Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury | image via rajashree.com
Big news. The Bikram Yoga power couple may soon be no more. Could we have predicted this? Rajashree, wife of Bikram Choudhury and a partner in his Bikram Yoga empire, has filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences according to the court documents obtained by TMZ (no less).
Bikram Choudhury has been facing six lawsuits made against him over the past few years alleging rape and sexual assault (amongst other things). Although Rajashree Choudhury is implicated in the cases (many of the suits are versus Bikram the man as well as the corporation of which Rajashree was/is a huge part), she has been distancing herself from the man for a while.
As head of the United States Yoga Federation (USA Yoga), Rajashree has led annual national yoga asana championships and has been working to bring yoga to be in the Olympics as a competitive sport. But recently, the ties to Bikram Yoga have been increasingly severed, most notably with the glaring absence of a previous fedora’d staple at these events. However, as evidenced by her website, she is still very much involved with Bikram Yoga in general.
Last April in an interview with CNN, Bikram Choudhury expressed how his wife Rajashree wouldn’t look at him since the sexual assault lawsuits were filed. He also denied any wrongdoing, said he felt sorry for the accusers and claimed that, “Women like me. Women love me. So if I really wanted to involve the women, I don’t have to assault the women.”
Apparently, the woman he’s been married to for 31 years has decided it’s time to call it quits. According to initial reports, Rajashree is requesting spousal support and is staking her claim to various community assets, including properties in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and Honolulu. Rajashree has been very involved in the entire Bikram Yoga empire which is worth millions, and has been in the brink of dissolution.
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More…
Implicated, not implemented.
Woops. Post-holiday brain. Thanks.
Not really, it symbolizes your triumph over you animal instincts. Gurus are often depicted sitting on animal skins.
sitting on the skin of a tiger??? how unyogic
A tiger skin “yoga mat” is traditional (see Yoga Makaranda, by Krishnamacharya). Not saying it’s necessarily a good idea in modern times…
I have a tiger print mat. Is that unyogic? Speaking of which could anyone point me to a holy list of what is Yogic vs Non Yogic. Some folks at the studio accused me of being non yogic because I drive a truck.
Big Om Daddy,
The list would be the Yamas. Search ‘yoga basics.com the five yamas of yoga’ . Yoga is a practice not a perfect and don’t worry about what silly people say (;
The Donald Trump of yoga.
I am sure she wants her share of the assets before there are none.
^^ Actually he is far more analogous to Bill Clinton, in respect to the numerous sexual assault allegations.
Try Bill Cosby…
Try John Friend, Jean Baptiste and a whole slew of phony American gurus dating back to the 1980s. You really don’t have to go outside of yoga to find “analogies”. American yoga is — and always has been — a homegrown cesspool with the yamas and niyamas employed as figleafs at best. The only new wrinkle in this decadent “mind-body” is the growing number of women who have joined the ranks of pseudo-guru predators — and they don’t have 1/10 of Bikram’s genius. Somehow a Shakti wannabe picking up her male students — married, partnered, or not — is still considered not only a benign exercise, but a confirmation of her true “gift”! For what, I’m not sure. Women of weak intellect, overrated talent, and weak morals have been taking in men — and women, too, by the way — ever since they first started preening in clubs. If you’re Hilaria Baldwin, you also marry the guy and his money. More power to you, Honey. Perhaps it’s oddly reassuring that we now have a sexual double standard in yoga, just as we do in the rest of the society? Thank God! If only one of these whining damsels had been smart enough to convince Bikram that she was actually in love — she’d be sipping tea with Narendra Modi, blessing the Indian army, and running a new Yoga Foundation to defeat ISIS. RAISE YOUR VISION YOGINIS! These opportunities only come once.
Jean Baptiste did yoga? Was American?
well written. Thanks for sharing.Yoga is so cool exercise for body and mind and also it is the source of satisfaction. River side yoga in open air is so interesting. Thank you