Bye-bye Bikram

I am going to get my 200-hour certification, which is a pretty standard achievement in the yoga world. It’s a generalized pre-req that may or may not carry weight or meaning, depending on where you go and who you talk to. (According to this New York Times profile of Tara Stiles, certification is worthless. I respectfully disagree.)

But whatever the pros and cons of becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher, it’s a nationally recognized status, and it’s fairly general. With it I am licensed, so to speak, to teach yoga in any form. Or rather, any form that doesn’t require its own specialization.

Bikram yoga is one of the exclusive styles: You can only teach it if Bikram says so. He designed a sequence of twenty-six postures that he says works every part of your body in an efficient fashion. Do his sequence every day and you’ll live a happy life.

I spent the last two years practicing Bikram yoga regularly so I understand what he means. I might even agree with him, to an extent. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say Bikram is for everyone. Yoga, yes. I do think yoga is for everyone. But as I’ve indicated before, yoga is a subjective term that extends far beyond the boundaries of Bikram’s beliefs and postures. (Some of which are questionable, to say the least.)

Which is why I am expanding my personal  repertoire and learning to teach power vinyasa. Vinyasa is very different from Bikram, or hatha, yoga. In a hatha yoga class you move from one pose to another slowly. You hold each position for as long as a minute and rarely less than twenty seconds. There is an emphasis on careful attention to detail, particularly as it pertains to alignment. “Traditional hot yoga” is hatha with heat. In a vinyasa class, you move from pose to pose in a repeated rhythm, called a flow. Keeping pace and moving gracefully seem to be a big part of it. (Or at least two goals of mine; I don’t have as  much vinyasa experience.) You can add heat, but it’s not as common as with hatha.

Both forms are good workouts based in the breath, and while I currently prefer hot yoga, it’s also true that the more vinyasa I do the more appreciation I gain for it.  I think it’s useful to practice them both, and I intend to–but I’m no longer going to be endorsing Bikram.

Because Bikram trademarked his sequence of twenty-six postures (a move that is being debated in court), currently it is technically illegal to teach “his” yoga without his approval. To get his approval, you must participate in a ten-week training that requires you to take a leave of absence from your life and live at a hotel. There, you practice hot yoga twice a day and in between learn anatomy and how to present the dialogue and who knows what else. I sure don’t, because I’m not willing to quit my job and I don’t have $10,000 to spare.

I do, on the other hand, have a sincere interest in learning about what else is out there, and my upcoming training will provide me with information and experience that doesn’t altogether disrupt my life balance. I can keep my job–and even keep practicing hot hatha yoga while I learn about other styles. And as long as quality alternatives are available, I’m pleased to ditch the brand name.

So, thanks for the good times (and the bad times), but, bye-bye, Bikram!