It appears things got a little too hot and heavy in the yoga studio for an SF woman who is suing Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram yoga, along with his wife and yoga school. As the Chron reports, the 67-year-old heat-seeking yogi allegedly came onto 28-year-old Sarah Baughn repeatedly, trying for years to get Baughn to have sex with him. In all, 18 complaints were filed ranging from sexual harassment to defamation because, of course, it wasn’t just about the sex.
According to the suit, the two first met in 2005 when Baughn was getting her teacher certification in LA for Bikram yoga. Choudhury was teaching the certification class and allegedly pulled Baughn aside because, as he said, he knew her from a past life and “loved” her. Baughn says he gave her the typical lines of “never feeling like this before” and in a twist more reminiscent of a soap opera rather than the daily dramas of a yoga studio, Choudhury got decidedly less zen about things.
Once Baughn turned him down, Choudhury retaliated, allegedly assaulting her through physical force and sexual comments. Like an unruly child, Choudhury continued to pout and rebel, allegedly rigging yoga competitions that Baughn entered and even enlisting the help of his assistant to threaten her because being that menacing at all times is a lot of hard work.
The alleged sexual assaults reach far beyond the yoga studio, however. Baughn alleges that Choudhury made inappropriate sexual advances when she visited his home in 2007 for Thanksgiving. Something also to note is that Choudhury had a consistently ineffective technique going, either allegedly grinding or pressing his penis into Baughn’s leg. Not a great way to say thanks, but maybe that’s traditional procedure when you’re governed by the desires of one of your past lives.
Choudhury was busy being hot and bothered and could not be reached for comment.
