The Consumerism of Yoga and The Ultimate Yogi DVD and Company Review

Staff Archives
#1

I own quite a few websites related to yoga. One such website is for Yoga DVD reviews and it’s not uncommon for people and companies to send me yoga DVDs to, well, review. When a representative of [noparse]www.ultimateyogi.com[/noparse] contacted me to ask if I’d review their new DVD series, I said I would and not much later, I received the box set from featuring Travis Eliot on the cover.

The box set sat on my desk for a couple days as I’ve been busy. Not long thereafter, I received a reported post from this forum as a new member “ultyogi” was spamming the place up. I didn’t ban him but instead simply archived his posts as he made them. 24 messages in total, all complete crap and all full of guerilla marketing that were an attempt to market The Ultimate Yogi website. Doing a quick Google search for “ultyogi” you can see that they digitally vomited all over the internet.

The box set DVD sits unopened on my desk. As such, I decided to post here instead of doing a normal review. I’m thinking of burning the DVD set. What’s the point of opening it? If a company is willing to engage in what are, in my opinion, underhanded marketing techniques (and potentially illegal under the Can Spam Act), even if the yoga on the DVD is great, their ethics and morals are, in my opinion, so corrupted that I wouldn’t want to recommend their product to anyone.

In summary, the Ultimate Yogi is anything but in my opinion. If you see anyone from the company or Travis Eliot, be sure to let them know that their marketing techniques are disgusting and that you’ll never purchase a product from them. In my opinion, they’re only about the money and will do just about anything to get that.

For shame.

I open this thread up to the discussion of whether or not yoga has been taken over by consumerism and if it has corrupted the practice at all.

#2

In my opinion, yoga has been deeply corrupted by consumerism and greed. Even as I look in our teacher training forum and see the posts by people from India who we all so blindly and naively held in the highest of regards, you can see this. It has become all about profit and the beauty and benefit of the practice of yoga has been lost.

There are a few holdouts but they are few and far between and it’s hard to smell the roses in a sea of crap.

#3

It’s really unfortunate how profit based Yoga has become in the west. It really goes against all things spiritual to charge 10+dollars a class and 70+dollars for a pair of yoga pants or shorts. Don’t get me wrong, I am willing to pay these prices in order to receive the practice that I desire but I’m sure most yogis in India would be baffled by our “yoga industry.”

Funny story, I am currently looking for a new yoga studio to call home as I recently moved to a different city. One of the only studios that I could find with a SEMI affordable monthly unlimited plan was one that I swore I would never step foot in by the shi shi, boutique outside appearance and it’s poor Yelp reviews…but alas, out of desperation for an unlimited plan I went in and signed up for the new student special. (3 classes for 30 dollars…I know, right?) and most people think that this is a great deal! Anyways, I wanted to try some classes before committing to a monthly package so I bought the new student special. The studio was set up so that when you walk in and are waiting for the current class to end you are standing right in a boutique that sells yoga clothes, mats, bags, cds, jewelry, etc all for uncanny prices…after being surrounded by all the merchendise and the not so friendly lady behind the counter for 20 minutes before my class, I didn’t feel very peaceful. To make a long story short, I won’t be coming back here and I’m hoping to find a studio where yoga hasn’t lost (as much) of what it used to be.

I digress…

#4

Is $10.00 for a class greedy? It’s easy to think so when you see 20 students in a class and do that simple math. But running a yoga studio can be EXPENSIVE. You have to pay the teachers, the lease, electricity, and all sorts of other overhead. All while making enough profit that you have enough to live on. I don’t have a problem with people making a living from the practice of yoga, where I have a problem is when they do it in an unethical way or let greed cloud what’s best for the majority.

#5

Gaaah! Don’t burn them… [I]recycle [/I]them to me!! I’d love to take them off your hands!! Seriously, if you want to give them away to me, I’ll love you forever. ;o)

#6

Meant to add, and can’t seem to edit my post, that I practice yoga exclusively through DVDs and related media, so despite the shilling, I’d still love and use this set, but at the price they are charging it is too much for me.

#7

Each new dawn is preceded by the darkest hour. But night?s ?downfall? is the only way sun can rise. Only that ensures sun?s healthy emergence, it fulfills the karma debts and the worth of a sun-ray is appreciated. What is of importance is the nadir, a point where even the most liberal minded feel a need to say, ?thus far and no further?. That is the hope and the only way. The mean and the greedy would always do what they are good at; the conscientious like you David have to recognize the nadir and prevent it from becoming a bottomless pit. And you did it.

#8

[QUOTE=David;72637]I own quite a few websites related to yoga. One such website is for Yoga DVD reviews [/QUOTE]

Could you please post a link to your Yoga DVD reviews website? Thanks!

#9

David, Thanks for the heads up.

#10

Yoga is being taken over by commercialism. I have seen famous yoga teachers adhering to Ayn Rand’s objectivism to house moms selling meditation workshops for 300 euros to Australian businessmen selling online purohita certifications.

A few years back I did actually pay money to go to yoga classes. I have tried various teachers, some with prestigious certifications and 30 years of teaching experience. But then I started to question what do these modern hatha yoga teachers actually have to offer that I can’t figure out on my own.

That’s why I don’t pay money anymore to yoga teachers, yoga websites or yoga DVDs. This whole industry is focused on making people more dependend on external guidance and not more independent from them. The hatha yoga asanas are not rocket science, patient and consistent practice will make you better at them. Practicing 15 minutes at home everyday is better than going to yoga class every week. It is more important to listen to your own body than to listen to a drill sergeant who will empty your pockets.

#12

Interesting, I never heard about this products before, it would be quite interesting to check more reviews from you. By the way, don't neglect review services like PissedConsumer , feel free to post your feedbacks on different companies there, so that more people could read it.