2010 August « Yoga Press

Yoga wars

August 24, 2010 at 3:22 pm | Posted in Yoga Life | Leave a comment
Tags: Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, yoga bikram, yoga patents, yoga wars

The Indian government tries to stop people to patent ancient yoga practices. So officials are filming hundreds of yoga poses and translating ancient Sanscrit texts. Next month they plan to send the results to patent offices around the world. It’s an outgrowth of a project called the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, which was originally created to fight patents on traditional Indian medicine — like turmeric for wound healing, which received a U.S. patent that was later withdrawn after India objected.

“Yoga is collective knowledge and is available for use by everybody no matter what the interpretation,” said V.K. Gupta, head of the digital library, which was set up by the ministries of health and science. “It would be very inappropriate if some companies try to prevent others from any yoga practice, even if they call it some other name. So we wanted to ensure that, in the future, nobody will be able to claim that he has created a yoga posture which was actually already created in 2500 B.C. in India.”

“This collection is very successful in preventing wrong patent information, but it is available in 34 million pages,” Gupta said with a chuckle. “We are trying to shorten the yoga catalog to make it very easy for the world to understand.”

Yoga wars, as they are known, started in 2004 in Beverly Hills when Calcutta-born yoga master Bikram Choudhury claimed as his intellectual property a sequence of 26 postures that his students performed in a room heated to 105 degrees. He attempted to collect money from smaller studios offering “Hot Yoga” classes.

We already dedicated several articles to the Yoga potent related wars. Two articles were dedicated to Bikram Choudhury and the case when he patented in his honor his own yoga style- Bikram’s Yoga, that he copyrighted and franchised.

Please follow this link to read full article about Bikram Yoga.

Bikram Yoga Negative effects.

August 10, 2010 at 11:57 am | Posted in Yoga and Medicine | 3 Comments
Tags: bikram yoga, bikram yoga negative effects, hot yoga

Bikram yoga was developed by a very learned yogi. Bikram Choudhury studied at Tokyo University with leading doctors and certainly has put in the work and research it takes to become a yoga expert. Bikram Choudhury, a former yoga champion in his native India who came to America, befriended celebrities, built a global franchise and made millions.

He created and successfully runs already 7^th Annual Bishnu Charan Ghosh International Yoga Asana Championships.

This man became millionaire in a very creative way. Entrepreneurial Hindu managed to patent in his honor his own yoga style- Bikram’s Yoga, that he copyrighted and franchised.

Bikram Choudhury view of yoga is different to what ancient yoga represents. He views Yoga as a SPORT. The future goal is just fantastic – bring Yoga to the Olympic pedestal.

Furthermore, Choudhury began notifying yoga instructors several years ago to the effect that they must attain a license from him to teach Bikram yoga. Choudhury also began demanding that yoga instructors seek license from him just to use the term ‘Bikram Yoga’.

We all know yoga is relaxation and not like stressful exercises ?! Bikram Choudhury states that you come to yoga classes to Suffer.

If the Asana is practiced in HOT ENVIRONMENT (temperatures about 105 degrees Fahrenheit) as it is done in some styles of Yoga, the heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure increases, though muscles expand and one can stretch the body more, this may harm the muscles. Ideally the Yoga should be practiced in normal environmental conditions.

Many medical experts all over the world have raised concern over the excess strain exerted on muscles in Hot environment (temperatures about 105 deg. F). In this environment there is always a danger of muscle or ligament stretched beyond biological limit and may get Damaged.

In a lot of cases, Bikram himself causes the controversy. He’s a performer and he really likes to poke people, show them their weaknesses, show them their anger and their reactionary nature. And on another level he knows controversy sells product, and he is very much a marketer. It’s just not appropriate to violate people’s personal philosophy all the time. It’s just not right. There are already too many differences in the world that create misunderstandings, and I think Bikram sometimes perpetuates that.

Guinness Record of marathon yoga

August 4, 2010 at 6:32 am | Posted in Yoga Life | Leave a comment
Tags: yoga Guinness Record, yoga marathon, yoga records

We talked about yoga gurus who trying to turn yoga into an Olympic sport, today we will talk about Yoga Marathon.

Have you ever heard about Guinness Record of marathon in yoga? You will be surprised but there are individuals among yogis who strive to appear in a The Guinness Book of Records!

A Canadian yoga teacher on Tuesday claimed to have created a Guinness record by performing yoga non-stop for 32 hours. The current Guinness Record of marathon yoga is 29 hours and four minutes. But yoga instructor Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow, 28, on Tuesday claimed that she has completed her 32-hour yoga marathon at her Om West yoga studio in Pointe Claire Village on the Island of Montreal.

Pending Guinness World Record certification, she said, she holds the record for the longest yoga marathon. Guinness records need at least six people to be present at the venue of the event all the time to authenticate them. During her yoga marathon, the Canadian also raised money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation which is working to combat AIDS in Africa. Before undertaking the yoga marathon, she completed 108 surya namaskars, or sun salutations, for 108 consecutive days. “August 3 is my final day of this 108×108 project. It has been an unbelievable adventure so far and a profoundly transformational experience.

I have learned from so many great yoga teachers,” she said. “To complete this journey, on August 2 and 3, I am exploring what it would be like to do a prolonged practice and in doing so, have decided to challenge the Guinness World Record for longest yoga marathon, which is 29 hours and 4 minutes. This record has never been attempted by woman nor by a Canadian. My goal is 32 hours,” the Canadian said.

Moreover Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow – yogi and founder of West Island wellness centre OM West – has embarked on a muscle-achingly crazy mission this summer: 108 sun salutations for 108 days. She’s doing it to bring the yoga community together, challenge herself and raise money for charity.

Like the US, yoga has also become very popular among Canadians in recent years. Major cities like Toronto and Montreal boast a large number of yoga centres.