Bikram Choudhury–the short, chiseled and youthfully radiant 62-year-old inventor of “Bikram Yoga”–it could be one of his several dozen Rolls-Royces or Bentleys, fine complements to his 8,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills. His taste in food is more modest: Choudhury says he subsists on one small high-protein meal after midnight and less than three hours of sleep, though he does have an appetite for diamond-encrusted Rolex watches.
As he tells it, he started his first studio in the U.S. in 1972 with the help of President Richard Nixon, who, after following Choudhury’s advice for coping with phlebitis (by doing poses and taking near-scalding baths), granted him a U.S. visa and found taxpayer money to build his first three schools.
Choudhury’s yoga routine involves a 90-minute series of 26 poses and two breathing exercises performed in 105-degree rooms. About 350 U.S. studios market Bikram Yoga classes–under the condition that instructors survive a nine-week training course hosted by Choudhury’s company, Bikram’s YogaCollege of India.
Choudhury has fought to capture more value for years. Since 1978 he has secured eight copyrights covering a series of poses and instructor scripts, and in 2002 trademarked “Bikram Yoga” (along with variations on the name). That same year Choudhury sued a Costa Mesa, Calif. studio that used the Bikram name but did not employ teachers formally trained by him, for copyright infringement. Following a federal district court ruling that leaned Choudhury’s way, the studio paid an undisclosed sum and agreed not to run Bikram-style classes.
The victory was short-lived. In 2005 the nonprofit Open Source Yoga Unity challenged the copyrights in federal district court in San Francisco. That case was settled, too, with the Open Source members agreeing not to use the Bikram brand without Choudhury’s authorization.
Choudhury’s franchise document predicts that 150 U.S. locations will sign up by year’s end. That could be a stretch.
