2019 was a monstrous year shaped by politics, controversy, and big cultural and natural events. Here’s how yoga contributed to the year 2019:
- Corporate yoga empire CorePower was critiqued for their profitable approach to selling teacher training, using their teachers as salespeople and incentivizing them with bonuses.
- The documentary Bikram: Yoga, Guru Predator came out on Netflix, telling the dark story of charismatic yogi celebrity Bikram Choudhury, who has been accused of sexual assault & harassment by several women. Oprah Magazine says he fled to Mexico, where he lives today.
- The yoga world lost Spiritual & psychedelic icon Baba Ram Dass on 12/22, leaving behind many inspiration books including Be Here Now.
- Yoga with goats became a fast-growing trend, but did you know you can also practice with flamingos and reindeer? Less popular, sloth yoga was cancelled after 33,000 people signed an online petition to protect the sloths.
- NYC yoga teachers are unionizing to receive better pay, benefits, and job security.
- The yoga industry has joined the national conversation on consent, and students and teachers are discussing assists, modifications, and appropriate & unwanted touch.
Thanks for taking a look back on how yoga added to 2019.
