Can Yoga Be Owned?

Bikram Choudhury, creator of Bikram Yoga, has sued Yoga to the People of NYC and Evolation Yoga of Buffalo, NY for using his pose sequence to offer Bikram style classes. Yoga to the People is a group of studios similar to Yoga District. They offer a wide variety of classes at their five New York studios for a $10 “suggested donation.” In New York, where most classes cost upwards of $20 each–this a unique and valuable model to reach all people through yoga.

Bikram’s sequence is a 90-minute class with a scripted dialogue to guide students through 26 postures, each completed twice in 105 degree heat. Having practiced Bikram yoga at Evolation Yoga in Buffalo, I can say its a worthwhile practice for a certain type of yogi. Bikram yoga is not for everyone. It’s an intense form of exercise that involves pushing your body to extremes for health benefits.

The United States copyright Office has decided that yoga poses are “exercise” and not “choreography” and thus cannnot be copyrighted. They are instead public domain. The chief of the Copyright Office’s Performing Arts division said that exercises like yoga “do not constitute the subject matter that Congress intended to protect as choreography. We will not register such exercises (including yoga movements), whether described as exercises or as selection and ordering of movements.”

Bikram Yoga lawyer Robert Gilchrest countered that the Copyright Office has in the past issued copyrights for exercise videos. “But now they’re saying they’re looking at it again and they’ve changed their mind?” Gilchrest said. “It is meaningless to this litigation.”

Greg Gumicio, owner of Yoga to the People said, “I very much regret that Bikram has brought this lawsuit. He was my teacher. I continue to respect him and to honor his accomplishments. He has done more than perhaps anyone else to inform people — in the United States and the world — of the benefits of yoga. The particular style of yoga he has popularized has improved the health of countless practitioners. Arguably, Bikram deserves the material rewards that these accomplishments have already brought him.”

Gumicio has created an online petition for people who believe yoga should not be copyrighted or privatized. Can someone “own” yoga? What do you think?

Yogic Consciousness

The nature of the unconscious mind creates an easy and frustrating predicament that comes along when one is beginning to learn of the process of meditation and yoga.  Close your eyes, let your mind relax…and without your consent, it drifts off into some region of your unconsciousness, perhaps leading you through a strange trail of thoughts of the day, or into imaginative and perplexing dream territory.  It happens again as you lay down to go to sleep, and as you tinker between waking and slumber, hypnagogic hallucinations begin to spiral and blossom throughout your mind at a rapid pace.

How do we go through the day, having complete control of our actions, words, and thoughts, only to be transported to another realm of thinking when we take a moment to rest?  Why does the unconscious mind dominate our personal will to move toward clarity and ease?  How can one control the unconscious mind?

Truth is, it can’t be controlled, but, it can be possibly understood through various techniques, such as Yoga Nidra, or Yogic Sleep.  Yoga Nidra is a sleep-like state of meditation, where participants, lying in corpse pose of course with eyes closed, explore the multiple layers of consciousness.

Ever heard of the iceberg metaphor? Imagine that our waking life and conscious mind is the tip, exposed to the elements of everyday life.  The massive, submerged chunk below the surface is our unconscious realm, containing memories, manufacturing dreams, preserving intuition, and manifesting imagination.  And the oceanic water that the iceberg is floating in?  Perhaps that’s the energy of collective consciousness.

Like all mass, consciousness is pieced together by density and volume.  There’s a lot of terrain for one to reconnoiter.  And, as said before, it’s difficult to consider the idea of controlling the unconscious mind, but, through practices like Yoga Nidra, its energy can be harnessed, and used positively to reduce stress, restlessness, and a handful of other things.

5 Last-minute Gifts for Yogis (or Yourself!)

Happy Hannukah. It’s almost Christmas. And Kwanzaa! If you consider yourself a humanist, ’tis the season to spread a little joy – am I right?

Do you have a special yogi in your life that you’d like surprise this holiday season? Are you stuck on what to get them? In the mood to treat yourself? (“TREAT YOSELF 2011!”)

To thaw your gift-giving brain freeze, or inspire your own wishlist, my top 5 yoga-themed gifts after the jump! Read more >>

Why Ayn Rand and yoga are trending on your news feed

Licensed under Creative Commons. http://www.flickr.com/people/30011527@N05

Who is John Galt? Some yogis and lululemon customers started asking this question last month when the name popped up on the yoga retailer’s reusable shopping bags. Online, customers and journalists railed or defended the new slogan.

Turns out, John Galt is nobody – at least not in real life. He is the fictional creation of American Objectivist author/philosopher Ayn Rand in her 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged. Galt, the central and primarily absent figure of the novel is innovator, symbolizing the value of the creative human mind.

That’s where lululemon comes in. On the corporate community blog of the Vancouver-based company, a member of the “Brand team” explains the inspiration behind the bags:

Chip Wilson first read this book when he was eighteen years old […] Only later, looking back, did he realize the impact the book’s ideology had on his quest to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness (it is not coincidental that this is lululemon’s company vision). [Read more about it here.]

A pretty tall goal: to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness. But aside from condescension (or really high prices on yoga pants!), the sentiment of the slogan aims to be a positive one: “Life can be hard, challenging and unfair. What we can control, however, is our reaction,” and apparently the bags will help remind you to “conquer the epidemic of mediocrity,” with John Galt cheering you on.

Over 600 comments later, the debate continues on whether this is a gross promotion of unchecked capitalism or just one man’s corporate manifesto to help others shoulder the burden or modern life.

I find that the marriage of emotional, physical, and spiritual healing on the mat helps inspire me to live a better life. But Molly Worthen, a self-described yoga enthusiast who practices four times a week, hits the mark in a review for Slate:

[T]he only thing worse than a yoga teacher who makes you hold plank pose for three minutes straight is one who—like the famously humorless Rand herself—is all righteousness and no irony.

Winter is Setting In

It’s December. It’s cold and rainy. I feel like getting under a blanket and hibernating in my warm house. But I know it’s also the perfect time to walk myself to the Bloomingdale studio and get back into a regular yoga practice.

The winter brings out something in all of us. For me and many others, seasonal depression kicks in when fresh air is rarer and the sun seems to have stayed in bed. For others, the holidays bring on stress over what to buy, how to decorate, and which holiday party to go to. There is a kind of natural lethargy that comes about, which is healthy, I think to an extent. I love having time to slow down, spend more time at home with my roommates eating delicious food.

However, while entering the winter it’s important to create some space in our lives for yoga. Going to a class forces me to be present and connect with my body. If I’m feeling low, I can use yoga to appreciate my body and what it does for me. The yoga studio is a respite from everything else that’s going on in our lives and outside. On top of all of that, it’s a healthy and inexpensive indulgence.

Sometimes I look for a “pick me up” in the form of a cupcake, or watching my fave TV show (30 Rock), or reading a good book. And these are all usually enjoyable, but I really feel like an hour of yoga is more effective. Afterwards I feel rejuvenated, more balanced, and happier.

This blog post is as much for me as it is for you. Margaret! Go to yoga! That’s what I’m saying to myself. You won’t regret it.