Peter Seamans | Outside Online

You Are Here:

Home >> Om Wrecker (Cont.)

Today's Question
How do you make primitive snowshoes? answer

What should you do if you get lost driving in a snow storm? answer

Today's Question
What is the greenest ski and snowboard on the market? answer

Can I really damage a coral reef with sunscreen while snorkeling? answer

What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Outside Magazine September 2004

Page:

Peter ”Iron Yogi” Seamans: Yoga Without Pity
Om Wrecker (Cont.)

WHEN YOGA WAS CREATED, in India some 5,000 years ago, holy-shit moments weren't exactly what the ancients had in mind. A sacred belief system that branched into a variety of forms, its most popular offshoot in the West, hatha yoga, focuses on posture and breath control as a way to know God.

A Russian-born woman with the chosen name of Indra Devi opened America's first hatha yoga studio, in Hollywood in 1947. Patronized by Olivia de Havilland and Gloria Swanson, Devi began the tradition of teaching celebrities about forces more powerful than their own publicity. By the 1970s, yoga had gained much broader exposure, and a few savvy yogis began tweaking the ancient formulas, giving the practice its first modern marketing twists. Bikram Choudhury's superheated yoga—26 poses performed in a 110-degree room, the better to loosen your muscles—debuted in Beverly Hills in 1972, and in recent years became such a craze that Choudhury built a franchise. Today, with 314 certified schools worldwide—and a fleet of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys in his garages—Bikram Yoga rakes in some $7 million a year.

By the 1980s, Beryl Bender Birch had created the immensely popular Power Yoga, with a routine designed especially for skiers and runners. Baron Baptiste—whose father, Walt Baptiste, was Mr. America 1949—scored a similarly big hit when he combined vinyasa-style yoga (involving a near-seamless flow of postures) with the wisdom learned on a youthful surf safari, and dubbed it Power Vinyasa.

Today, with millions of adherents spending as much as $1,500 a year on classes and merchandise, American yoga is a $22.5 billion enterprise. And, not surprisingly, huge numbers of strivers would like to join the ranks of the well-heeled stars.

In this crowded field, the Iron Yogi ranks as an accomplished player who hasn't—yet—achieved the headliner status he envisions. To get there, he'll have to distinguish himself from the 300-plus new teachers popping up every month. Which means Turbo Vinyasa will have to stand out from the 74 class styles—ranging from ashtanga (created by a guru in a cave in Tibet) to Soul Sweat Asana (emphasizing "fun and freedom in the body")—that are self-registered with Yoga Alliance, a five-year-old national organization charged with the difficult task of keeping tabs on yoga's "diversity and integrity."

Seamans's business goal is to fill the void between what he calls "superficial health-center yoga" and "press-a-ruby-into-your-forehead, stinky-vegetarian yoga."

Asked to size up the Iron Yogi's chances, Power Vinyasa honcho Baptiste says they're pretty good. "There is a market and a place for high-intensity, extreme yoga," Baptiste says. "The type A's would definitely love it."

Birch, the Power Yoga maven, argues that the guru market is facing a glut. "Back in 1980, mention that you do yoga and people would have you locked up," she notes. "Now everyone's doing teacher training. Pretty soon it's going to be all teachers and no students!"

She's only half joking. In America today, anyone can be a yogi.

Page:

•	Subscribe to Outside and get a FREE Gift!

•	Give the gift of Outside Magazine!

•	Subscribe to Outside Online's free weekly e-mail newsletter featuring gear reviews, fitness advice, galleries, podcasts, and more.