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51 reviews for:
Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Bikram Yoga
Benjamin Lorr
3.88 AVERAGE
51 reviews for:
Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Bikram Yoga
Benjamin Lorr
3.88 AVERAGE
Fascinating read. But does nothing to change my already mixed feelings about Bikram Yoga.
This is my first autobiography/memoir book that I've read. I cannot say much how good this book as memoir, compared to other similar books.
Actually, I don't have any expectation when started reading the book. Majority of the book is the life of the author in yoga related activities, especially when the author practicing Bikram Yoga (BY) style.
For people who doesn't familiar yoga or BY, this book could be read as an introduction what is a serious yoga practitioner's life, a ton of controversial stories regarding Bikram Choudhury, and life stories about people that affected by BY or by Bikram Choudhury himself.
I have unique experience reading this book, because I have a buddy read with a Bikram yogi practitioner, and my friend told me a lot of the gossips/controversial stories are open secrets in BY community.
What I like from this book:
1. There are interviews with experts. Not just yoga experts but other disciplines regarding healthiness and benefits of yoga, especially BY that practices in hot temperature.
There are experts and discussions about non-yoga topics, such as narcissism, but those parts are good, but not stir my personal interest as much as yoga related issues.
2. Sometimes author writes his understanding of a yoga topic. Which is good, because unlike archaic Eastern philosophy texts, the author writes his definition in easily understood tenses.
What I don't like:
1. The memoir is written in light tone, but I didn't find any joke funny, not even for a smirk. It is uncomfortable for me, reading a whole supposed-to-be-hilarious book.
2. This book covers a lot of topics, but without definite separation of each topic. One chapter There are psychoanalysis of narcissism, life stories of some inspiring yoga teachers, interviews with experts, etc.
Actually, I don't have any expectation when started reading the book. Majority of the book is the life of the author in yoga related activities, especially when the author practicing Bikram Yoga (BY) style.
For people who doesn't familiar yoga or BY, this book could be read as an introduction what is a serious yoga practitioner's life, a ton of controversial stories regarding Bikram Choudhury, and life stories about people that affected by BY or by Bikram Choudhury himself.
I have unique experience reading this book, because I have a buddy read with a Bikram yogi practitioner
Spoiler
(and my friend once were asked to join a backbender club too. LOL! well, if you don't familiar with backbender club, it is a club of hardcore committed yogi practitioners who do extra practice that described at earlier chapters on the book)What I like from this book:
1. There are interviews with experts. Not just yoga experts but other disciplines regarding healthiness and benefits of yoga, especially BY that practices in hot temperature.
There are experts and discussions about non-yoga topics, such as narcissism, but those parts are good, but not stir my personal interest as much as yoga related issues.
2. Sometimes author writes his understanding of a yoga topic. Which is good, because unlike archaic Eastern philosophy texts, the author writes his definition in easily understood tenses.
What I don't like:
1. The memoir is written in light tone, but I didn't find any joke funny, not even for a smirk. It is uncomfortable for me, reading a whole supposed-to-be-hilarious book.
2. This book covers a lot of topics, but without definite separation of each topic. One chapter There are psychoanalysis of narcissism, life stories of some inspiring yoga teachers, interviews with experts, etc.
I found his examination of Bikram yoga pretty even-handed and his approach rather thorough. I have my own reasons for avoiding Bikram and competitive yoga, but it was a treat to see it all through someone who is more open to it than I am. I learned a great deal and would happily recommend this book.
Totally engrossing and fascinating for anyone in the Bikram community and beyond. I take his words as a highly illustrative but not conclusive piece to the Bikram puzzle I love so much.
At times, this was a very slow read. (It picked up for me when the author attended teacher training.) Regardless, Hell-Bent is an intriguing look inside extreme yoga.
Really excellent. Benjamin Lorr takes a surprisingly unbiased look at something that clearly had a huge impact on his life. There were a few times when I didn't really enjoy the writing style (most notably in the chapter "Things I learned...") but Lorr is amusing and self-deprecating, particularly at those moments that really call out for it. An enjoyable read, even (maybe especially) if you know nothing about Bikram yoga.
I was as up & down with my feelings toward this book as the author was with the content and his feelings toward Bikram. For the most part, it kept my attention and opened me to a world within yoga that is so extremely different from my own experiences. In my few years practicing yoga, I can already appreciate it as a journey and it's clear the author does too (he refers to this near the end of the book). It could also be why I felt the content was a bit scattered at times, jumping from teacher training to yoga competitions to personal stories to the drama of the Bikram underground world to scientific explanations of the body/brain and beyond ---> most of which left me bored and eager to plow through. I think with so much to say he tried to jam too much in.
I'm not a Bikram fan and the book makes me even less inclined to practice his style of yoga, though I appreciate the classes I've gone to in the past and can attest to feeling great after doing them. It was neat to hear his students' opinions of this conflicted, dual man. Yoga is many different things to different people and everyone is drawn to it for varied reasons at exactly the time they are meant to. This speaks clearly in the book, and hearing about how Bikram yoga has benefited various diseases, addictions, injuries, etc. was one of the most enjoyable parts for me. Also the peek into the world of 'backbending club' was insanely warped yet so captivating. He did a great job portraying it.
Side note: anyone know why he constantly referred to yoga as "the yoga"?!
I'm not a Bikram fan and the book makes me even less inclined to practice his style of yoga, though I appreciate the classes I've gone to in the past and can attest to feeling great after doing them. It was neat to hear his students' opinions of this conflicted, dual man. Yoga is many different things to different people and everyone is drawn to it for varied reasons at exactly the time they are meant to. This speaks clearly in the book, and hearing about how Bikram yoga has benefited various diseases, addictions, injuries, etc. was one of the most enjoyable parts for me. Also the peek into the world of 'backbending club' was insanely warped yet so captivating. He did a great job portraying it.
Side note: anyone know why he constantly referred to yoga as "the yoga"?!
I enjoyed this, but wouldn't have picked it up if I'd known so much of the book was about Bikram Choudhury. (This was published before the sexual assault cases; the author discusses harassment experienced by some of his classmates.) Also felt like the subtitle was misleading since the competition was not the main thing. Obsession and pain? Check and check.
Interesting delve into the world of competitive yoga, bikram and the journey a number of people (including the author) have taken to pushing their yoga practice to extreme levels. As a yoga lover I found this an absorbing read!
QUICK PITCH: An oral history of Bikram Yoga, alongside an interrogation of the author's own relationship to Bikram Choudhury and yoga.
A note: This book was published in 2012, before Choudhury was publicly accused of rape and sexual assualt in 2013. Lorr doesn't go into great detail on the topic. Based on some information in later chapters, it seems likely that he couldn't get any sources to either speak to him or go on record at the time. If you want to know more about that topic specifically, ESPN's 30for30 podcast did a five-episode series on Bikram in 2018.
VERDICT: It was fine.
Lorr spent a bit too much time lionizing the benefits of Bikram yoga specifically. I would have preferred more dissenting viewpoints, especially from teachers from different branches of yoga. For example, Lorr never mentions Iyengar or Ashtanga, two rigorous approaches to yoga that don't involve intense heat.
At the end, Lorr's vision of Bikram Choudhury seems to be one of a man who was great and fell due to narcissistic tendencies and the general temptations of capitalism. I don't entirely I agree with his assessment. The memories presented of Bikram as a great man are all presented by people who were entirely in his thrall at the time, and research done since the book was published have revealed just how many of Bikram's claims to fames were, in fact, lies. Lorr is more willing to write this off than I am.
A note: This book was published in 2012, before Choudhury was publicly accused of rape and sexual assualt in 2013. Lorr doesn't go into great detail on the topic. Based on some information in later chapters, it seems likely that he couldn't get any sources to either speak to him or go on record at the time. If you want to know more about that topic specifically, ESPN's 30for30 podcast did a five-episode series on Bikram in 2018.
VERDICT: It was fine.
Lorr spent a bit too much time lionizing the benefits of Bikram yoga specifically. I would have preferred more dissenting viewpoints, especially from teachers from different branches of yoga. For example, Lorr never mentions Iyengar or Ashtanga, two rigorous approaches to yoga that don't involve intense heat.
At the end, Lorr's vision of Bikram Choudhury seems to be one of a man who was great and fell due to narcissistic tendencies and the general temptations of capitalism. I don't entirely I agree with his assessment. The memories presented of Bikram as a great man are all presented by people who were entirely in his thrall at the time, and research done since the book was published have revealed just how many of Bikram's claims to fames were, in fact, lies. Lorr is more willing to write this off than I am.