Indian government had already begun to catalog 1500 yoga poses in
a digital library
Branding Sector : Yoga
What the case is all about?
Is everything
Different paths of 2 successful yoga teachers
Is yoga associated with Hinduism?
Earliest records were found in Indus Valley archeological relics
Philosophical Cornerstones of yoga
Parts of epic Mahabharata
Yoga comes to
America
Began when 2 American writers were fascinated by Indic and Hindu Literature
First Hindu to bring
yoga in U.S. in 1893
Maharishi and Chopra
partnered to focus on mind-
body medicine in 1980s and
1990s
Bikram Choudhury’s approach
Taught 26 asanas and 2 breathing exercises
Started teaching Hath yoga
Arrived in U.S. in 1971 and opened his first studio
First went to Japan, and due to cold in winters, began using space heater
Decided to patent the
Bikram style when other yoga instructors used
his methods
Sent cease-and-desist letters to other yoga instructors who used his
methods
By April 2003, Bikram had more
than 700 studios in 220
countries
Indian government responded to Bikram’s yoga by putting some people to catalog 1500 poses
found in ancient Sanskrit, Urdu and Persian
The goal was to keep
others from following
Bikram’s example
By 2011, some 5,000 Bikram
Yoga studios had opened around
the world
Continued to hunt
down perceived
copycats and send
cease-and-desist
letters
Tara Stiles’ approach
Left Ford in 2007, and started teaching yoga in her apartment
Went on several fashion shoots that involved yoga apparel 2006
Disliked New York yoga scene
Moved to New York in 2000
Learned yoga with ballet
Moved to Chicago to study ballet
Used facebook to promote her yoga classes
Opened her own studio in 2008, named strala yoga
Did not used Sanskrit words
for poses or chant in class
Worked in team Fonda, who launched new workout videos in 2010, along with Jane
Fonda
Published her book “Slim Calm Sexy Yoga” in 2010
Released a yoga ipad app with chopra in 2010
Did not think to patent her yoga
classes
As what really matters is what
goes on inside yoga classes
Discussion-The politics of yoga
Participating members
•Sheetal Shah of HAF•Tara Stiles•Dr. Edwin Bryant of Rutgers University•Dr. Virginia cowen of the city of New York•Edwin Stern, founder of ashtanga yoga NY
Topics included
•Definition of yoga•Commercialization of yoga•Validity of yoga•Whether yoga belonged to Hinduism or any one tradition