On this episode, I speak to Julia Lowrie Henderson, the producer behind ESPN's new 30 for 30 podcast series "Bikram."Bikram Choudhury arrived in the U.S. from Calcutta, India and opened a yoga studio in Beverly Hills in 1973. His intense system of yoga caught on quickly and Bikram became known as the "guru to the stars," with devotees ranging from Shirley MacLaine to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Raquel Welch. Within two decades, Bikram built a "yoga empire" that included national television appearances, a massive following of devoted students, and a multi-million dollar brand. But Bikram's rise to power came at a cost to many of his students and employees. By 2015, six women had filed civil lawsuits against him, with allegations ranging from sexual harassment to assault to rape.For the podcast series, Lowrie Henderson spent more than a year of her life traveling to India, interviewing students from the Bikram community, and speaking Bikram himself so that we can hear the truth of his story.In this interview, Lowrie Henderson offers insight into Bikram's early rise to fame, his teacher training methodology, and how the 26/2 system is faring without Bikram in the U.S.Shownotes: yogalandpodcast.com/episode104/SHOUT-OUT TO OUR SPONSORS1. I love cooking but even I get tired of the grind day after day. One thing that’s helped me immensely is Sunbasket meal delivery service -- they offer organic produce and clean ingredients and many different types of meal plans. Their food is so delicious and I LOVE how creative they are! Go to sunbasket.com/yogaland to get $35 off your first order.2. To my women listeners out there – have you tried Lola yet? LOLA is a female-founded company offering organic cotton tampons, pads, and liners. For 40% off your first order, visit mylola.com and enter the code YOGALAND40 when you subscribe.3. HelloFresh is a meal kit delivery service that shops, plans, and delivers step-by-step recipes and pre-measured ingredients. They have three plans to choose from -- Classic, Veggie, and Family and every week there’s a 20 minute meal on the classic menu if you really don’t have even 30 minutes! Which let’s face it, happens! For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit hellofresh.com and enter YOGALAND30 at checkout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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