. 

Kwasnick said the name change could be particularly important in this situation since the target clients are primarily women. However, he said even if the client base was 50-50 in terms of gender, the best plan would still be to distance oneself from the name. 

Nonetheless, Homison has chosen to take the risk, and thinks his customers will be more loyal to the practice he has taught them than the alleged incidents of harassment and sexual assault connected to its namesake.

Homison’s hope, he said, is that people will find that even though the studio does carry Choudhury’s name, it’s not affiliated with him otherwise.

“We’re out here doing good work and helping people … and most of my students have a great time coming to the studio and don’t even know he’s a man, let alone that he’s out there [allegedly] doing weird things,” Homison said.

No matter the decisions of individual studios, the Bikram Yoga industry will continue to change until a verdict is made for Choudhury, according to Kauer. 

“I think at this point, people are feeling that he is innocent until proven guilty,” Kauer said. “It’s just now going to trial, so some people are not willing to remove his name because he hasn’t been proven in a court of law.”

Homison said that, although he doesn’t want to change the name, he is aware that changes will be coming. 

“We have to wait and see where this goes. There’s a whole community all across this country and all across the world, and I hope if something does happen, we can all stay together as a community,” Homison said. “And if that involves changing a name or stepping down as head of the community, I hope we can show some solidarity.”