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Christian L. Allaire

Kerri Korr

Independent Study

Fall Semester 2012

Yoga

In October of 2011, I took a significant leap forward in personal transformation

by attending a yoga teacher training in Austin, Texas. Ivesubsequently started teaching

classes at a local yoga studio. This step, the training and teaching, was the culmination of

an incremental swallowing up of my life, and way of being, by a consistent yoga practice

Id taken upa couple of year prior. This paper details my yoga journey, some historical

research about Indian philosophy, the origins of yoga, the nature of charisma, and a

powerful yoga master named Baron Baptiste.

During my inquiry of self via the ancient practice of yoga, and in concert with my

academic pursuits at the Dominican University of California, Ive come to a deeper

understanding of the crossroads of Indian and Greekphilosophy, Hinduism, Patanjalis

Yoga Sutras, modern day yoga masters such as B.K.S. Iyengar, and one of his famous

students, Baron Baptiste whom I recently trained under. It was transformative, and an

honor to learn from Baron during my week of Level 1 Teacher Training Austin, Texas.

Baron Baptiste is a world renown, very successful yoga teacher, and itsno stretch to

claim he has created a yoga empire via hisBaptiste Power Vinyasa Flow yoga. I say

empire in a respectful yogic way, as I found Baron to be impressive, charismatic, and

possessing leadership qualities I admire. I find the development of personal magnetism to

the degree that Baptiste has achieved to be fascinating, and worth a serious inquiry. In

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this essay, I will lay out the evolution of Baron Baptiste, his style of yoga, and to whom

he takes his philosophic cues from. A cult of personality somewhat surrounds him,

much to his chagrin I surmise. I discuss some scholarly research in the field of charisma

that feeds such cults.

It has been stunning for me to find myself as an engaged, active yoga teacher. I

would describe my first 40 years of life as existing more as knuckle-dragger. A metaphor

indicating a less evolved individual, less inclined (via intellectual ignorance) to wrestle

with lifes deeper questions.Life is an unfolding, and as a life-long dream of mine, to sail

around the world devolved, after setting out to sea in September 2007, I realized

something fundamental was missing in my life. I did a substantial amount of soul

searching while spending nearly three years sailing mostly alone. I stopped sailing after

years of constant movement, and entered Dominican University of California in the fall

of 2010 to study the humanities, particularly philosophy. Philosophy opened up clarity of

mind, unfurling guideposts, illuminating a path as fraught with uncertainty as any other,

but containing a structure to grapple with the unknowable. In hindsight, after immersion

in the Liberal Arts, and finding a connection with ancient Greek philosophy, particularly

Aristotelian thought, that I would connect the philosophical dots to find equal passion in

Indian philosophic musings.

Two parallel tracks in my life were beginning to ease toward one another. My

first experience with yoga happened several years ago, when my friend Amy causally

mentioned we were going to a yoga class, and she thought it may be fun. I was in not bad

shape, enjoyed a good cardio work out, and she also mentioned Id enjoy all the women

in the room. The first experience was totally overwhelming for me in every respect. Still

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being in my knuckle-dragger phase, I was heavily distracted by the scantily clothed

women adding to my habitual mouth breathing. The combination of the heat, sweat,

women, lack of yogic knowledge, and my over inflated sense of physical strength

disconnected from the mental component, conspired to almost give me heart failure. Amy

continued to encourage me, exposing me to Bikramsyoga (which I found crushing on

many levels). I sporadically attended classes, inhibited from practicing mostly by the

practical nature of my sailing voyage I was on. I did not get serious about yoga until

January of 2010 when I began to practice daily. As I engagedBaptiste Power Vinyasa

Flowyoga, sprinkled with aBikrams

yoga class occasionally, the yoga began to move

beyond the physical realm, and into the spiritual. The two parallel tracks merged when I

connected my study of ancient philosophy in my formal schoolwork, and my deepening

yoga practice. My knuckles are no longer dragging.

One of my maxims in my life is when opportunity knocks on the door, swing the

door wide, and invite it in for dinner. The yoga studio Ive been practicing at since my

arrival in California in May of 2010 is a wonderful supporting environment. Id

established a practical relationship with the owners, and demonstrated solid character,

reliability by showing up on time for my work-trade, and engaging in a passionate daily

yoga practice. They began encouraging me to attend teacher training to bring my love for

yoga to the next level. With the opening of a second studio in the offing, they made it

clear that a teaching position would be open for me. I pondered the implications deciding

this opportunity was a path I wanted to explore, despite the heavy financial commitment,

and the loss of a weeks worth of college classes. I swung the door of opportunity open,

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and attended Baron BaptistesLevel 1 Training. I have been deeply changed by the

experience.

My military background serving 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, had prepared

me well for what I thought would be a standard training environment, but with a softer

yogic touch compared to a military training environment. However, the Baptiste program

veered into personal psychological analysis that caught me by surprise. The theme from

day one was personal empowerment, cultivation of authenticity, and frankly

psychotherapy. The Level 1 training dubbed Bootcamp, derives from the militarys

highly successful indoctrination program where new recruits are mentally and physically

stripped down, then built back up. Itsa filtration mechanism used to sift out those who

cannot or chose not to participate. Baron Baptiste believes and I agree, that a yoga

teacher should not be chock full of personal issues. This is not to imply personal

perfection as a necessity, but a person must confront life experiences that have negatively

scribed on their tabula rosa. If not confronted, the teachersstudents will surely sense

inauthenticity. An authentic person must shine through in a yoga classroom setting. There

also is a responsibility with using the Baptiste name as a selling point for a yoga

instructors credibility. Baron has no problem with branding, which at first blush can

appear un-yogic.

The first day of training began on a Saturday evening with most students

exhausted from travel, some arriving from overseas. Baron stepped into a room of 140

people packed tightly together, and led us through a standard 90 minute yoga class. This

was fine, and I thought, Oh, I can handle this. However, the next morning began with

one hour of painful meditation, followed by an even more excruciating five hours of full-

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onBaptiste Power Vinyasaclass. I expected a standard class, and I paced for a 90-

minutes of flow. By the three-hour mark, in a heated room with the Texas sun beaming

through the windows I thought I might perish. It was at this moment though, that I started

to really tune into Barons voice, his cadence, and his ability to keep a level of energy in

the room. He inspired everyone tremendously with his charismatic force. I made it

through the class, as did all. After a large vegan lunch (all vegan all week, and no

caffeine) we started an afternoon ritual of classroom type work with pen and journal in

hand. Evenings consisted of a light meal, another two plus hours of yoga, followed by

more classroom work. Our heads hit the pillow well after midnight each day. The

rigorous daily routine, and long hours are all part of the breaking down to build back up

process.

Baptistes charisma began to shine more thoroughly as he led the class through

the afternoon workshops designed to force students to think deeply about how they view

themselves. Baron would ask questions, students would jot down answers, then partner

up and share. A quick method for the students to get to know one another as each

question forced a new revelation to a new partner. Students were then encouraged to step

up in front of the microphone, and share with the group. Baron would say, Who wants to

share? What came up? The process was a terrific cultural study on the way groups form

tight bonds instantly when of like mind sharing an intense experience. Most had a

terrifying fear of standing up in front of 140 people, let alone discussing deeply personal

issues. Most, if not all women in the class broke down sobbing at certain points during

the week, and almost always when at the microphone. Baptiste would question the

students gently but firmly. He would coax out more information, pinging for a

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breakthrough. I was impressed at his skillful questioning. Clearly his character was

deeper than a person that just leads people through physical yoga sequences. He is a

deeply spiritual man, and his questions never had the scent of being inauthentic. In fact,

one student stood at that microphone for an hour and a half, having had his mental

blockage at about midnight. We did not go to bed until 2 am that day. Baron refused to

take I dont know for an answer; he let silence permeate for truly uncomfortable

stretches of time. It became so uncomfortable many people cried as the student at the

microphone grappled hard with deep issues, and stuck energy. I was truly impressed by

his dedication to this one student. I am not easily star struck, and have been in the

presence of powerful people in my life, including admirals, governors, cabinet

secretaries, one president, and one vice president. Baron Baptiste was of this caliber in

terms of presence. The foundations of his charisma can be easily traced to his upbringing.

Baron comes from a unique set of family circumstances. His parents, Walt and

Magana Baptiste were pioneers, not only in the yoga world, but also in the world of

health and fitness when it was considered fringe in the 1950s. Walt was a world-class

body builder, and won the title Mr. America in 1949. Three years later, Barons parents

opened the first yoga studio, and health center in San Francisco. They were ahead of

their time as early proponents of the whole healthy lifestyle movement. From the time I

was a little boy, yoga was part of my life. We had famous spiritual masters coming

through our home all the time, from Maharishi to Yogananda (Baptiste 12). Baron

acknowledges the strangeness of his upbringing, but also says that he was not completely

aware of the uniqueness until he hit his rebellious teenage years (12).When most of his

San Francisco friends were out prowling the streets of the city, Baron was at his parents

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spiritual retreat in Sonoma Valley tending to a stream of strangers from strange lands in

strange clothing. The retreats were centered on self-renewal and personal transformation,

but Baron was not necessarily a devotee. He just figured it was kind of fun, and never

thought the life-style he was living as a child would be his path as an adult. He paid a

heavy price in terms of being the odd ball out at school. I got teased a lot at school, as

you can imagine. The other kids would call me Hare Krishna and laugh when I brought

banana and honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread for lunch instead of lunch meat and

Twinkies (Baptiste 12). He claims that his rebellious nature was not necessarily being

fed by his strange circumstances, but was fed by a natural penchant for growth and

discovery. He asked many questions of teachers and felt let down, or that he was not

getting the true scoop.

He dropped out of high school, managed his fathers health food restaurant,saved

up enough money to travel the world and surf. Spending time in Mexico, Bali and Asia,

he found himself consistently returning to hisparentsretreat center in Central America.

After gaining some life experience and perspective while traveling, he connected well

with many of the soul searchers that filtered through the Central American retreat center.

During this period he started to read the Bible, the Greek philosophers, and Gandhi,

triggering years of spiritual searching, trying to identify his path. This was a conscience

decision on his part to go for it to really seek out the enlightenment I had been reading

about and so he moved to Yoganandas mensashram in Encinitas, California

(Baptiste 13). At the ashram, he spent all his time practicing Kriya yoga (chakra energy),

meditation, and working the farm. The ashram conducted business in total silence. He

reports many insights, but after a year at the ashram, he still felt empty as if something

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was missing. Like most young adults, in moments of confusion, he headed back home to

hisparentsnest in San Francisco where he picked back up working at the health food

restaurant. One day his father asked him to fill in for him at the yoga studio, and teach a

yoga and meditation class. Resistant, his father pressed telling him that he had plenty to

share based upon his experience. His father also said he had a responsibility to share

what I knew, that if you dont share it you lose it (Journey Baptiste 13). Baron received

the shock of his life when he opened up his mouth and started teaching, that it came

naturally to him, and he was good at it. That was the first time it dawned on me that

perhaps I would make teaching yoga my life (Journey Baptiste 14).

Even at a young age Baron Baptiste was a well-rounded individual, save for

dropping out of high school. His lack of formal education in terms of standard American

education is an interesting footnote worthy of study in its own right. It simply did not

hold his interest. One of the reasons Baron is a great charismatic teacher is his exposure

to numerous great teachers while growing up. Apparently not in the public school system

however. He had been studying martial arts since the age of nine, and by eighteen had

earned his black belt in tae kwon do. In fact he won the California tae kwon do State

Championship title when he was eighteen. A calm discipline to pursue his interests had

taken root.

At the age of nineteen he attended a yoga workshop in San Francisco conducted

by B.K.S. Iyengar, a world renown Indian hatha yoga master. Iyengar is one of Barons

foundational philosophic influences, who had a tremendous impact on him, and

eventually Baron went to India to study under him. Baptiste reports, it was at his

workshop that I first witnessed the powerfully physical side of yoga that went beyond any

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forms I had practiced up until then (Journey 14). Two years after his contact with

Iyengars form of hatha yoga, Baron attended a workshop conducted by Bikram

Choudhury (founder of Bikram yoga) and was invited to move to Los Angeles and be his

protg. Bikram is another top tier Indian yoga master, who created his own yoga

sequence, known as the original hot yoga.Within a year, Baron was living in Bikrams

house in Beverly Hills, and teaching in his studios in California and Paris. All seemed to

be humming along in Baron Baptiste world, but he says that despite his top notch

physical health, his ability to do the perfect asana, he felt a hole in his heart, that

something was missing. He wrote, By all outward appearances, I was yoga-ing right: I

followed the advice of the gurus, practiced daily, was a vegetarian, didnt drink any

alcohol or do any drugs. But my relationships werent working, and inside I felt at a loss,

and most of all, empty (Journey 14). After achieving a degree of celebrity in the Los

Angeles area, his classes were doing well in terms of numbers of students. But, he still

couldnt shake emptiness deep down, and had no idea where to turn, until happenstance

intervened.

In an Opera Winfrey type Aha moment while stuck in traffic, a radio talk show

host said something that struck Baptiste like a thunderclap. He had been meditating and

chanting all these years, finding stillness, but had a blind spot of sorts that prevented him

from dealing with personal problems. He never faced them head on in a meaningful way

resulting in a stifling of his authentic self. He had been living everyone elses truth; riding

on their advice, doing what the experts told him was necessary. He had been rattled one

day when a famous yoga master, someone he deeply respected sat him down and said,

You know Baron youre a good teacher, but to be great you need to let me train you.

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This is indicative of experiences that created self doubt. He implemented the changes

suggested by this yoga master, and his class attendance fell off sharply. People could tell

he was not teaching his own words, not intentionally, but the results spoke for

themselves. After that critical moment in LA traffic, he began to deal with his personal

issues, made amends where necessary, and dumped the yoga masters advice letting his

own way of being shine while teaching. His class attendance surged again. He writes in

his workbookJourney Into Power Teacher Training Workbook, I remember when I first

started teaching yoga from my heart, people loved my classes. I didnt know the right

way to teach, but I had a lot of fun (8).This new way of being for Baptiste propelled

him to achieve a great deal, including owning his own studios, sponsoring hundreds of

Baptiste Affiliate studios, founding theBaptiste Power Yoga Institute, working as the

Peak Performance coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, creating a teacher training empire,

and most recently theAfrica Yoga Project. Nobody achieves this level of impact without

charisma.

The nature of Baron Baptiste charisma developed much like the concept of

charisma itself, not in a linear fashion, and slightly peculiar. I would not regard Baron

Baptiste as a religious leader even though he is a religious person. The delivery of the

Baptiste yoga method does emphasize spirituality, but it clearly is not forced upon the

students. The nature of charisma has sociological and psychological foundations. The

first systematic study of charisma was conducted by the German sociologist Max Weber

in his workEconomy and Society,published posthumously in 1922. Webers musing is

complex, and even he acknowledged difficulty in ascertaining the exact nature of

charisma. He broke the concept down into ideal-types in which his formulations

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distinguished between institutional and individual forms of charisma. I will discuss

institutional charismas, and then touch on the individual.

An example of one institutional ideal-type, Weber discusses Charismatic

Leadership Democracy (Kim, Stanford Philosophy Encyclopedia). This is Webers

notion of the impossibility of genuine self-rule. His belief is of a muscular (intellectual)

charismatic leader at the helm of state, to organize unity of effort of its citizens toward

general societal goals. Kim goes on to say, Leadership democracy is, however, not

solely reliant upon the quality of its leaders, let alone that of a caesaristic dictator. In

addition to electoral competition, Weber saw localized, yet public associational life as a

breeding ground for the formation of charismatic leaders (Stanford Philosophy

Encyclopedia). This highlights the lack of solid demarcation between the two ideal types

of institution and individual. Weber himself was uncomfortably torn along two

dimensions in his uses of charisma (Turner 8).Institutional and individual charisma

exist in a symbiotic relationship feeding off one another, each relying upon the other for

its survival. In contemporary society, an example I can point to is Apple Inc. It will be

interesting to see how reliant the company was upon the charisma of Steve Jobs, and how

much of Jobs charisma seeped into the Apple culture.

My experience with Baron Baptiste was on an individual basis, but his

institution surrounded all 140 participants. While in Austin most were wearing Baptiste

Lululemon apparel, and he brought along enough staff to open a store each day selling

the full range of Baptiste merchandise. This was on the periphery as far as I was

concerned, because it did not seem to have an impact on my opinion of Baron. Did I

drink the Kool-Aid? I am versed in the manifestation of power and influence via art, to

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include things such as beautiful yoga clothing in beautiful yoga bodies with the Baptiste

branding. The Roman Empire used this method to great effect, with numerous statues of

emperors such as Augustus and Marcus Aurelius, the use of public baths to soothe the

population, and the social control mechanism such as Roman theaters. While maybe a bit

of an apples to oranges comparison, my point is easily seen, and just a matter of scale. I

have come to learn in my research for this paper, that the cult of personality that

surrounds Baron Baptiste relies upon the foundation of an already culturally charismatic

tight yoga community to begin with. This is Webers thesis of institution and individual

charisma feeding off one another.

Stephen Turner in Charisma Reconsidered finds some troublesome notions with

this thesis as it further muddies exactly what the nature of charisma is. He says, By

extending individual charisma to cover institutions that charisma now seems to

collapse into culture-the charismatic is that which is culturally predefined as charismatic

(13). Mr. Turner is perturbed by the lack of cut and dry explanation of just what

charismas entails. He says, leaders fulfill prior cultural expectations, and in some sense

call for the fulfillment of core religious ideas that are part of the pre-existing culture

(13). This quote could explain Baron Baptistes successful yoga empire. However, Mr.

Turner does not account for why some become leaders in the first place. Any pre-existing

institutional charisma may be the spark that propels, but is not the premise. What is

charisma as it applies to the individual?

Disturbingly, in doing my research on charismaI came to the conclusion that we

only understand charisma on the surface. In fact, much of what I read sounded like a

bunch of intellectual mumbo jumbo, by people grappling with a difficult topic. Much of

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the difficulty has to do with charisma arising originally from theology, seeping into the

social sciences, and now its ingrained in the culture. The genius of Max Weber still

stands, as I found his analysis still to be the most cogent. Weber asks the question, What

kind of man must one be if he is to be allowed to put his hand on the wheel of history?

(Dow 87). The short answer is a charismatic one. Webers account of individual

charisma focuses on success, and this suggests the idea that the power of the charismatic

leader arises from the ability to confound and surpass expectations-to be extraordinary

(Turner 5). The tricky thing with charisma as it manifests in the full range of the

individuals is charisma does not discriminate between good and evil people. Impactful

figures from history, such as Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Che Guerva, and John F. Kennedy, all

were full of charisma with differing results. Baron Baptiste is imbued with charisma

based upon his influence, his magnetic presence, his concept of duty to others, tenacity,

and maybe most importantly, his inner compass being grounded in spirituality. He has

motivated me, and thousands like me to reach higher, and to do good things. Ultimately,

judgment of individual charisma is simply based upon a feeling, and appears to be as

shifty and difficult to explain as love. You know it when you feel it.

In our Western lexicon yoga has become popular and trendy. The teaching and

practice of yoga, at least in the aspect of techniques of body poses and stretches, are now

thoroughly mainstream activities on the Western cultural landscape (Bryant XV1).As

western students become exposed to yoga it starts to dawn on them the juicy complexity

of yoga practice To the orthodox Hindu mind, it represents something very high,

beyond the ken of the man on the street-indeed, something very auspicious and to be

achieved only by virtue (punya) gathered over many past lives (Joshi53). Of the

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numerous definitions, I love what one of the Upanishads had to say. TheKatha says,

when the mind becomes steady long with the five senses, and the intellect also remains

unshaken, the highest state comes into being. Many Indian philosophical treaties

reference yoga, for example, theBhagavad Gita discusses karma-yoga,and tantra-yoga,

each widely known within the Western yoga community. Patanjali, who is credited with

compiling the Yoga Sutras, a masterpiece of Indic philosophy, cogently defined yoga as

the elimination of the modifications of the mind (Joshi 58).

Like most Westerners, my first exposure to yoga practice was purely for the

physical benefits. As a healthy male, the ratio of men to women, skewed heavily toward

female practitioners, came into sharp focus providing natural motivation. However,

immediately the full-force of the difficulty of each asana spanked my mind. I recognized

the other students were laser focused, and their practice wasnt flippant or for trendy

purposes. My close proximity to the minimally clothed women was distracting in the

extreme (and still is, but on a much more subtle level), resulting in no focus, and

compulsive rubber necking. I was astounded to realize the effort, awareness, and

concentration it takes to stand still in a posture. Indeed, this is anathema to mainstream

cardio exercise, which raises heart rate by vigorous movement. It is paradoxical to the

Western mind, that the combination of stillness, balance, pranayamabreathing, and an

understanding of a properly stacked (balanced) skeleton can raise heart rate to chest

bursting levels. Part of the magic of the practice is how the student is forced to

concentrate or simply collapse. I told myself within the first week of practice, either you

stare at the goddess on the adjacent mat, or focus on my own practice. You cant do both.

This aspect of yoga, the meditative component, is by far the most important with the

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obvious physical benefits taking a back seat on an individual level. This was a paradigm

shift and not what I expected.

The marriage of knowledge and experience is a powerful force. Ivesynthesized

what I thought were disconnected things, and in fact turned preconceived notions upside

down. To highlight this point I quote from Huston Smiths book. He said, Raja yoga

works with the body even while being ultimately concerned with the mind. More

precisely, it works through the body to the mind. Beyond general health, its chief object

here is to keep the body from distracting the mind while it concentrates (44). He goes on

to say, Yogic postures protect the meditator from disruptions from the body in its static

aspects, but there remain bodily activities, such as breathing. The yogi must breathe, but

untrained breathing can shatter the minds repose (45).As a student of yoga Ive come

to learn that physical strength is not the limiting factor in posture prowess, but lack of

breath control. Concentration flows from breath, and appropriate breath control develops

concentration. I had a real epiphany when a teacher scolded me for being a mouth

breather. As heart rate increases the reflex to breath heavily through the mouth becomes

almost overwhelming. Exertion coupled with mouth breathing releases adrenaline

triggering the fight orflight reflex. This destroys concentration, the rational thinking

brain becomes anestitized, and all you want to do is get out of that room. This is why

Bikram teachers tell neophytes that the goal of the 90-minute secession is to simply stay

in the room.

An aspect that makes Baron Baptistes story so compelling is the complexity of

the Indian philosophy he was surrounded by while growing up due to his family

circumstances. Taking into consideration the Judeo-Christian dominant culture of the

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United States and his respect for Christianity, Baron eventually was able to thread the

needle of seemly disparate thought. He developed his own style of yoga infusing just

enough Western flavor to make in assessable to the masses. He created a multimillion-

dollar business integrating Western capitalism, furthering yogas viability as a business

model, with the intention of delivering the practice to societies that desperately need it.

He did not operate to create personal wealth. It merely is a by-product. There may be

some clash between the values of capitalism and yoga, which has centered Baron in the

eye of some yogic storms. The benefits of yoga are so substantial though, that it is worth

some sacrifice of the purity of yoga with the goal of exposing the practice to the Western

world. Baptiste can take substantial credit for driving the Western yoga movement.

Baptiste style power yoga does not fit neatly into any classical yoga model, but

rather it breaks out of tradition and embraces the intuition of each student (Baptiste

Workbook 15). This statement speaks to the years Baron spent searching, immersed in

numerous styles of exercise, and philosophical thought. Ranging from his years as a

Karate student through his years with professional football. He says the Baptiste system

is an innovative model of yoga that believes that yoga is ultimately a practice of

adaptation: adaptation to the times, culture, and people who are directly being

influenced. (Baptiste workbook 14). Baron points out that his brand of yoga should not

be seen as rebellious, but more a revolution in personaltransformation. A personal

revolution triggered by differentiating between rote knowledge and habitual ritual and

the central, universal and timelessprinciples that exist at yogas coreteaching (Baptiste

workbook 14). At first blush it may seem like Baptiste is far off the yoga reservation, but

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in reality it is not. Baptiste power yoga takes it cues from two sources; Hatha yoga for the

physical practice, and The Eight Limbs of Yoga (Patanjalis Ashtanga Yoga).

Hatha yoga is the root of most Western style yoga today. Including, Iyengar,

Anusara, Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow, and Power Yoga. The differences between the styles

are not significant, but each has its own brand name stamped on it. The branding of yoga

is in response to its exposure to Western culture ushering more un-yogic like controversy.

I find it interesting that some feel the Westernization of yoga is perverting this method of

enlightenment that is thousands of years old. Or is it? It may come as a surprise that the

first in-depth writings on Hatha yoga and related explanations of asana practice are just a

few hundred years old, not thousands as is often claimed or intimated in the popular yoga

media and literature (Stephens 16). Other than sitting in the Padmasana (Lotus Pose),

the older yoga texts such as the Patanjalis Sutras are concerned with meditation, Atman,

Braham, and other more spiritual sides, not the physical asanas. The first writings on

Hatha yoga stem from the fourteenth century in a texted called theHatha Yoga Pradipika

written by Swami Swatmarama. The term hatha means several things. It derives from

ha, meaning sun, and tha, meaning moon,symbolizing life force and consciousness

(Stephens 17). It can also mean power or force, but is more in tune with personal

power squaring well with the Baptiste yoga philosophy. Hatha yoga uses all of who we

are-physically, mentally, emotionally, our most subtle and elusive inner nature

(Stephens 17).

The meditative or spiritual component of Baptiste yoga comes from The Eight

Limbs of Yoga (Patanjalis Astanga Yoga). The Yoga Sutras are the philosophical

foundation that most Westernized yoga works from. As a student of Aristotle, Ive come

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In conclusion, my recent experience with Baron Baptiste has been a tremendous

force multipler in terms of bring my personal yoga practice and life. Additionally, a solid

foundation has been structured for me to really engage with the community as a yoga

teacher thanks to the Baptiste methodology. Ive come to learn while writing this paper

that a substantial amount of rancor swirls around successful yoga masters such as Baron

Baptiste and Bikram Choudhury. A company called Yoga Workshas started a chain of

studios opening throughout the United States furthering yoga purists concerns of yogas

Western taint. They claim independent studios will be squashed much like Amazon and

Barnes & Nobles has squashed small booksellers. Baron Baptiste has been accused as a

ruinous influence on yoga for amassing wealth as if he started out with such intentions.

His charisma and wealth is a by-product of a lifetime spent searching for a truthful self

seated in his soul, and simple tenacity. He has changed many thousands of lives for the

better. In other words I salute his success. Its funny how the most politically progressive

embrace yoga, but are the first to bark if any changes come to the original form.

This paper is a companion piece to the seven days I spent in Austin, Texas

training under Baron Baptiste. In it, I discuss my Level 1 experience, my thoughts on

Baron Baptiste, his family history, and some of his prominent mentors. I also detail the

origins of his own style of yoga calledBaptiste Power Vinyasa Flow. I furthered the

discussion by researching some history regarding charisma, and how this applies to

Baptiste. I also briefly survey of some yogas history that is relevant to Baron Baptiste.

As of today, I am still in the infancy stage of learning about yoga. I hope to continue to

practice, teach and evolve.

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Baptiste, Baron, and Richard Corman.Journey into Power : How to Sculpt Your Ideal

Body, Free Your True Self, and Transform Your Life with Yoga. New York: Simon

& Schuster, 2002./xwc/. Web.

Baptiste, Baron. 40 Days to Personal Revolution : A Breakthrough Program to Radically

Change Your Body and Awaken the Sacred within Your Soul. New York: Simon &

Schuster, 2004./xwc/. Web.

Barnes, Douglas F. "Charisma and Religious Leadership: An Historical Analysis."

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion17.1 (1978): pp. 1-18. Web.

BILLARD, MARY. "Mind, Body, Spirit; Flow Or no, Following the Yogis." New York

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Hamilton, Sue.Indian Philosophy : A very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University

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"Interview with Power Yoga Innovator Baron Baptiste "Web. 11/15/2011

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Jeremijenko, Valerie. "How we live our yoga teachers and practitioners on how yoga

enriches, surprises, and heals us." 2002.Web./xwc/.

Joshi, K. S. "On the Meaning of Yoga."Philosophy East and West15.1 (1965): pp. 53-

64. Web

Jeremy Page, Delhi. "American Attempt to Patent Yoga Puts Indians in a Twist." Times,

The (United Kingdom)Web.

"Kim, Sung Ho, "Max Weber", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008

Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =

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Potts, John,.A History of Charisma. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York:

Palgrave Macmillan, 2009./xwc/. Web.

Stephens, Mark,. Teaching Yoga : Essential Foundations and Techniques. Berkeley,

Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 2010./xwc/. Web.

"Title: Becoming A Yogi: Resocialization and Deconditioning as Conversion

ProcessesAuthor(s): Stephen R. WilsonSource: Sociological Analysis, Vol. 45, no. 4

(Winter, 1984), Pp. 301-314Publisher(s): Oxford University Press." Web.

Turner, Stephen. "Charisma Reconsidered."Journal of Classical Sociology3.1 (2003): 5-

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Smith, Huston, and Huston Smith. The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions.

San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. Print.

Weber, Max,.Economy and Society; an Outline of Interpretive Sociology.New York:

Bedminster Press, 1968./xwc/. Web.