Mar 22, 2013 7:21am

The founder of Bikram yoga is in the hot seat once again.

Bikram Choudhury is the pioneer of the widely successful hot yoga. He teaches his 26-pose sequence in sweltering 105 degree temperatures. In a recent twist, however, student Sarah Baughn is suing him for sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment.

The complaint claims that Baughn was discriminated against as a woman because she did not submit to Choudhurys repeated demands for sex, and because she successfully fought him off when he sexually assaulted her.Baughn claimsthat because of her repeated refusal, she also was hindered professionally and was denied the judge-determined title of yogas International Champion in 2008.

Hes affirmatively tried to block her from progressing in her career because she stood up for herself and rebuffed him, argued Baughns lawyer, Mary Shea Hagebols.

Choudhury did not respond to ABC News request for comment. In an interview with ABC News David Wright last fall, Choudhury said, Women in the world love me, because I take care of the women. But yogi is supposed to be yogi. They cannot involve with women.

Baughn first met Choudhury in the spring of 2005 when she attended his teacher training course in Los Angeles with 300 students. She first regarded Choudhury as a hero who changed her life but claims that she then noticed he chose some women as favorites to brush his hair and massage his body.

During the course, Choudhury allegedly flirted with Baughn by telling her that they had known each other in a past life and that they had a strong, meaningful connection. The complaint claims that he asked her, What should we do about this? Should we make this a relationship? I have never, never felt this way about anyone. Only you.

During this training, while Choudhury was, according to the complaint, pretending to assist her, he pushed her down toward the floor after pulling her arm and leg apart and opening her body. Defendant Bikram Choudhury then pressed his body into hers, and began whispering sexual things to her until she collapsed into sobs.

Bikram yoga, which Choudhury started in the 1970s, is extremely popular and has more than 350 studios in the United States,plus hundreds throughout the world. Because of its popularity, Choudhury has a large fan base and frequently hosts seminars to hundreds of students.

Read the original:
'Hot Yoga ' Guru Faces Sexual Harassment Charges

CHICAGO, March 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CorePower Yoga, a yoga brand with a commitment to making yoga accessible to all, opened its fourteenth Chicago Yoga Studio on Friday, March 22nd. Located just a block from Michigan Avenue on Ontario Street, the Streeterville yoga studio will offer a variety of yoga styles for all levels, including CorePower Yoga's dynamic heated Power Yoga in beginner to advanced formats, Yoga Sculpt and Hot Power Fusion.

Offered at convenient times, CorePower Yoga's classes feature popular music and promote physical and mental benefits. Consistent class formats and certified instructors help students advance through different levels of classes as they progress in their yoga practice. Lifestyle programs, such as boot camps and wellness programs are offered to complement yoga and provide students with cross-training opportunities. The Streeterville studio will also offer CorePower Yoga's transformational Yoga Teacher Training Programs.

"CorePower Yoga classes offer an individualized experience for every student, regardless of their fitness level or familiarity with yoga. We are thrilled to expand our presence in the Chicago area and be a part of this electric community!" says Tanya LoPresti, Studio Manager of the new Streeterville studio.

The Streeterville yoga studio is home to two large yoga rooms and features a range of amenities including changing rooms with showers and private lockers. A full retail boutique will showcase men's and women's active wear and accessories for all of your yoga and lifestyle needs.

Streeterville, located at 227 E. Ontario, is the first of several CorePower Yoga studios to open in 2013. CorePower Yoga is opening two more studios in the Chicago neighborhoods of West Loop and Hyde Park this Spring, as well as many others in markets that include Colorado, Boston, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Washington D.C. later this year. More information regarding studio openings located here.

Students who are new to CorePower Yoga will receive one week of unlimited free yoga classes. A variety of membership package options are also available.

About CorePower Yoga

CorePower Yoga strives to increase awareness and widespread adoption of yoga by making yoga accessible to everyone, through a variety of yoga styles for beginners and more advanced yoga students. The company's unique and physically challenging style of heated power yoga combines energy, music, breath, movement and community to create a one-of-a-kind yoga experience. CorePower Yoga classes encompass a wide variety of poses, and are taught by certified yoga instructors. In addition to yoga classes, CorePower Yoga offers transformative integrated wellness programs and Yoga Teacher Training programs to empower students to live a health-focused and extraordinary life. CorePower Yoga is committed to sustainable practices, and uses recyclable and reusable products, selects sustainable fixtures and materials for studios and maintains recycling and waste management programs. CorePower Yoga's climate-controlled environments utilize the latest technology to efficiently heat its yoga rooms. CorePower Yoga was founded in 2002 and has over 70 studios in 10 states. For more information, visit http://www.corepoweryoga.com or download a press kit here.

MEDIA CONTACT

Kristi Omdahl, Kristi.omdahl@corepoweryoga.com (303.863.9642)

Here is the original post:
Opening 14th CorePower Yoga Studio in Chicago

Strong and stable: Yoga helps to increase strength and balance.

Who would have thought that a 5000-year-old style of movement would become more popular in this country than Australian football? According to the Bureau of Statistics, more people take part in weekly yoga classes than they do in our national sport. And for good reason.

''All forms of yoga, meditation or tai chi, any gentle movement, helps to reduce pain or your perception of pain,'' says Dr Sam McCarthy, an osteopath at Sydney's Better Health Clinics (betterhealthclinics.com.au). ''We once thought that yoga made muscles longer alone, but we've now discovered that the poses make them wider, and the act of stretching actually feeds back information to your central nervous system. This in turn stimulates your muscles to become stronger around a point of weakness.''

Twenty-five per cent of people who do yoga earn more than $100,000 a year.

So, if you have an unstable or sore ankle, a yoga pose that requires you to balance on that ankle will stimulate your brain via proprioceptive nerves to strengthen the surrounding areas to help it become stronger and more stable.

''Yoga helps to improve your overall strength and posture while calming your mind and nervous system. This is probably why so many people practise yoga long term.

Advertisement

A professor of complementary medicine at RMIT in Melbourne, Marc Cohen, says: ''The majority of people we surveyed found that the reason they began doing yoga was very different to why they continued practising it.'' Cohen and PhD student Stephen Penman did a study of 4000 yoga teachers and students (it was published in the International Journal of Yoga). They found that one in five of the people surveyed began practising yoga for a specific medical issue, and continued to practise after their health improved. ''Yoga isn't just about doing postures but also about meditation and relaxation,'' he says.

Should you be heating it up in Bikram or chilling out in Hatha? ''It's really about your physical and emotional needs and how yoga will fit into your lifestyle,'' says Charlotte Dodson, a yoga teacher who counts Miranda Kerr among her clients. ''There are certain styles to suit specific cycles in your life. For instance, there's prenatal yoga for those more than 12 weeks pregnant, Iyengar is great for injuries, and Asthanga is a perfect match for achieving amore physical workout.''

Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Washington. The researchers found that people who were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full weighed less than those who ate when they were not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression. The researchers believe this link doesn't exist between other types of exercise, such as walking or running. ''When you're doing yoga you make lifestyle changes and choices for the better,'' Cohen says. ''Our participants reported changes such as giving up smoking, eating healthier and reducing the amount of alcohol they drank.'' Cohen says that as yoga is reported to help relieve stress, it's likely that people are less tempted to turn to these vices as a crutch.

Continued here:
Yoga : the power of the pose