Bikram

Bikram Choudhury’s fitness revolution brought a yoga boom to America. But his guru status enabled increasingly dark behavior. Julia Lowrie Henderson delves deep into the complicated world of Bikram Yoga.

Listen

Part 1 Arrival

Bikram Choudhury begins his journey to fame, wealth, and scandal in 1970s Los Angeles. He takes Beverly Hills by storm, using his Hollywood connections and rags-to-riches origin story to build a devoted following and lay the foundation for a yoga empire.

42 mins (Photo by Guy Webster)

Part 2 Process

Bikram spreads his brand of hot yoga through teacher trainings, where he puts his most devoted followers through nine weeks of intense suffering and begins to reveal the complexities of his character.

37 mins

Part 3 Power

Bikram claims ownership over his brand of yoga using increasingly hardball tactics. Julia investigates the roots of yoga to try to separate what is true from what is false in Bikram’s story.

48 mins

Part 4 Truth

As Bikram’s darkest behaviors begin to emerge, the community devoted to his yoga is forced to face the truth about its leader.

45 mins

Part 5 Reckoning

Members of the Bikram community wrestle with Bikram’s behavior, their own complicity, and grapple with the question, “Can Bikram the yoga be separated from Bikram the man?”

33 mins