Was I In A Cult? - Bikram Yoga: “Smells Like Wet Carpet”

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

After finding her passion in Bikram Yoga while in her 20s, Jennifer Boeder aspires to become a Bikram teacher and plops down $5000 to sign up for the two-month teacher training.  But after only a few days of being trapped in a smelly, windowless warehouse and getting yelled at by sycophantic trainers, she starts to see the truth. Turns out the "great and powerful guru," Bikram Choudhury, is less great and powerful, and more toxic and tyrannical.  From the degrading remarks to the unbearable conditions, Jennifer’s story highlights the dark side of a supposed path to enlightenment. ——  Merch has arrived! Click here to check it out.  ——  Thanks to everyone who supports our show. It really helps us. Can’t afford to contribute monetarily? Reviews and ratings help a bunch. Thank you. If you would like to support us, head to our Patreon  Follow us: instagram/TikTok @ wasiinacult Find Jennifer: @jenniferruth Have your own story and want to be on our show?  Email us: [e-mail]

The views, information, or opinions expressed by the guest appearing in this episode solely belong to the guest and do not represent or reflect the views or positions of the hosts, the show, podcast one, this network, or any of their respective affiliates. The veil was torn pretty sweetly. I mean, I was very excited to go. I had this idea of what yoga was. I was excited to immerse myself and be a yoga student and learn from this teacher that I'd heard so much about,

but he was just a dumb asshole from Taiwan. I didn't have any context for it. I didn't really know what it was. I knew it was abusive, but I didn't know that it wasn't legal to lock people in a used car dealers for like 12 hours a day, and be like if you leave without telling us we're kicking you out and keeping all your money. It was more that I was like from the beginning being like what the fuck is going on. Welcome to Was I in a Colt. I'm Liz Ayakuzzi.

Why yes you are I can see from the name tag and I'm Tyler Mies Summits it says right here on my name tag. And on this show we give those who were in Colts or Cultic Environments a chance to tell their story, take their power back. And it's true guys, cults suck. Even though you didn't, even say that. I didn't really say cult suck, but it's implied. They not only take your power, they take your voice and your individuality. And sometimes on this show, we also like to focus on the, how the fuck did I just end up in a cult? Because as the old saying goes, no one joins a cult. the cult. the cult. We promise there's no bait and switch. We're very clear with you up front. We want your money and we don't have a lot of broken promises because we don't have a lot to offer you.

Yeah, right. You're not going to go to heaven in our cult. No. No, you're not going to be a better person. You're not going to get any free snacks. No, no, there's no enlightenment in this cult. No you'll actually get dum. thu. thu. thu. thu. thu. thu. thu. thu. thu. thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu to to get a to get a to get a to get a to get a to get a to get a to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the thoooooooooooooooooe. tooe. tooe. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to sell this. Wait, we lied like all good cult leaders. We lied. We do have something to offer What do we have of course it's not free nothing in life is and nothing in cults is either Right? We have a merch. We finally have merch and to kick off our merch. What do we have? Dumb fucking potato merch and if you don't know the reference? Liz and I have an ongoing thing about this dumb fucking potato she loves it. I'm okay with it. You're not not? th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. the the the the the the th. the the th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the thu. the thu. thi. thi. th about this dumb fucking potato. She loves it. I'm okay with it. You're not in that cult, but there is a full cult going on. And if you don't know it, guys, it's Jessica's episode, it's pole dancing, it's fantastic. Anyway, we have hats, bags, water bottles, and we have actual was-any cult potatoes. No, we don't. We don't have those. In true cult leader fashion we needed at least one line there. But it is great on our Instagram you can get some more information or you can go directly to our website. Which is? Was I in a cult.com? What is it? Was I in a cult?

On. One more time? I said was I in a cult? Okay we have very in talking about our us? Can we get back to the right? They join a seminar, a religion, or a movement. Right, like today's guest who joined a yoga teacher training. The worst yoga tea training possible. Beakram yoga. I'm just going to say it right now. He's kind of a piece of shit. The worst. He's up there. Yeah, he's pretty bad. He sucks. If you're listening and you don't happen to know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know, who has practiced yoga for decades, and I also had a private yoga business for years, we're not saying yoga is a cult. Look, I love yoga. I love yoga. I love all that it is done for me. but Beakram Chowdhury, the person whom popularized hot yoga starting in the 1970s. No, no, this is not a fan. Not a fan of the man. And we will get into a little bit more about this human being, but we will hear from Jennifer who has a great story. So let's do it. Let's go. Press the button. Press play on that tape. Do your job. What's the job. What's thro? the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thoom. thoom. thoom. tho. thoooom. thoom. thoom. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. thoooooooooooooooooooo. toooooooo. toooooo. the. it. Let's go. Press the button. Press play. Rob.

Do your job. What's wrong with you, Rob? You have one job. Sorry. Ruh. And it's more than look pretty. I mean, that's mostly your job, but. Purify me. Don't spare my life. Crucify me.

I'm so excited you're here. I have been wanting to do a Beakram episode since I started this podcast. I remember when the Vanity Fair article came out in 2007. He had a spread in Vanity Fair the year I was there which was 2001. He got all of his antics and his materialism and his Rolls-Royce collection all made for a great copy. Oh yeah of course. Let's go dole-doodle-y, dilly, dilly, dilly, back in time. First of all, just introduce yourself quickly. Sure. Sure. My name is Jennifer Bader. I grew up in Evanston, Illinois. Which is amazing because I grew up in Evanston, Illinois.

But we didn't go to the same high school. I actually went to Lake Forest High School, which is a public high school. Yes, Lake Forest I always say is like the suburb that an architect drew one day and I was like, I'm gonna make the most perfect suburb. Yeah, it's a dystopian nightmare and a black mirror episode and I don't claim it. Like I got out as fast as I could when I graduated high school. Lake Forest is part of the Chicago North Shore suburbs and yes it and yes, it's a little bit, a lot bit, homogeneous. Or at least it definitely was when I was growing up. I haven't been there in a while, so I can't really speak to it today. But Chicago is our number one city, so I'm sure there's plenty of listeners who may

live there or may agree with you. Yeah, let us know. Is it true that Chicago is still our number one city? It is. Followed by Sydney in Seattle and LA and Denver. Wow. Hey LA! Basically just us three listening. On repeat. I don't listen. My upbringing, my family of origin, I come from a big family. We were raised very, very, very, very Catholic. I never liked just sitting still in a pew with all of my siblings for an hour and a hot

on air-conditioned room. No, thank you. When we were, you know, teenagers, we were like, we're not going. My parents were like, okay, I did already as a teenager have like strong chip on my shoulder about Catholicism and organized religion in general. I just was sort of like glowering and resentful. I was actually voted biggest cynic of my high school class. I know, which is a weird category to even have, but I got it.

I remember being sort of proud and being like, yeah, I'm suspicious. Cynical and suspicious. That's not necessarily your stereotypical type for someone who ends up in a cult. It is not. I went to Lawrence University, which is like a little liberal arts college in Wisconsin that no one's ever heard of. Lawrence University in the lovely town of Appleton, Wisconsin is a small college with an enrollment of about 1,400 people.

Go Vikings. Yeah, and their mascot is actually an antelope named. He dresses in a Viking costume. Which looks as stupid as it sounds. He looks more like a reindeer wearing a bike helmet going, look, mom, safety first. Yeah, he does not instill fear in the opponent. He's like, let's go, shoot a goal. You're like, it's a touchdown, you idiot. But Lawrence University, one of their famous alums is actor Campbell Scott, who is in one of my top favorite films, single. And he has a number of really great lines in there.

My favorite is, I'm probably sterile. It runs in my family. Would you look at that, Tyler, you know who else was in that film? Two, who? Who? Who? Who? Who?

? Duh, Fu, their whole dancing episode. the world's worst calloan. So back to Jennifer in her college. That was great. I majored in English. I wanted to be a writer. My work life started out promising, but I quickly developed like really bad tendoninitis in my hands and in my forearms, which will play into the story later. But I can just remember like working and just hurting, just everything hurts. My neck hurt, my shoulders hurt, my shoulders hurt. I was like, okay, being on a computer eight hours a day, computers are kryptonite for me. I can't do this. Like this is destroying me physically and I'm trying to work through it and I'm trying to work thrown. I'm to work to work to work to work to work to work to work to work to work to work to work to work to work physically physically physically physically to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their. their. their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. their. their. their. their their their the. the. the. the. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. the. the. the. the. trying to work through it and just I'm breaking down more and more like it was narly. I had tried so many things like I had tried changing jobs. I had tried prescriptions. I had tried physical therapy.

And my physical therapist at the time was like you should try Beakroom Yoga. Famous last words. And to her credit, she was like, it's a little wacky in there, but I th a th, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, it's a little, I'm a little, I'd thi, I'd thi, I'd thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I's a little, I's a little, I's a little, I's a little, I'd a little, tri, tri' tribea, tribea, tri. tri. try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, tria, tria, I'd the heat. And I'd never done yoga before. It was 2000, and there weren't yoga studios really. There was maybe one or two. It was really kind of a California-Lorada phenomenon at the time. So your first class, do you remember it? Oh yeah. Because I was wearing a baggy t-shirt and baggy pajama pants, because I was like that's what you wear to yoga and I walked in and it's 110 and everyone's wearing like short shorts and bikinis and I left at least three times

to like go and pants in the hall. 90 minutes 102. Yeah, what is it? Yeah. What is it? You know it all depends on which which place you go? Which smelly? What like the carpet is so disgusting? Okay. I always never said that. It's disgusting. It's beyond foul. But why? We were told it was for safety because you sweat so much in Beakram Yoga that you have this giant sweat pile under you at the end of class. But carpet is just absorbing that.

It was just Beacrum's tweak. He insisted on carpets. Whatever the cult leader wants, well the cult leader he gets. Okay for those listening who are lucky enough do have never stepped foot in a Beakram Yoga Studio. Traditionally it is wall-to-wall carpeted and people wear next to nothing because it's so fucking hot in there and they're dripping sweat the entire class. I mean wet dog smells better than a beacrom yoga studio. Yeah it's like smellier than Patrick Ewing's jockstrap after the 89 finals. Beakram yoga giving five month leftovers a confidence boost. I mean it is hot but not as hot as the DMs I get after I post a bikini pick.

Oh, ow. Echrom Yoga, more wet carpet than when Tyler posts a bikini pick. Oh, God. We're definitely moving on after that. Okay, so I don't, I don't get it though because carpets. I don't even like houses with carpets, but stinky, sweaty carpets. Yeah it's there's actually no real reason it's just because the tiny man wanted it so. All right Liz for sleep what is in your medicine cabinet? I'll tell you what's not in there Tyler and that's

melatonin you know every time I use it I feel like I got hit by a bus the next day I'm super groggy and out of it. I I I I th. I'm th. But now I use CBD, specifically from CB Distillery, and I love it. In the world of hemp, it can be hard to know who to trust in terms of quality. And these guys, they're the OGs when it comes to CBD and their product is high quality. Cb distilery's formulations are made from clean ingredients and have no fillers, which is really important. It's a pure product, and I personally love their tinchers for sleep and stress. They also have this great topical I use for all my achy muscles from all the tennis I play. Uh-huh. See here in Paris 2024, everyone. Coco and I are going to rule the court. It's going to be great. So if you struggle with a health concern and have and have and have and to have and to have to to to thiiiiiiiii. the health, thi, the health, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, thi, th, th, thi, th, the thi, the the thi, the th, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, the their, the their, the their, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, te. tea, tea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.e.e.e.e. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C rule the court. Yeah. It's going to be great. So if you struggle with a health concern and haven't found relief, make the change like we did to CB Distillery. Hey Tyler, what do you say we hook our listeners up? Uh-huh. We pulled some strings. We went straight to the top. And we got you a 20% discount to get started. Visit CBdistillery.com. to get started. to visit C.B.D.Dastillery distillery distillery. to. to. to. to. to. the. the the to. the the the the to. the the the the the to. the the to. to. the to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to to to the to c. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the ti.c. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. to. to to to to to's CBDistillery.com code cult. CB distillery.com. Now

it's really time for me to clean out my medicine cabinet. And work on your forehand. My forehand it's that that's actually the one that needs work. Thank you. A true crime podcast. It got me upset because this is someone's kid and someone knows she's gone. That takes a different approach. It was shocking for something like this to happen in our little town. Focusing on the communities affected by life-shattering crimes. It made news throughout the entire region that these two people had been shot while

they slept in such a safe community. To give a new perspective on the devastation crimes can cause. It was shocking for something like this to happen this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this to to to to to to to to to to to to to this to to to to to to to to to to this to to to to to to to to to to this this to this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this to happen. It is this is this is thooooooooo thooo to happen.oooooooo to happen. to to to to happen. to to to to to to to happen. To give a new perspective on the devastation crimes can cause. It was shocking for something like this to happen in our little town. Featuring cases from quiet towns to bustling cities and interviewing the people closest to the case. My first thought was that it's an unusual location for us to have a homicide. Listen to the True Crime Podcast, City Confidential, and step beyond the yellow tape

to learn just how far a crime can reach. There are certain cases in the history of Boston that I think sort of define the city. I think this is one of all. New episodes of the City Confidential podcast are available every Thursday, available wherever you get your podcast. When I went to the studio, they were definitely hardcore. They were in the tank for Beakrum. They loved him. They had photos of it on the wall, blah, blah, blah. And it was so overpowering and I went to hot yoga

class like every day from then on for like the next year. Not only did I feel like my pain was lessened, my mobility was increased, like I could feel my fingers, I could move my neck. It the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their th. It was it was it was 90. It was 90. It was 90. It was 90. tha. thathea. th. th. th. th. th. th. tapeck. toyeckeckeckeckeckeckeckeckeck. th. And, tapeck, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, tapeck, and I was, tapeck. And, tapeck. And, tapeck. And, toge. And, toge. And, t. And, toge. And, toge. And, t. And, tote. And, toge. And, toge. And, I could move my neck. It was 90 minutes where I wasn't just passively being like emotionally wrecked by what was happening to me that I didn't understand. It was like I am here to do poses and to breathe, to calm down. So it was a haven for sure. But the overall flavor of a Beakroom class is very, very basic training, very authoritarian, very drill sergeanty. Totally. It's super not my jam. I'm assuming not your jam either. Right Liz? You're on to something, Tyler.

For people who are less familiar, less immersed in yoga than we have been, there's lots of different types of yoga. There's lots of different traditions. Becrum is different. Bicrim is different. B. B. B. trai. trai. trai. trai, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, trai, very basic, very basic, trai, very basic, training, trai, training, very basic, very, very basic, trai, very, very basic, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, very, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, trai, training, thi, thii, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, immersed in yoga than we have been. There's lots of different types of yoga, there's lots of different traditions. Beakrum is different. Beakrum is famously, it's Hatha Yoga. It is a series of 26 poses and two breathing exercises. You do a breathing exercise of the opening and a breathing exercise of the ending. So it's all very intertwined and interlocked. Hatha yoga is one of the oldest forms of yoga. We're talking like the 15th century, almost 700 years ago. So no, Beakram didn't invent any of the poses. What he did was

sequence 26 specific poses that already existed into a specific order. In actuality it's kind of the laziest yoga class to ever exist. Think about it. You work out, you go to a class, and each and each the and each the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the th. the thi. thi. the the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thiocent f. thi. thiocent f-fet foes th. th. th. th f. th f. th f. th f. th f. th f. th fifffet fiffet fififififth f. th f. th f. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. te. te. tefefefefefea tea tea tea tea. teauuauauauauauauauauauauauauauauauauauau. tea tea. tea's kind of the laziest yoga class to ever exist. Think about it. You work out, you go to a class, and each class is different, right? Yoga and otherwise. The teacher is tailoring a new sequence every day for a change of pace. But here, it's just the same sequence over and over and over again. It's like if you had a trainer, we'll call him? Stefan. If Stefan came up with with the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the th. th. th. the the th. the th. the th. the the thi the the the the the the the the the the thi- the the the thi- the the thi-s the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the ta. ta. ta. ta. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. to. to. trainer. We'll call him what? What should we call? Stefan? Stefan. If Stefan came up with 26 weightlifting exercises, put them in a specific order, sold it, as these are the only exercises you should do, and you will do them the same way each workout twice through in 105 degree heat. And then he branded it, Stefan's weight training

college of Wichita. And franchise the crab out of it and claimed it caused enlightenment. If he th th th th he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he that he that he that he that he that he that he that he that he th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the, the, the' the, thr- thr- thr- the, the, the, their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, th is is is is is is is is is is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is thr. thr. thrown, we will train, we will train, train, train, train, train, train, train, trained are thrace thrace have Beakrum Yoga. So back to the 26 poses. They're really pretty simple. They're almost beginner poses. What makes them difficult is you hold them for a long time. And you're in a hot room. You're in a super hot room. If you aren't a person who doesn't like heat,

hot yoga is not for you. I felt great. I felt great. Now in the world of yoga there are hundreds of poses. So how did these 26 poses come to be the chosen ones? Beakram is both a person and a system. Beakram Chowdhry's his name and though his postures are from India, the Beakram approach is all American. He's built a multi-million dollar yoga empire on the sweat of his legions of followers. Everyone thinks it's his series. He calls it his series. His guru, whose name was Bishnugosh, which I hopefully am pronouncing properly, is supposedly the one that actually put together the sequence. And the idea was that it was like accessible poses for everybody, for beginners, etc.

And that's where Beakram learned the series. He's not a smart man. He really, he was just reciting what his teacher told him. That's it. I'm starting it. I'm starting Stefan the way training. You look more like a Stefan than a Tyler anyway. I'll change my name tag.

It's the hair. Yep. Okay, so we'll go back way back to the year 2000, which didn't seem like it was a long time ago. And Jennifer, well, she doesn't have a job. And my hands don't really work properly. And I was like, oh my god, there's a teacher training. I could do this. How did you hear about it? I know I saw. I the the the the a flyer on a wall, the idea of going to a teacher training where I could do two classes a day. A, that would be so incredible for me physically, and B, I was at that stage where I was like so obsessed with yoga and just wanted to learn and immerse myself. And I was like, oh my god, what if I could do this training? And it was $5,000 just to attend, which I remember being like $5,000. I was like, oh God, who's got $5,000?

And then I, this is a roundabout, but I had actually sued the insurance company of my workplace because after my repetitive stress injuries, I got a message for my lawyer being like, they're willing to settle with you, they'll give you $10,000. And I was like, perfect. For me, it was a little bit monopoly money because it fell into my lap. I had felt a little conflicted about the whole lawsuit thing, but I was like, no, this feels fair, I'm going to go and get new job skills. So I was super excited. It was in Los Angeles, Beacrum's hometown.

I think his first studio was in Beverly Hills. Business strategy has made Beacrum Chowdhury a rich man, living the life of a star, complete with a whole fleet of classic cars he's restored himself. It doesn't seem very yogi. Depends which kind of yogi. I'm American yogi. Beverly Hills yogi, to be exact. Which is so perfect. Here we are. And here we are full school moment.

I'm going off to, you know, this new adventure. I'm going to heal my body and I'm going to get new skills. I'm going to meet all these great people and I'm going to learn from one of the greatest teachers on the planet. He came up with the series, so obviously he's incredibly brilliant. I'm going to the source. We'll say I was so excited to meet and see him. So excited. I remember going to Madison, Wisconsin and I found a B-Croom and I took class and I was like, I'm going to the training. And I remember she said to me, she was like, don't massage Beakram. And I was like, massage.

What? What? Where's that even? He? So for around $5,000 a pop, plus an occasional refresher course, Bikram, their teachers what makes Beakram yoga, his exact set of 26 postures and two breathing exercises.

So Jennifer is now signed up for the world-renowned Beverly Hills Glitz and Glamour, Beakram Yoga teacher training. It was everything she dreamed of and more. The first day, the training space was at a former use car dealership on Lassianaga, which was kind of like a more industrial section of Los Angeles, and it was massive, you could barely see the other side of the room. I have photos of it and you really can't. It's all fluorescent lighting, really bright fluorescent lighting, carpeted. Sounds so them. No windows.

It was a box. It was a depressing-ass box. But yeah, you know, and everyone's rolling up and everyone's excited and bright-eyed and bush-tailed and hopeful and blah-blah-blah. It was around 140 women and 40 men. Like I was so pumped that first day. And I do remember a bunch of the teacher trainers, you know, his underlings welcoming us, but a lot of the vibe was like very evangelizing.

Red flag. And very, like, you are going to have the most powerful experience of your entire life. Red flag. And it's going to be the greatest and you have no idea what's in store for you. Red flag. You are going to be a new person at the end of this two months. Red flag. That's four.

I counted four red flags. That's a lot. You know, there were many people who had sold cars. They had quit jobs. There were plenty of parents in the training people who had like literally gotten child care for the teur-o'ne Like you had to get your life covered. The sacrifice we already had on day one. You've already given up two and a half months of your life, $10,000 roughly by the time it's all said and done. But a lot of people had sacrificed a lot more than I had to be there.

So when you're already aanting, it has to work. Oh yeah. Oh, and of course it's going to be the most transformational experience you've ever had. So he came in, he's very tiny, I don't have ever seen him, but he's a little and small, but I was just so excited just to clap eyes on him and a guy was like, oh my god, it's him. Okay so yes, Beakrum is very short and he wears a very small little speedo and he has black hair and it's pulled into a little ponytail, another red flag, frankly. You guys need help with that stunning visual, he's kind of like the Danny DeVito of Yoga. Danny DeVito and a Speedo.

I would, that's a Danny DeVito speedo. I'm surprised he hasn't marketed that. But it's sexy. I mean Danny DeVito a speedo. Oh yeah. I'd watch that. Dripping and sex appeal right there. Mm-hmm. But at this point, Jennifer is a pig and shit. Or a pig and carpeted sweat. This is Beakram Chowdhury. He whips his class, or as he calls it, torture chamber into shape, dressed in nothing but a Rolex and a speedo. Sit down. Sit down, sit down. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D' thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. D. S th. S thi. S thi. Di. Slipi. Di. Di. Di. tripi. Di. Di. trippiii. the the the the the the the the the the the torture chamber into shape, dressed in nothing but a Rolex and a Speedo. Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, more. This 59-year-old yoga guru pushes his students to contort till it hurts in a room heated to well over 100 degrees.

Like the whole room burst into applause when he came in and he walked up and he took the microphone, you know, and again there's 180 of us, there's him, and then there's also a bunch of teachers and staff. He's not a microphone. The microphone is blasting to the entirety of this large space. He was kind of, you know, he did the whole, you will not, your friends will not even know you. This is going to be the whole spiel. But so then he was like we're gonna pass the mic around and everyone's going to introduce themselves and say where they're from and like what motivated them to come here. And he said, my hand to God, he was like talk about you know where you went to school, where you're from, how many times you've been raped? And I just remember feeling like there was just a glitch in the Matrix like th? th? th? th th th th th you the the the th you the the the the the the th you the th you the th. the th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. th. th. th. th. th is th is th. th. th is th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to say thi to thin theee an the an the an the an thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi How many times you've been raped? And I just remember feeling like there was just a glitch in the Matrix. Like did he just fucking say that?

Do he just make a rape joke on day one? The first 15 minutes of meeting us? But I do remember as we passed around the microphone, like public speaking is terrifying for people. Like I think someone fainted during that, like I know a couple people cried. Like it was looking back again to put us on the spot like that and to be like, here, tell us about yourself and why you're here. Oh, you were supposed to say how long you'd been doing yoga. And I'd been doing it at that point for like two years. There were a bunch of people they were like, I've been doing it for three months. I remember being like, whoa, I've done it like way longer than 80% of the room. So apparently experience isn't really a requirement for teaching. And guess what? It's not going to be for Stefan's weight training class, right? Never touched the free weight? I don't care. Come on in and teach a class. Think a kettle bells a whistle that lets you know when your tee's ready. to Step right up! Here's your badge. And I went home

and was like, oh hey, I don't really know what to make a, like, I mean again, I didn't, I just didn't even know what to think. You're saying that you want people who teach Beakroom Yoga to go to your $5,. Are you being a little controlling? If you think like that one, can help it, sorry. And we came back the next day and he taught class. And by the middle of class, I was like, oh my God, Begram is bad at teaching. He's not a teacher. He's sitting up on his throne in a speedo, like to teach sitting that always

bothered me. Oh they were all seated, they sit on a throne. Hardcore Beakram Studios they sit up front and he's not looking at us, you know he's just he's not seeing anyone in the room, he's just reciting his stupid dialogue. Come on. Which the dialogue is a whole reciting his stupid dialogue. Come on. Which, the dialogue is a whole thing in Beakram, Yogelandia. Tell us. They hand you out a script. It's hundreds of pages.

You were handed a script and told to recite it. Okay. So the front of the script says, Beakram's Yoga College of India, beginning yoga dialogue. He was very obsessed with the fact that he ran colleges. Yeah, I had to be a Beakram's Yoga College of India. Also, like, what the fuck does that mean? What the fuck? He's stupid and wants you to think he's intelligent.

So here's the opening of class. Standing deep breathing. Good morning, everyone. the theeeeeeeukeukeukeukeukeuuuuuuuuuuuuu. the the Good morning, everyone. First is the breathing exercise. Praniyama breathing, deep breathing. It is good for the lungs and respiratory system. This exercise expands your lungs to their maximum experience capacity and it improves the elasticity of your lungs. Listen carefully. And it's a bad explanation. I don't even need to go into it, but like it's also not even a good script. No, keep going. Inhal by the nose and exhale by the mouth.

Inhale and exhale. Breathe as much as long and as slow as possible. Breathe in by the nose and out by the mouth, but all the time through the throat. Is he reading it or he's memorized it? He also is going off on random t going off on random tangents about his sexual prowess or his new Rolls Royce or scolding somebody in the room who's done something wrong. This is classic authoritarian cult abuser. For me, the emperor never had any close. From day one, I was like, the fuck is wrong with you. And day two taking class, I was like, you are a bad teacher.

You are dumb. Dare I say, he's a dumb fucking potato. It just had every opportunity you could. When Pippin passes you the ball, Tyler, you dunk it. We were so crowded. It was so hot. It went so long. Like it was intention. It was hazing. Like they gloried in making it as torturous as possible. I'm a little confused on the teacher training part. It just sounds like you paid a lot of money to have Begram just be the teacher the teacher of you as the student. When did it come into like teaching you how to teach? Oh, it never did? th. th. that. that. that. that. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, th. th. the the the th. th. th. th. the the toe. toe. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they. they. the they. they. they. they. they. the they. the thi. thea. tea. tea. tea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea. tea. te. te. te. th. t student. When did it come into like teaching you how to teach? Oh it never did. What? You know what that's good because I actually have no idea about the

physiology or anatomy of weight training so at Stefan's weight training clinic I'll be just fine. There you go. Let me explain the day. Six days a week got up, s show up for class, take class. It's two hours. A lot of times it is Vickrum, but you the, but you the the, let th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the the th, they, they, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, for class, take class. It's two hours. A lot of the times it is V-Crum, but you also would get one of his underlings or another teacher. But his inner circle were a small cluster of teachers that were around him and that worked for the Beakrum organization. And they, I don't have words because they just were terrible people. They were inflicting fear and cruelty and abuse for fun. And to feel powerful.

This is full on hazing of the new pledges big time. So they can be like you're trash, you're weak, you're garbage, you can't do anything. It's just a, it's an indoctination process, right? There's the love bombing of, oh my god, this is gonna change your life, right into, break you down, right into, you're nothing without me. You're worthless, I'm looking around the room at all of the deformities you've created with your terrible habits. I remember one woman's school,

these are grandma poses, and I was like, first of all, thi'a's, thi............................. th. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to..... to, to. to. to. to, to. to. to. to. to. to, to. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to. to, to, to. to. to. the classes super hot super long super torturous go take a shower There are four showers for 150 women. That's 37.5 women per shower Almost as unsanitary as the carpeted floors and then after lunch you have what's called posture clinic, which was garbage a lot of people slept during posture clinic like it was so mind numbingly boring, which is another thing I've noticed in cults, right where it's like the repetitious mind-numbinging. the thumbing, th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thu-up, thu-upy, thu-upy, thirty, thirty, thu-upy, thu-a, thu-a, thu-a, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thirty, thirty-a, thirty-s, thirty-s, thirty-a' thirty-a' thirty-a' thirty-s, thirty-a' thirty-a' thirty-a, thirty- is another thing I've noticed in cults, right? Where it's like the repetitious mind-numbing activity, it seems like that's a hollow of scyntology. What is that? And it also the fatigue is part of it. So sleep deprivation. Gets you into a place of almost hypnosis in your brain. And so the repetition is the hypnosis. So like if I say this over and over and over again, eventually what's happening is it's like a slow brainwashing that's occurring over time.

Right. It's lowering critical thought. And it's lowering trust of self, like intuition. All of your defenses are lowered. You are more susceptible to the brainwashing. You're also in that state of receiving more your self-esteem is being fucked with. Oh, yes. After the second class of the day, you know, it's four hours of intense exercise. That's insane. That's not healthy. They don't let you drink water until a certain time in the sequence. Yeah, or some of them, there's a whole philosophy about it.

Some of them are just like, no, you drink when I say. I know, it's just stupid. What's, I forgot, because. What's his philosophy about it again? Honestly, I don't think there's a flaw. I think it was justthe teachers can yell. I swear to God. It's control, it's uniformity, it's enforcing conformity,

it's a chance for an authoritarian personality to get on people who get out of line. Yes, it's a way to slowly create group mind. Yeah. Quick interjection. This was the period where if Beakrum was sitting in his chair with his microphone, there would always be at least three women around him brushing his hair and or massaging him. They were just like worshipful. They considered it a privilege. They want to follow someone. It makes their life easier and just to have somebody else who tells them how it is and what the rules of life are and what the meaning of life is, there was

something addictive about it. Like you're physically massaging a man while, also what he's talking and like on a microphone, like there was that too that made it even more gross. you know, he had yelled at thiiiiiiiiiiiii the the they, he they, he they, he they, he thi they, thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, like, like, thi, thi, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, thi, thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, like, the, the is just just thi, thi, thi, thi, talking and like on a microphone like there was that too that made it even more gross you know he yelled at someone and called them fat and stupid or something I remember going up to someone and being like I'm sorry that happened are you okay and she was like I'm fine I can take it there was like a little bit of machismo about like I'm not weak this is intense, but I can handle it. Or another woman was like, I'm just so glad he saw me. I'm just so glad he noticed me. I'm just so glad he noticed me. I saw him physically assault people. Like I saw him adjust people violently. He would say things like, get your knee over your ankle.

I'm going to come down there and break it. The threat of violence was sort of in the air. He's lecturing us us us us us us the the the the the the th. The th. He's th. The th. The th. The th. He's th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I, th. I, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I's, th. I'm toe. I'm to. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I th. I th. I'm th. I'm th. th th th th thi. thi. thi. th th th thi. th th th th th thi. th th th to to thee. I'm thin. I'm th th to it. The threat of violence was sort of in the air. He's lecturing us that the only reason we're good at this pose is because American women are horrors and that's why we have to go to the gynecologist unlike Indian women who never go because they're not disgusting horrors. Is that what he would say? Yeah. Even though he's married at kids, there was like sexuality injected into the conversation. Students almost naked and dripping with sweat are cheered on by Bickram's sexually charged banter. There was all this stuff about how women I make a B. 42 times in one night in seven hours. There was all this stuff about how women wanted to sleep with him. If I need women I can make a line,

the most beautiful, famous, rich women in the world. If I have to sleep with women, then I have to sleep, you know, 5,000 girl every day. She called him. 5,000 women a day want to sleep with you? He had a saying, he would say all the time about how his balls were like two ton atom bombs. His balls were like two ton atom bombs. If you were a massage therapist or a chiropractor, you would get somebody coming from the office to get you out of posture clinic

and you would go out on the hall and he would have his table set up. And he'd be naked under the sheet and it'll be like, massage me. And also under the threat of if you don't do it, I'll boost you out of this training. And then you lose your whole investment and you lose your path to your new career. You know I feel like this is where Stefan's weight training clinic it takes a little different path. Yeah you were there for the automated scripts for people who don't know what the fuck they're doing but the course massaging isn't quite your speech. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the the to. Yeah. I I. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. I. Yeah. I to. Yeah. Yeah. I the to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I the. I the. I the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. I the. I the. that. I don't need that. I respect that. Thanks Liz. So the B-crum teacher training had a very full schedule. Again, after lunch was the mind-numbing posture clinic. And then in the evenings... Sometimes we would have speakers, like it was always people telling the same

god-dam story. I was in a car accident and I couldn't walk and then I found B-crum and I am saved I was so deeply depressed after A, B, and C incident and then I found Bikram and now I'm saved. And again, people felt they owed him their lives. But that's what I'm learning isn't teacher training. It's indoctrination. And so he's basically indoctrinating all of these people once they go out into the world to do it, they're now the robotic little becrums. Yep. We were there from 9 a.m. sometimes still midnight and we're so tired. And also just keep in mind this is all taking place in a room with a sweaty ass carpet, no windows, and banks of fluorescent lights over us. And it's dang. It was like hard to even find a spot that wasn't soaking wet on the carpet? Yeah. I know. I I I I I I I I I I I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. to, to to to to teee. to to to tee. te. te. te. tha. thi. the. thi. th. th. th It was like hard to even find a spot that wasn't like soaking wet on the carpet. Yeah. I know. Super nasty. But sometimes we would have the conversion talks about from people being like

here's how Beakrum changed my life, whatever. But a lot of the time it was just him and he would just ramble until like midnight or one o'clock in the morning. What? Telling stories about how he raised money for Mother Teresa or that he fixed Richard Nixon's knee. People have joked for a while that Begram is the trump of yoga and like it is so on in so many ways like the narcissism of just being able to talk and talk about yourself for great hours and how great you are and how much everybody else sucks and how rich you are and how great you are and how much everybody else sucks and how rich you are and how many yoga championships and weightlifting championships who won like it was all lies it was all made up yeah was all made up everything I did I'm the best what do you think

you're worth I was the richest living human being in the earth of all time. My guru used to bury me underground for seven days, ten feet down. You were buried for seven days? Hundreds and hundreds of times. You would just be like, you know, I could sell one drop of my sperm for a million dollars because every woman wants me, everyone wants to have my baby blah blah blah. People pay one million dollar for one drop of my sperm. I can make million dollar a day every drop. Sorry dude just happened to take a quick survey and results are in yes ten

out of ten women on this survey. Yeah which is every single woman on the planet we did a poll it took a while. Yeah, we just happened to have access to the entire female population. And 10 out of 10 women in the whole world said hard pass on your sperm, dude. Bon Shants, motherfucker. I was like, oh my god, it managed to be like super offensive and boring at the same time. And yeah, these women were sobbing in the bathroom. It's so beautiful what he said in there. And one of them said, it hurts me so much when people speak ill of him.

And the other woman was like, they spoke ill about Christ too. He regularly compared himself to Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ, Mahatman, Gandhi. It was, again, it was that big lie stuff that's so huge. Again, I would try to explain to people what was happening and they just couldn't comprehend it. There just were a lot of people that had too much writing on Beakram being a good and knowledgeable teacher so that they could go back to their studio in Chicago or New York or St. Louis or London and be like I am a Beakrum certified teacher. I trained with Beakram for two

and a half months. And by trained they mean memorize their lines. Like they were deriving their legitimacy from him. So he had to be not what he was. This is known as cognitive dissonance. Look it up. When I did connect with a couple of people that were like, yeah, this was not what we expected. What the fuck? And he's so fucked up and why are people so crazy? But we're going to get this certificate, and then we're going to go make a million dollars. Because at that time thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, they were they were thi. they were the theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. thi. to get this certificate, and then we're going to go make a million dollars. Because at that time, it was like the beginning of the whole boom. Like Beakram was getting so popular.

I stayed in the back. I stayed out of the way. I was very determined to be as under cover as possible. I did not want anyone to notice me. I did not want any attention. I was just like I'm in it. I'm going to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to'm going to try to not get kicked out. They're constantly threatening to kick us out. They're like you do not get a certificate for giving it this money. You have to earn it. We decide. You're guaranteed nothing. I was like, yeah, I'm just getting my certificate. I am just like winding down the clock. I'm just getting thrown.

By like week four, I was like, a system that like fostered enjoyment of the practice because you're not learning anything more about the poses. You're not learning anatomy. You're not like getting a deeper understanding and you're not taking class or doing these clinics with people that really know what they're talking about. It was it was like the final week and I forget what they called it. It's like the surprise exam. They're going to put us all in a room and they're going to pick one of us at random and they're going to give you a random pose and if you do it right you can stay but if you get it wrong you're out. They're like you better get to work because tonight's the night.

They finally did announce it. They're like this is how it's going his microphone on and ran down the hall and was laughing with the other teachers he was like they're scared shitless oh my god it's so funny like we all heard it yeah like laughing at how much he was imposing fear on the group so anyways so we're all sick to our stomach we were lined up and they hold up the woman who the the woman who'd been really the the the the the th the th th th th the th th the th th th the the th th th th the th th the the the th to to the to the the to to to to to to to the to to the the the the to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the. the. the. the. the. the. they. thee. they. the they. they. they. the the they. the the the the the the on the group. So anyway, so we're all sick to our stomach. We were lined up and they hold up one of the women who'd been really struggling and threw a pose at her and she just started sobbing in the middle of it and she was like it's too hard, it's too hard I can't do this and like there were people

watching that were crying. So they did it to a couple people and it did not go well. They had pressure breakdowns. There were attractive women who would get up and do a terrible job and the teacher or Beakram would be like great work just wave them on, go sit down. And I remember watching a guy do a letter-perfect rec a pose and Begram just snarling at him and being like, that is not my dialogue, which I think also plays into cultiness on a level. You're trying to earn the approval of dear leader, but also you can't really figure out the rules of the game.

And then, for fun, they called up the dude, he was always the first to do the dialogue. He was a performer, I think he was a comic and an actor, he was the shiny ace student. And they were like, come on up, check it out. This is how it's done. And again, they were like barking at him, and it was very like drill sergeanty and he was shaking and choked so hard he couldn't do it. Even a seasoned performer when threatened like that and told that it's all in the line and you're in that fear mode how are you also it was just kind of impossible like how do you recall a page long

script that you memorized for a pose that you worked on a month ago? It's cruel, but it's also not even a good metric for the job? Also, what does any of this have to do with yoga? You can give me a script from NASA, and you're not gonna send me to Mars. You've assigned us an impossible to ask just to terrorize us, and to humiliate people who've already been suffering th......... th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to, to be, to be, to, to be, to be, to be, to be, toe, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the thi, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the the, toe, they.a, toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe, toe, toe, the, the. to humiliate people who've already been suffering this whole training. That was bad. That was, I can remember sitting in a parking lot with a friend of mine at like two in the morning at some all night grocery store.

I think I was eating cookie dough, we were just like, we were like sitting and just like processing and just being like, I can't fucking believe this place. Are we going back tom enduring this whole thing for two and a half months. Two and a half months. And it was dark. All I learned at the Beakram teacher training was what not to do, and who I didn't want to be as a teacher. Which was?

Don't be cruel to people. Let people learn at their own pace. Yeah, if you ask someone to do something they don't do it, you don't just yell it louder. They're not understanding you have to rephrase it. So I went back to Chicago, three Beakram Studios opened up, and I was teaching a little bit at all three of them. There's a Beakram studio in the major city in America, 1,200 in climbing worldwide. With more than a million students served, Beakram Yoga has earned the nickname, Mick Yoga.

Do you like that analogy, the McDonald's of Yoga? Why not? I eat Big Mac. And just as that Big Mac taste the same in every McDonald's, Beakram wants every yoga student to have exactly the same experience, no matter which the their their their their their their their their then and the same in every McDonald's. Beakram wants every yoga student to have exactly the same experience no matter which Beakram studio they visit. Again, I was like, I'm not telling people to lock their knees. I just, I just did my own thing. I can remember one day, like seeing somebody struggling and just like walking over and handing her a block. That was also the way that they freak out about any props. He calls it furniture yoga or S&M yoga. Prop. Prop. Prop. I. Prop. I I. I. I I. I. I the their. I their. their. their. their. their. th. B, th. B, their. B, the way that they freak out about any props. He calls it furniture yoga or S&M yoga. Yeah, props were evil. I was like, oh, Shavasna is great. Let's do Shavasna.

Ended up teaching Vinyasa. Well, there's always more. Yeah, there's always more to learn. There's always a different way to present a pose. But there was none of that with B. with Beakrum. It's your crappy drive-through Wopper. It's just, it's a closed system. So true. I taught at Becrum Studios afterwards and I could remember people saying like, oh I wanted to do the training and I was like absolutely do not do the training.

Do not do it. He's a piece of shit and also the training is garbage. And that did not go over well because of course at the time, studio owners wanted people to go to training because they wanted people to get certified. They would encourage people to go. And I was like, you fucking know better. How can you be sending people into that, unawares? And so how long did you teach Bikram for? Two or three years? I taught it longer than I wanted to for sure, because it was like what I knew. Yeah. And the teachers. And so. And so the teachers. And so the teachers. And the teachers. And so the teachers. And so the teachers. And the teachers. And so the teachers. And so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, the the the the they. And so, the the the they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they were, they's, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. their. they were. they were. they were. they were. they were. they were. they were, they were. than I wanted to for sure, because it was like what I knew. Yeah. The teachers were always weird. Some of them would teach in Beakram's accent, which got really enormously creepy and cringe. Okay, I took Beakram a bunch of times for a bit before I knew any of this was going on and let me tell you.

I never liked the teachers. They were the most passive-aggressive yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga. the yoga. the yoga. the yoga. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. their. their. their. their. their. their. Yeah. Yeah. their. Yeah. their. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was. Yeah. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I was. I. I was. I was. I was. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm t. I'm. I'm t. I'm te. I'm. I'm te. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm the t. I'm. I'm tell you, I never liked the teachers. They were the most passive aggressive yoga teachers I'd ever met. Like they would correct me in the most passive aggressive ways and be like, we don't go to the bathroom in the middle of class and like call people out. They were just assholes, but now I know. It was their training. I know, it all makes sense now. So yeah, I was like I was like I was like I was like I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm th. th. th. thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi. thi. thi. thi. thr. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their, their, this is just not what I'm into and I remember that was how I was like, this is going to be my last class. I just am not really practicing Beacrum anymore and I don't really feel comfortable. So I'm done. And then I started teaching

Vignaza. So the pink elephant in the room is that not only his Beakram all the things Jennifer spoke about but he also, can you guess Tyler, hmm, sexually assaulted many, many, many women that walked into his teacher trainings. You don't say. Oh I do say, and so does the news. Explosive allegations against one of the richest and most famous yoga thooguers on earth. He is the swaggering controversial founder of Bikram yoga. But now, Bikram stands accused of sexually assaulting five of his own followers. So allegedly, Bikram once told a student that in order to be the best yoga teacher she can be, she needed his chi inside of her.

And then he proceeded to, of course, rape her in the name of enlightenment. Let's just say, he was me too before there was even a Me Too to speak of. The hardest problem in my life is stay away from women. Women likes me. But Yogi is supposed to be Yogi. They cannot involve with the women. But since then, five women have filed civil lawsuits accusing Bikram of sexual assault. Four of the women accuse him of rape.

Sarah Bond was the first to come forward. He absolutely chases women. He victimizes women. He could walk on water as far as you were concerned. Absolutely. She says all that changed late one night at Bickram's Beverly Hills mansion. He raped you. He raped you. Yes. In his own house. Yes.

His wife sleeping upstairs. Correct. And his daughter sleeping upstairs. And his son. In January 2016, Beakram was ordered to pay nearly $7 million in damages to Minoxi Java Bowden after she wins her lawsuit. The court found Beakram guilty of harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination, and then of course more lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct continued to surface. And then soon after this court order, the dumb fucking potato. Please, he up and disappears. What happened when he fled, Beverly Hills? There is a documentary called Yogi Guru Predator. It's really well done. It ends on a very chilling note. He has fled the United States.

I think he still has some hangers on, and he must have had money stashed away somewhere that he could, because he owed millions of dollars in civil damages, both to the women that he's sexually assaulted, but then also to a lawyer who worked for him. But I think he just like left his house, but he definitely fled the country. There is a warrant out for his arrest in Los Angeles still. I don't think there's anyone that's going to extra th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the the the the the thi, the the the the the the the the the the the their, their, their, because, because, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the the the, the the, the the the the the the the the the their, their, th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. theeat. thi. thi. theate. thi. theat. thi. thi. the the the the the thi. the fled the country. There is a warrant out for his arrest in Los Angeles still. I don't think there's anyone that's gonna extradite him, or maybe he's in countries where he can't be extradited, but he's gonna run out of, I mean, again, he did have a lot of money, just doing the math.

You have 180 people pay you $5,000 for a teacher training. That's $900,000. He doesn't hire anyone. You teach for Beakrum for free. It was an honor to teach for him. He was doing several of those trainings a year for a long time. So he did have his collection of cars. He did have an enormous collection. I

think it was more than 30. There was a dude who was assigned to guard the one that he would drive to. I remember being like, wow, you have a person to guard your car. We have four showers, but you have a person to guard your car. He loved his Rolls Royces. He talked about them a lot. And when all the lawsuits started coming in and damages were being awarded, because he's such a mobster scammer, he hid the cars. And they actually, just a few weeks ago, I saw in the news that they had found a bunch of the cars somewhere in Florida.

And I was like, oh my god, this is so exciting. Like I do a little bit track where he is because he's on the road. And last I heard and saw he's somewhere in Acapoco. And again, one of the most chilling things about the documentary is the ending footage is him leading a teacher training in Mexico. I never lie, never cheat. I never heard another spirit. I'm the most spiritual man, David, you ever met in your life.

Sarah Bond, Jill Lawler, Maggie Gentner, they felt sexually violated by you. Okay. Lie, lie, and lie. You are that idiot or dumb to believe those trash. The women are the trash? Yeah. I pick them from trash and give them life. And so now you guys all know why I despise this man and even more so that

he is still out there continuing the pattern of abuse and it sickens me. Jennifer the cynic, well she saw what type of person Beakram was early on, but not everyone did. He still has people who follow him. You can absolutely to this day still find people that are just like, he changed my life, he changed the world. People were like, he's not politically correct. He's not politically correct.

Like now they would be like, whatever, he's not woke. It's not politically correct. Like now they would be like, whatever, he's not woke. It's not woke like you. And I was like, calling women horse for going to the gynecologist is not politically incorrect. That was just the catch-all, dumb phrase they used. Or they would be like, it's his culture. You're judging as culture. How can you judge? Like, don't, yoga does not require you to set your brain aside.

It should never. Dissernment is actually a principle of yoga. There's no excuse for abuse. Exactly. There is no excuse for abuse. Now that is a line we should continue using. Agreed. I tell you a full time from 2001 to 2014.

I enjoyed a lot of my teaching experience, but I felt like a weirdo because I feel like everyone in yoga is like. I took a yoga class and then I realized this was my calling. And I was like, writing is sort of my calling? And by then, voice recognition software had become a thing. I was like, wait a minute, if I could dictate and take breaks, right? If I can work from home, I was like, I think I could do this. So by the time I was able to get other work, I was like, this is the way. I got a full-time job as a writer for a digital news website.

And then I got a job as a content writer for a PR agency. But yeah, I've worked to agencies and I've worked for myself and it's great. I work for right now a functional mushroom company but I also do, I know, they're pretty great, right? Oh yeah. Yes, I love mushrooms. They're so wonderful. Shout out to micro boost. How's your body stuff today? I am not painfree, but honestly, if I go to yoga regularly, I feel a lot better. Thankfully, she didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Or in this case, the yoga out with the sweat-filled carpet.

Ugh. There was probably a lot of sweat-filled carpets on the curbs of yoga studios around this time. Yeah. Just like, what do we do with the carpet? We don't need any throw it out. I do hot yoga at Moto Yoga where they are nice and pleasant and it's only an hour. One more thing I would say to anyone who's thinking about going to yoga, it took me a long time to find a studio where the teachers were kind and supportive. They used to say all the time to us in VCR. It's not about the teacher, it's about the yoga. And yeah, I'm here to tell you, it is all about the teacher.

It is only about the teacher. And good teachers don't need to put anyone down, to be up to be up up up up up up up up, to be up, to be up, to be't need to be uptight. They just should be by their nature, I think, open-minded people who are helping you do what you need to do. On that note, Namestay. Ah, Namestay! I know. Oh, God, it's so cringe. But also, that is one of those things that I'm like, oh, it's so appropriate.

thiii. But then it also is a nice way to end. It always feels nice at the end. It feels like more of like a nice communal moment, but then yeah, no, that's a whole other world. Right. Thank you Thank you for having me. It's been very cathartic to talk about it and Yeah, set some records straight and advocate for sanity. The Beakram Yoga Community faces ongoing challenges in separating the practice from its controversial founder, with many studios rebranding, distancing themselves from Beakram, and pulling up that nasty-ass carpet and putting it on the curb. Now a lot of the studios are just called Stefan's Weight Training College in Wichita. Carpet free and experience

free and expertise free. You may have some fun or you may break your back one of the two. You'll find that a lot of the studios now that offer the 26 and two hot yoga classes those may have been at one point a B-Crum studio. You know, I don't know if there's any studios. They are. They are. You can look on the maps. There's a number of just even in this LA area. There's Beakrim Yoga studios that still go by Beakrum Yoga. Which is mind-boggling to me. Thank you, Jennifer. What a cool funny and horrible story at the same time. And that is our show.

Well, Jennifer will join me this Thursday for a live talk back on Zoom exclusively for our Patreon members. So if you want to come and be part of the conversation, join Patreon, get all the info there. And you guys, the audience, you have a chance to ask questions for me, for Jennifer, that you can ask questions about me and Liz will answer them. And that's true and I will just make up shit. She'll be in my proxy. Tyler unfortunately will not be able to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come to come the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. to come part part part part part part part. to be to come part to to to to to to to to to to to to thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. the the. the. them. Yeah, and that's true, and I will just make up shit. She'll be in my proxy. Um, Tyler, unfortunately will not be able to join us. He will be on an airplane. Last week's live talk back with Ashley and Maddie was a lot of fun,

so we're really looking forward to more of these in the future. And thanks to everyone who listens and supports the show, please continue to do so to do so support to do so support to do so support to do so support to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their to support their to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to support to to to to to to to to to to to support to support to support so. our sponsors, they're actually pretty cool. They are. I mean, if you have cats, or cats? Yeah, come on. Get high and pay your cat all day. And listen to our show. What could be better? You know, if you can't afford to contribute on Patreon, we do really appreciate rating and reviewing.

The reviews really help on Apple Podcasts. So thank you again for doing that if you haven't done so to this point. And again, go to our website, W.W.W.A.K.A.K.O.C. Was I and occult.com. You know, for dumb fucking potato. Merch. And much, much more to come. And that's it. Thank you. We love bomb you. And for the record. thi. to th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to to the to to the the the the the to the tho. the tho. tho. tho. to to to to to to to to the to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tho. tho. th. tho. th. th. th. to., whenever you take your next yoga class, drink water whenever the hell you feel like it.

Right. Was I and a Cult is written, produced and hosted by me, the false guru Tyler Miesam. And me, the non-toxic yogi Liz Ayakuzzi. Was I an occult is written, produced, and hosted by me, Tyler 25-cent drop of sperm Miesam. And me, the non-toxic yogi Liz Ayakusi music and sound design by Rob the tree Pozen Pera. Social media may even a shanny breath of fire Peyton and our executive producer is Steven sweaty carpet labraum. Stephen sweaty carpet labrum. That name Stickin. Yeah every episode in the future you are now

Stephen sweaty carpet labrum. Aren't you glad you jumped into this cult, Stephen? All right, wrap it up, motherfucko! Purify me. Don't spare my life. Crucify me. you know.