Perhaps against our better judgment, 4 of my TeachStreet colleagues and I decided to enter the wonderful, weird (and hot!) world of Bikram yoga together last Friday night. Fred is a frequenter of the Sweatbox (loved by Yelpers everywhere), and he convinced us to tag along. I’m wondering if some (not me of course) came along just to leave work a few hours early.

Undertaking athletic endeavors with colleagues with can sometimes be awkward (like if you join the office softball team only to realize that your boss is the poorest sport on the planet, or that the guy from accounting actually swears like a sailor).

Additionally, Bikram yoga (also known as hot yoga) up’s the ante on the potential weirdness factor seeing that you’re in a room that’s heated to 105 degrees so you’re sweating like a pig AND the outfits of choice for Bikram yoga practitioners is the less the better (see below).

Here’s some bikram menswear found on the official Bikram site.
(I just had to show you.)

All that said, and even though I was often counting down the minutes left before I could go outside and breathe some cool fresh air, I actually had a great time.

Let’s dig a bit more into Bikram shall we? I think it’s time to find out a little more about this hot yoga craze.

Who is Bikram?

Bikram Choudhury was born in Calcutta, India in 1946 and became a student of Bishnu Gosh (younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda) at the age of four. By the time he was in his teens, Bikram has won the National India Yoga Championship four times.

Left: weight-lifter Bikram as a young man.
Right: Bikram now, in his trademark Speedo, at one of his many training conferences for yoga teachers.

After suffering a horrible knee injury due to weight-lifting at the age of 17 (from which the doc, said he’d never walk again) Bikram returned to his guru Mr. Gosh and continued his yoga training. He was back to perfect health in 6 months.

From then on, Bikram Choudhury began opening yoga schools and eventually became known for his own brand of “Bikram Yoga”, which he’s taught with his wife Rajashree Choudhury all over the world. He currently operates the Yoga College of India which is based in California, and has trained thousands of yogis and yoginis how to teach Bikram Yoga themselves.

A shot from one of Bikram’s training classes. Bet that room smells awesome.

What is Bikram Yoga?

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

• “Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class is a twenty-six asana series designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched.”
• “Bikram Yoga’s twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.”

The 26 poses and 2 breathing exercises are done in the exact same sequence every time, and are always done in a heated room, which is said to improve flexibility and circulation.

What’s this I hear about trademarks?

Bikram Yoga has also been the source of some controversy. Bikram Choudhury first trademarked the poses for “Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class” in 1979. Since then, Mr. Choudhury has asserted that all teachers who want to teach Bikram yoga or any “substantially similar” forms must obtain a license from him. The same is true for studios who want to use the “Bikram” name to describe their yoga classes. Check out Salon or Wikipedia for more info on the intellectual property issues surrounding Bikram yoga. There’s also a new documentary by Bad Dog Tales that touches on the topic.

What are the benefits of Bikram?

Practitioners of Bikram describe all sorts of benefits from doing this type of yoga. Testimonials describe improved flexibility, weight loss, reduction of chronic pain, and even improvement in chronic illnesses like diabetes. In addition to the physical benefits, many people describe improved mental health, emotional calmness, and generally feeling more energetic in their lives.

Each of the poses (or asanas) in Bikram yoga prescribes specific benefits. This is the 8th pose in the set: Dandayamana – Bibhaktapada – Paschimotthanasana (which means “standing separate leg separate pose).

Its health benefits include the following: helps relieve depression, loss of memory, constipation, increases circulation to the brain and adrenal glands, stretches the spine and back of the leg.

Closing thoughts…

Bikram may not be for everyone. It’s certainly intense. And sweaty. Did I mention sweaty? However, what I will say is that I felt better over this weekend (more energized and “with it”) than I have in a while.

For those of you who might be up for something a little more low-key, I recommend this great article from Bindu Magazine called “Yoga Toolkit for Computer Users“. As someone who’s recently found herself logging a few extra hours at the computer lately and who wants to ward off a resurgence of carpel tunnel creeping back in, I’ve found these stretches super helpful. Give them a whirl.

That said, I’ve got my yoga mat and yoga block in my bag today and I’m going to give Bikram another whirl. As much as I’ve complained about the sweating… it’s actually sort of liberating.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until then, I leave you with my favorite yoga pose, savasana, also known as “corpse pose”. Lovely eh? Well, once you try it, you’ll know how awesome it actually is.

Happy yoga-ing everyone!

p.s. If you’ve tried Bikram or are a fan of other types of yoga (like Hatha, Ashtanga or Kundalini), let’s hear about it! I know there are some die-hard fans out there…

If you are a member at ProRobics on Queen Anne, you no doubt know the magnanimous trainer with the Jersey accent: Frankie Rongo. What you might not know about Frankie is that, among other things, he is also an inventor and a professional drummer (not exactly industry standard, I don’t think). Something you would pick up on immediately, however, is his energy.

Whether his energy creates his busy schedule or he conjures up the energy to keep up with his busy schedule, I am not really sure. Either way, he is up at 3:30 am every morning (seriously Frankie, 3:30 am?) and he gives 70 personal training sessions each week. Can’t say there are many people who would be glad to have me awake at that hour, but there have been thousands of clients over the last 30 years who have been happy that Frankie was.

So why do people pay Frankie, or any personal trainer for that matter, to help them workout?

1) The personal connection. A trainer, is like a hair stylist or a barista: there are a million of them out there, yet when you find a good one, you stick with them. In many ways, you are paying for the person as much as their service.

2) The ability to get a program outlined for you that matches up with your goals/needs.

In Frankie’s case, his programs are a bit different from programs you’ll find with other trainers. What makes Professor Frankie’s curriculum different?

• He gives less expensive $45 half hour sessions, rather than the $60 hour long sessions most trainers give. The idea behind this is that people can bring an intensity to a 30 minute session that they can’t sustain over an hour. This is something that Frankie applied to his own workouts when he competed in professional bodybuilding competitions.

• He doesn’t believe in extreme calorie counting diets. Because people don’t stick to them! Instead, he preaches portion control and healthy sustainable habits. In other words, don’t drive yourself crazy tallying every gram of food you ingest, but do the little things (ie wheat instead of sourdough, marinara instead of alfredo, etc).

In fairness, this is a gross oversimplification, but if you want to learn more about improving your fitness or eating better, you can always look Frankie up on his website or check his DVD, The Answer Food Plan, which is now out and available at the above linked, PayPal certified site for $29.99. Call ahead though. Frankie’s a busy guy.

As a Masters Champion bodybuilder, Frankie also practices what he preaches. Here’s a pic from the Capital City Natural Championship in Olympia, Wa.

Now that I more fully understanding some of the growing pains about learning to do the accounting for a small business, I wanted to talk to someone on the other side table; someone who teaches accounting and bookkeeping to folks like me.

Keith Gormenzano fit the bill perfectly.

Seattleite Keith Gormenzano has built his business around teaching small business owners how to use QuickBooks, Quicken, MS Money etc. His business’s objective is to take a personal approach to teaching owners how to manage their own financial records and to get their “accounting software to work for them instead of the other way around.”

Basically, he jump-starts small businesses so that they can be their own book-keepers. Keith is teaching businesses to fish by helping them become experts at easy-to-use software like QuickBooks. I spent about an hour chatting with Keith and during that time, I learned a few of his mantras that I thought other teachers (and perhaps other students as well) would find interesting and helpful.

Do what you love.
Keith’s background is diverse. Previously, he’s been a career temporary, a real estate agent, a VISTA volunteer, and a COO of an architecture firm. A few years ago, Keith wanted a change of pace from the 9-5 work life; he decided to strike out on his own as a small business adviser and bookkeeper. Keith soon learned that while he really loved working with businesses 1:1, he didn’t want to just be a roving accountant or bookkeeper.

When I asked him what helped him make the switch to teaching full time, he said that he tries to live by the motto of “focus on what you’re good at and enjoy.” Thus, becoming a full-time instructor and highlighting his talents with Quickbooks and teaching seemed like a no-brainer.

Know your market.
In addition, Keith seems to really understand his students. There are lots of Quickbooks classes out there (at private organizations or community-based schools), but Keith has made a name for himself in a relatively short period of time by understanding that small business owners are busy folks and potentially nervous about taking the reins of their own accounting.

He takes on clients anywhere within a 50 mile radius of his home office, and is more than willing to travel to work with his new “students”. His clients don’t want to spend all day in a classroom. They want to learn a new software at their own desks and on their own computers. Keith spends personalized time getting to know the teams, the office and the specific accounting background and concerns of each business that he trains. The one-to-one training he provides is, in his own words “intense and no-nonsense”, but he’s gotten feedback that people appreciate his cut-to-the-chase methods that are targeted specifically at their problems. In fact, many of his students have recommended that he call himself “Dr. QuickBooks.”

Specialize. Specialize. Specialize.
Keith’s words of wisdom to other instructors (or to other businesses in general) is “specializing is where it’s at!” After about a year of private instructing, Keith started marketing himself as QuickBooks instructor specializing in small business and start-up accounting and bookkeeping (since that was what his background was strongly rooted in).

In a city like Seattle, the start-up community is thriving, and also hungry for support. Thus, by targeting his skills at a market that needed him most, Keith saw his business really start to take off.

Build Your Credentials.
Around the same time, Keith became an officially certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor and also became an accredited business by the Better Business Bureau. These additional credentials were appealing to his clients, and also allowed him to raise his rates as an instructor.

Advertising can be your friend.
Keith is (obviously) a rather technically savvy guy. As he’s spent time building his business, Keith has dedicated time and resources to advertising and marketing in ways that are measurable sources of new students for him.

Keith uses the standby advertising favorite Craigslist on a regular basis, updating his ads on a weekly basis. If you ever find one of Keith’s ads on Craigslist, you’ll notice they’re a bit lengthy. For Keith… his verbosity is strategic. Keith says that the more information that he can give potential clients, the more likely they’ll find a reason to do business with you. “It’s all about building relationships and trust. That’s why I also include my rates in my ads so that the issue of payment (which is sticky for some people) can be eliminated early.”

Craigslist may be bare bones, but in the past, it’s accounted for about 75% of his new students. His main complaint about Craigslist is that for folks who know a little html, you can create really nice ads. Keith also notes that many of the leads he gets on Craigslist are just folks looking for a deal rather than serious students.
Other websites like Biznik, LinkedIn and Kijiji also have helped Keith build a robust online presence. He’s also optimized his business website for Google Adwords so that he shows up higher in Google’s search results when people search for things like “Learn QuickBooks Seattle” or “Seattle QuickBooks Training.”

I asked Keith about the point raised by some teachers that online advertising or setting up profiles for online sites can mean semi-expensive fees and time spent on non client-facing activities.

To this, Keith replied, “There are lots of places where you can post a free profile to advertise your services, but sometimes, you’ve gotta spend money to make money.”

Keith notes that almost all of his new clients find him from his online presence and his business is growing faster than ever before. For Keith, doling out a few bucks per month (for things like a Biznik membership) to get qualified leads and a high page ranking on Google is more than worth it for his business.

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If you’re in Seattle and looking for someone to teach you to fish in the deep swirling waters of the River Quickbooks, give Keith a ring. Here’s his contact info:

Creative Commons Photo: Stephanie Costa

Keith Gormezano aka “Dr. QuickBooks”
“The best QuickBooks instructor, trainer, or tutor in Seattle for personalized one-on-one help”
A Better Temporary, Inc.
6561 Phinney Ave N. Suite #217
Seattle, WA 98103-5255
(206) 789-8328
a_better_temporary@hotmail.com

We don’t make a lot of these ‘industry news’ type posts, but the amount of excitement in the online education space is starting to surge, and we’re not surprised. Like our friends over at EduRev / EduFire, we’re big believers in this being an industry that needs a good carpet shaking!

Not sure if you saw these… but some huge moves online today…

1) Global Scholar (formerly known as InfiLearn) raised a $27mm Series B — yes $27mm!!
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/130764.asp

2) Education.com won a ‘demo god’ award at Demo 08 conference
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/130702.asp

3) Local startup ‘CultureMob‘ raised a small round, going after local events (Upcoming, Eventful, etc.):
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/130724.asp

4) Microsoft making a bid for Yahoo… not education related, but huge for tech industry
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/01/story-1
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/01/story-2

5) Google missing earnings because of some weaknesses (they claim) in social networking

Never a dull moment folks… onward!