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51 reviews for:
Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Bikram Yoga
Benjamin Lorr
3.89 AVERAGE
51 reviews for:
Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Bikram Yoga
Benjamin Lorr
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
funny
informative
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Interesting from a yoga standpoint, skipped all the poorly sighted studies
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
The title of this book is misleading. While it does spend some time talking about competitive yoga (Lorr went from yoga novice to performing in the National Yoga Asana Championship within a few years), this book is really about Bikram Choudhury and Bikram yoga.
In short, this book is a great example of the theory that any workout regime can make you a crazy person if you take it just far enough over the line of normalcy. Lorr points out early on the “Lululemon-izing” of yoga, or the mass market appeal of yoga by casual practitioners due to the belief they are taking part in something fitness-related with a dose of meditation and relaxation here and there. Yoga to Lorr is more than a fitness regime (although he spends an obscene amount of time talking about the taut, muscle-sculpted bodies of fellow Bikram-going men and women). It IS his life. It makes him sick and injures his body and prompts him to join the Backbenders, the closest thing I can imagine to a yoga cult, and yet he writes all of this in a really humorous and self-deprecating way. It’s almost enough to fool me that he’s able to keep one foot out of the door. But I know better. I’ve read enough healthy living blogs to smell wholesale pledged obsession in between the lines.
Much of the book, as I said before, actually centers around Lorr’s experiences at the Bikram yoga instructor training course—a 9 week program Lorr attends in San Diego with hundreds of other instructor hopefuls. In between discussing the grueling training regime, Lorr talks about Bikram Choudbury, founder of the Bikram practice. He talks about him a lot. He’s simultaneously fascinated/inspired by the man, but conflicted too—Bikram is not particularly likable. Lorr suspects he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, dislikes the way Bikram cruelly taunts trainees in classes and feels uncomfortable with Bikram’s treatment of women. He talks to several of Bikram’s former favorites who have been banished by the man for one reason or another. As the book continues and Lorr puts more distance between himself and the master yogi who may or may not have a serious mental health problem, Lorr’s perspective becomes more measured. Questioning. He doesn’t doubt the efficacy of the yoga itself. He believes in the practice. But can he believe in the practice if he doesn’t really like the man behind it? A valid question, since I had no idea how intertwined Bikram-the-yoga and Bikram-the-man really are (or were?).
It’s a well-written book, full of interesting research into yoga health benefits, injuries, the use of heat as a training mechanism, the origins of yoga, origins of Bikram, etc. There are some moving and fascinating personal anecdotes, including interviews with people who seem to have conquered or mitigated major health problems through Bikram yoga practice. Lorr, though, is maybe the most fascinating anecdote of them all. His journey from overweight couch-surfer to Backbender to Bikram trainee to yoga competition participant is an interesting study in how a certain level of devotion to a rigorous fitness regime can mold a person into an athlete.
Anyway, this was a great read. I’m happy that it’s the book that will mark the completion of my Goodreads yearly book goal. On to the next!
In short, this book is a great example of the theory that any workout regime can make you a crazy person if you take it just far enough over the line of normalcy. Lorr points out early on the “Lululemon-izing” of yoga, or the mass market appeal of yoga by casual practitioners due to the belief they are taking part in something fitness-related with a dose of meditation and relaxation here and there. Yoga to Lorr is more than a fitness regime (although he spends an obscene amount of time talking about the taut, muscle-sculpted bodies of fellow Bikram-going men and women). It IS his life. It makes him sick and injures his body and prompts him to join the Backbenders, the closest thing I can imagine to a yoga cult, and yet he writes all of this in a really humorous and self-deprecating way. It’s almost enough to fool me that he’s able to keep one foot out of the door. But I know better. I’ve read enough healthy living blogs to smell wholesale pledged obsession in between the lines.
Much of the book, as I said before, actually centers around Lorr’s experiences at the Bikram yoga instructor training course—a 9 week program Lorr attends in San Diego with hundreds of other instructor hopefuls. In between discussing the grueling training regime, Lorr talks about Bikram Choudbury, founder of the Bikram practice. He talks about him a lot. He’s simultaneously fascinated/inspired by the man, but conflicted too—Bikram is not particularly likable. Lorr suspects he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, dislikes the way Bikram cruelly taunts trainees in classes and feels uncomfortable with Bikram’s treatment of women. He talks to several of Bikram’s former favorites who have been banished by the man for one reason or another. As the book continues and Lorr puts more distance between himself and the master yogi who may or may not have a serious mental health problem, Lorr’s perspective becomes more measured. Questioning. He doesn’t doubt the efficacy of the yoga itself. He believes in the practice. But can he believe in the practice if he doesn’t really like the man behind it? A valid question, since I had no idea how intertwined Bikram-the-yoga and Bikram-the-man really are (or were?).
It’s a well-written book, full of interesting research into yoga health benefits, injuries, the use of heat as a training mechanism, the origins of yoga, origins of Bikram, etc. There are some moving and fascinating personal anecdotes, including interviews with people who seem to have conquered or mitigated major health problems through Bikram yoga practice. Lorr, though, is maybe the most fascinating anecdote of them all. His journey from overweight couch-surfer to Backbender to Bikram trainee to yoga competition participant is an interesting study in how a certain level of devotion to a rigorous fitness regime can mold a person into an athlete.
Anyway, this was a great read. I’m happy that it’s the book that will mark the completion of my Goodreads yearly book goal. On to the next!
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This was a text I picked up second-hand because of the intriguing title and the niche subject area. I was taught a free yoga class by an Air Bnb host a few years ago who was training to become an instructor and I felt absolutely incredible after it, like I could float along the street. I was intrigued to find out what happens with this practice in the long run, how far can it go and what are the benefits for the body. It was fascinating to discover this strange and unfamiliar world where yoga seems to be the be and all end all. I enjoyed the writing style and found the author relatable which meant the subject matter was accessible to a noob like myself. My only criticism would be that the novel was set up to address a particular concern (can yoga go too far and cause more harm than good?) which it did to an extent based on lived experience but did not give a particular scientific answer to the question at the end which the chapters seemed to have been building up to. The research is well done and several credible sources are interviewed throughout the process but it becomes less about discovering this fact and more about exposing the corruption of Bikram. Nonetheless, it’s still a highly enjoyable read and a great insight.
Wow - this is exactly the book I wanted to read when I first picked up Neal Pollack's "Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Dude." While Pollack's book left me wanting substance, Lorr's novel tells a complete story with research, interviews, and personal experience. I could not put this book down. It came with me to work, to read before yoga class, left on nightstands and coffee tables. I can't wait for his next work because honestly I was hooked from the first page.
This book was LONG. It just kept going. It did have some insightful information about the "inside circle" of yoga and I now feel a little grossed out when I think about Bikram yoga and Bikram himself (yuck!). Unfortunately, this book didn't move me like I had hoped that it would. This writer could have been a better story teller with all of the research, practice, and time he spent looking into competitive yoga. I think his second book will be better but I felt like this book took a lot of good pieces information and then taped together to make one long, sort of decent book. I could have gotten the same amount of information in half the pages.
this book was ok. it was a slow read - I'm not clear what the authors real point was for telling this story.
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced